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As a one-film-old newcomer, were you nervous acting opposite a star like Fawad?
(Giggles) Not at all. I was like: Hey, what's up!' I had just come from college, and who is a star and who isn't wasn't a big deal. I was in Pakistan till I was 16 and my higher studies was in Los Angeles. I also worked there. I have sold everything from massage chairs to pashmina shawls to ice cream. Once you have held a mop in your hand, you think of everything as a job. It helps me in my acting.
What did you study in LA?
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to act. But I didn't want my mother to kill me! So when I went to the US, I kept changing my major. First I did chemical engineering, then psychology. But what I did mostly was watch films. I would work and then volunteer in film festivals. I had tasted independence and didn't want to come back soon. I had part-time and full-time jobs. I put myself through college. I am who I am because of those seven years.
You got married in 2007 and your debut was in 2011. In India, marriage is supposed to diminish a heroine's glamour quotient. What is it like in Pakistan?
I have done things which are out of the ordinary. I was 21 when I got married. I am 29 now. In India and Pakistan, they tell us (actresses) not to get married. Of course, people's priorities change after marriage. But it depends on the way you lead life. I was veejaying when I got married. I had just moved back from the US. I saw Madhuri (Dixit) in Ram Lakhan on a pirated VHS cassette chhup ke with my cousins. Madhuri was singing O Ramji and I thought: Why am I not on the screen?!' I enjoyed seeing Waheeda Rehman and Kareena (Kapoor) too, but the childhood fantasy began and ended with Madhuri.
Are you open to offers from Bollywood?
I would love to work in Bollywood. Someone like Fawad has done that. If the offer excites me, I would jump at it. Ranbir (Kapoor) is brilliant, so is Ranveer (Singh). You have directors like Vishal (Bhardwaj), Imtiaz (Ali) and Karan Johar. Indian cinema is changing and there is so much happening.
Finally, Fawad is a rage among girls in India. What is he like to work with?
If someone says anything good about Fawad, it makes me happy. He is exactly what you know about him. He is a great guy. I treasure and respect our relationship. The way he conducts himself and has gone into Bollywood " I admire him a lot for that.
Anupamaa
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