Talent across the border

Veena Malik is the latest. She was earlier seen in the television show Bigg Boss and in an item number in her debut movie Daal Mein Kuch Kala Hai, which had Jackie Shroff and Vijay Raaj in the main lead. Veena has reportedly signed another couple of films, but none that can really be called consequential.

The first of these, where Veena will  appear in a full-fledged role, is Sanjay Ruia’s Zindagi 50:50. She essays the role of Madhuri — a sex worker moonlighting for years to support her family. Coming from a conservative background, this will be a bold beginning.

It is interesting to observe that Veena, now 27, has grown up in a predominantly female household — four sisters and a brother. This might be the reason behind her mature
outlook towards the plight of women. “I understand what it feels like to be a woman in a male-dominated society.” Malik continued, “I am appalled by the way these sex-workers live in the red-light districts, not just in India but across Asia. I have done this film for a reason. It is a women-centric film and addresses issues that women face these days.”

It is interesting to note that almost all Pakistani heroines who’ve got a break in Bollywood have been either married or are divorcees, or have became so subsequently. Zeba Bakhtiar disappeared from the scene after Henna and Jai Vikranta. She married singer Adnan Sami with whom she was involved in an unpleasant battle for the possession of their son, Azaan, and now lives in Karachi where she acts and directs television serials.

Anita Ayub worked in two miserable Dev Anand flops — Pyar ka Tarana and Gangster — before facing deportation at the end of her three-year visa because of suspected links with 1993 Bombay blast suspects. She is now in New York and occasionally appears in television shows. Salma Agha, who shuttles between Islamabad and London, was born to yesteryear actress Nasreen and a wealthy Karachi businessman. She married thrice, the last time to squash coach, Rehmat Khan. She was cast opposite Raj Babbar in B R Chopra’s Talaq Talaq Talaq and Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki with Smita Patil and Mithun Chakravorty. Somy Ali (now better remembered for her affair with Salman Khan) lasted the longest, modelling and working in as many as 10 films including Aao Pyar Karen.

Interestingly, back in Pakistan or wherever else they might be located, almost all of them have been involved in social work, human rights and women’s issues. Somy runs an organisation called No More Tears, which has rescued more than a hundred victims of domestic
violence and their families since its inception in 2007.

Meera drew media attention for her bold performance in Nazar, which she later described as a mistake. Perhaps paying the price for blaming mentor Mahesh Bhatt, she has failed to find other takers to explore her ‘hidden talent’. Making her debut in 1995 Pakistani film
Kanta, she has worked in more than 50 Urdu and Punjabi films before and after Nazar. Her other insignificant Hindi starrers have been Kasak, Simran, Panch Ghantey Mein Panch Crore, and the recently announced Om Allah, a film to be directed by Faisal Saif, where she’ll be seen opposite the much-defamed sports promoter, Aushim Kheterpal.

Yet another who tried hard was Saara Khan who made her debut opposite the forgotten phenomenon, Rajesh Khanna, in a film called Wafaa, directed by Rakesh Sawant, brother of television performer Rakhi Sawant. Both disappeared without a trace, despite a bold love-making scene that many described as vulgar. There must have been many others who have sought fame and fortune in the big and glossy world of Hindi cinema. The latest entrant whose career seems stone-walled for the moment is the Rockstar heroine Nargis Fakhri.

They have all been conventionally beautiful and talented, but somehow they fail to make the final cut. One can only wonder why. Could it be because many of them have taken to shortcuts, venturing out with bold cinema — movies that have not only backfired back home in Pakistan, but also with the Indian audiences?