“No matter how tough my life was, I was always looking up at the sky and wishing for good things.”
“I’ve been travelling, returning home for promotional appearances, and juggling it all with being the mother of a five-year-old.”
“I am human. I make mistakes.”
“The Lux girl is every girl as far as I’m concerned. She can be shy, confident, boisterous, elegant, or clumsy.”
“Empowering women with better education, being sensitive towards their wellbeing, health, happiness, ensuring equal opportunities, and respecting their rights will go a long way in transforming Pakistan.”
“My first priority is my child.”
“Life is such a beautiful thing. When you sit for a moment during the day and live that particular moment, everything seems perfect.”
“I’m doing ‘Maula Jutt 2,’ which is a Punjabi film. For me, it’s a new experience because I have never spoken Punjabi, and I hope everyone is going to love it.”
“Only a good actor has an edge over a weak actor. A hardworking actor has an edge over a lazy actor. Nationality has nothing to do with it.”
“I’m the poster child for cyber bullying. It’s hurtful.”
“Through life’s ups and downs, and the few mistakes we make and all the successes that we get, let nobody – nobody’s opinion – define who you are. And if anybody defines who you are, let it be yourself.”
“I believe in one thing, and that is content, because if your content is strong, the film will surely be hit at the box office.”
“I don’t think that I can tell any story better than the story of my own country, than the stories of my own countrymen.”
“After watching Guru Dutt’s films, I became a huge fan of Sahir Ludhianvi’s poetry and the songs of Guru Dutt’s films.”
“I am an anomaly in my country. I hope, in the coming years, there will be more women like me.”
“I do only one film at a time.”
“Good films with great content is what I dream about.”
“I was shooting for ‘Bin Roy’ and ‘Ho Mann Jahaan’ simultaneously.”
“I don’t want to be close to politics.”
“It isn’t easy to break into Bollywood. But that’s not my goal.”
“When ‘Humsafar’ did well, every single person associated with it shined. Its DoP [Director of Photography], Shehzad Kashmiri, went on to become a huge director. So, a good and successful project just blesses everybody.”
“I just want to do the best work wherever I go. It could be here in Pakistan or India or anywhere else.”
“I don’t even have time to buy clothes.”
“I honestly didn’t know how well Bin Roye would fare with audiences. I couldn’t be indifferent while watching it. I kept seeing tiny nuances that I could have changed with my role.”
“My understanding is the day I start looking at myself as a star is the day I will die as an actor.”
“After ‘Raees,’ I used to wonder how I’d feel working on another film and to do this and still enjoy it – I know now I like acting; I enjoy it.”
“I’ve always been sensitive and over-emotional.”
“Everyone goes through things; everyone has a story. That’s why strangers are so interesting. I don’t find a single human being boring, man.”
“I actually never wanted to be a VJ. Never. It just so happened that I became a VJ, and I was actually kind of like, ‘I don’t want to be a VJ. I want to be in the movies.’ So yeah, I always wanted to be an actor.”
“When you put so much effort and hard work in a project, you wish to see the results.”
“I work with the same dedication and zeal in all my projects, but ‘Raees’ is very special.”
“People have asked me about what it’s like to work in Pakistan and abroad. It’s such a healthy cultural exchange.”
“I was a dreamer, and I still am one.”
“When we show our flaws, we show the world that we don’t look pretty all the time.”
“Now, I realise that love is peace. Love is when you are with somebody, and it’s okay, and you don’t have to talk. Their presence is important.”
“Shah Rukh Khan is magic, really, honestly. He spoilt me for life. There’s nothing you can’t talk to him about, and we’ve had amazing conversations.”
“Your life could be falling apart, but for your audience, you have to put up a show.”
“I’ve suffered from anxiety and a lot of other things.”
“If it were up to me, I would wear a peshwas and a gharara everywhere.”
“I wish I had gone to Cannes with a film, but I had gone there for L’Oreal Pakistan. I cannot tell you the people that I was around, from Helen Mirren to Jane Fonda. It was a proud moment on the red carpet when they announced my name and said ‘Mahira Khan from Pakistan.’”
“We cannot base our judgment on binaries such as a person’s gender.”
“Once I did a film like ‘Verna,’ which was emotionally draining, I knew I needed to do something lighter and entertaining.”
“I do feel it’s tougher to make a comic scene work than performing an intense scene, for example.”
“I have a lot of respect for actors who do comedy. They do it naturally.”
“I want every single person to like my work.”
“The success of ‘Humsafar’ comes with an added responsibility that whatever I do next has to be as good if not better, and I also don’t want to miss out on my son’s growing up years.”
“As a child, I used to steal Indian film magazines.”
“I’d love to work with Vishal Bhardwaj and Imtiaz Ali.”
“The price of wisdom is innocence. So, I have definitely become wiser but sadly a little less innocent.”
“I have dealt with criticism from my first drama, and I think that is a part of our profession. It brings me down but definitely pushes me to do better.”
“I romanticise every moment of my life, and that is why I have fallen in love with life.”
