{"id":11243,"date":"2021-08-02T06:10:17","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T06:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/?p=11243"},"modified":"2021-08-02T06:10:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T06:10:17","slug":"kubra-khan-is-keeping-it-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/2021\/08\/02\/kubra-khan-is-keeping-it-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Kubra Khan is keeping it real"},"content":{"rendered":"

My most vivid recent recollection of Kubra Khan is of her on TV, whirling on a stage, her hair flying about, her gaze vacant. Husn-i-Jahan, she was called in the TV drama\u00a0Alif<\/em>, a name that implied that she encompassed all the beauty of the world. The character was riveting, struggling to stand by her morals, fending off societal prejudices and ultimately destined for a poignant, tragic end.<\/p>\n

When I meet Kubra for this interview she\u2019s certainly not in an elaborate peshwaaz a la Husn-i-Jahan. Instead, she\u2019s wearing a T-shirt with a Disney character grinning on it \u2014 \u2018Abu\u2019 the monkey from Aladdin. She is effortlessly beautiful, quite like her on-screen avatars, but fortunately, not despondent like Husn-i-Jahan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe audience sometimes assumes that an actor is like his or her on-screen character, but I\u2019ve never tried to encourage this thinking by behaving in a certain way,\u201d Kubra says. \u201cI am my own person with opinions, living life the way I want to, wearing the clothes I like. I\u2019d never pretend to be like a character. I\u2019m more of a geek,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Kubra, though, is not a geek. She\u2019s just very, very real. She may be hugely popular and working in a slew of top-notch projects and yet, she doesn\u2019t seem to have the patience for putting on celebrity airs and graces. Instead, she laughs often, is refreshingly candid and makes intuitive observations.<\/p>\n

Her life, at present, is moving at breakneck speed, careening from one major acting project to the other and her eyes glow when she talks about them. She is just as enthusiastic as she tries to plan a mini-vacation in the few free days she has in between work, or when she talks about the regular \u2018game nights\u2019 that she has with her close friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just started playing Catan and Gohar\u2019s been winning,\u201d she wrinkles her nose and grins as she talks about her \u2018bestie\u2019, actor Gohar Rasheed.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, when I think about Kubra now, some days following our interview, she strikes me as the sort of girl that anyone could relate to. She grins, cracks jokes and is just so naturally likeable that, despite the fact that she\u2019s a bona fide star, you feel like you know her.<\/p>\n

At one point she tells me, \u201cI\u2019d forgotten how much I loved to dance and ever since I recently danced at a wedding, I\u2019ve remembered. And now my friends and I are dancing all the time!\u201d And then, \u201cI cried within five minutes of beginning to watch the animated movie Up. And I cry constantly during Disney\u2019s\u00a0Lion King<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

I tell her that I will be needing images of her to accompany the interview, and that she shouldn\u2019t be holding a weapon in them. Kubra finds this extremely funny, even though I tell her that there have indeed been past cover story images where weapons, erroneously used as props by celebrities, have had to be Photoshopped out with great effort. When she does email me the images, she tells me that she was considering getting photographed with a toy gun just to scare me!<\/p>\n

\n
\"Humayun<\/picture><\/div>
Humayun Saeed and Kubra Khan on the sets of\u00a0London Nahin Jaunga<\/em>\u00a0| Photo: Mohammad Kamran Jawaid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I ask her for hair and make-up credits for the images and she replies, \u201cI do my own hair and make-up, because then it has \u2018my\u2019 feel to it. If you want to give me credit you\u2019re welcome to!\u201d she chortles over a WhatsApp voice note. So rare. And so real.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, this very real girl, who came to Pakistan from London seven odd years ago, has seen the highs and lows of celebrity life. She\u2019s enjoyed the support of a loyal fan-base but also borne the wrath of online trolls; endured busy movie shoots as well as spans of time with nothing to do; made friends and suffered heartbreak. She\u2019s had phases when she has considered leaving her high-pressure career and returning to her family in London. And yet, here she is today, working with some of the most powerful names in Pakistan\u2019s entertainment industry, getting ready to storm the TV screen with some very intriguing projects.<\/p>\n

The fate of her movie with ARY Films and Six Sigma Plus, the star-studded\u00a0London Nahin Jaunga<\/em>\u00a0(LNJ), has been hanging in the balance since last year, ever since cinemas closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the meantime, Kubra\u2019s springboarding right into TV\u2019s crowded, competitive waters. Her drama\u00a0Hum Kahaan Kay Sachchay Thay<\/em>\u00a0(HKST), co-starring Mahira Khan and Usman Mukhtar, and directed by Farooq Rind, begins airing this weekend on the Hum TV Network.<\/p>\n

In addition, she\u2019s about to begin shooting for\u00a0Sinf-i-Aahan<\/em>, a joint production between ARY Digital with Next Level Entertainment, Six Sigma Plus and the ISPR. The drama, directed by Nadeem Baig, will also star Sajal Aly, Yumna Zaidi, Ramsha Khan and Syra Yousuf.<\/p>\n

Later this summer, she\u2019ll be flying off to Pakistan\u2019s northern regions to work in\u00a0Sang-i-Maa<\/em>, spearheaded by the same team that she worked with in her debut drama\u00a0Sang-i-Mar Ma<\/em>r, including director Saife Hassan and actors Naumaan Ijaz and Sania Saeed. Kubra was also just seen in\u00a0Absolutely Knot<\/em>, a flippant, feel-good Eid-ul-Azha telefilm co-starring Vasay Chaudhry and directed by Nadeem Baig.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a whopping, impressive line-up of work and we begin our interview by focusing in on it\u2026<\/p>\n

Soldier for a day!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Does she feel intimidated by the fact that she\u2019s working with multiple actors in two of her most high-profile projects,\u00a0Sinf-i-Aahan<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0HKST<\/em>? Kubra mulls before answering. \u201cNo, not really. For one, I don\u2019t get intimidated very easily. Also, I have worked with extensive ensemble casts before. Of course, healthy competition is always there and the audience may gravitate towards particular characters but, as long as you do your work well, it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues, \u201cIn\u00a0Hum Kahaan Kay Sachchay Thay,<\/em>\u00a0I\u2019m sharing screen space with Mahira, and it helps that she\u2019s just so down-to-earth. I thought that I was easygoing \u2014 a malang \u2014 but then I met her and it\u2019s wonderful that she\u2019s the same. We\u2019ve had such a great time on set and Usman would be clutching his head, wondering where he\u2019d gotten stuck. Usman\u2019s a great guy too.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, I keep to myself. I don\u2019t intrude upon others. It helps in keeping things cordial when you\u2019re working with a huge cast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Switching gears to\u00a0Sinf-i-Aahan<\/em>, she says, \u201cWhen we go to shoot the drama, we won\u2019t immediately begin filming. For some time, we will be training as cadets, learning how to shoot and salute and do mud crawls! We\u2019re going to be cadets for that time period. This is why I love my job. In what other profession could I suddenly get up and say that, today, I want to be a soldier?\u201d she beams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also really excited about\u00a0Sang-i-Maa<\/em>\u00a0because I\u2019ll be working once again with the team that I had started out with. I had known nothing about acting back then!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kubra may currently be in a position that many of her peers would covet, but has it been tough getting to this point, where she\u2019s working with major names in prestigious projects? Was it, for instance, depressing when the release of her movie,\u00a0LNJ<\/em>, went into limbo due to Covid-19?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy scenes in\u00a0LNJ<\/em>\u00a0had been more or less wrapped up when shooting came to a halt. And yes, it\u2019s sad but there\u2019s nothing that can be done about it right now. I think we\u2019ve all come to terms with the fact that we may have to wait things out for a while more,\u201d she says pragmatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yes, there have been tough times in the past. I took a three-year gap because I wasn\u2019t sure if I wanted to continue doing this. Over time, though, I realised that the fault did not lie in my profession but in how I dealt with it. I realised that I needed to find peace within. And I began to appreciate how a character that I played \u2014 for example, someone like Husn-i-Jahan \u2014 could positively impact people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kubra muses, \u201cIn retrospect, the personal battles that I went through have helped enhance my understanding of acting. I hardly ever need glycerine now! There will be parts that will just naturally tug at my emotions. I can be a total emotional wreck!\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Blessed beginnings, tough times<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\"Kubra<\/picture><\/div>
Kubra Khan in\u00a0Hum Kahan Kay Sachchay Thay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She may have been unsure about continuing on with her profession, but a motley crew of Pakistan\u2019s finest producers and directors certainly seem to have had faith in her, based on her current line-up of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, MD Productions has always been like home, because I started out with them,\u201d says Kubra. \u201cI feel that I can just drop in at any time and say \u2018hi\u2019. My work with Six Sigma has so far been only with Nadeem Baig, and I have blind faith in him. I know that he can mould me into any character.\u201d She crosses her fingers. \u201cI suppose I\u2019m blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even her debut in acting, back in 2014, seems to have been guided by good karma. A random modelling tryst in London led to her striking up a friendship with actors Ahmed Ali Butt and Fatima Khan Butt. They suggested that she should consider acting and, when she visited Lahore to attend the couple\u2019s wedding, Fatima encouraged her to audition for a major commercial being directed by Ahsan Rahim. \u201cShe told Ahsan to let me audition and that he should take me on only if he liked my work,\u201d says Kubra.<\/p>\n

