In the list of silver screen hosts, a name that is synonymous to breaking through the daylight, is none other than that of Shaistaa Lodhi. Often dubbed as the ‘hostess with the mostest’, Shaistaa is a face every household in the country adores. Catapulting to stardom with her addictive morning shows, she has become a celebrity in her own right. But all that stardom aside, she likes life plain sailing, even though when she would pen an autobiography, the pen will share a tale that is anything but. After a two-year hiatus, she is back – but this time around with a priority shift – family and friends over everything else.

“What happened was so severe that I don’t even want to repeat any of it, but everyone said that my career is finished now,” she reminisces, as the conversation begins.

“I had never thought that I would be coming back,” says Shaistaa with a certain melancholy in her voice, “I don’t give credit to anyone for this except Allah.”

It has been almost two years since she took a sabbatical, in fact, she had to leave the country along with her two kids. But Shaistaa Lodhi is back, new and improved, or so she believes.

“I now have more wisdom and a better vision. I can deliver things with a better understanding now. Agar purani Shaistaa hoti tou kehti, ‘yaar aap nahi samajh payengay’.

“It’s like being trapped inside a room; you only see the four walls around you and never know about the world that lies beyond,” she says, drawing an analogy.

“Likewise, when you are young, you act impulsively and make quick judgments. This two-year gap made my connection with Allah stronger and I realised that we are no one to judge anyone.” But she wishes to bring her audience the same flavour of shows that they expect from her and does not claim to do anything too different, as such claims scare her.

It is not just herself that she finds has evolved with time, but also thinks that the content and quality of morning shows have improved. “Where you will see negative things, you will also see the positive side of it. Maybe, one of the shows were able to inspire a woman somewhere; give her hope that things could get better, tell her how she could work from home and what she could do if she is battling with some disease,” opines the feisty Shaistaa. One can feel her energy resonate across the room when she talks about her work. For her, the motto of her job can be summarised in the following words – the women rely on the host because she has invaded their lives. This gives you an insight to the kind of responsibilities and expectations she is associated with. Unfortunately, its essence is not being grasped like it should be. “The thing is; if there are 40 channels there are 40 hosts. The channel, should think twice before giving that position to someone. See, every woman knows how to look good but what makes each of us different is the way we approach life. I think that we have stopped caring about the important things and started thinking that anyone can do a morning show as long as they look good. That is where the fault lies,” the host-turned-actress outlines the main problem behind the qualitative decline of morning shows. While on the subject, we inquire what she thinks about shows putting on a wedding circus every other day. Shaistaa terms it ‘hypocrisy’ citing, “We’ll object to the same things that we watch with a lot of interest.”

Shaistaa, who is also a practicing doctor, will soon complete 10 years in the field. While much has changed in the last few years, her vision has been stagnant and a constant reminder of who she wants to be. She shares with us that she has always focused on two major things while hosting.

“I think people who need physical assistance are especially blessed with abilities that are hidden and need to be explored, but this society is so shallow that it can’t understand that,” she clarifies, adding that the second major thing is ‘empowering women financially’.

But where there is a good side to holding such an important place in the industry, there is a big downside to it all, as well. “You are not left with any private life,” Shaistaa replies promptly. “I get very disappointed when cheap things are written about me on social media. People forget that a celebrity also has a family, she is someone’s daughter, wife, mother and sister.” What she finds unfathomable is the fact that people ‘have so much time to waste on someone else’, instead of working on being better versions of themselves. “I would like to go to regular public places with my siblings but people judge you on the way you lift your spoon; they would make comments on how I look without make-up and how I eat.” Shaistaa counts the sacrifices she is required to make to do her job and declares, “They need to realise that I play the part of a morning show host for only three hours in a day, otherwise I’m just my regular self. Why can’t I stand and argue with a peanut vendor on the roadside just like everyone else?” An interesting thought, nevertheless, seemingly impossible.

The morning show host verbally outlines herself as ‘a simple person with little needs who wants peace more than luxuries’.

“I’m at a point where I have seen and been through enough. Now my preferences are different – peace and prioritising relations over everything. The few friends that I have, matter a lot to me.”

