Is there any tried and tested way of handling the pressures of being a role model from making a living in front of the camera lens? During a recent appearance on YouTube podcast Sunday Times, television heartthrob Ahad Raza Mir thinks he knows the answer – and it is a refreshingly laid back one.
“Whatever you see on TV or in a film, you need to remember that it’s just a story,” muses the star, having only recently wrapped up his latest drama, Meem Se Mohabbat, earlier this month. “You shouldn’t think too much about it. Just sit back and enjoy it. But it’s great that people watch something and they’re so moved that they feel this desire to communicate how they feel about it.”
Driven by the urge to be part of a story that moves people and leaves them, on the whole, feeling happier than when they first sat down to watch, Ahad stresses that he is not weighed down by a pressure to preach any lessons in any of his work.
“We need to tell stories that uplift people. Everything doesn’t need to have a social cause,” he insists. “You should watch something and feel good about it. If you’ve watched a story that helps you develop new perspectives that’s great – but I never think, ‘This is the objective of this drama.’ Let people experience what they want!”
There is one thing, however, that as an artist, Ahad takes very seriously. “Our responsibility is to show good characters and show how people develop in life – there’s always a lesson you learn from every story, every character,” he notes.
As anyone who will have gleaned after glancing at Ahad’s catalogue of work, ranging from Yaqeen Ka Safar to Hum Tum, this is the lens that the actor sees all of his projects through. “When I choose something, I think, what am I going to learn from this?” he adds. “And I think, maybe the audience will feel the same way. At least, that’s kind of how I look at it.”
Which medium is best?
Television drama fans will mostly be familiar with Ahad’s work on the small screen, but the TV star is no stranger to the stage either – not that he has any preference for one medium over the other.
“It’s all about the story you are telling,” remarks Ahad. “Of course, every medium has its own technical aspects. When you’re doing a TV show, there’s no audience – but then you get to experience it with your audience every week. And in theatre, of course, every night is different. I don’t know which one I’d say I like more. It really depends on the mood.”
Having trained in Canada and performed in Pakistan, Ahad is well qualified to gauge the differences between local and international acting, but is cautious to avoid painting either in a worse light than the other.
“There’s convincing acting, and there’s not convincing acting,” he reflects matter-of-factly. “If a story is moving you, it’s good. I think we all adjust our styles depending on the story and the genre.”
Stage or screen, and international or local, there is one thing that Ahad is able to say with concrete certainty. “I’d go crazy without acting,” he states, leaving little room for doubt. “As human beings, we evolve and forever change with our highs and lows, and in acting, you pick up things from the people around you.”
Crediting the highs of his career to the large gamut of colleagues he has worked with, Ahad continues in gratitude, “Anything you need to do to be successful is just a representation of the people around you – the writers, the directors, the actors. I’ve been very lucky in that respect.”
Career preferences
Like viewers, Ahad, too, has certain genres he will gravitate towards, and it will surprise very few to learn that the laid back actor has a penchant for “romance and comedy”.
“I love a good thriller, too!” he adds. “There is one genre, however, that Ahad is adamant he will never touch.
“I won’t do horror, because I get scared,” he confesses. “I don’t watch any horror at home either. I don’t like anything that spoils your mood or leaves you feeling unhappy or depressed!”
Even within the scope of his preferred drama genres, Ahad points out that the target audience for Pakistani television is expanding ever more – and that it doesn’t matter how a traditional Pakistani story is played out, as long as it remains captivating.
“Our audience is not just an Urdu speaking audience – I’ve run into viewers from Mauritius or Nepal who don’t speak Urdu, who just watch our shows with subtitles,” shares the actor. “Our way of telling a story may have a set pattern, but it has nothing to do with being traditional or modern. At the end of the day, a story is a story. It’s how you tell it that matters.”
Regardless, Ahad concedes that the showbiz industry is forever adapting to keep up with an evolving audience and a fresh wave of actors. “I think that trends are changing, and we have to change with the time,” he admits. “If you compare the industry with the past seven years, a lot has changed, and if you look five years ahead, then a lot will change. It’s when more new people start coming in and start pushing their ideas that change happens – and I think that shift is happening.”
Shift or no shift, there is one unwavering thing that Ahad is grateful for above all else. “I’m very lucky to have a large fan base of supporters who really understand who I am,” he says with warmth. “It’s a nice feeling to be so supported and loved.”
Ahad is next scheduled to appear alongside fellow star Iqra Aziz in Pakistan’s long-awaited, star-studded first-ever Netflix show, Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo, rumoured to be released this June.
