In conversation with Syeda Madiha Imam

COVER STORYStarring in Baba Jani that is currently on-air, Syeda Madiha Imam has a few but diverse roles to her credit. She studied television and film at Indus Valley School of Arts & Architecture Us talks to the young actress regarding her journey in the industry.What are five things you can’t live without? First, my family! Second, my notebook because I love jotting down ideas and my thoughts because I tend to forget .The third thing is my lash curler because I’ve small eyes. Fourth, my backpack. Fifth, my friends! I just have few friends, so I can’t live without them. Have you ever been late for a shoot?Several times! I’m pretty all right with the kind of call times we get usually but sometimes we have to work nonstop, for 10 to 12 hours, for six or seven days a week; even though I literally jump out of bed, skip breakfast and just rush to the location looking fine, I’ve been late multiple times.Any tips for aspiring actors? It depends on what you want to achieve. But if you want to perform or act, you should focus on reading plays and watching movies. Seeing other actors’ work would help tremendously in finding your own method of acting. In moments of self doubt or adversity how do you build yourself up?Just by reminding myself that there’s a higher power and He is there to take care of everything and everything is in control. If things are not going the way you planned them to be, stay calm and hopeful. Even if you’re doubtful, go for it and give it your best shot. What does success mean to you?Success is when I’m able to perform and then nail it. Appreciation by a director, team, and by the audiences mean a lot given the kind of work I do - acting and/or hosting. Five things you learned early in your career?FocusYou need to be observant and also read a lot Professionalism – you need to abide by whatever the contract says even if the world doesn’tHave an understanding of what’s happening around you and have an opinionStick by your own moral values and belief system; when you are working, you get to interact with a gazillion people and when it comes to fame and success, especially if you are at an impressionable age, it’s easy to slip. Memorable audition?My first one. It was for MTV. I remember being extremely flustered; I was stuttering, fumbling but I think I did fine because I got it. I was 20 so I was like not so confident. I was conscious, scared and nervous.Do you believe good looks/connections are the only things that make a star? No, I don’t believe that at all. If you enjoy hanging out, connecting with people, finding out what they do, where they work and travel and all of that then, why not? It could just be something you like as an individual but work wise if that’s what you think then it doesn’t work like that. I think becoming a star is (different from being successful) a step forward than being successful at what you do. You can be successful and not a star; and you can be successful and then become a star; but, I think even if you are not successful you can still be a star. Simply put, good looks and connections are not integral for you to be considered a star and we have quite a few examples like that in our industry only. How has social media changed things for you?For me, a lot actually, because I’m not really text-savvy, and I don’t enjoy taking too many pictures or putting up statuses, etc.People keep telling me I need to post more often, and to write little bit here and there especially for the sake of promoting my projects.I tried doing that and it’s just an added job to the thing I’m doing.The funniest thing/gossip you have heard about yourself?People usually get my age wrong. Furthermore, anybody who has Imam as their surname is said to be my relative! A lot of people have said this to me and that is not true.MY TEENAGE YEARS Date of birth and starFebruary 8, AquariusThe best thing about being a teenager wasIgnorance is bliss; you don’t know much about the world around you so you’re living in your own bubble. The worst thing about being a teenager wasYou’re pampered and protected by your parents so you don’t get to learn much about the real world. So lack of exposure is the worst thing. I was always listening toBryan Adams (in fact, I still listen to him), Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Bon Jovi, Backstreet Boys. Actually, it wasn’t me listening to all these musicians; it was my sister and since I was sharing room with her so I had no choice.My favourite actor and singer...At that time maybe Shah Rukh Khan My favourite singer was Bryan Adams. He is very good looking, and a great singer. My favourite super hero I was never into watching the superheroes flicks. I didn’t have a favourite superhero. Sad, but true!My favourite movie and book A Beautiful Mind was my favourite movie and my favourite book was Little Women. My closet was full ofT-shirts; of all kinds. I wanted plain solid colour t-shirts, so I had quite a few tees of different solid colours. My friends wereAll funny, pretty looking girls. I had a huge friends circle in school and they were all popular girls in the school including me, so that was great!My first crush/date was...A guy who was academically a year younger than me but he was almost my age, very cute looking. What hurt me the most was...I think I was a very popular kid, but my school’s faculty was slightly not supportive of that. Usually, the perception is that just because you are popular, you aren’t a good kid. This wasn’t true in my case and I used to get hurt when my teachers wouldn’t side with me.My dream was to becomeA VJ! I was very clear in my head about that. I wish I had known thenThat things work out, because I used to fret about a lot of things, especially in school about my grades. If I had known and if I had had that faith that I have now, things would have been a lot easier.Relations with family wereNot so important at the time because I was into school, karate, physical education and then my music classes and my relatives were all abroad. So I didn’t really spend too much time with them. My school wasThe best place! I used to thoroughly enjoy being with my friends at school.My favourite subject wasMathematics My least favourite subject wasAccounts I couldn't stand(I still can’t) People fibbing. I can’t stand people lying for no reason or for a reason. Just don’t lie.My favourite foodFood was anything desi which my mum would cook for me. I used to enjoy that. So I would always want whatever amma would cook for me. My favourite hangout My friends and I would hangout after school. One of us had a car, so we would just go on long rides; it was fun. Or since my friend’s place was just behind the school, we would just walk to her place. It was a very cute house, one of those purany zamany waly ghar (old house). My favourite sport wasThrowball! I was really bad at it but I used to enjoy it a lot, and basketball. Karate, too, but that was until my intermediate; we couldn’t really continue after that because we were girls! 

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