Did she face skepticism when she joined the entertainment fraternity? And Shaistaa reminisces the days. “I joined during my final year of medicine, I was married then and soon my kids were born, too,” she shares, recalling how she had to seek permission from her husband.

Shaistaa’s father used to work in Hyderabad’s radio during his school days and when she grew up and started working for radio, her mom began worrying. “She was being a typical desi mom,” she shares as her face glows.

But this mama’s girl always sought guidance from her mother. Having worked in Waada, a drama serial, will she be opting for the silver screen glitz?

“I don’t think I’ll go in that direction right now; for my mum, working in a drama came as a shocker,” and hearing that surprised us for she had been in the media industry for so many years. Then what made her opt for working in a serial? “I want to have something in my library which I can go back to in my old age; when I can make myself a cup of tea and go through all the work I have to my credit,” and as words slip her, Shaistaa travels to an unknown realm of time.

When asked about the tight spot which Shaistaa and her children faced post May 2014, a melancholic shade spreads across her façade. “My son questioned me, saying you’ve served this industry for almost a decade, how are they treating you? Did you rob a bank? Or have you murdered someone?”

Being single back then, Shaistaa doesn’t want to bring to mind the pain the journey of those days brought to her loved ones, but according to her, “Those two years taught my kids something I wasn’t able to teach them earlier. They learnt to be tough and I wanted them to be this way. Because they were blessed with all the necessities of life, they felt elevated which I never liked.”

As we chat, Shaistaa questions us off guard. “Have you ever come across a cameraman’s interview?” Taking note of our dissent, she soldiers on, “The host will talk about the troubles she faced while coming to work, but what about the unsung heroes present on the set? Do we talk about how their morning was? Or how problematic it was for them to drop their kids to school on a two-wheeler? Sadly, we are so glamour-oriented that we watch shows being conducted by beautiful faces,” she sheds light on how we belong to an exterior-driven nation. But she yearns for an open-minded audience.

If that is the case, then don’t we need hosts who educate the public that glamour doesn’t sate our needs? “Absolutely,” Shaistaa makes a spontaneous remark. “If we don’t work on changing, who will? For how long will you want to know if a pair of frames makes you look beautiful? As a nation, we need to move on,” and to emphasise it dramatically, she quotes Faiz Ahmed Faiz: “aur bhi gham hain zamanay main muhabbat kay siwa, rahatein aur bhi hain wasl k rahat k siwa”.

Having tried her hands in the performance sphere, Shaistaa summoned her elder sibling to give this very field a shot. “Bhai (Sahir Lodhi) was doing Petroleum Engineering in the US. On his return, I asked him to audition and it worked out for him,” says the doting sister.

“It’s surprising when people ask me ‘are you jealous of him?’ I counter them, asking if they are jealous of their siblings!”

The “totka specialist” is what Sahir is known as at home, Shaistaa reveals. “He has an incredible memory and when it comes to any of us suffering from flu/ cold/ having hair issues, we call him up and he has a remedy on fingertips,” says Shaistaa gleefully.

Her moniker has a title to her, one which she practices every day. “I practice aesthetic medicine in the evenings from 6-8 pm. Each day-a-week I carry out procedures too, which include, face and thread lift, fillers and laser,” Shaistaa says. Considering it to be a comparatively new field of medicine for our part of the world, one might not accept the citizenry to go for these procedures, but Shaistaa shrugs off the notion. “You name any procedure and you will get it here. I feel people who aren’t even qualified have opened up clinics,” she reveals. An avid reader, Shaistaa plans on penning a book someday. Will it be an autobiography? “I think it will be a motivational read,” the follower of Deepak Chopra and Osho says.

This thorough desi, is extremely fond of “daal chawal”. Her liking for home-cooked food reigns supreme, but if she dines out, then too, she sticks to her traditional cuisine. As much as she loves eating, she prefers someone to cook for her.

Talking about the set of challenges that lie for her in the up-and-coming days, Shaistaa says, “We are very much interested in others. Why are we always judging and not appreciating? We start off with the negativity and all our vibes contribute to the negativity that prevails in the environment, we as a nation need to become positive!”