‘I even served tea to actors before having my breakthrough’, Imran Ashraf opens up [VIDEO]
Recently, Imran Ashraf, who is currently playing the role of Musa in the television serial Raqs-e-Bismil, appeared in an interview with the BBC. Imran’s presently airing drama series sees his character Musa and his onscreen brother, Essa, carrying forward their father’s patriarchal traditions.
These include oppressing the women of their family to control every aspect of their lives. The serial also stars Sarah Khan, who plays an escort in the garb of a modest and religious woman.
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The actor opened up about many sensitive topics during the BBC talk session, including his life struggles, his character, and how he looks at harassment.
Watch Imran Ashraf’s full BBC interview here:
About acquiring the role of Musa amid the lockdown, Ashraf said:
The pandemic had erupted, and after the role of Bhola, I didn’t get what I was looking for. So when I got a call from showcase productions’ Shazia Wajahat, and she started narrating the script, I instantly got up, and I said, ‘Bhaabi, no one will do this but me, please.’
The actor then recalled his first drama serial with Sarah Khan and said:
I played the role of a supporting character named Gohr e Nayab. I took up that role after playing the main character in Kaala Jaadu, so I think what I’m trying to say is, even after you play the hero, you can take on and be offered the role of minor characters.
When the host asked Imran Ashraf whether he enjoyed working with Sarah Khan, he said:
Sarah is a brilliant girl with zero antics, so being on set with her is peaceful. She is only concerned with the scene she has to perform.
Imran Ashraf talked about how people are criticizing the serial without even giving it a full chance. He complained:
Even after five episodes, they’re still questioning why this or that is happening. I’ll make it easier for them. Raqs-e-Bismil is a story about people from two different worlds. One is Musa, who’s born and brought up in a hyper-conservative household. And then there’s Zohra, whose background is the kind that is frowned upon in our society.
Asserting that Raqs-e-Bismil is also a story about that right to change, Imran Ashraf continued to explain the storyline and said:
These parallels meet, and there is no room for change in either. Musa is cold; he doesn’t respect women. For that reason, he is terrible. But does that mean he does not have the right to learn how to respect women?
When the interviewer asked the actor that “is his characters’ stalking (or what would qualify as street harassment habits), which are usually romanticized in dramas, detrimental in real life?”, Imran Ashraf stated:
Street harassment is wrong, and it shouldn’t happen, but it happens. So how will you show that on television? And I know my character’s stalking qualifies as harassment, but he also tells the heroine that he never wanted to see the way to her house or meet alone. He just wanted to send a proposal. And I don’t think anybody should be denied the right of proposing.
During the interview, Imran Ashraf also talked about his success as an actor and humbly said:
My success came solely through my acting prowess. I never thought I’d be this successful, so I never dreamt of what I’d do once that success comes. My eyes are still opening; the curtains are still lifting. But the struggle … everyone has to go through it.
He concluded the interview by stating:
I have seen adversity. More than half of the industry has had meray haath ki chai. They won’t remember that because I was just a boy who’d bring tea. But I have no complaints because everyone goes through that grind.
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