Juggling roles: Hira Mani on being an actor, a wife and a mother of two
When it comes to skill and acting, then you need to really know what youre doing. The better actor you are, the better your chances of being remembered.
By Mahwash Ajaz
Hira Salman, or more popularly known as Hira Mani, is one of the freshest faces on screen at the moment. Hira’s first play, Preet Na Kariyo Koi, aired two years ago, in which she played the lead opposite Ahsan Khan. Hira had been in the limelight before, but not as a leading lady. She was known as an anchor and mostly as ‘Mani’s wife’. Her husband, Salman Saqib (more popularly known as Mani), had been a well-known television personality, and this couple continues to star together currently in a play called Yaqeen Ka Safar.
Hira is a mother to two children and one of the few leading ladies in Pakistani industry to be a mum, a wife and a lead heroine in primetime television series. How does she do it all? We asked.
How has it been like to be a mother and a celebrity at the same time? Does it affect the kind of roles you are offered just because you were always ‘Mani ki biwi’ and a mom to kids? Was it difficult being recognised as a heroine?
When I used to do our show with Mani, Hum Do Humaray Do, Muzammil - my son - was 5 or 7 months old. There weren’t a lot of mums there at the time. It wasn’t a problem at all – I used to gym regularly, and it wasn’t because I was on television. I am just a very self-obsessed person and I can’t tolerate having a double chin or a fat belly. So I wanted to avoid all these negative feelings and I used to stay really fit. I used to get a lot of scripts that I read and I would say, “Hey, I’m a mum to a kid! How can I do this!” And they used to tell me, “You don’t look like a mum”. I got married when I was 19. I guess that was all because I was a young mother so scripts like that came to me.
Photo: Mahwash Ajaz
How do your kids and your family respond to your images on screen, on posters, on ads?
When kids saw my first billboard, Muzammil started crying. I asked him why he was crying and he said, “I’m not there!”
I really wished I could have put a photocopy or some picture of him in that billboard. Muzammil and Ibrahim have taken it really well. They laugh at me when I’m crying in a play. In Sun Yaara, when I slip and trip on Junaid Khan – I fall a lot in that play – and the kids said, “Mama, why don’t you watch where you’re going?”
It’s different when you have kids, but yeah I want my kids to be proud of me and be proud of the work I’ve done, that I’ve done something ‘different’ too. I want them to see me on YouTube years from now and say that we’re proud of her. My husband hasn’t stopped me or would never stop me from modeling or films or item numbers but I know I have sons and I have a lot of responsibility. And as a mother, I have to train them and shape their thinking because they have to live with women when they grow up and I want to be a good role model for them. My kids are really troupers right now – they tell me that kids in their school ask them about when I’m doing a film! If I get too busy then they come and hug me and ask me to take them out.
Kids are a very big power, I think. They’re slightest expression can impress a lot upon you. Sometimes when I’m feeling down – especially when I see some Bollywood film and I think, yeah I could do that, so he gets that and hugs me and says, “Mama you’re my heroine!”
But then when I ignore them he comes to me and says, “I hope they kick you out of this play!” These are all shades of my son.
Do you feel that it’s difficult to hold that kind of work and life balance – generally we know how difficult it is for mothers? Men just have nine to fives. But women have home and work. How do you manage the outdoor shoots, long hours? How difficult is it for mothers to be working in this industry?
You know, I can’t discuss acting to the point of philosophising. It freaks me out. When I’m working, I’m wearing a jacket. This is my ‘work jacket’. I wear that when I’m on the set. At home, I’m the typical mother. Hair tied in a bun, yelling at everyone, trying to manage everything within minutes, putting things in bags, making sure the kids are in bed, giving them a bath, all those things that mums do. And I leave that ‘work jacket’ when I’m at home. And yeah it isn’t easy. It isn’t easy because there’s a lot to do, a lot.
When I didn’t have all these responsibilities, I was always so well-kept. Hair in place, manicured nails. You’re always so ‘ouch’ whenever something off-colour happens. That’s what life is like for girls who live with their parents and have little else to do except take care of their appearances. I never worked when I was in that phase. I started work when I became a mother, when I didn’t have time to even take care of myself. When I’m on the set, I’m receiving calls from my kids and my mom and Mani’s asking me where his ID card is, there are so many things that are attached to me - my own family, my in-laws etc.
I look clumsy and fun-loving –which I am. But I deal with a lot of pressure and responsibilities. If I don’t throw out the trash at 7 am – it will just sit there for the next three days and I have to be mindful of things like these too. This is probably why I don’t obsess about my ‘acting’ work. I don’t go into that competition mode where women are always worried about their work to the point of negativity. I have this whole other life that I have to deal with - Muzammil’s diary and worrying about his tests and his work. I wear this work jacket for 9 hours and I come home and I am a completely different person at home.
Photo: Mahwash Ajaz
How do you see the attitudes of people toward you? Male co-stars hitting on you, when they get too close for comfort? Do you think it helps you, when people know that you are married?
There was a scene on a boat in Preet Na Kariyo Koi where I have to fall on Ahsan Khan. And Ahsan said, “Bhabhi ji, don’t be shy! Do this scene like this”. It was fun. Everyone knew I was Mani’s wife. Many of the leading men in the industry are Mani’s friends. And on the set, I talk about my kids and my husband. So people on the set respect me. It’s on the girl, I think. You have to be strong enough and this attitude is in your blood. You have to command that kinda respect. I think people are scared of me. And if you’re talking about kids and maasis, why would anyone hit on you? They’re all just saying, “Jee, Baji!” to you.
But yeah if you’re on the set and if you have to play the heroine and you are in love with the hero, then that’s something else. But not otherwise. Not in real life. I take it very professionally. People also know everything about Mani and I, that we’re in love and that I’m happily married. I think if you’re a good person, if you’re honest to your work, people respect that too.
Photo: Mahwash Ajaz
Have people accepted you as an actress and as this package of mum, wife, heroine?
People have accepted me as a mother, as a mom. I feel it’s not just about looks anymore. We say that the public is silly and can be goaded but it’s not true. There are many people, many girls who are far prettier than I am. But the point now is all about ‘acting’. If you are good at what you do, if you are skilled, you can do a daadi, chachi, behen any role. There are billions of treatments now available, botox and lifting and whatnot, you can change your face any way you want. But when it comes to skill and acting, then you need to really know what you’re doing. The better actor you are, the better your chances of being remembered.
