Hareem Farooq is a well-known name in the entertainment industry. Though she hasn’t been here for long, she has carved a niche for herself with distinctive choices; she entered into film production in early stages of her career because she was always passionate about filmmaking. We haven’t seen her since her last film Heer Maan Ja was released in 2019 but we’re sure she will come up with something good and worth our time in her next venture. In the meanwhile, Hareem recently gave an exclusive interview to the London-based channel, PAK5 News, which is out now!
In the show In Dialogue with Ahsan Zaman, the actor talks at length about Feminism, Madam Noor Jehan, Osman Khalid Butt, Bollywood films, Aurat March, her views on body shaming, Mehreen Jabbar and her career as a successful film producer.
Here are some highlights from the interview:
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On producing films as a woman
Being a producer and actor in some famous Pakistani films like Parchi, Janaan and Heer Man Ja, Hareem Farooq also shared her views on rebirth of Pakistan’s film industry. In a candid conversation, she shared her experience on the challenges she faced as a film producer.
“The most difficult thing that you have to do in Pakistan is make a film, we have a lack of resources, we are out of experience as far as films are concerned. You have to start everything from scratch,” she said.
When asked if Hareem had faced problematic male attitudes and patriarchy when making films in Pakistan, Hareem said:
“I don’t take patriarchy into consideration, I don’t take gender into consideration. I don’t care if there’s a man sitting in front or a woman sitting in front of me. Be it a man or a woman, let’s talk business, let’s talk work. It’s like don’t give me that gender thing… I am not here to gossip with you, I am not here to hangout with you, I am here to work.”
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Feminism & Aurat March
The host Ahsan Zaman asked Hareem about her views on Aurat March and Feminism in Pakistan.
“I think you know finally it was time that women got up, and I’m glad that they’re united at a certain front,” she replied.
“Definitely there a few feminist views I might not completely agree with. But one thing that I do absolutely agree with and I am talking about extreme feminist views, I am not talking about the basic feminist views. Because for me feminism is all about equality. It’s not about that I am better than a man, or a man is better than me. It is definitely about equality, there is noting more to it… Feminism for me is not about that ‘Oh my God, I am going to kill all those men’,” she stated.
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Introducing new trends
In connection to the marketing and distribution of films, Hareem clarified: “We started this (marketing trend) from our film, Janaan. Before that, nobody invested so much in marketing. We were the first ones who started investing heavily into marketing.”
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Challenges she faced
When asked what has been one single biggest challenge that she faced to reach where she is right now, Hareem replied:
“There hasn’t been one single challenge; there have been multiple challenges. There have been so many, starting from the day I decided to become an actor, being 103 kg, being bashed or body shamed at a larger scale. Before that I did not event know that it mattered.”
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Her favourite film
On a lighter question when asked about her favourite film, Hareem had an answer ready.
“Okay… so off the top of my head is Moulin Rouge. To this day, visually, it still is by far one of my favourite films. It was it for me and I was like ‘Oh my God, ye bhi ho sakta hai!'” (Moulin Rouge was directed by Baz Lahurmann and starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor).
Watch the full interview here to know to find out what she said about Osman Khalid Butt, and Bollywood films:
