“My first priority is my child” – Mahira Khan

Actress Mahira Khan was missed dearly during the promotions of her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan, Raees. However, when there is a will, there is a way! She gave a first of its kind skype interview to a handful of Indian journalists on the occasion of her debut crossing the 100-crore mark. Here are a few questions asked by the leading dailies which were asked shortly after her skype conference:

On her regret of being unavailable during the promo events of Raees:

You know, I was telling a friend that very few actors here in Pakistan have got an opportunity like this. And it fell in my lap, due to whatever hard work that I may have done earlier. I didn’t have to look for it. I feel blessed. But at the same time, I feel like that marathon runner who, during the last lap just before the finishing line, is dropped out of the race. There was this feeling when it happened ‘Oh Man, not right now. Now just before the release!’

On her rise to stardom in Pakistan with Humsafar and other works:

And even before Humsafar, I did a film Bol with Shoaib Mansoor — I am now working with him again — Bol was that one film in Pakistan in five years that made an impact. I was lucky to be in it. Right after Bol, Humsafar happened on television. Everyone associated with Humsafar saw a kind of success that had not been seen on television for a decade. Television was the growing medium. All of us — Fawad Khan, me and the whole team — were at the right place at the right time. Television just grew because the talent bank in Pakistan, the literary minds, it all went into the television.

On her perils of being a career woman and being a single mother simultaneously:

Yes, but it is something which women all across the world do. I do only one film at a time. My first priority is my child. So it’s a lot of hard work. But it can be done. It’s all about choices. Many times I have to let go of good work. Fortunately, the work I’ve done has worked for me.

On being an outlier in Pakistan with the career woman/single mother double role that she plays:

Yes, I am an anomaly in my country. I hope in the coming years, there will be more women like me.

Mahira Khan’s Bollywood debut film Raees is running strong at the worldwide box office. Here’s hoping inshallah she gets to see the film soon in her own country with her fans.