“I have to suffer the consequences that come with the image of being an actress in our film industry. The private activities of these girls, which are disgusting to say the least, have soiled the image of the industry at large!”
Catch a breath. This was just a meow. The roar is yet to come. This candid tirade only amplifies with the course of this conversation.
Reema is breathtaking. Her soft, sultry voice mesmerizes everyone in sight; the fluttering of those almond shaped eyes can drive the sanest man wild. But beneath all this femininity lies a lioness who’s had enough of the spite that has been aimed her way throughout her 13-year career. She’s out to draw some blood. And then some.
“I’ve had my lion’s share of money, fame and respect. But all of this has been accompanied at every step with disgrace. Any Tom, Dick and Harry of a measly two penny paper, whom I refused to give an interview to goes out and splashes the news of my alleged marriage or affair,” she exclaims.
Reema states that she was merely a 14-year-old girl when she first appeared in Javed Fazil’s Bulandi opposite the 17-year-old Shan. When this scribe voices the opinion that she was way too young to venture into the big, bad world of celluloid, she readily agrees, “Oh yes, I was too young,” she echoes. She chooses to stroll down the corridors of the past without further probing.
“My ancestors are proud Pathans and this sort of profession is unthinkable. I’m the first and last person who will be working in showbiz. I refuse to drag my family’s name into the lights of showbiz because of the mud-slinging I have to face,” she says.
Suddenly, she goes off on a tangent to the topic of her faith. “I take immense pride in the fact that for the past 12 years, I offer my prayers regularly. I have been observing Aatiqaaf for the past three years and have finished the Quran three times.” The siren considers that her personality has undergone changes of profound magnitude due to her inclination towards religion that has helped curb jealousy and discontent.
When Reema was 10 years old, she remembers adorning a scarf but says “When a woman is holding hands with different heroes on one hand and then covering her head, it doesn’t make sense. I felt terrible from within at times but it had to be done,” she clarifies.
“I haven’t done a film for the past three years. My last film was Ghunda Tax in 2001, which created a rage in the Punjabi film industry with a business of over two crores. But after my sisters saw that film, they were in tears. They confronted me, ‘Apa, if five years down the line you’re going to keep on doing the same work then you should leave the industry.’“
“I took a strong decision and returned all the advances which I had accepted for all the ghunda gardi type of films.” She insists that after Chooriyan and Nikah, all the films made were vulgar as the cream of film makers and financiers had left the arena.
She recalls with delight her major blockbuster Nikah, which took her to the SAARC film festival in Sri Lanka and others in China and London. “This one film took me to heights I had not touched in the previous nine years. It washed away my Barbie doll image and replaced it with that of an actress of substance.”
After rattling off the names of her films she declares, “I was never at the mercy of one director. Not like Saima who is a hit with no one but Syed Noor. Then there’s Sana who did well with Javed Shaikh just to go ahead and give 12 Punjabi failures, or Zara Sheikh who can do well only with Evernew pictures but gave successive flops after that.”
“Zara’s the girl who commented that as an actress Reema’s career is over! A girl whose career is still reeling has the audacity to shoot her mouth off regarding someone who has been around for 13 long years,” she says with a wounded look. “Just because I’m not signing these despicable films which require flesh exposure and gyrate dances. I refuse to because I have to get my sisters married. I have to tie the knot myself,” she finishes, her eyes flashing.
“Top models live in Karachi, but still it’s me who is flown over from Lahore to shoot a commercial here. Why? Reema hasn’t done puny ads for toffees. If I’ve done projects, they’ve reeked class,” she leans forward from the depth of the padded sofa she’s seated on, for emphasis.
“I have been made a target by every actress in the industry,” she confides. “In the beginning it was Madiha Shah. Then Nargis came along and now Meera,” she sniffs. “I still remember, I was in a shop when Meera ran up to me squealing and swooning over me crying, ‘Reema, I’m your greatest fan.’“
Reema concedes to giving Meera the film Kaantay opposite Mohsin Khan. “I was the one who put in a good word for her to Shamim Ara for Ms. Istanbul. And in 1995, on the set of the same film she comes out and curses me in public. It was then that I slapped her on her face!” She says like a lioness seething fire.
“Why do people still swoon over Sabiha, Shamim Ara and Zeba? It’s because they won people’s hearts on the basis of their work. The last on this golden list are Neeli and Reema. That’s it. Why don’t people give examples of Meera, Resham or Noor who have all come after me? Why are they unable to leave their mark? These actresses today are getting films by making personal investments.”
All of a sudden she says, “I want to escape this farce.” Now, Reema is sitting alert, her eyes gleaming. “That’s why I’m heading towards a different dimension of the performing arts, which is direction,” she announces amidst silent drum rolls. “I could have taken up a run-of-the-mill subject. But, I believe that we can educate people through the arts so I’ve opted for a female-oriented subject.” The flick, which has been christened Koi Tujh Saa Kahan will be shot in London and is the saga of a married couple.
Like a doting mother she elaborates on her venture. “The reason why no film is leaving its mark today is because all our heroines have been reduced to mere dancers. An actress’s role in a movie revolves around three steamy songs and three dialogues. I won’t claim to have moved mountains, but I’ve tried to incorporate all that I feel is lacking in films.”
The script of this venture has been penned by Khalil-ur-Rehman and the team boasts of music by Amjad Bobby and lyrics by Aquil Ruby. The star-studded cast includes the director herself along with Moammar Rana, Veena Malik, Irfan Khoosat and Baabriq, who she claims is Lollywood’s answer to Hritik Roshan.
She is quick to assure, “I won’t repeat a fallacy like Shan’s; he just focused on himself in Moosa Khan, Guns and Roses and Mujhay Chand Chahiye. Can you imagine my position? I have to act according to my conscience and also make sure that the public’s appetite is satisfied and yet do something unique.”
Reema said that she was very religious and wore a scarf.. if this was the case, then why did she ever set foot in showbiz.. esp. in Lollywood.. :wondering: