Pakistani TV Drama

By Aamna Haider Isani

Meera talks in a language better known as scandal. Almost everything she says turns into controversy and it’s one of those controversies that she’s been embroiled in recently that has her emphasising the word Miss. In plain words, she insists she was never married to the man called Ateequr Rahman and the allegations that he slapped upon her were false and baseless. It’s still Miss as far as Meera is concerned though she is quick to exclaim that marriage is not the most important thing in her life and she had rather put this entire fiasco behind her.

“I just spent two months vacationing in Canada, trying to cleanse my system of all this filth,” she says. “Can you please not mention that man in the same sentence as me?”

Meera quickly adds that she is only 27 and she has several ‘good’ proposals in the waiting. She scrolls through her cell phone, showing different pictures as proof. The images show her having a whale of a time at a New Year party in Canada.

Meera’s life is usually as public as it gets but she cuts a lonely figure today as she spends a day in Karachi. She is working on a TV serial – Husn Ara Kaun Thi? – while she waits for her passports which have been confiscated for fraud. “It’s rubbish,” she denies that she has been illegally carrying two different passports. “The only mistake I made was that I didn’t attach my old passport to the new one. Airport officials (in Karachi) were a bit too enthusiastic to hold me up and they had the media ready to pounce even before I landed.”

“Tell me,” she adds with a bit of disgust, “If I had illegal documents then how did I enter America and Canada, where I’ve been these last few months? Surely their systems are fool-proof.”

Meera has an answer for everything and one by one she dispels all the stories that have been doing the rounds. “Ateeq was working with me and I generously helped him get ahead in his career. But he and a producer got greedy and devised a way to rob me. I have to admit that one of my family members – an uncle who has been envious of my wealth and fame – got involved and helped them conspire against me. They touched up all the wedding pictures you saw. I am Meera. Tell me, would I sit in a cheap sari and fake necklace on my own nikah? The world will know when Meera gets married!”

What about video footage of her honeymoon? “Look, I’m no Pakeeza,” Meera replies. “What is my name? Is it Fatima? No, it’s Meera and this is who I am. This is my life. But a video showing me on a beach with a man does not prove I am his wife. It doesn’t prove anything! There are a hundred more pictures and videos of me with other men. I have married so many of them in films. Does this mean I am really married to all of them?”

I ask her about her television interview that had the country scandalised by her brazen behaviour when she seductively tried convincing a reporter to take her side in the story. She was led to believe that the TV cameras, shooting for a local news channel, had been turned off which is when she turned on the act.

“Do you think it was right, what they did to me?” Meera makes a habit of talking in questions. “It was wrong. It was unprofessional. I was told that it was all off the record. And I was friendly with the reporter, so what’s the big deal? The big deal is that I was lied to and that the channel used me to get higher ratings… which they got,” she hastily adds. “They always get ratings with me, which is why they have signed me on to host a show now.”

Is it the same show that features on Youtube, with Meera struggling with her English? “No,” she replies. “I never wanted to host a show in English because I’m not comfortable with the language. My English is weak. I kept telling them that and they kept insisting that I try. That recording was a pilot rehearsal and the show was scrapped after it. But I don’t know why it was publicised on Youtube. Again, someone trying to take advantage of me. Mera record lagaane ke liye shoot kiya tha.”

Meera did become the brunt of the joke – once again – but sitting in for this interview that day, she inspired sympathy rather than ridicule. And that is exactly what makes Meera such a curious creature. She is someone who has acted in hundreds of films but she has made a career out of being who she appears to be off-screen. Her colleague and film actor Shaan has often pointed out that Meera is more intelligent than she seems, she just leads people into believing that she is silly. And that does make her a brilliant actress because she does a pretty convincing job. It must be added that it would be naïve to take anything she says at face value.

That said, it is also contended that maybe a warped system has forced a talented and beautiful actress to stoop to these methods for fame. Scandals follow celebrities world over, but rarely do scandals become bigger news than the films released. They make for tabloid fodder, gossip columns, information that usually serves as publicity for a film. Meera unfortunately is the bi-product of an industry that never really took off beyond scandals of B-grade actresses.

There was never a Silsila made in Pakistan, a film that would immortalise the Rekha-Amitabh Bachchan affair in fantastic story-telling. The Meeras of Pakistan are fated to be wrapped up messily amidst the Gujjar and Jutts of Punjabi films. There has been no one to train, guide or groom the dancing girls of Lollywood.

And for all her idiosyncracies, it’s difficult not to like Meera. One smiles as she tells you she’s 27, which would make her 11 when her first film was released. One genuinely sympathises with her when she tells you that 12 armed men barged into her house in a take-over. She faces trial for occupying a house that she insists is hers to keep.

People who have worked with her call her infuriating, someone with a genetic disorder for self-destruction.
“Meera is the female equivalent of cricketer Shoaib Akhtar,” says stylist Nabila who attempted to give Meera a personality makeover after having successfully reinvented Babra Sharif and Reema. “Meera is incorrigible,” she seals it off.

“I want to leave this place (Pakistan) now,” Meera says conclusively, with a dramatic flair. “I am beautiful and I have a fabulous figure. I may not have Reema’s experience but I am learning. I am an actress and will always act, but I cannot work in this atmosphere anymore. People target me, they deliberately make me self-conscious and pick on my shortcomings. I am seen in the shadow of my surroundings. But I have returned a changed person now. I vow to no longer be the trusting, helpful person I have always been. You will see a new Meera emerge from this mess.”

People who know her may regard her as incorrigible but Meera has promised to change. And while she does (or doesn’t), she remains someone who is talented and harmless, someone who has come a long way and has achieved a lot along the way. If most of it has been scandalous rather than appreciated, then such is the luck of being part of a flawed system. Meera is a modern day Umrao Jaan, cursed by the fate of where she started and what she has covered.

Courtesy: Dawn Images

Tags: Airport, Ateequr Rahman, Husn Ara, LEADINGLADY, marriage, Meera, passports, scandal, The curious case of Meera, wedding

Yes, you ask again, where is she? After creating such a hullabaloo with her alleged marriage to Atiqur Rehman, the actress who never passes up an opportunity to entertain her fans, is suddenly keeping a low profile.

Showbiz journos who try and keep track of Meera darling (though it’s really hard to know what track she’s on) believe that these days the Lollywood lass is in one of Europe’s bigger cities (could be London) on a personal visit.

Personal visits and Meera somehow don’t gel. What constitutes ‘personal’ often turns out to be pretty ‘impersonal’ in her case.

By the way, Atiqur Rehman is also under the news radar. So no bleeps for now.

Courtesy: Dawn Images

Tags: actress, Atiqur Rehman, Lollywood, marriage, Meera, showbiz, wedding

There’s a clip on Youtube showing Meera as a host of a show in English language. Come on, what were the director and producer thinking? She did her best in being absurd, as expected. But the question arises: why is it so easy to set Meera up?

Here she was trying to interview fashion photographer (or is it ‘fatographer’) Tapu Javeri. The actress, as she’s is often seen and heard, is striving hard to get the tête-à-tête take place in English and ends up sounding like…well, herself really!

The clip begins with Meera hoping to pronounce ‘fashion photographer’ correctly. Then she goes, “main buhat lost ho rahi hoon” followed by the repetition of the welcoming sentence, “its honour to have you on my show.” It gets even better when she exclaims, “we will be the back after right… we will be the back after right short break… ye toilet kitna duur hai… can we rehase… reharse…rehearsal.”

The madness doesn’t die down soon readers. Meera goes on to shower praise on Tapu Javeri by saying, “I admire your work quite some time,” and rounds off the hilarious monologue (can’t be called an interview) by uttering, “I hit to cut you off… I hat to cut you off… I hate cut you off… I’m very sorry to cut you off, but we have to go to the bathroom break.”

After such a conversation who doesn’t need a ‘bathroom’ break? The surfacing of this clip proves once and for all that everybody’s out to get poor Meera, and not just Ateeq.