She got the job, following which Ahsan offered her another, bigger commercial, to be shot in Kashmir. \u201cThat was the point when I realised that maybe I could do this,\u201d recalls Kubra. \u201cI have to thank Fatima baji and Ahmed for having encouraged me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It almost seems too easy, I comment. Kubra interjects, \u201cNo, but then it got very difficult. I was working very hard but I was getting hurt by the way people were judging me. For one, they did not like my accent but what was more hurtful were the assumptions that they were making about me. I was just a simple girl who lived with her family in a three-bedroom house in London. I wasn\u2019t who they were making me out to be. Fortunately, I have a tougher, thicker skin now but, back then, I was very new and I didn\u2019t know how to deal with all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues, \u201cYou know, it\u2019s just so sad how people pass these judgments on social media. I know some of the kindest people, the sort of people who you could call in the middle of the night, if there were an emergency, and they would drive you to the hospital. They are good Muslims, good humans, but they still get bashed because they are part of the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is, everything we do is not for public consumption. I remember when I decided to set a few days aside for prayer and sat in aitekaaf, I did not post anything about it. My friend, actress Ushna Shah, found out and she came to congratulate me, and which is how people got to know about it. But it was something very personal and I didn\u2019t want to shout it out to the world. I don\u2019t have to be a certain way just so people could judge me more kindly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does she feel that, beyond the physical hardships of the profession, actors today have to deal with a lot of mental pressure? She nods, now serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely. You know, when we\u2019re shooting, in rain and sunshine, through long days and nights, it\u2019s work. We\u2019re literally pouring our blood and tears into what we\u2019re doing. But someone somewhere, hiding behind a fake identity on Twitter, could say that one word and it could get stuck in our heads, ruining our entire day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is she, consequently, more careful with how she puts herself forward on social media \u2014 perhaps, by avoiding risqu\u00e9 images, given the brouhaha that skin show tends to trigger?<\/p>\n

\u201cI just personally don\u2019t wear clothes that are very risqu\u00e9. I like to be comfortable in what I\u2019m wearing,\u201d she shrugs. \u201cHaving said that, you can\u2019t make everyone happy. I can\u2019t waste my life by going into a shell, worrying about how people I\u2019ve never met and may not even exist, will take offence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone\u2019s shining a bright light at me but I\u2019m not looking at it, that won\u2019t bother me, because I won\u2019t be paying attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes me sad, though, is when women pick on women on the internet. We\u2019re just women like them, trying to live our best lives and fulfill our dreams. And if we can follow our hearts, so can they. But so many people just don\u2019t see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I point out that she does have some fiercely supportive fans. \u201cYes, I\u2019m lucky that people who follow me on Instagram are generally not negative,\u201d she smiles. \u201cI don\u2019t obsess over building fan followings, but I\u2019m happy that the people who follow me, do so because they like my work and not because I\u2019m controversial or that I\u2019m in a high-profile relationship!\u201d<\/p>\n

With\u00a0HKST<\/em>\u00a0premiering, is she looking forward to fans\u2019 reactions and reviews? \u201cDefinitely,\u201d she nods. \u201cI love how the characters in the story are so human. No one\u2019s completely good or completely bad. My character has so many shades that you can just peel off layer after layer. There were times when I was expected to depict 10 different emotions in a single scene! It\u2019s definitely the most difficult character that I\u2019ve played to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tells me that, so far, people associate her the most with Husn-i-Jahan and with Shireen, her character in her debut drama\u00a0Sang-i-Mar Mar<\/em>. But there are so many more roles that she\u2019s playing now, so many stories that she\u2019s about to tell. There will inevitably be many more names and characters connected with Kubra Khan in the coming days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My most vivid recent recollection of Kubra Khan is of her on TV, whirling on a stage, her hair flying about, her gaze vacant. Husn-i-Jahan, she was called in the TV drama\u00a0Alif, a name that implied that she encompassed all the beauty of the world. The character was riveting, struggling to stand by her morals, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11245,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11243\/revisions\/11245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}