In conversation with Sohai Ali Abro

We last saw Sohai Ali Abro on screen in Adnan Sarwar’s Motorcyle Girl (2018). Before Motorcycle Girl, the popular actor made a memorable appearance in Nadeem Baig’s Jawani Phir Nahi Ani (2015) as the social media obsessed Zoya, or simply #Z. Both characters were as different as chalk and cheese and yet Sohai nailed them. She proved her worth as an actor and combined with her love for dance and stage performances as well as the energy she carried, she established herself as a force in Pakistan’s growing cinema-scape. We were recently catching up at Café Flo in Karachi when a group of middle-aged women came up to ask whether she was the same actor who played the ‘motorcycle girl’, showering praises upon her when she confirmed that she was. “You make us proud; keep doing these kinds of roles, beta,” one of the ladies said.I could sense, in Sohai, the pride as well as the pressure that came with this kind of fanfare.Could this constant pressure and expectation to do meaningful, women centric roles be the reason why she had become super-selective in signing her next project? If rumours were to be believed, then word had it that Sohai had been offered many big films – including most of the big banner films – but she hadn’t agreed to any of them. Was she waiting for a film or a role as impactful and impressive as what she had in Motorcycle Girl, or was there some other reason? “Well yes, I was offered many films last year but honestly, the scripts didn’t speak to me,” she laughed, brushing off all praise modestly. “When Adnan shared with me his idea for Motorcycle Girl I was like ‘done, yes, locked’. With a director like Adnan or even Nadeem (Baig), you know the project will be good. I’m not saying that I don’t want to work with anyone else and I know as an actor I will have to work with various directors but there was nothing that I felt I just had to do.”There was also a problem with the way women’s roles were written, she added. “Even now, there is a problem with the way women’s roles are being written. They’re problematic. The way women are portrayed on screen, I do see a problem there. I’ve come to a point where I don’t want to do a film for the sake of being relevant or even for the heck of it.”She didn’t think she had to do a film every year either, she felt, explaining that if it didn’t click then she couldn’t bring herself to doing it and that quality content played a big part in her decisions. “We know that the representation of girls and women onscreen, in cinema, even today is problematic. People don’t understand that; it’s very easy for them to say that she’s become exclusive or selective or that the response to Motorcycle Girl has gone to her head.”That’s not true, she said, explaining how Zoya was a side role and on surface level it was a barbie-doll character. But that character was essential to the plot and it wasn’t regressive. As ditzy as Zoya was, she did walk away from her wedding when she realized the situation she was in. It wasn’t about serious cinema, or just doing women-centric meaningful roles only; Sohai is someone full of life; she loves comedy and loves to dance so she has nothing against them. But there had to be some form of method to the madness.“I would love to do comedy,” she said, trying to explain her point of view. “I love mindless comedy films as well and I would love to do a lighthearted role like that, even though those roles need more conviction. But there is usually a disconnect or carelessness in the way women’s roles are written and that’s unacceptable.”Women’s roles were generally technically flawed and she had trouble signing up for characters she wasn’t convinced by, she said. There were a couple of projects in the pipeline though, and she could be signing up for a film very soon. These days she was working on Surkh Chandni in which she will portray an “acid attack survivor,” she emphasized on the word ‘survivor’ as opposed to ‘victim’. She also called it one of the toughest roles she’s ever done.And was there any one film that she wished she had been a part of last year, I asked.“Oh yes, Cake,” she replied almost immediately, with a smile, confirming the fact that while she may say she would be open to doing mindless cinema, Sohai has stepped into the league of meaningful actors and wants to be taken seriously. 

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/2DyhGfP