Don’t call me Mona

Three months ago, Sara Loren, better known in Pakistan as Mona Lizza, TV actress, dancer, model, packed up her belongings and moved to Mumbai. The 25-year-old, who appeared in TV serials like “Rabiya Zinda Rahegi” and “Main Mar Gayee Shaukat Ali”, was selected by the Bhatt father-daughter duo to appear in Kajraare alongside singer and first-time actor Himesh Reshammiya. The movie was shown in only two theatres in Mumbai in October 2010 and never garnered much attention this side of the border either.

But Loren isn’t giving up — not even close. According to the actress, her journey is just beginning, and she is ready to switch countries to make it big … even if she has to start from scratch. Here, the bombshell talks to us about not being appreciated in Pakistan, having no time for love and how she still looks and feels like she’s 19.

Just when we were all finally getting used to your unusual choice of name, you changed it to Sara Loren. Why?

Because so many Mona Lizza’s come up when you type in the name on the internet. It’s a very common name somehow. And the new agency that I’m working with in India, Kwan — they also represent Ranbir Kapoor — didn’t want it. They used Italian actress Sophia Loren’s name for inspiration.

And since I’m starting over, and this time in Bollywood, I thought I should have a new stage name. I went to a numerologist who told me that there was an issue with the two z’s I used to put in Lizza. Maybe that’s why I didn’t get the kind of fame that I deserved in the past seven years.

Why did you get up and move in the first place?

After Kajraare, I obviously wanted to move. After starring in one film, any actor would want to do nothing less than another film, and there weren’t any good opportunities in Pakistan. I wanted to discover myself, to groom myself.

When I started, my career was really simple: somebody saw my photograph and I got offered a Fair and Lovely ad and then TV roles just kept on coming. I didn’t have to struggle. Now I’m struggling. But I’m ready for it, because I want to start over as an actor. I have already worked seven years as an actor in Pakistan but now I’m ready to put in a couple more years to re-establish myself.

Aren’t you fearful that you will soon start looking too old for an industry that is all about youth and superficial beauty?

I think I look like I’m 18 or 19. And I don’t think the industry is that superficial anymore, either. Today people look at the quality of your work. Look at Vidya Balan, or Katrina Kaif — they’re probably near 30 and they’re ruling the Indian film industry. Kareena Kapoor is probably around 35 and she is at the peak of her career. I don’t think much about being 25. I feel 19, and I look 19.

Why didn’t Kajraare do well at the box office?

Because Himesh is not a hero. I did the film because I liked my role, I wanted to test myself as an actor and I wanted to experience Bollywood. They were looking for a Pakistani actress and they liked my pictures. I got superb reviews from everyone. I think everybody ordered the film on DVD and watched it at home.

What have you been working on recently?

I’ve just been looking for the right role. There are a few projects in the pipeline and I’ll announce my new project around June or July.

How do you like Mumbai?

I’ve travelled around the world but I just really like Mumbai — maybe because they speak our language. But I also love the reality of Mumbai. On one side you’ll see a Mercedes and on the other you can see a man living on the streets and having his tea. Every corner has a story. I live alone in an apartment in this area called Versova.  I’ve accepted that it is a period of struggle in my life. It may take a year or two to really settle down well. Not a big deal.

What do you do for fun? Have you made any friends?

I haven’t made too many friends, because I’ve been busy working. I take Kathak classes regularly, go for drives on Queen’s Road, and eat lots of great vegetarian food.

Do you still visit Pakistan or are you a hardcore Mumbai girl now?

I recently came back for Deepak Perwani’s Lawn ad campaign. I think he has very good design sense and is very particular about prints, colours and class. Since Sonam Kapoor and Karishma Kapoor’s lawn shoots for Pakistani mills, people in India have also started talking about lawn. After six months, when I sign a project, I hope to advertise lawn in India as well.

Did you ever think you were going to become an actress?

I took up my first couple of projects because of the money. When my father died and we moved to Pakistan from Kuwait, times were tough and I wanted to support my family. I loved actresses like Babra Sharif, Sabiha Khanum and Rekha, but never imagined that I would be an actress one day. After my Fair and Lovely ad, I randomly decided to audition for a role in “Rabiya Zinda Rahegi” which was being directed by S Suleman. When I delivered my lines, he told me that it wasn’t a speech, it was dialogue. I said, “Sir, I don’t know how to act.” He asked me to take the script home, and to practice it in front of a mirror. When I auditioned again after two days, he signed me. After that, I never had to audition for any role. Then I just started getting roles.

S Suleman kept on grooming me. Once, I was doing a scene where my screen mother had to slap me and I was supposed to cry, but I just wasn’t able to cry on set. Suleman sahab looked at Badar Khalil and gestured to her to actually slap me. She slapped me so hard that I naturally started crying. That convinced me that if I get really involved in something, then I can actually act very well.

Why do you think you never got any critical acclaim for your acting in Pakistan?

I’ve done a whole range of roles in my seven years as an actress in Pakistan. The fact that I never got nominated for a Lux Style Award is something that really baffles me. Maybe it’s because I was never really involved with the fashion media, focusing instead on enhancing my acting skills.

“Main Mar Gayee Shaukat Ali” was a big hit. It was watched in every village. They should have nominated that. And this may be the reason I wanted to move to Bollywood — it is one place where the smallest of achievements are noticed.

Seven years is a long time. If I have showcased my range and capabilities then come on, give me good work yaar! I am a crazy actor. I am looking for roles. I am a girl who can attempt any kind of role and I think I have proven that already.

Then how come you never reached the level of success and recognition that actors such as Reema or Aisha Khan have experienced?

It may be because people were not able to understand me in Pakistan. It’s true that there has always been some sort of confusion about me. Perhaps it is because my range as an actor is very high. And then I got an offer from Bollywood so fast. The way they presented me inKajraare was so good that I don’t think any Pakistani woman has ever gotten that kind of presentation. Maybe because of that, Pakistani directors and producers were confused as to how to approach me, so this is why I moved to India.

Have you ever tried to understand why Pakistani directors/producers were confused by you?

If I think about these things I’ll probably waste more years of my life. The truth, and I want to say this to the media, is that Pakistan doesn’t support you, while India can suddenly pick you up. This has happened with people like Adnan Sami and Nusrat Fateh Ali. I am not a regular actress. I don’t think any girl in Pakistan has done the range of roles that I have. And with my beauty. I can bet on this.

So you haven’t done anything for Lollywood?

I have recently done an item number for a film called Sultanat with SM Khan. It’s done in a very tasteful way. I don’t believe in vulgarity, I believe in sexuality.

Talking about sexuality, like other Pakistani actresses, you’ve also gotten a lot of criticism for going across the border and being portrayed as a sex symbol. How do you feel about that?

Standards for films have gone up, we are competing with Hollywood now. I am a bold girl and a serious actor. When I saw myself inKajraare, I had no idea that I would look this good on the big screen. And then I realised that the camera loves me. So, why not?

You looked very hot, I must admit. Would you choose more roles that showcase this sizzling sexuality?

Well, I’ve already said no to a few films where there were way too many intimate scenes and not much of a role for a serious actress. There was a film called Zila Ghaziabad with Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vivek Oberoi. I said no to that film. I have said no to two, three more films because of the same reasons.

But if there is a strong role for me in a film that requires me to do some intimate scenes, yeah I’ll do them. The world has really evolved. The issue with Pakistan is that we do everything ‘wrong’ in our own homes but not publicly. We don’t have any class internationally. I know I’m a Pakistani and if I’ve gotten the opportunity to do this out of a thousand other girls, then I want to make everyone proud. I don’t want to be labeled as the girl who went to India and took her clothes off. In India, every girl is standing here waiting to take her clothes off … it’s not a big deal. Why does everybody appreciate Vidya Balan? Because she’s an actor. She is playing a role. She did Dirty Picture and got rave reviews. If you can’t do all of this then you won’t fit in. I haven’t regretted any scene that I’ve done. In fact, I think I looked good.

What do you think of the fame and recognition Veena has garnered in India in a short amount of time?

Well, if she wants to do an item number and she likes that kind of attention then yes, why not? I think she has taken a really bold step. But I do believe though that this kind of fame is very short lived. I mean, if you pose nude and write ‘ISI’ on your arm, obviously it’s going to get attention, but not necessarily the right kind. There are no blessings for you. If people don’t love you, I don’t feel like you’re a star.

Would you ever consider doing a publicity stunt to get attention faster?

People do it and it works for them, but I never understood the point of doing it myself. With Veena, I think it worked.  What Meera did worked for her as well. Even here in India, she leaked news that Bhatt Sahab had slapped her. People here think Pakistani actresses are psycho! Then there are actresses like Zeba Bakhtiar and Salma Agha, who came here to act and are praised for their grace to this day. But I’ll never take the help of a scandal to catapult myself to fame, even if it takes me longer to establish myself.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, March 18^th, 2012.

University student lands job at Microsoft Corporation

“One should pursue a career in a subject that interests them and that they are in love with. Success will follow,” says Muhammad Abdur Rauf – a talented 21-year-old student from Lahore who has recently landed an enviable job at the Microsoft Corporation… before completing his bachelor’s degree in computer science.

A computer science major at the Lahore University of Management Science’s (LUMS) School of Science and Engineering, Rauf was recently hired by Microsoft as a Software Development Engineer. Rauf’s new job will require him to use his skills testing computer programmes and software for technical faults, or ‘bugs’ as they are more commonly referred to.

