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Stepping into controversy
Even though Samina Peerzada’s much awaited, multi-starrer, Shararat was a bust at the box-office, the fallout from this awry experiment in acting has put its leading lady, Mehr, right at top of a controversy. Not that the movie had any controversial theme. Shararat was as far removed from a theme as it was from controversy, or so it seemed after passing through the horror-chamber of editing. As the daughter of Dr Riffat Hassan, an internationally acclaimed scholar on Islam, Mehr inadvertently pushed the media-button to full censure by starring in that movie.
Samina Peerzada’s Shararat was a hit and run movie. The movie had a huge cast with an equally huge ego. “Zara Sheikh didn’t want to work with Meera. Meera didn’t want to work with Reema, so she opted out. And Reema was constantly threatened by me.” Cast as a supporting actress, she had great difficulty in accepting Mehr in the lead, till it was made clear by the director that the newcomer from the US was going to be paired with Moammer Rana.
“Samina is a true professional and I admire her for that. But it is not a reflection of a Samina Peerzada direction. She had a disagreement with the producer and had nothing to do with the editing. She told me that editing was out of her hands.”
When Shararat was finally complete for release, huge chunks of Mehr’s role had been edited. Suddenly, Reema could be seen more than the film’s heroine.
“There was a sequence of a classical dance competition between Reema and myself, which was choreographed by Khanu Samrat. When I finally saw the movie, the dance competition had been cut. I don’t know who did that.” Accusing fingers were pointed at Reema who could not bear the thought of being overshadowed by an accomplished Kathak dancer like Mehr.
Working in Lollywood after doing a few movies in Chennai was not exactly a just comparison for Mehr Hassan.
“The film industry there is technologically advanced. But more than that, they are serious about their work and complete a movie in two to three months. I wouldn’t want to compare the two, but I do think our actors need to change their attitudes,” assessed Mehr.
Her debut in Lollywood might not be remembered for her performance, but will surely be used as a stockpile of ammunition to be used against her mother. Much before Shararat’s release, people had started accosting the expert on Islamic feminism, compelling her to draw a parallel between Islam and the performing arts. Dr Hassan’s replies were as unequivocal as her articles and lectures on Islam and gender. She did not keep one set of standards for her daughter and another for people.
“My coming in to the movies validates my mother’s life-long commitment to women-related issues. I embody her best work. I am her product and representative of what she believes,” said Mehr. There was certainly no apology in her tone. She had no reason to step back on the defensive, despite the gunfire aimed at her. It was not as if she had starred in an adults-only movie. Acting was her cause; it was her call. She wanted to do issue-based films and accept roles which highlighted women’s problems. It was like an extension of her mother’s work to another medium.
Settling with the idea of her daughter’s decision to join films, Dr Hassan approached the matter very pragmatically. She told Mehr not to let mediocrity become an excuse to settle for second-best.
“Ammi always says that there is no excuse for mediocrity, that I have to be the best. Once she realized that I was serious about my work, she said that if this was my call in life, I had to approach it with sanctity. Ammi believes that as an actress, I can reach far more people than through any other profession. That’s the kind of effect the media has,” explained Mehr.
A few months back, Mehr Hassan was offered $150,000 each in the US for doing roles which required nudity. She refused the offer outrightly because she did not want to ‘compromise her dignity.’ Acting could only remain sacred if it was seconded with ethics.
“I don’t wear vulgar clothes and won’t expose even if the role requires so. I won’t compromise my dignity and this is something which has nothing to do with my mother. It is for myself and what I believe in.”
Though Shararat is not the best of Mehr’s references as an actress, she accepted Samina Peerzada’s offer for a specific reason.
“Most of the actresses here are prostitutes. I thought my coming into Lollywood would break that trend and encourage girls from respectable families to enter films. I want them to think that if Dr Riffat Hassan’s daughter can do it, so can they.”
The young actress has spent more than two years at an academy in Mumbai to learn acting. She holds a Masters degree in professional theatre from Louisville University, where Dr Hassan is a professor, and since 1997 has become a recognizable face down in the southern part of India for her lead roles in Tamil movies. Under the tutelage of her Guru ji, Khanu Samrat, a known choreographer of Lollywood, Mehr has also consummated Kathak’s subtleties.
“There’s nobody like him here. He’s wonderful and is sure to become the next Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in proving that Pakistan is full of talent.”
In 1999, Mehr Hassan delighted the film audience in Chennai in Unvey Diana (Love always Diana). Based on the sensitive theme revolving around a girl who is later raped, the film had an instant appeal to Mehr. During the film’s shooting, she would toil for hours trying to learn her dialogues in Tamil from a tutor.
“I don’t speak the language but it was important for me to understand it because I don’t take prompting. It distracts me. Eventually, my voice had to be dubbed because I didn’t have the right accent. But the movie was a huge success.”
The same year, Mehr did a film in English in Mumbai called Dreamers. It won her the award for best actress at one of the festivals in the US. Last year, Diwali, another of her Indian ventures in English, was sent to the Cannes Film Festival. It was while shooting for Diwali in the US that Samina Peerzada saw Mehr and wanted to cast her in Shararat.
“One of the reasons why I am into Tamil movies and not Bollywood is that South Indian movies have a good script and their technicians are the best in the world. The other reason is the casting couch. It’s a big problem in Bollywood. Most of the actresses not belonging to a filmi background or not backed by a well-known family in Bollywood go through the casting couch. This is something unthinkable for me. I’d rather not do it,” Mehr said emphatically.
But Lollywood does not pose that problem. Not for her at least. She has put Shararat behind her and is ready to consider a good offer. And by a good offer she means a movie not hacked into an unrecognizable sequence to please temperamental temptresses.
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