Pakistani men are very possessive: Maria Wasti
Sadia Malik

ISLAMABAD—How did she come into acting?
“God I hate this question! I’m sick of it,” she says. “I guess you have to ask it. Bakhtiar Ahmed, who was the programme manager of Lahore TV at the time cast me in a long play called Sarah aur Ammara.” This was around eight years ago. The story revolved around two sisters who were settled abroad, and whose parents tried to match them with possible suitors from Pakistan. The other sister was played by Resham.
After her first experience in acting, Maria realized her passion for the art. Her family, she says, were very supportive, but did tell her to treat acting like a ‘real’ career and pursue it in a professional manner.
“Although my father wanted me to become a doctor, I was lucky that my parents weren’t the type who force their opinion on their children,” she says with a grin, “and they’ve let me and my siblings pursue the careers of our choices.” She adds that the main reason she didn’t want to pursue a career in medicine was basically because she “wanted to look at people in another way rather then dissecting them. I’m a pure romantic, and that line of work is hardly romantic.”
Maria views acting as a vehicle which she uses to express herself, something she feels that everyone needs to do in order to be fulfilled and happy, irrespective of the medium.
“I realized that I was really not the type who could do a 9 to 5 job — I hate waking up in the morning. I still cannot get used to it.” But she has no regrets, despite the ups and downs that she has faced. “I’m lucky that I came into this field; I feel that I wouldn’t be the person that I am and would be out there somewhere, miserable and unhappy, if I hadn’t come into acting.”
After her first TV appearance, Maria began to get a lot of offers, and ended up doing numerous plays for Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi television. Plus, besides enjoying her work immensely she also managed to explore another one of her passions: travel. “Travel is the best university in the world, you get to learn so much through it,” she declares.
And what were reactions from people within the industry like when she first entered the field?
“People were sceptical in the beginning, but that is the case no matter which career you opt for. But once I proved myself, people began to accept me and things changed.”
Things did change for the better and since then, Maria has played various roles and characters in a comparatively short span of time. She’s proud of some of the roles she has taken on and speaks fondly of them.
“I did Kallo, which was a little different. Written by Bano Qudsia, the play was about a girl who is very dark — I had to put on tonnes of make-up to look really dark. It was a romantic and beautiful story.”
She also recalls some other plays, such as Neend, Boota From Toba Tek Singh and Baadalon Par Basera, in which she played a variety of characters. But despite reaching an enviable position in the industry, Maria is far from content today.
“Mujhe shikayat hai that we’re not making history,” she says, “We’re not making plays that deal with today’s issues.” And what are today’s issues? “Relationships, drugs, Aids, communication with parents and spouses and the increasing divorce rate,” she declares. “You don’t necessarily have to be explicit and vulgar if you are dealing with a sensitive issue.”
And while for many it is easy to complain and not do anything about it, Maria has been making an effort to either act in, or produce plays with substance. For instance Baadalon Par Basera deals with the issue of a young girl who gets married to a man over the phone whom she has never met. Once she reaches the US where he lives, she finds him to be much older than the photo she saw. To add to her misery, he is quite abusive as well.
“This sort of situation has happened to someone I know, and it is still happening,” says Maria. “After the play was aired, I got a lot of feedback from people who had actually been in such situations. Our society has changed in the last few years. Relationships have become more complicated and people have also become more aware about what they want from a relationship, irrespective of their social class or education. They want to develop an understanding with their spouses, and not just stay married for the sake of it.”