It was, however, only after a rigorous hiring process that Rauf secured a place at Microsoft. He applied for the opening through the company’s website in December last year, and was interviewed over the phone by representatives in February. According to the LUMS website, he was then asked to travel to Dubai – all expenses paid – where he gave four technical interviews during which his previous projects were scrutinised and discussed in detail. He was also asked to solve algorithms and do programmed coding. In his last interview, he was given a coding problem which he was asked to debug. After an exceptional performance, Microsoft offered him a job. He soon accepted. He will be required to report to the company’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington on October 1, 2012.

Rauf says that one winning strategy that enabled him to succeed was his in-depth research about his employer, prior to his job application. He had been told that a team from Microsoft’s Dubai division will interview him. As preparation, he says that he studied a research paper of the very team that was to interview him. “I wanted to understand how they work and what their specific interests are,” he says.

In the past, Rauf has freelanced for some local and international companies. He also has experience in developing software applications for Android-powered devices.

Born in Bahawalnagar, Rauf has lived most of his life in Lahore. There, he attended The Trust School and completed his FSc from the Government College Lahore before he was admitted to LUMS.

Rauf does not come from an affluent family; his father is a civil servant. Keeping his limitations in mind, Rauf applied for LUMS’ National Outreach Program – a need and merit based scholarship. Deemed to be a deserving candidate, he was soon admitted in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at LUMS.

“However, after taking a few courses in humanities and social sciences, I realised that these were not my cup of tea,” he says. “I switched to the computer science major because I had prior interest in the subject”.

As evidenced, Rauf has done well in the subject of his choosing; he also works as a research associate in the computer sciences department. His research interest is in programming languages.

When asked if he ever thought about what he’ll do after landing a dream job, he says: “this is just the beginning! I want some experience working there, and then I want to think about higher studies in a specialised field.”

His advice to his compatriots? Students should not be afraid to fail; they should learn instead to face adversity and handle it to the best of their ability. After identifying one’s interest, Rauf says, one should stay focused and move in a direction that helps them achieve their goals.

“Success didn’t just knock on my door one fine day,” he s

PML-N slams Pasha for backing PTI

slamabad: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has insinuated that General Shuja Pasha’s impending retirement will impair Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).

Speaking outside the Parliament House Saturday, PML stalwart Chaudary Nisar Ali Khan said that General Pasha’s demise will jeopardize the growth of Pakistan’s major “Revolutionary Party”.

“General Pasha’s retirement will make a large revolutionary party orphan,” he said.

Speaking exclusively to Saach TV, on condition of anonymity, a senior leader of PML-N said that ISI’s outgoing chief General Pasha has been involved in abetting the growth of PTI across the country.

Making another startling revelation, he said that veteran politician Chaudhry Shujat Hussain had complained to the army Chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani that General Pasha was involved in creating turncoats, who were offered hefty incentives to join PTI.

He further alleged the General Pasha maintained a grudge against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif as the latter had castigated him in the All Parties Conference for his failure to avert the Abbottabad operation in which US forces intruded into Pakistan’s territory and killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

He claimed that PML-N holds documentary evidence pertaining to General Pasha’s role in backing PTI, and will divulge it in a suitable period in time.

“Pasha’s ouster will bring an end to the political ‘Tsunami’ of PTI,” he added.

Information Secretary of PTI, Shafqat Mehmood emphatically refuted the claims of PML-N leaders, saying that the party is trying to conceal its own historical relationship with the intelligence agencies.

Mehmood said that there is unambiguous evidence that former chief of Mehran Bank, Younis Habib delivered money to Nawaz Sharif in person on behalf of the intelligence agencies.

Speaking about the role of army in the country’s politics, Mehmood commented that his party did not have any proof which could establish that intelligence agencies were currently meddling in the civilian set-up.

However, Mehmood assailed Nawaz for becoming an instrument of the military in the unpopular Memogate scandal. He further claimed that Shahbaz Sharif held clandestine meetings with the army Chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to mend relations with the army.

Renowned political analyst, Haroon ur Rashid said that there was no concrete evidence about ISI’s role in supporting PTI. He lauded the army chief for eliminating the role of the military in politics.

He admitted that General Pasha had said, in a high-level meeting, that he would personally vote for PTI in the general elections.

However, Rashid dispelled the impression that ISI was behind the pervasive rise of PTI.

He further claimed that Shahbaz Sharif met General Kayani six times during his tenure as Chief Minister Punjab to solicit support from the army which was never rendered.

Rashid said that PML-N’s history was fraught with examples in which it was abetted by the spy agencies; however, the army is loath to interfere in politics anymore.

