Beautiful’ is a word that has often been used to describe Fazila Qazi, and the adjective would usually be accompanied with an homage to her eyes. Back in the ‘90’s, she was PTV’s doe-eyed heroine; tall, long-haired, with light coloured eyes and a winsome charm. She epitomised the classic romantic lead, acting with top-tier ensembles, her name slotted in some of the most memorable dramas of the time.

Somewhere along the way, Fazila took a break from acting. She only made a return in 2010. Ever since, she has been playing the matriarch in an abundance of roles. It just goes to prove that it takes much more than beauty to last the long haul in the acting playing field.

Meeting her for the very first time, I sit across from Fazila and, as we talk, my mind keeps spiralling back to the many roles that I have seen her enact over the years. The earlier PTV dramas particularly come to mind while the more recent ones, where she’s often relegated to playing the stereotypical mother in a generic family drama, are not really memorable. It prompts me to ask her during the course of our conversation: are you happy with where your career is now?

“Hazaron khwahishein aisi ke har khwahish pe dum niklay… [There are a thousand wishes, with each one to die for…]” she quotes Ghalib. “As humans, we can never be completely satisfied. Still, I feel that if I am further ahead from where I once started and I am at peace, mentally and professionally, then this was the path that was meant for me.”

Fazila Qazi started off her acting career by playing the proverbial girl-next-door and heroine in TV dramas and quit at the height of her fame to start a family. Now that she is often cast as the stereotypical mother in generic TV dramas, does she regret her decision?

But then Fazila adds: “However, I do feel that a lot of characters that I could have played have not come my way because of nepotism and favouritism in the industry. I am thankful for all that I have achieved in my career, but this does not mean that I don’t see what’s going on.

“There have been times when I have even been offered a role and then, suddenly, someone who is friends with the director or producer is signed on. I choose not to let this overwhelm me. I prefer to remember the good and delete the bad experiences.

She continues: “A lot of times, queries are sent regarding a role to six different people. Their asking salaries are analysed, their available dates are coordinated with the schedules of the hero and heroine and, ultimately, the makers consider who will cost them less, who will listen to them more, who is more friendly with them. Earlier, actors would be selected because they suited a character. Now, whoever is more convenient is fitted into a role.”

It seems she is trying to both-sides her earlier candid comments.

She pauses and smiles. “I am just speaking my mind. I don’t have a filter, I believe in honesty and describing things the way that they are.”

There have been times when I have even been off ered a role and then, suddenly, someone who is friends with the director or producer is signed on. I choose not to let this overwhelm me. I prefer to remember the good and delete the bad experiences.”

So, was the Pakistani TV industry more creative back in the day? “We’re still creative, but in different ways,” says Fazila. “Earlier, a lot of focus would be on creating unique content. A PTV drama would stretch out to around 14 episodes. Now, I have even worked in 80 episodes-long drama serials and creativity is visible in the technicalities of shooting, lighting, make-up.

“Directors follow the dictates of TV channels, putting together certain ingredients to come up with a drama. Earlier, directors would have a lot of say in the script and the cast and, even now, when such a director is taken on board, the drama turns out better.”

Fazila is too smart and too wise now to let her guard down completely but some feelings do leak out from the edges, it seems to me.

What are some of her favourites from her own work? “Quite a few!” she says. “In the early years of my career, I acted in a drama called Dasht. It was a major production at the time, directed by Abid Ali and shot in Gwadar. I got the opportunity to work with senior actors such as Abid Ali and Sabiha Khanum in it. Then, there was another serial called Awaazein which was shot in London, where I acted alongside veterans such as Shafi Mohammad and Tahira Wasti.

“Some of the long plays that I acted in are still watched, such as Ab Mera Intizaar Kar, Achanak, Rosie and a lot of Eid plays. Once private channels launched, I played many more characters. I enjoyed acting in the drama Deewana and Larrkiyaan Mohallay Ki, among others.”

What roles does she like playing — the negative ones or the positive ones? She replies: “It doesn’t matter whether the character is negative or positive, as long as she has something to do. Right now, most stories revolve around love triangles — two boys and one girl, or two girls and one boy — and how the lead pair manages to get married and proceeds to face problems. The rest of the ensemble cast just crowds around them.”

Ah, those leaky edges again.

“There have been times when a script will be offered to me and my role will be pitched as an interesting one. It’ll only be once I am on set that I’ll realise that my character is expected to just stare here and there — she’s mute!” She laughs.

“Believe me, there are times when I get a script and, before even reading it, I ask: am I playing the girl’s mother or the boy’s, am I rich or poor, am I cruel or helpless? That’s usually all I need to know!

“If I am playing a positive mother, I will almost always be a helpless one. There was this one drama where I would start crying from morning and keep crying till night. I told them that they should let me drink a glass of glycerin so that I could cry all day long!”

She continues: “I enjoy adding layers to my character. Even if my character is negative, there must be certain emotions driving her to be that way. She is behaving according to the situation that she is in. I also enjoy playing characters who can give out a message to society.”

