Here comes the sun

It didn’t take Hania Amir long to conquer hearts. In fact, it took her a total of one film, two dimples and one very candid interview to conquer ours. Amir’s spectacular debut in Janaan caught everyone’s attention and now the young actress is all set to appear in two very big films: Na Maloom Afraad 2, starring Fahad Mustafa, Urwa Hocane, Javed Sheikh and Mohsin Abbas Haider and Parvaz Hai Junoon starring Hamza Ali Abbasi and newcomer Ahad Raza Mir.

The budding star clearly has a lot on her plate. Two films, two TV plays and one college education as well since she is in the middle of completing her Bachelor’s degree in business from Foundation of Advancement of Sciences and Technology University (FAST) in Islamabad. How is the young star managing her studies with all her work and travelling? “I’ve taken two semesters off from school. I’ll go back in August,” shared Amir when we sat down for our interview.

Since Amir was such a natural in Janaan, one would assume that she had prior acting experience. But Amir informed us that Janaan’s producer Imran Kazmi discovered her over the Internet. “I was internet famous for my dubsmashes and vines and random funny videos. He saw them on some page and he sent me a message on Facebook and that went to the ‘others’ folder. A mutual friend of ours then called me and told me to check my inbox and I finally saw the message two months late. He asked me if I’d like to do film and I was like sure, why not!”

This spontaneous attitude is very much part and parcel of who Hania Amir is as person. If you try asking her what she has planned for the next couple of years, Amir will shrug her shoulders and say, “Let’s just go with the flow.” We did ask Amir whether she ever imagined she would be pursuing an acting career, to which Amir joked, “I always wanted to work at McDonald’s!”

Hania Amir with her Janaan co-star, Armeena Rana Khan

But all jokes apart, Amir has been getting a lot of good offers and a chance to work with some of the best talent that Pakistan has to offer. As a newcomer in the industry, what’s the most exciting part for Amir? “I don’t know, I just chill and don’t really think anything about it. I’m like ‘okay, cool’. You want me to do this? ‘Yea sure, why not.’ I’m just taking it easy and not letting it get to my head. I’m not being like that keh mein koi cheez hoon. I don’t want to be like that, because there are many like that,” she laughed at her own honesty.

This made us wonder whether she had personally met such stars yet. “Some people just give that vibe that they think that they are the s***. Can someone please tell them that if they’re a nice person, I’ll like them more? I always wonder why people want to work with me. It’s because I’m friendly and I treat people the same way. I don’t believe that I should treat people badly just to get respect or be feared. I’ve seen women coming to sets and throwing tantrums about the AC not working or the food not being there on time. It’s crazy!”

We can’t imagine what it must be like working with such difficult people but Amir makes it sound like it’s no big deal. “Yes such people are annoying, but I don’t let such behavior affect my work. I’ll be like, okay XYZ is late and isn’t on set on time. I’ll just sit and wait till that person is here then, no problem.”

The first thing that comes after speaking to Amir is that she harnesses a lot of positive energy and she radiates with a glow that isn’t because of her beautiful smile or her flawless skin but from something that comes from within. Where do these good vibes come from? “I think I saw a lot of negativity while growing up and in such a situation you can do either of two things: you can become crazy or you can counter and become opposite of what you see. So yea, I think I became the opposite. I’m always looking at the bright side.”

Clearly, kindness is an important trait for Amir and she looks for it in her immediate surroundings. “This actually happened with me. I was a huge fan of this big star and that person said something really mean to another person. And I thought to myself, ‘yaar, you just lost a fan!’ I mean, you should be humble and thankful for the respect and the love you’re getting,” replied Amir in a slightly exasperated tone. “Just don’t hurt people, don’t treat people badly. Even if you’re asking for water, do it nicely. I just don’t like people who are cruel to others.”

Thankfully, Amir hasn’t been on the receiving end of such behavior but she has noticed that ever since she has become famous, there are a lot of rumours floating around about her. “A lot of people talk about me in the industry and say things like ‘oh, she has an attitude problem. And those who know me just laugh at this accusation.”

But what’s the worst rumour Amir has heard about herself so far? “So many people make up rumours about my personal life. Whoever I work with suddenly becomes someone I’m dating. There was a fan page for Ahmed (Ali) and I recently. And I was like if he sees this, he’ll be like ‘What is this?! Pairing me up with this infant?’” laughed Amir. Apparently she has been paired up with a lot of people, even a friend from her childhood, and is now sick of seeing the words ‘Cute together,’ ‘Couple goals,’ and ‘MA MA (Mashallah, Mashallah) on her pictures.

Amir isn’t completely opposed to the idea of dating someone in the industry though. “If I find someone nice, then sure, why not,” and we both started laughing at this answer. By now we had figured out that Amir has a very ‘sure, why not’ attitude to life.

“You’ll see that I say this to everything because I don’t plan that far ahead in life,” she concluded. “But I do have some basic ambitions. I know that I have to be positive, give good vibes, be happy, be nice to everyone, family priorities, be kind. This is the basic thing that I just have to be a good person, and everything else comes around it.”

This article was originally published in Instep, 16th April.