“Like every woman, I do have a #MeToo story, but if somebody wants to share something personal, they should do it when they want to, not because there is a movement or someone else is talking about it.”
“My parents were like these hippies almost: they are free-spirited, but they were also strict – which seems like a weird dynamic – but it worked.”
“The fact is I’ve always been such a big Bollywood fan, from the time I was very young. I remember I’d watch new Bollywood films every Thursday night on a video cassette.”
“I have been lucky with the people that I’ve worked with – and I have worked with very few people.”
“It doesn’t matter how I conduct myself or what I wear or how I speak or where I sit or what I do. That does not allow anybody to harass me.”
“Every character is challenging because, at the end of the day, you have to make something out of it.”
“I know it’s easy to say the box-office numbers doesn’t matter, but the reality is it actually does.”
“I loved ‘Highway.’ It was amazing. I have watched Imtiaz Ali’s other films, too, and he is one of my favourite Bollywood directors, besides Vishal Bhardwaj and Mani Ratnam.”
“I am very much open to Bollywood and would love to work in great stories.”
“My directors are always more confident about me doing a role than I am.”
“The most vital thing for an actor to deliver a great performance is to be honest to the role he or she is playing.”
“If people can come out of ‘Bin Roye’ feeling even just a little bit of what this character felt, and touched your heart, that’s enough for me.”
“I did meet Shah Rukh. He was very kind.”
“If my co-actor shines, it means I have shone as well and vice versa.”
“Luckily, I’ve had the chance to perform with some of the best actors in Pakistan, who helped me out a lot on set.”
“Now I’ve come to a place where I believe that anger doesn’t really make me a better actor.”
“I want to be able to bring out stories like ‘Verna,’ as well as stories which are of the modern and new generation like ‘Ho Mann Jahaan,’ which is a film I did of the youth of Pakistan.”
“Bollywood was never really the aim, actually. I mean, sure, you could argue that I could have done more films there; for sure, I could have.”
“Being the Lux girl has been a real journey! I did my first ad before my first film released. I was shy and unaware.”
“Actors love to do good work irrespective of country and borders.”
“I would definitely like to work in India. It is just that I am quite picky when it comes to roles.”
“Actresses have always been in a position of power.”
“Money is not a driving force for me when it comes to my passion: that is, dramas and films.”
“How much money I demand – or don’t demand – is my prerogative as an actor. However, when it comes to commercials, my outlook is different. And in that area, I do try to set certain standards, financially or otherwise.”
“It’s very hard for an artist to negotiate their fees. My job is to act; my manager’s job should be to handle the business side of it.”
“I am the first Pakistani actress who got the opportunity to work with Shah Rukh Khan as the main lead.”
“I will work in films based on quality productions and significant characters.”
“I became an actor only as a result of Madhuri Dixit. I was watching ‘Ram Lakhan,’ and her song ‘Bada dukh dina’ started playing. The minute I saw it, I told my mother, ‘I wish to accomplish it. I desire to be on TV.’”
“Since the Indian film industry is one of the oldest, and I have grown up admiring all the movies, especially the classics starring Guru Dutt, I would love to work here.”
“’Humsafar’ was the show that made me popular.”
“On-screen wardrobes are important. They help create an overall aura, and with local productions being viewed all around the globe, they represent our aesthetics to the world.”
“I love commercial cinema.”
“I’ve given ‘Bin Roye’ everything, and I’m hoping that people enjoy something different coming from Pakistani cinema.”
“I like watching a ‘Ram Leela.’ I like my dance and song.”
“As many have said before me, artists are creative people who can’t be dragged into the politics of nations. I have always made a concerted effort to maintain this standard for myself.”
“Art connects everyone.”
“I have grown up watching Bollywood films, watching Shah Rukh Khan’s films. I am happy that I worked with him.”
“I am very self-doubting; it has come out of experience.”
“I am scared to answer questions. I do not think and answer. I say whatever comes to my mind.”
“When I read my interviews, I feel, is it me? I constantly wonder if someone will get hurt if I say this or that. It is unfortunate that I am scared to say what I feel.”
“The truth is that we have all gone through failure. I have personally as well as professionally experienced failure.”
“It is a big thing to work in a foreign film.”
“Failure is knowledge, and knowledge is success.”
“I was dreaming of wearing a sari and dancing like Madhuri Dixit. I also used to dream of working with Shah Rukh Khan. I did nothing to make it happen. I only dreamed and believed in my dreams.”
“’Humsafar’ is addictive; it’s a good nasha to have. I remember, when the show was on here in Pakistan, my friends would keep asking me what’s going to happen next. And those who didn’t see it when it was aired the first time watched all episodes back-to-back because they found it very gripping.”
“You don’t feel good about being criticised, especially when you’ve been loved so much.”
“I am very excited about ‘Raees.’ But more than this, I am nervous, too. It feels like I am under pressure to show my acting skills.”
“If I have to choose between a Bollywood film and Pakistan film, it may sound cliched, but I will go with the script first. And if both the scripts are equally good, then I will choose a Pakistan film.”
“I can’t work in Indian serials, as they are too long… they run for years.”
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