The husband wife duo of Salman Saqib Sheikh AKA Mani and Hira are an inspiration for a lot of people. In a candid interview, Hira Mani was full of praise for her husband.
“I do not want to come out of Mani’s shadow. Mani gave me confidence, that I can do justice to my family and also to my acting career. I learn a lot from him. Our preference is to help people. When I post pictures posing with Mani, people and my co-stars think that I am insecure but in fact, I only want to highlight that I love my husband and that my life revolves around him and my children. I fell in love with Mani instantly. He’s my Mr Right and I’m lucky to have him. He understands me and makes an effort to keep me happy,” Hira said.
Talking about her childhood, Hira said, “I was like a tomboy and always fought with my brothers. I was active and energetic in my childhood. My brothers always praised me and my parents gave me a lot of confidence as well. It is the love and care of my parents and my siblings that has helped me a lot in various stages of my life.”
Hira is a simple person who still enjoys eating from roadside vendors.
Talking about her acting career, Hira said, “I’m one of those rare actresses whose career in acting began after her marriage and that too on the insistence of my husband. So far, my journey has been beautiful and smooth and I credit all that to my husband. I try to do justice to the characters I play.”
Talking about the kind of interviews she gives on screen, Hira said, “Recently, I gave an interview to Samina Pirzada and it went viral. In that interview, I spoke about my life and that interview gave people the chance to understand and get to know me. I’m not fake as I try to be as honest as possible. Many prominent actresses praised me after that interview. I don’t like competition. These attributes of my personality came to light after that interview.”
Hira is a domesticated person and values her family life more than anything. Shedding further light on her relationship with her husband, she said, “I have learned from Mani that if people don’t recognise you as yet, then you’re not working hard enough. I want to work for the masses. It gives me great pleasure to talk to my fans and give them autographs inside shopping malls or on roads.”
Hira has been appearing in drama serials for the last two years. She has appeared in six to seven dramas as yet.
“The best part of my career is that I get positive feedback and a lot of praise even from working on those dramas in which my appearance is very brief,” she added.
“I’ve been offered many roles including some negative characters as well but so far I’ve declined those because I can’t act against my nature. I’m not ruling out negative roles but I feel I’m not ready for them as yet,” she said, adding that I was already a mother when I entered show business and people have created a perception that being a mother I cannot be cast in a lead role. I was offered side roles which I did not accept and for that I’m grateful to Danish Nawaz who gave me the lead role in ‘Sun Yaara’. It was a play that revolved around only me and I did my best to prove everyone around that I deserved it. I believe plays are not good or bad but it is the actor who makes them good or bad.
Hira shared that ‘Dil Mom Ka Diya’ was also a good experience for her.
“Initially I was offered the character of Ulfat but when I read it, I got the feeling that the role didn’t suit me. I talked to the director about it who agreed with me and gave me the role of Tamkinat. I starred opposite Imran Ashraf and really enjoyed it. When I get an enthusiastic partner, it brings the best out of me and Imran Ashraf is that kind of partner. I feel that this drama was not about us but due to our powerful acting, the whole story shifted towards us,” she said.
Talking about her future plans, Hira revealed that ‘Aseer-e-Mohabbat’ was her upcoming drama serial. She is also doing an out of box drama with Marina Khan and Sajid Ali on the topic of magic. Sharing her thought about Pakistan’s cinema industry, Hira sounded upbeat. She said that in limited resources, “our people are doing amazing work and instead of criticising them, we should appreciate them”.
Talking about her own plans to work in Pakistan’s cinema industry, Hira said that she is waiting for the appropriate script to launch herself in the Pakistani film industry.
Hira also revealed that the shooting of her first ever movie under the banner of Hira Mani Productions was in progress. “It’s a love story and the shooting is underway in Bahrain,” she announced. Hira is a fan of Mahira Khan and Sanam Saeed and is over the moon when they praise her work.
The writer is a freelance journalist. He can be reached at [email protected] and Tweets at @KhurramZiaKhan
Published in Daily Times, January 27th 2019.