Firdous Jamal is a well-known figure in the Pakistani showbiz industry. Last year, the actor was under scrutiny for his remarks on some of the popular actors and actresses of Pakistan, particularly Mahira Khan.
His comments about the popular actress were not appreciated by people. For those who don’t know, Firdous Jamal said that Mahira is not an actress, but just a model.
In an interview with Epk, the veteran actor opened up about various aspects of his career and personal life. Firdous also shared his reasoning behind the comments he made about the Raees starlet. Here’s what he had to say:
“I made a very technical comment. I have not even met Mahira Khan. I do not know her. Someone asked me about her and I said, she’s a star but shes not an actress. She is a good model though. See whenever you look at someone, you question which institution they come from? Where did they study? Likewise performing arts has various departments. There is modelling, there is method acting or mechanical acting etc. There are different school of thoughts in acting. So we look at that school or background. Now her background is modelling. Models tend to be very conscious about how they look. Because it is their job to look good in every frame. Because they are representing a product! They are not doing any character. They are a sales man or a sales woman and they need to be presentable for that.”
Elaborating on how modeling is different from acting, Firdous Jamal continues:
“Mahira’s background is of modeling, so what I said was that her performance shows that she uses techniques and methods which are used in modeling. Models worry about lighting, makeup, their hair and features etc whereas an actor wouldn’t do that. Acting is based on self-negation while modelling is self-projection. So when you bring in self-projection into acting, you are negating its basic principle. If you are concerned with self-projection then you move out of the realm of characterization. So in this regard, I said she is not a good actress.”
It’s all about playing a persona:
“Star worship is very common in Pakistan. People want to see the stars they love, exactly the way they are. When these stars do something else, people criticize them saying what are they doing? So stars tend to maintain their persona in every character they play which again negates the very basic principle of acting which is self-negation,” he explained.
ALSO READ
The Biggest Controversies Involving Pakistani Celebrities in 2019
The veteran actor’s explanation adds an important context to the raging controversy. It is unclear whether the public is ready to forgive him for the remarks or not. Only time will tell. What do you think? Is Firdous Jamal in the right for saying what he said?
ALSO READ
Here’s How Imran Ashraf Responded to Firdous Jamal’s Criticism of Him