Thin needs to stop being ‘in’

I love fashion and what it has come to represent in modern society- a widely accessible form of individualistic expression, the opportunity to communicate wordlessly from the outside what lies within and a universal, culture-defying form of art. And oh the divine ability to wear something  out-of-style with confidence and suddenly start a trend? I love that the most.

There is no doubt that one of Pakistan’s many gems is its fashion industry. As a Pakistani-American in love with both cultures and often finding myself having to choose between the two, I have no problem pledging my allegiances with the motherland when it comes to my wardrobe. Pakistani fashion is not only doable, it’s beautiful.

However when I peel my eyes away from the clothes and look at the models, all I see is stick-thin figures with jutting cheekbones and razor-sharp clavicles balanced on legs the width of a healthy person’s forearms, staring at the camera with a hungry look in their large, blank eyes. These girls are thin. I mean it. Many of them desperately need sandwiches.

The trend is recent, undeniably western, and inescapable – on runways, glossy magazine pages, and in music videos. The thin standard is an unspoken and largely visual rule, but our reliable-as-ever television hosts have no doubt used their spotlight to openly preach the virtues associated with maintaining a skinny frame as well.

I am sure most of us remember Shaadi Online from Geo TV and their hosts, flowing with pre-marital gems and advice to bestow upon their audience. My favorite (or least favorite) gem is one I will never forget. The wise uncle said:

“Chahey shakal surat ho na ho. rishtey ke waqt larki ka vazan zaroor dekha jaata hai.”

(It doesn’t matter if the girl is good looking or not, but her weight does matter at the time of the marriage proposal)

Nailed it.

Uncle couldn’t have spelled out the rule more plainly if he tried; become thin and you win a husband.

The message is clear: thin is attractive, modern, sophisticated. It is the ultimate beauty ideal for the Pakistani woman.

How surprising, sad, and utterly unrepresentative of the traditional South Asian physique. A look back a few hundred years will tell a different story of what it once meant to be as beautiful as a South Asian woman. Mughal artists painted the women of the day with soft, curving strokes- the silhouette of a hip, the bend of an arm.

The flowing lines outlining the women of the Mughal period convey messages of femininity, fertility, and the celebration of flesh. They juxtapose almost comically against the harsh angles of today’s ideal. Yesterday’s women, once seen as the epitome of beauty, would be viewed today as the stark opposite of it. If they existed today, these women who once served as muses would be told that they’re too fat and will probably never get married. ”Vazan zaroor dekha jaata hai,” they’d be informed. The latest of our people would have shunned the earliest of them.

So what do we gain when we lose our traditional standards of beauty and follow a western ideal? A whole lot of low self esteem, it appears.

A recent study was conducted in Pakistan on of both male and female university students in their early twenties. The study evaluated levels of Body Image Dissatisfaction (BID), in these young adults, and measured the findings against each subject’s level of exposure to media.

The results confirmed the inevitable: young Pakistanis with high levels of media exposure are more likely to have greater BID than those with lower exposure levels. What’s more, many young women with high exposure levels who took part in the study vocalized a desire to conform to the thin standard. They saw themselves as outside of it. Outside of the very ideal shoved down their throats through the television and magazines surrounding them.

Pretty ironic, that a country with some of the lowest worldwide rates of obesity is facing increasing rates of young women perceiving themselves as overweight.

In a perfect world, the media industry would be held accountable for the negative messages it conveys to its mass viewership. Instilling a widespread sense of paranoia, low self-esteem, and unrealistic weight perceptions, however subconsciously, can only open the doors for the growth of unhealthy epidemics among young people in and outside of Pakistan, including eating disorders and the reliance on harmful third-party substances to control weight.

It seems as though the obsession is already beginning to take its toll. Time Magazine recently reported on a wave of teenage girls posting their videos  on YouTube, seeking validation from complete strangers by asking bluntly-“Am I pretty or ugly?” In one clip, a girl says:

“I think I am ugly and fat, but all of my friends that are girls, they’re just like, oh you are so beautiful. I’m like ‘shut up, because I’m not beautiful.’”

It’s about time that the entertainment and media industry starts contributing to the prosperity of its viewership by presenting diverse, universal, and above all, realistic images of people conveying positive messages about health, beauty, and self-esteem.

In many countries, the media has stepped up to this challenge. In 2006, Spain banned models with an unhealthy body mass index (BMI) from walking the runway during Madrid Fashion Week as a response to the popularization of the rail-thin, “heroin-chic” look in models. The country continues its no-tolerance policy towards unhealthy images to this day.

There is no question that, like Spain, Pakistani media holds the power to affect change- the question is whether they will choose to do so, and if they do, whether the choice will be positive and accepting of the masses.