‘I WANT TO BE A CHARACTER ACTOR’

Ghana Ali reveals the other side of her persona in the latest interview

She is not the damsel in distress you find on your television screens every other day. The actress started off by playing negative characters and has a firm belief that nothing can beat the credibility such a role brings to an actor’s standing. Ghana Tahir, popularly known as Ghana Ali, has been in the limelight for sometime now, and for all the right reasons. Though her recent project, Maan Jao Naa, has not gone down well with the masses, the diva has proven her acting mettle once again through her convincing performance. In this interview, MAG unearths her love for acting, her priorities in life and her upcoming projects. Read on…

“A passionate actor,” as she describes herself, reveals, “Whenever I am in a character I don't just play it, I love it. I get so engrossed in my work and the character, that it changes my whole personality, as I start living it in the real life.” Such is her love for acting, the profession she aspired to join as a teenager.

“I was supposed to get admission in a prominent law college right after my A-levels when I backed out,” Ghana recalls the days when she developed the ardour of becoming an actor.

The actress finds herself truly blessed to have such a supportive family who understands her desires and wishes and her love for acting. “I am the odd one out. But I feel very blessed to have a family where everybody understands and supports each other,” says Ghana. “I am glad that they understood my passion back then and provided me with everything to channel my thoughts in this regard,” adds the artiste when asked about her family’s reaction on the disclosure of her love for the acting business.

Ghana can go on and on when it comes to her beautiful and caring family, especially her sister, who she places in high regard.

“She is the one who is behind my styling, grooming and everything. She has been my backbone throughout,” says the honest diva who credits her sister for her style sense and fashion appearances.

“Believe me, it is always my sister who buys stuff for me, as she does not trust my fashion sense,” adds Ghana. The artiste does not boast about herself as a casual person when it comes to her style mantra. “I trust my sister for my fashion choices because she knows what is best for me. All the credit goes to her, she does it only for me,” shares Ghana about her sister who is a financial analyst at Gucci in London.

The actress seems to believe the notion that a person looks classy even with full clothes on and the scribe agreed to it. “I want to be recognised as a classy personality and not the hot one,” discloses Ghana adding, “I am not a casual person as far as my style aesthetics and appearances are concerned. I always prefer semi formals and my favourite colours are black and white.”

Is it important for an actor to look beautiful and fit in this age, I throw another query her way to which she replies in the affirmative. “It is very important because when people are watching you, they start following you and your fashion sense. If my fans are looking up to me for some inspiration, I need to look the best for them,” says Ghana with a sense of responsibility in her demeanour.

No matter how much the fit girl loves food, the growing demands of her job to look smart restrict the diva from being a real foodie which “I think is a balancing act. You can still enjoy all your food as long as you know when to stop.”

The hardworking actress believes that an actor should be very careful of his/her appearance and should behave like an icon, who aspiring artistes can look up to. “This is what I am going to go for, to set the trend and not follow it,” the star open up about her plans of setting the trends in the industry of which she became a part of after hard work and struggle.

“Well, this is how the life is, a combination of a lot of challenges which make us stronger,” says Ghana while unfolding the other side of her persona. “The struggles that we go through in order to surpass a certain challenge in life, prepare us to face another. As for me, life has always been like a struggle,” she adds.

Her faith in Allah is what keeps the actress going and she admits the fact. “These days I have been in a constant struggle to fit in this glamour industry which I sometimes believe is impossible but my faith in Allah keeps me going,” she reveals her religious side with grace.

Coming back to her acting stints and her passion for the profession, she says, “It was my dream to be an actor. I am living my dream at the moment and I am happy for the fact,” says the artiste who wants to be followed by fame and money and not the vice versa. “I want to be a character actor. Even if I am offered an out of the box role, I would do it without charging a single penny, as for me, it’s always about acting and not the money,” says Ghana.

At the moment, she has some prominent offers in her kitty – Kis Din Mera Viyah Howay Ga – sequel 2 with Faisal Qureshi and Fakhr-e-Alam and the other is a lead role in a film that features a very good cast, “other than this, I can't disclose any details, not at the moment,” the actress says while hinting at the possibility of revealing the details in the near future.

So, is there anything for which she can compromise her love and passion for acting, is my next query. “To be very honest, I am not the person who wants to sacrifice her passion and acting career for someone else but if my husband would want me to leave the entertainment industry, I might,” reveals the acting diva about her priorities once she gets hitched.

“But at the moment, I am focusing only on acting, acting and acting,” Ghana rightfully clears the air.

In her career span so far, the girl has managed to earn a lot of respect and credits her teachings at home as well as the way she has been brought up.

“My father is a very religious man but not an extremist. He understands everything because he knows that even if I am acting, I know my boundaries and I am glad that they have taught me on how to be careful of my limitations,” says the proud daughter who has a word of advice for aspiring ladies, “Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful. You deserve every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

And here, the aspiring diva and future star signs off, who wants to be recognised as a good actor and nothing else. •

Make-up: Eric @JY Style Studio
Location courtesy: Beena Asim
Coordination & styling: Thomas Fernandes
Photography: Raza Jaffri

GALLERY

RELATED POST

COMMENTS