Daily Times

Film and TV actor Hareem Farooq aka Masooma decided to ditch crash diets to embrace body positivity for her serial ‘Bismil’.

In a new interview with a digital media outlet, Hareem Farooq got candid about her latest character Masooma, when the actor recalled going through a tough time in her life just before starting the shoot of ‘Bismil’.

“And when you are going through a tough time, your body reacts to it,” she noted.

The actor shared that although she had the option to delay the shoot by a few months to lose some weight and look good on screen, she initially decided to do so by crash diets.

“So I started a crash diet for quick weight loss, but it started to affect my mental health more,” Farooq shared, adding that she took a moment to reflect on whether it was worth it. “I thought to myself, ‘Why? Don’t we have girls with such body types in our surroundings, in our society and country? So why not celebrate different body types instead?'”

“I also got psoriasis during the shoot of Bismil, due to which I started getting marks on my face,” she furthered. “Honestly I was a little conscious and wanted to hide it. But then I realised that I’m not the only one suffering from it. And by not covering it, I can be a source of confidence for hundreds of people suffering from a similar condition.”

Hence, she decided against concealing those marks.

Besides Farooq, the star-studded cast of ‘Bismil’ includes Nauman Ijaz, Savera Nadeem and Saad Qureshi, along with Behroz Sabzwari, Shaheen Khan, Asad Siddiqui, Rabia Shakeel and Adnan Jeelani among others.

The Aehsun Talish directorial and written by Zanjabeel Asim Shah, ‘Bismil’ airs every Wednesday and Thursday, in prime time, only on ARY Digital.