As gorgeous and fit today as she was in her hey day (unbelievably she still has the 24-inch waist she had when she was 15) — former supermodel/actress Seemi Pasha has retained the girlish good looks that made her famous nearly two decades ago.

Sans any greasepaint as she sits opposite me for this interview, she quips, “Having plastered on make-up for years for fashion shoots, I hate it now and only put it on when it’s absolutely necessary.” She also warns that she is known to be quite talkative, bowls me over with her modesty and makes me feel like we’ve known each other for years. Seemi is unpretentious to a fault, and charming to boot.

Her foray into modelling was a fluke, she says. “I was teaching at a Montessori school when my friends and I decided that we should do something more with our lives. We got into fashion designing but did not know any models and so we ended up modelling our own clothes for a women’s magazine back in 1989.”

The photoshoot got noticed and she got a call from another fashion magazine after the issue came out. PIA was next in line, asking her to model for its calendar in 1990 which further bolstered her growing modeling credentials. This was the first time that the national flag carrier had hired an ‘outsider’ to model for its calendar.

This was the time when fashion photographers Tapu Javeri, Arif Mahmood, Arshad Tareen and Rooha Ghaznavi, as well as stylists Tariq Amin, Nabila and Asad Baig were starting their careers. She learned how to model from Rooha and Asif Reza by using the right expressions and postures. Soon, there were so many assignments that it became difficult to cope with them. What had started as a fun thing had turned into a full-time career.

Seemi did shoots mostly with Rooha Ghaznavi, make-up artist Nabila and designer Iman Ahmad. Then stepped in Arshad Tareen and she did many more shoots for him. “Arshad and Rooha tended to focus on the model’s looks more than the background. Generally, I am comfortable with all the photographers, and I got on with everyone, treating them according to their nature.

“I was at the top of my game for nine years out of the 15 years that I remained in modelling. I stepped down when other models started to come in as one has to make room for new blood and fresh talent.” As there were fewer models when Seemi was at her peak, it was difficult coping with schedules. “You could count them on your fingertips, people like Tanya Shafi, Sonya Minhas, Bibi, Iraj and Aliya.”

Looking forward to a much-needed break after years of hard work, Seemi stepped into acting, again pretty much by accident. “I had gone to meet Ghazanfar Ali at the Indus TV Network to get into direction. He sent me to the late director Najmuz Zaman, who asked me to act in a serial. Apparently I did well and was offered a second and then a third serial immediately after.” The principle that she had applied in modelling continued here as well, which was that she would act on her own terms and conditions. When she was on the ramp or screen she was totally committed, a professional through and through, but after work she was dead to her profession. “You can’t show an attitude while you work. Negotiate your terms before you start, but once things are agreed on then give it your full.”

Seemi emphasises that acting and modelling are never easy, but people only see the glamourous part of the profession. She says modelling was her passion while acting brought in much-needed money. “Showbiz is a fickle world and I have kept away from scandals, maintaining my dignity by not getting involved in unnecessary things.” Her next step now is getting into production, and she is content to wait for the right time.

An incident which Seemi vividly remembers even now after two decades was during a shoot in Khewra Salt Mines.

“We went inside on a train and Tapu Javeri chose a scenic place which was very small and had a small pond. While turning around for the camera I saw a huge, ugly face with a broken nose floating in the pond and looking right at me. He closed one eye and then disappeared. That really shook me up and also the lighting man who was standing next to me. I just ran out of there and didn’t go in again. We were later told that the place was haunted.” Shuddering at the end of the story she said she still has goose bumps while thinking about the incident.

Seemi has maintained the waiflike thinness of her modelling days to this day. When quizzed what her formula was for this dazzling success she laughed, “My metabolic rate is very good, and I also eat in small portions. But I am also good-hearted if that makes a difference! Do you know that my waist is the same size since I was a teenager?” That’s no mean accomplishment, and Seemi is justifiably proud of it.

Two years ago, when Frieha Altaf celebrated her 20 years in the PR business at Mohatta Palace, models who had worked with her during the years were invited to catwalk wearing clothes of that period.

Seemi had worn a saree and blouse by Maheen Khan which the designer still had, and it fitted her perfectly after two decades. “Maheen was shocked speechless to see the blouse still fit like a glove,” she recalls chuckling.

Simple and extremely religious she states she is totally involved in her family. The environment around her has not affected her lifestyle. “It all depends on you, how you conduct yourself. Today’s young people have forgotten values just to reach the top, which in my opinion is not right,” she states wrinkling her nose at the thought of some young artists who will do anything to achieve fame.

Like everyone else she has her list of likes and dislikes. A dislike that borders on aversion for the actress is seeing a handsome person, rich and educated, wearing cheap shoes! “He immediately becomes zero,” she bursts out laughing after the revelation. “Shoes definitely put me on and off. I also like to travel, eat in restaurants and I adore shopping. I’m quite hyper and friends find it difficult keeping up with me.”

The youngest of ten siblings, Seemi was pampered by her family and got married in her mid teens. She now has two sons and two grandchildren whom she adores. But there is still something in life she says she has to achieve, she says mysteriously, and maddeningly refuses to divulge what it is. “My parents wanted me to do it. It is a well guarded secret and I want to fulfill it in their memory. Once it is achieved the world will know,” she says dreamily.