Hadiqa Kiani is a singer par excellence and she has a successful career spanning over decades as a musician in Pakistan. Who would have thought that this singer, who appeared in a few TV commercials, will venture into acting one day? Not just that but her first project as an actor will be Kashif Nisar’s directorial, Raqeeb Se. A few weeks into the drama and her performance has proved that she has even conquered this arena successfully.
Hadiqa recently had an exclusive chat with Something Haute, in which she shared why it took her so long to take acting professionally and why she chose Raqeeb Se for her debut?
“I believe that there is a time for everything. I have been offered roles previously as well but I think I was blessed with this opportunity by the Almighty and I had not a single reason to reject it. Shoaib Mansoor sahab offered me a role in Alpha, Bravo Charlie very early on in my career. At that time, I was in the UK for a tour and I had to stay there so I had to miss it. Later, the offers I got were not interesting enough for me. Interestingly, I have always said in my interviews that I don’t know how to act and I still stand by it that I can’t act,” she laughingly said.
Hadiqa Kiani & Iqra Aziz in Raqeeb Se
However, the audience have loved her performance in the drama and even stars have appreciated her work.
“I think I just good observational skills when it comes to watching different characters and personalities around me. Sakina is a result of my observation because I know a lot of women like her. I was talking to my sister and she told me that Sakina is a part of me as well because I have lived a phase in my life where I experienced abuse — physical or verbal — and this was a way to purge it all out. I have suppressed my emotions a lot of times in my life where I didn’t want my mother, my brother or my son to see that I am crying. But Sakina gave me a platform to burst it all out,” she shared.
Hadiqa explained how her co-actor Naumaan Ijaz, who plays Maqsood Sahab in the drama, helped him a lot.
“Naumaan taught me how to negate yourself and immerse in a character to play it truthfully. That’s the only way it won’t appear shallow and even as a singer, I always want my music to touch hearts and souls so, I was essential for me to do the same in acting. I understood and adapted to the tonal changes for dialogue delivery easily because I am trained to do that as a vocalist,” she added.
Watch the full interview here to know how she landed up the role, created Sakina, and what to expect from the story:
