You can’t judge a book by its cover — although, when I apply this phrase to Maha Tahirani, the cover certainly is very appealing.

Young, glamorous, delicate, I have frequently seen Maha, one of the country’s top fashion models, meandering gracefully down the catwalk. More recently, I have seen her turn her dramatic wide eyes towards the domains of TV and film. But beyond the lights and camera, she is also a practising criminal lawyer, a partner at a law firm, with an LLB from the University of London.

Simmering just beneath the wispy exterior and the doe eyes is a girl who has plans and goals, and who intends to carry them out with a will of steel.

Maha recalls a time, five-odd years ago, when she first made her catwalk debut. “It was in Lahore, for a show organised by the Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC), and I was wearing a lehnga in designer Ali Xeeshan’s show,” she tells me. “Back then, I didn’t even know how to walk in heels and I stumbled multiple times as I made my way down the runway.

When people made fun of Maha Tahirani’s fi rst foray on the catwalk, she answered them by becoming one of the country’s top fashion models. When people said models couldn’t act, she began eyeing roles in TV and film as well. Does this practising criminal lawyer ever take no for an answer?

“A lot of people made videos of me and posted them on Instagram, commenting on how such a model could be included in the show. It was then that I decided that, one day, I would be the model that everyone waited to see in a fashion show.”

And she did become that model.

Modelling to acting

Maha very quickly rose to the upper echelons of Pakistani fashion’s modelling pool, nominated every year at the Lux Style Awards (LSAs) and winning the Best Fashion Model trophy in 2023.

Last year, she also began moonlighting as an actress, testing the waters with the short film Jamun Ka Darakht and proceeding to the TV drama-scape with productions helmed by Big Bang Entertainment and iDream Entertainment.

She has embarked on her acting career with the same determination that she had earlier applied to modelling.

“I realised very quickly that confidence was the key,” she says. “I couldn’t go to a TV audition and make excuses for myself, telling them that I am a model trying my luck at acting. I had to go in with the belief that I knew how to act and if I had faith in myself, so would the people who cast me.”

It’s a refreshingly honest admission and very inspirational — I discover that this is just how Maha Tahirani is. Although I have met her frequently at fashion events, this is the first time that I am having a detailed conversation with her and it’s quite an eye-opener.

She certainly isn’t just your typical pretty face — there is motivation and hard work behind her rapid rise to success. There’s also confidence, plenty of it.

‘Confidence is key’

“When I ventured into acting, I was aware of the prevalent sentiment that models couldn’t act,” she says, “so I was adamant that I would prove to people that both the acting and modelling professions could be maintained simultaneously. I want to be a hybrid, maintaining my position as a supermodel while also acting.”

But, honestly speaking, is it easy for models to steer into an acting career? “It isn’t easy and it’s very different from how we are in front of the camera as models,” says Maha. “In modelling, you’re expected to look glamorous but, as an actor, you have to move towards more realistic expressions: cry, be angry, laugh.”

I realised very quickly that confi dence was the key,” she says. “I couldn’t go to a TV audition and make excuses for myself, telling them that I am a model trying my luck at acting. I had to go in with the belief that I knew how to act and if I had faith in myself, so would the people who cast me.”

She admits, “Earlier, when I would watch a TV drama, I would always think to myself that I could never be this lady, wearing make-up while crying! But now that I have started reading TV drama scripts, I find myself relating in some way or the other to the character that I am being asked to play.

“I have realised that we, the Gen-Z, tend to judge things a bit too quickly. There is a lot in a TV drama story that is very true to reality although, yes, the role may be over-dramatised and 25 episodes will inevitably get stretched out to 55!”

She is speaking from experience, of course. “Yes, and there are times when you don’t know what more to do in your scenes because you have already enacted the same kind of scene several times before! You’re repeating the same emotions and versions of the same dialogue so that the drama gets elongated.

“Still, I see myself acting more and more in the future. I am trying to differentiate between the roles that I play, so that I don’t get typecast so early in my career.”

Considering that she had earlier dismissed the idea of becoming a drama actress, what drew her towards the field now?

“Bee Gul, who wrote the script of the short film Jamun Ka Darakht, had come up with a list of recommendations for the role that I ended up playing. There were six names — five of them were of established actresses and the sixth one was mine! I was stumped and scared and I even called up Bee Gul to ask her about the role. She told me that I had expressive eyes and I should use them in the audition and so I did!”

She continues: “Before this, I hadn’t really thought about acting, but being on a film set was a very different experience. I was working with a great team. I had a lot of my scenes with actor Adnan Siddiqui and he was a huge help. He advised me not to restrict my body language, and that a film set offers an actor space to move more freely. The TV drama frame, in contrast, is more restrictive. You have to stand straight and usually not move about too much!”

Maha has, since then, worked with other veteran actors in TV dramas. Have they been as helpful as Adnan?

She ponders the question for a bit. “Some are helpful and some might have had reservations about me. There is always this preconceived notion that, as a model, I won’t be able to act. I have also got comments about my body weight, that I am too thin! I have learnt how to deal with all this.

