|
|
|
From England with love
lt is 10am as one drives to a reputed hotel in Islamabad to meet Hammasa Kohistani, Miss England (2005) — the first Muslim (of Afghan origin) to achieve this distinction, overcoming a storm of controversy along the way and definitely silencing the radical, fundamental elements.
Apparently, the presence of this stunning young lass in the Capital has not gone by unnoticed, and one is led into the room by an official of the Zindagi Trust. Shehzad Roy, the founder of the Trust had convinced the beauty queen to come to Pakistan and lend a helping hand in the NGO’s charity work. With charity being a strong raison d’etre of Miss England, and Hammasa feeling deeply for the underprivileged, especially girls’ education, when she met Shehzad Roy at a function in London, she accepted his offer.
It isn’t long before a lean and lanky Hammasa, carrying dresses in her hands, enters the room. She says a polite hello and seats herself on a sofa. She has beautiful doe eyes, a lovely tanned complexion and lustrous waist-long tresses. Her surname, Kohistani, is quite intriguing, as there is a place called Kohistan in Pakistan. She says there is a place by that name in Afghanistan as well and her father hails from there.
The 19-year-old beauty moved to England with her family when she was 10. Does she really speak six languages, as per an Internet source? “No, I don’t. The media tends to exaggerate,” she clarifies without being apologetic. “I speak Persian, English, French and Russian.” How did she pick up Russian? “Well, I have lived in Moscow and also in Ukraine.” She says that after her parents fled Afghanistan during the Taliban period, they lived in a number of countries before ultimately settling down in the UK.
Her hosts in Pakistan came up with the idea of doing a fashion shoot with Hammasa and then using her Ms England fame to auction clothes abroad and generate funds for charity work. They approached designer Amir Adnan and his wife Huma who were only too pleased to donate the outfits for the noble cause, and had special outfits made under the FnkAsia label for the event.
She comments upon the outfits that she is wearing for the shoot and says they are quite pretty and very comfortable. She also loves the bag with one of the outfits that Amir Adnan has gifted her.
A Sagittarius, Hammasa is not a newcomer to the arena, having been a model since she was 14. She has been on the cover of Asiana, Asian Woman, along with being featured in Hello, Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Glamour among other fashion magazines of international repute. She has modelled for England’s SuperDrug, the GAP, and has been on many TV channels — CNN, BBC, ITV, etc — and has appeared in prominent TV shows and radio programmes. “I was 15 when I came on the cover of Asiana magazine,” she says her voice laced with pride.
‘If three western models are doing a shoot, each girl will just concentrate on her work and do as she is told. She will not interfere or be concerned about the other girls’ role in the shoot. Hence the models there get along better with each other. Whereas if the three models were Asians, they would be more concerned about what the other girls get to do in the shoot. So the girls here are less friendly with each other,’ says Hammasa Kohistani
Victory at the Miss England pageant came as a big surprise as she wasn’t expecting to win. It was with the encouragement of her parents that Hammasa got into modelling and eventually went for the Miss England beauty contest. She defeated 39 girls to be crowned Miss England, but a bigger battle was defeating the critics and the religious cynics who argued that her participation in the pageant was against their religious norms.
But by listening to her heart and emboldened by her family’s support, she went for her dream and achieved it. “I always listen to my family. They are very proud of my achievements,” she says.
So has she really received offers from Bollywood? “Yes, I received a few offers but I turned them down.”
Why? “First of all, I would have had to learn Hindi for which I don’t have the time. Apart from my education, I have to travel all over England doing charity work and I also have to attend the pre-final Miss England 2006 beauty pageants. And then the role wasn’t what I was looking for — I felt that I looked the part but couldn’t relate to it.”
Having worked mostly in London and now also being exposed to the fashion scene in Pakistan, what difference does she find in the work being done here and abroad? She pauses before answering, “Over here, it is the model that is in control; the entire show is being run and conducted by the model. In the West, it is the other way round. Over there, you do as you are told by the designer and the photographer — you just follow the concept.” She elucidates the point more: “If three western models are doing a shoot, each girl will just concentrate on her work and do as she is told. She will not interfere or be concerned about the other girls’ role in the shoot. Hence the models there get along better with each other. Whereas if the three models were Asians, they would be more concerned about what the other girls get to do in the shoot. So the girls here are less friendly with each other.”At five feet, seven-and-a-half inches, Hammasa is a tall girl, especially by Asian standards, but she knows that she would never be able to make it into the mainstream where the minimum height starts from five feet and eight inches. She is aware that due to certain limitations that she has imposed on herself because of her religious and family values and her own morals, she would not be able to break into mainstream modelling. “I am aware of my limitations and will not cross them,” she says.
In her spare time, Hammasa enjoys the excitement of tackling new challenges and also loves to travel. She hopes her status as Miss England will give her the opportunity to travel more. No sporty or overly casual clothes for this babe. She is more into smart formal dresses and gowns — and only western attire, she clarifies. She is also one of those very lucky ones who do not have a weight problem. “I have had the same weight since I was 15,” she says, disclosing that she really relishes junk food.
|
|
|
|