Tags: actress, Ateeq, clip, Drama, English, language, Meera, Pakistani, Pakistani Drama, Pakistani TV, Pakistani TV Drama, Tapu Javeri, Tv, TV Drama, vidpk, Youtube

Tags: actress, appear, Drama, Drama Husna Aur Husan Ara, filmstar, Husan Ara, Husna, Husna Aur Husan Ara, Meera, Meera to appear in Drama, Pakistani, Pakistani TV, Pakistani TV Drama, sexy, sexy filmstar, TV Drama

It’s all been very hush-hush on the Meera-Atiqur Rehman front the past week. Some say it could be the proverbial lull before the storm. Methinks the sponsors of the soap opera have pulled the plug on it and new sponsors may show up soon when Meera returns from Canada. Yes dearies, she’s in Canada, apparently shooting for a film.

There’s no news whether Atiqur Rehman (hubby, no-hubby) is also in North America. Gossip-mongers say he could be while people with a serious disposition think he’s not.

Take your pick!

Shh… be quiet. Don’t make a sound. We may discover lots more so stick around.

Tags: actress, Atiq-ur-Rahman, Behind, Chal Bulleya, diva, episode 7, episode 8, film, Hotstepper, Hotstepper of the week, lahore, Lollywood, marriage, Meera, Mekaal Hasan Band, movie, The, The Truth Behind Meera's Marriage, Truth, wedding

Being Meera – bonafide Lollywood star, fodder for the press and a permanent form of amusement for everyone – must be more difficult than anyone gives her credit for. And with everything Meera has been through recently, particularly the very public and often off-putting ‘married/not-married’ scandal, one can’t imagine what being in her shoes must be like. But one has to give Meera credit for constantly turning everything to her advantage. All the obsessive news reports about Meera’s recent problems have turned her into more of a household name than she was before. By her own admission, she has received thousands of marriage proposals on her e-mail account (which she publicized via an interview that then became a YouTube hit) and she is being talked about incessantly, everywhere. Moreover, Meera’s essence seems to have been captured perfectly in the Mekaal Hasan Band video ‘Chal Bulleya’ (directed by Bilal Lashari) where she not only looks rather stunning but perhaps commands the most arresting screen presence. And given that the video also features several notable celebrities, that is just proof of the power film stars command. In the video, as she lies in a bathtub and laughs at the veritable shower of currency notes on her, one can’t help but feel that despite it all, Meera knows how to play every card right and re-emerge a new person. And that’s why she is Instep’s hotstepper this week.

Tags: actress, Atiq-ur-Rahman, Behind, Chal Bulleya, diva, episode 7, film, Hotstepper, Hotstepper of the week, lahore, Lollywood, marriage, Meera, Mekaal Hasan Band, movie, The, The Truth Behind Meera's Marriage, Truth, wedding

Don’t harbour the notion even for a teensie weensie moment that the Meera affair is going to burn out or fade away. It may lose steam, rest assured it’s here to stay.

Last week the actress and her alleged hubby Atiqur Rehman were reported to have moved towards the blissful direction of truce. Both took back the court cases they had filed against each other in the span of six episodes… sorry, I mean a couple of months. As they say in diplomatic parlance, it’s a good beginning towards a peaceful settlement of the issue, and well begun is half-done.

However, the ‘done’ part is a tad dodgy. What is Meera going to achieve if things settle down? Or has she already achieved what she wanted to?

Stay tuned. There may be a twist in the tale.

By the way, there are pictures floating around on the Internet in which Meera and Atiqur Rehman are having a whale of a time on a foreign beach like a honeymooning couple. I said, like a honeymooning couple. It’s just a simile. Don’t take it seriously!

Courtesy: Dawn Images

Tags: actress, Atiq-ur-Rahman, Behind, diva, episode 7, film, lahore, Lollywood, marriage, Meera, movie, The, The Truth Behind Meera's Marriage, Truth, wedding

Just when you thought that Lollywood’s self-proclaimed ruling diva had vanished into thin air and would not be creating any more waves, Meera strikes again with a big, billowy bang. This time she has fallen flat into the thick marriage mire or so she claims. Let’s analyse the facts to see whether her marriage scandal with Atiq-ur-Rahman, the man who undoubtedly possesses a lot of mollah, is true or is it just the last flicker by the fading flame before she vanishes into complete oblivion.

Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman decide to withdraw criminal proceedings against each other

by THAKUR LAHORI

Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman have mutually reached a settlement according to which they will not be pursuing criminal proceedings against each other. Upon hearing the news of settlement, a horde of reporters reached Meera’s abode for her statement in this regard. In a brief press conference Meera said that she did not know any person by the name of Atiq-ur-Rahman. “My statement regarding the matter is the same as that of my lawyers. When I don’t know any person named Atiq, then there is no question of any settlement. He is a fraudster who is blackmailing me. The marriage pictures have been fabricated and doctored on the computer by Faisal Saif, a director in India. He has even accepted that he tampered with the photographs.”
Meera presented a recording of the conversation that she had with Faisal in which he had said that he was sorry for whatever was happening with Meera in Pakistan. He accepted that the pictures were tampered by him in India. He further said that he never gauged how far things would go and if he had any intentions of maligning Meera, he would have done that when she was in India. He did all this because Meera gave him a hard time during the shooting of a film.
Meera said that she would file a case against Faisal both in Pakistan and India. Now the question arises what does she want by presenting this audio tape to media? Meera’s alleged husband Atiq-ur-Rahman has shown so many evidences in court that all point towards the fact that Meera did actually marry him. Why she doesn’t accept the marriage, boggles our mind. If Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman do not want to stay together, they can seek divorce. Atiq-ur-Rahman is ready for the separation. Then why this hullabaloo? It seems this war will continue despite news of compromise between the two parties.

The telephonic conversation between Meera and Faisal Saif, a director in India
Meera: Hello.
Faisal Saif: Hello Assalam-o-Alaikum.
Meera: Walaikum Assalam.
Faisal: Meera ji, why are you spreading rumours in the press that I planned to murder you? If I had planned to get rid of you, I would have shown you my power during the shooting… you would never have been able to leave India.
Meera: The marriage photographs…
Faisal: The pictures are now in the open. What can I do now? I merged the pictures on the computer. I would have told you but your behaviour was very aggressive towards me. It was unintentional. That doesn’t mean that you start slandering me in press that I intended to murder you. Why would I murder you? I am a director and you are an actress. Meera: You brought my private pictures into the open. You merged them and tried to prove that I am someone’s girlfriend.
Faisal: I cannot give any explanation. But yes, I am sorry that the pictures came into the open. I didn’t intend to do this. What can we do now?
Meera: Did you work on the photographs on the computer?
Faisal: Yes, I doctored them on the computer obviously. We cannot make such pictures by hand. What kind of an idiotic question is that? Lets just forget the whole matter. Let it cool down.
Meera: I will tell media that it is you who has made those pictures.
Faisal: You tortured me when you were in India. You made my life hell. My health deteriorated because of you. You went away without realising what I went through. The more you will trumpet the truth, the more you will drown in mire. We are both in this together.
Meera: I never made anyone’s life miserable while I was in India.
Faisal: That is what you think. And it is far from truth.
Meera: Okay, thank you.
Faisal: Take care.

Meera brought this conversation to the forefront two and a half months after her marriage scandal gained momentum. This shows that Meera needed publicity and she has succeeded in gaining it. The whole country seems to be discussing the depth of the quagmire Meera is in. Every day a new fact unfolds like in a suspense film and it seems that the director of this film is none other than Meera herself. She played her cards well. Though she is now withdrawing all the criminal proceedings against Atiq-ur-Rahman and moving towards reconciliation, this will not be an easy task. Both have agreed to accept whatever the court will decide regarding the property and divorce. It has also come to the forefront that Meera has paid Atiq-ur-Rahman a sum of Rs 35 lac. Atiq-ur-Rahman told media that the agreement has been reached on request from Meera’s mother.

