Daily Times

The drama serial ‘Surkh Chandni’ marks the very first time Mansha Pasha will be taking on a negative role.

Other than the drama which is set to be released in 2019, the actress is also working on her upcoming film ‘Lal Kabootar’.

Mansha Pasha will be playing one of the main leads alongside Sohai Ali Abro and Osman Khalid Butt. ‘Surkh Chandni’ touches a sensitive social issue and brings it under the spotlight while address the rising number of acid attacks in the country.

“My character is somebody who causes an acid attack. It also sheds light on the fact that men and women can both equally be the reason behind the acid attacks. The reason I took up this particular project was because I haven’t done anything negative as such in my entire career and this wasn’t just a typical negative character. It has a lot of layers because initially she doesn’t actually intend for the incident to happen and she doesn’t foresee the snowball effect that takes place following her actions. Come to think of it the path to wrong doings is never really straight. It’s not as simple as someone is born bad. On the contrary, it’s very complicated. I believe it’s an endless series of choices of whether to safeguard yourself or to keep going on the right path. All these dimensions and the back story is why I thought it would be a very interesting project to take up,” Pasha says.

While addressing the challenges of internalising a negative role for the first time, Pasha says, “I think the overall drama has been so violent both emotionally and physically. The character has been challenging for me because getting into the mindset of such a person and understanding the motivation behind their act is tough. The biggest challenge perhaps is to be able to relate to and justify the character without condoning her because it takes an emotional toll on you. This drama has been very violent too so we’ve also gotten hurt physically at times because that’s the nature of the project.”

The drama serial acknowledges and emphasises the legislation of acid and burns crime bills as the narrative illustrates the life of an acid attack victim and how she speaks ups about the injustice. Talking about the need to address social issues sensitively, where negative roles are dealt with in the right manner, Pasha adds, “When picking up subjects that deal with social issues it is every important to ensure that the message does not get muddled. A lot of times directors are confused about how to portray certain characters. In the past, we have seen stories where the rapist has been highlighted and where the murderer is somebody you’re feeling really bad for or he’s coming across as the hero. Anti-hero and hero are two completely different things and this is where I think a lot of writers and directors get confused and negative roles end up being celebrated. That cannot happen. Negative is negative.”

A Next Level Entertainment production, ‘Surkh Chandni’ is directed by Shahid Shafaat and is written by Asma Nabeel. Its cast members include Pasha, Sohai, Osman, Asad Siddiqui, Lubna Aslam and Gul-e-Rana among others.

Published in Daily Times, February 22^nd 2019.