“For one, I am very respectful and, after a few days, they warm up to me. Also, if someone is really difficult, I will just distance myself, maybe sit in a separate room with a book. It is very important to keep my peace with my co-actors because, if I don’t, my acting will get affected!”

Which scenes are the easiest to enact? “The crying ones!” she laughs. “In my very first drama, my character gets to play a bride several times, getting engaged, then it getting broken off, then getting married, and so on. She cries and cries and I didn’t know that I had it in me to break down so easily.”

She pauses. “There have been times when I have thought about the comments that I have heard, about how people have said that, because I am a model, I will never be able to make a home, and that has made me cry more easily!”

The modelling game

This particular revelation takes our conversation on a new tangent. As a model, has she encountered negative opinions about her profession frequently?

“Yes, and for some time it took a toll on me,” says Maha. “People would say that I would never be able to settle down into a marriage, that I was thin because I must be doing drugs, and that I would never be able to bear children. I started getting confused about what I should wear. Why were these people assuming that I didn’t cook at home? Or spent time with my family, just like everyone else?”

She continues: “And then, I would hear ridiculous relationship rumours about myself. I was so disturbed that I lost my appetite and started losing weight rapidly. I would work hard all day long, exhausting myself so that I wouldn’t overthink before going to sleep but, even then, at age 22, I had to rely on sleeping pills to help me cope.

“What hurt me the most was that a lot of this gossip and bullying had its roots in my own industry, the fashion fraternity, rather than the masses. Eventually, I realised that people were envious. They wanted to be you and, since they couldn’t, they hated you for your success.

“I turned to prayer. There was a time when I would sit on the prayer mat and just ask God to take all that I had achieved and just give me a normal life. It was only later I realised that this was normal and that I had to learn to cope.

“I read the Quran with translation and realised that a lot of the answers that I was seeking, that I would ask my therapist questions about, were within it. I got more peaceful and started sleeping and eating well.”

Is the TV industry a better place to work in, compared to fashion?

“The TV industry is definitely less toxic,” she agrees, “but modelling has been instrumental in giving me confidence and skill. Fashion, however, has lately become predominantly commercial. Creative fashion shoots have become rare.

“Instead, brands just want to feature a pretty girl standing straight, with a dupatta fluttering around her. Back when I had started out, time and effort had to be invested before you got on board with big brands. Now, I don’t recognise half the models in major campaigns.

“They make Instagram reels and brands take them on board, but there is a huge difference between the body language of an Instagram model and a model who has honed her skills through experience.

“Also, earlier, being on a magazine cover used to be a big deal. The cover used to be really artistic and it would amp up a model’s portfolio and lead to awards or get picked up by international publications. This is how I had got noticed by international publications back in the day.

“Now, though, a magazine cover is usually just a paid lawn ad. There is rarely any creativity in the designs being worn or in the campaigns in which they are featured! No international publication will take notice of it and it won’t generate more work for the model on the cover.

“At the most, a campaign will be copied off Paris or a Sabyasachi shoot. We are so talented. Why should we copy them and not present our own original ideas?”

Does she still enjoy modelling? Maha ponders before answering. “Yes, sometimes. Some new brands are doing really interesting work. There are times now when I decline campaigns because I feel that they will not be beneficial to my portfolio. At this point in my career, I don’t want to latch on to every brand that comes my way.”

Her portfolio also includes international collaborations with brands such as Balmain and Label Versha. Does she also regularly work in Pakistani campaigns shot in foreign locales? “Actually, no, not very often!” reveals Maha. “A lot of Pakistani designers planning fashion campaigns abroad expect models to work for free. Their compensation is that they get to visit an international location. I refuse to settle for this. Even if I am abroad, it isn’t like I am relaxing on a vacation. I am working through the day. How can I not be paid for my work?”

She adds: “I have put in a lot of thought and effort into my modelling career. Back when I started out, I would observe the successful models around me in order to figure out my own USP [unique selling point].

“Fouzia Aman, for instance, exudes glamour. Vaneeza Ahmed is graceful. Mushk has her height and her ability to grab the crowd’s attention with a little wave or an adaab. Fahmeen Ansari is, again, glamorous. I decided then that, since I was younger and just starting out, I didn’t have to be too glamorous. Instead, I would be confident and draw attention towards my eyes!”

Did winning the LSA for Best Model last year help her career-wise? She says, “It has always felt great to be recognised, every year, despite the opinion that awards in Pakistan may have taken a hit when it comes to credibility.

“In previous years, when I would be nominated, I would be up against some of the most phenomenal models I learned from. It was an honour. Now, having won, I feel that my trophy is substantial validation, recognising me as the best.

What’s next for Maha?

“I am modelling and I am definitely going to continue building my acting career and working on my performance skills,” she says. “Aag ka darya hai, doob ke jaana hai! [It’s a river of fire, one must drown in it to cross it!]”

Her poetic flair notwithstanding, while Maha may be swimming in fiery waters, I don’t see her drowning in them at all. With the hard work she is capable of and the steel determination that is innate to her, she’ll surely find a way to cross every river she faces.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 17th, 2024