“Showbiz girls are not marriage material” – Atiq-ur-Rahman

In an interview, Meera’s alleged husband Atiq-ur-Rahman said that it has been proved that she tied the nuptial knot with him. “We started dating each other in June 2007, when she came to Dubai for shooting with Sangeeta. The friendship with Meera soon turned into a serious relationship and we married in December 2007 in Defence, Lahore. Our wedding was attended by friends and family members. Meera wanted to keep this marriage a secret since the very beginning. Whenever I asked her to announce our relationship, she always declined saying that first we must get established and have our own place. In 2008, Meera forced me to open a production house and work on a drama serial. She convinced me that it would be a profitable venture and we would earn millions. I invested in the project. I have been with her throughout. If she wants to live with me as a wife, I am ready to accept her but she will have to accept our relationship. After that, it is her discretion whether she stays with me or leaves me. I don’t mind. If she hadn’t been my wife, why would I have invested in her projects and bought a home for her. I did the right thing by marrying her and giving her my name. As for her allegation that I threatened to kill her, the FIA officials asked her to produce the intimidating message I sent her. Even after so many days she has failed to produce that message.
If she is not ready to accept me as her husband, I will not let her keep the expensive gifts that I gave her. After all, they were worth four to five crores.
“In Pakistan, Meera used to get two to three lac for a film. Apart from the one lac that I gave her monthly, she used to milk at least four lac more from me every month. I used to bear all her expenses. Meera’s father Sarwar Shah and uncle Pervaiz Bukhari are witness to our marriage. All the guests that were there will testify that we tied the knot. I have paid all the medical expenses for Meera and her family. I even donated my blood when she was being operated for polycystic ovaries. I don’t know why she played the whole game with me. It is clear that she was only interested in my money. I bought my Defence bungalow while I was in America. When Meera came to know of the deal she blackmailed me emotionally and told me to trust her. Thus the house was bought in her name.
“I first suspected her when she started ignoring me. I knew she talked to other men as well. The relationship between a husband and wife is based on trust but I realised I could not trust Meera at all. Gradually we started drifting apart. My servants at home used to inform me about each and every person that came in the house. I came to know that she had illicit relationship with a number of men. I want to ask Meera, with so many people ready to prove the fact that we did get married, why is she denying it? My predicament is a lesson for all men. I want to tell them that girls in showbiz are not marriage material. Never have a relationship with them. I am glad that I am out of this quagmire now. I have begged forgiveness from Allah (SWT) and my family and I have realised that I was wrong.

The Marriage Mire

by YOUNUS BUTT

The Meera marriage scandal is making rounds in the sub-continent these days. People have been speculating whether Meera has really married Atiq-ur-Rahman or is it just a hoax, a drama conjured up to gain some limelight. In order to understand the reality it is imperative to know who Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman are.
Meera, whose real name is Irtaza was born in Sheikhupura, Punjab. She came to Lahore with her mother and uncle due to some domestic tiff. She always wanted to step into the glamourous realm of showbiz. After trying her best for many years to gain some limelight she finally made her presence felt. Her first film was ‘Kanta’ in which her name was changed to Meera.
Meera has worked in numerous films. Almost every producer/director says that whenever she wants to work in a film, she gives them a hard time by getting on their nerves. They say that her expenses also increase their budget. She delays shooting and gives trouble to the film-makers. Meera’s life has become a joke and her scandal with Atiq-ur-Rahman is the latest gag that has come to the forefront.
Atiq-ur-Rahman belongs to Faisalabad. He is a businessman who imports children’s games from China and sells them in the local market. Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman have been married since the last two years but it is only in 2009 that he realised he should announce their relationship. Meera and Atiq-ur-Rahman don’t see eye to eye because of her uncle Pervaiz. As Meera gained fame and publicity, Pervaiz started becoming rich as well. He helped Meera reach for the stars. He knew her secrets and also about her marriage to Atiq-ur-Rahman. Pervaiz threatened Meera that if she would not continue giving him money, he would publicise everything that she has been doing over the years, which includes a lot of scandals. When she was not able to fulfill his demands, he joined forces with Atiq-ur-Rehman.
The recent reports are that some elders have intervened to solve the matter but Pervaiz has threatened that if Meera will not succumb, he will malign her even more. This is just the first chapter of a book. He doesn’t know that she is a cunning person. She will do anything to win.

Tags: actress, Atiq-ur-Rahman, Behind, diva, film, lahore, Lollywood, marriage, Meera, movie, The, The Truth Behind Meera's Marriage, Truth, wedding