Have there been times when she has acted in a drama not expecting it to be a hit, only for it to become a sensation? She nods. “In recent times, I acted in the drama Rung Mahal, never really realising that it would be received so well. We shot it around the time of the coronavirus pandemic and I was taken aback by how everyone started talking about it.

“I think what worked for it was the team. It was a 7th Sky Entertainment production, directed by Zahid Mehmood and the entire team was so committed — Sehar Khan, Ali Ansari, Humayun Ashraf …” She pauses, before adding, “I like to mention the people that I have enjoyed working with. I don’t have insecurities regarding praising the work of others.”

This prompts me to ask her: does she not even feel insecure when roles that she would like to enact don’t come her way? “No, I realised long ago that what is meant for me will come to me. Back in the PTV days, I would work with seniors who would be intent on cutting down the scenes and dialogues of juniors. They would bribe writers with clothes — TeeJays used to be a popular brand back then! — and suddenly, they would get most of the lines, even though I was the main lead. I actually wouldn’t realise what was happening until much later.

“Even now, these things happen. One actor will engage the make-up artist for too long in order to irritate the other, or just talk in a rude way. I’ve been around for 30 years and, even though I understand everything, I don’t let it get on my nerves. Why would I want to ruin my beauty shot by letting the negativity show on my face?” she laughs.

I persist: and she didn’t feel insecure or, at least, regretful when she paused her career while she was in her prime, playing romantic leads, in order to spend more time with her family?

“No,” she replies firmly. “This was back in 2002. My sons were very young and they would get disturbed when I would leave for a day-long drama shoot. I acted in Awaazein and took my elder son, Ahmed, with me to London. He played my son in it because he was there with me anyway. Then, when my second son, Zorain, was about 10 months old, I acted in a historical serial for PTV, directed by Qasim Jalali. He [Zorain] would get so upset while I was gone.

“There’s this old soul within me. When I was growing up, my siblings and I faced some tough times because of some problems at home, and that’s when I decided that when I would have children, I would make sure that they had happy memories of their childhood.

“And my sons truly do have very happy memories. I would pick and drop them from school, teach them, literally be with them 24/7. My husband was very busy at the time. We had a production house and he was producing and directing, and I decided that I should be the one to step away from my career and be at home.

“Yes, there have been times when I have thought back to how I left acting at a time when private channels were just opening up — I would have been able to do so much more work! But those dramas would have come and gone, the money that I would have earned would have also finished off, but my true wealth is how my sons have had happy childhoods and are now successful in their lives. I look at them and I know that it was all worth it.”

And when she returned to acting, she was slotted into maternal roles. “Yes, because I never hid my sons away!” she laughs. “I never tried to hide that I had grown-up children — like others do — or only show pictures of the younger one, so that I look young. It’s just that my first priority is my family. I am not career-oriented at all and I take pride in my family. And yes, perhaps that’s what’s landed me in the constant role of an on-screen mother.”

Back in the ‘90’s, it was a popular notion that an actress’ career would end once she got married. And yet, Fazila didn’t hide her marriage to fellow actor Qaiser Khan Nizamani when she was merely 20 years old.

“A lot of people were surprised when I decided to get married, telling me that I was too young. I remember telling them that I didn’t want to grow old and have a flourishing career at the age of 40, but no family,” she grins.

“I now laugh when I remember how I was so wise! But, no, I never hid my marriage and I think I set a trend. Soon afterwards, others started getting married too and announcing it very publicly.”

There is a lot of talk about how industry marriages don’t work, but Fazila and Qaiser have now been married for more than 30 years. Did she ever find it tricky being married to someone from the same industry as herself?

“On the contrary, I think it makes things easier,” she tells me. “Only a man working in the same industry can understand the requirements of the profession. Someone else may not be able to fathom that a wedding sequence may get shot till 3am in the night, or that most of our shoots take place in bungalows.

“Having said that, marriage for anyone is not a bed of roses. The first two years are particularly difficult for every girl and it is only over time that a husband and wife begin to understand each other. I just feel that, even if a huge problem arises, divorce should be the very last resort because, no matter what, the children get disturbed.”

She adds: “You have to compromise a lot in marriage and one person makes more of an effort than the other. But you’re not doing anyone any favours by compromising. You’re doing it for your own happiness, because you want your life to be a certain way.”

These are wise words — and words that I feel that I have heard her say before in interviews on TV. I mention this to her. She smiles. “There is so much that people could ask me but, somehow, all they want to ask me are questions about my personal life, how I met my husband, my marriage. Yes, we are two people from the entertainment industry who got married, but our love story is ages old — there is so much more to talk about!”

And Fazila Qazi and I have talked about so much more. Her family is pivotal to her but she’s done a great job striking a work-life balance and managing to build her career while simultaneously playing real-life wife, mother and, recently, mother-in-law.

Would she have it any other way? “Not at all,” she says. “All that’s meant for me, will come to me. I don’t ever dwell for too long on negativity — it begins showing on your face, you know?”

And that just wouldn’t do. She wouldn’t want to ruin her ‘beauty shot’, now, would she?

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 28th, 2024