Is anti-hero the new hero? | Instep

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Step interview

Gauhar Rasheed is one of the few actors of the new era who has proved his talent in a very short span of time. He started as a line producer which paved the way to roles in theater productions and then one opportunity led to another. From earning a nomination for his performance in his debut film Seedlings (2013) to his brilliant portrayal of a spoiled brat and abusive husband Mikael in last year’s popular drama serial Mann Mayal, Rasheed has come a long way. is And so it comes as no surprise that the actor is gearing up for three big screen projects this year, including Hasan Waqqas Rana’s wartime saga Yilgar, Amir Mohiuddin’s Rangreza and his own production Maidan.

We caught up with the actor on a sunny afternoon during his visit to Karachi where he is currently shooting for the last spell of Rangreza. He was dressed casually, sporting a mustache and long hair that he has grown for his role in the film. “Just trying to look the part,” he smiles as he begins to talk about his character Waseem who is more of an anti-hero.

“I play Waseem, a drummer in a Qawal band. He is a very complex and vulnerable person and deals with very relatable human emotions. He is a proper musician with prior knowledge and connection to the field. and he addresses himself as ‘Wasim’. He becomes insecure when he sees someone relatively new gaining fame and acclaim.”

Rangreza is a musical commercial film for which the music is given by Abida Parveen and Q (Quram Hussain) of the group Josh. Rashid said that the film is an interesting blend of emotions, situations and of course music. “It speaks to the imbalance in our society; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. But it does so in a very humorous way, nothing preachy. Urwa (Hakin), me and There is also a love triangle between Bilal Ashraf.

Gauhar Rashid does not belong to a family of actors. His father is a businessman and expects to join the family business after completing his bachelor’s in theatre, film and television. But Rashid, who calls himself a risk-taker, chose a different path and became an actor “by accident”.

“Becoming an actor was a complete coincidence; it was never in the pipeline for me. I believe acting is the only profession where it doesn’t matter whether you’re a star kid or not. It doesn’t matter if you Amitabh Bachchan’s son (laughs).

Coming back to Rashid’s cinematic ventures, the actor is all set to don the producer’s hat for Maidan which stars the talented and versatile Nauman Ijaz. Rashid stated that it is “a complete commercial family entertainment film” based on a true incident and will enter its pre-production stage later this year. Also, Yilghaar featuring an all-star ensemble including Shaan Shahid and Humayun Saeed will finally see the light of day this year.

Talking about Yilgar, Rasheed noted, “Yilgar is like the Avengers of Pakistan. I play a militant named Baran. He is not black and white like our characters usually are. are – it’s a gray character that deals with redemption and it’s the only three-dimensional character in the film.”

While talking about movies, we also discussed the current state of Pakistani cinema. Films that have come out in the recent past have disappointed critics and audiences alike.

“Why are they disappointed?” Rashid replied angrily.

“Before this current era, Pakistan’s film industry was in ashes, it was 6 feet under the ground. At least we are making films; Pakistani content is also coming out internationally and people know that Pakistani film industry. It’s not that we have a proper infrastructure to make films, many studios or funds from the government and yet we are not coming up with good products, most of the actors have no experience in making films Directors come from television, to trial and error There has to be some margin.”

He continued, “The problem with us as an audience is that we are more influenced by Bollywood and we start comparing our films with them. They have a long history in filmmaking and yet All his films could not be successful. We will learn from our mistakes and will not be too harsh in future. There are no film critics in Pakistan but you don’t call yourself a critic. That I did before my film came out Started reviewing them, the first one I heard was ‘Mera Dil Chah’ Raha Tha Anko Juta Maroon Sports Film Kabhi Art Film Kugi ?

Apart from film projects, Gauhar Rasheed will also be seen in Angeline Malik’s upcoming TV drama Mohse Jeene Do (tentatively titled) which will deal with the issue of child marriage. He is playing the role of Nasib who is married to a young girl. Rashid, who makes sure he associates himself with projects with strong content, believes that child marriage is an ugly reality of our society (especially rural areas) and wants to highlight it. Need

For Rasheed, content is an important factor in choosing a project as he believes it has the power to leave an impact on the audience. What did Manmayal teach the audience?

“Someone once came up to me and told me that he was just like Mikael in Manmayal and my character presented him with a picture of how he treats the people around him. He said that he They realized their mistakes and corrected themselves. Because of my work, a person is able to make a positive change in his life, it is an achievement.

But wasn’t the drama too reactionary?

“It was reactionary? Don’t look at it,” Rasheed said sternly.

“I think the audience is at fault here,” he asserted. “Women watch it, they relate to it. I don’t know why. If they disagree with dramas that target women, they should boycott them. Aese dramey banna band hojaenge.”

However, as an actor, Rashid is not comfortable playing certain roles on screen. Although he refused to play the villain in Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja, which portrayed Pakistan in a negative light, he had reservations about playing roles that demanded physical abuse of women. At first it seems strange as an actor is expected to embrace his character but after hearing his thoughts we respect him.

“I have a certain responsibility as an actor within this vicious circle that I can only fulfill to a certain extent. And that is that I will not physically abuse women.” There was a scene in Manmayal where I had to slap Manu but I refused to do it. That and thankfully my writer and director understood my point that I don’t want to tell you guys that it’s too easy to slap. Mind that it’s normal because they see it on television every day so it’s not normal!”

Talking about the competition, Rasheed said that he is not competing with his fellow artistes as he believes that they are not risk takers and are here to be heroes whereas he is seen as someone who But want to remember who was a good actor instead of a good hero.

At the end of the interview, I asked him to define ‘pupu boys’ – a term he had used in his earlier interviews. “Pappu boys are those with good complexions and cat eyes (laughs). To me, people who don’t know how to act but are still acting are more pappu.”

This reminded us of someone and we shared a laugh.

Image Courtesy:

Ahsan Qureshi