Actor, director and cinematographer of Parchi fame, Usman Mukhtar is rising to join the A list ranks in showbiz, as per the reviews with his recent drama Anaa. In an industry where I have found depth often lacking, I find Mukhtar is wise. Over a phone one evening, he talks about the status of showbiz, his career as an actor and his aspirations as a filmmaker.

The best and worst thing about being an actor that is less talked about?

Best – The fact that you get to express yourself and you get to live different kinds of characters.

Worst – The baggage that comes with it, like the pressure of looking a certain way, the need to socialise and make small talk.

A question I’ve often pondered. As an actor, when you spend the day being someone else, how do you stay grounded to your own identity?

I like to give my characters a background, I like to give them a family tree so that I can humanise it and not just read it out of a script. It does get a little difficult to stay ground as a person, because you are thinking like the character. It gets a little hard.

What is something that you have learnt from a character that you have played?

I did an ad where I was playing a husband to a mute girl; we had people who were unable to speak on the set and we were taught sign language. I think I knew but I realised it that day how we take things for granted. Allah ka shukar hai, I am healthy and I can understand, comprehend and I am able, when you come across people, you understand that you are so blessed than so many others.

As a theatre actor, tell us what the stage feels like?

Theatre is the best medium for an actor, any actor. Stage shapes you, it trains and conditions you to have nerves of steel because you only get to do it once and you cannot make mistakes.

The best project you did?

My favourite drama was Anaa, I had such a ball working with everybody. For the first time, while shooting in Chitral, I felt like I am with family and it didn’t feel like we were working and that doesn’t happen a lot in this industry. There were no egos, the entire process of the shoot was so organic.

Your directorial inspiration from the local industry?

Shoaib Mansoor sahab. I became a fan of his when he made Alpha Bravo Charlie. We were in boarding school at the time and jab wo ata tha hum log apne auditorium main jatay the dekhne k liye.

Pakistani cinema and its growth is a much debated subject. What do you think are the primary flaws that are not being corrected?

The problem with us is that we are ‘technically’ very good, we are producing good picture quality and all. But problem is we struggle with scripts, stories, sound and acting. We think that ek jo formula chal raha hai aur hit ja raha hai, let’s just keep making that. Let’s not step outside the comfort zone because who knows kay wo flop ho jaye. There are so many stories that we have in our country that we can make movies on. I understand its commercial cinema and we have to make films that are viable and sellable to the masses. I think cinema is getting dumber by the day. And I don’t think dumb cinema is commercial cinema, we can make art films that can be commercial. But nobody wants to do things jis main thori research hai, thori mehnat hai.

You’ve said in an interview your interest lies in art films. As a filmmaker in the Pakistani film industry, do you think that’s a dream that will be realised in the near future?

I want to make films that are smart, not one-dimensional and have depth. I hope so. Jis tareekay se hamare neighbouring countries main they have this market for parallel cinema, maybe we can have that too. It is happening, there are a lot of shorts that are being made, good shorts. I really hope we can establish something like that.

Dramas are at present the biggest market for actors. Do you see yourself taking your director’s chair to a drama set?

I don’t have the patience or the capacity to direct a drama. I think that we feel we are not going wrong with our dramas because our masses want to see it. Our themes revolve around damsels in distress, why can’t we make a story about a woman who is strong, who’s working or building an empire? I think women are stronger than men. We need to make more content where we portray women as role models for the next generation, for little girls who can watch it and say I want to be like that. We can use drama mediums to communicate this but again, our masses have been trained and molded and they want to watch this kind of TV.

Most short films don’t make it on a screen at home; what is an opinion on this?

There are no platforms for them to release. This is also something I am facing, they cannot just release it on YouTube and hope people will watch it.

Will your short film Bench be screened in Pakistan?

It will be but after its done doing its rounds at festivals. We cannot commercially release it right now.