Veteran actress Saba Hamid has stunned fans with her performance as Noor Jahan in the hit drama serial of the same name.
In the serial Noor Jahan , Saba Hamid played the character of Noor Jahan.
During an appearance on After Hours, host Ushna Shah asked, “The character of Noor Jahan is such that you start to dislike her a bit because she is an extremely controlling mother-in-law, and she is completely opposite to you, introverted, someone who minds her own business. So, tell me, what was it like playing a woman like that?”
Saba Hamid replied, “Mostly, if a mother-in-law has a significant role, she is portrayed as controlling and powerful. Generally, we have reached this age by playing such roles, so it wasn’t something new. But there was a good balance in Noor Jahan’s character. It was very gray, I didn’t see her as a completely black (evil) person. I felt that she believed in what she was saying, she wasn’t plotting or being deceitful. She truly believed that sons should be prioritized, which was a wrong idea, but the character was portrayed as wrong, not right, because people do think this way. We can’t close our eyes to it.”
The Noor Jahan actress also highlighted how important it was to play a role that made people think about society.
“To point that out, you sometimes have to touch the wound in order to heal it. I know many people were upset about that monologue where it was said that when a daughter is born, the father’s head lowers in shame. But this is how society thinks, and it was highlighted and countered well. There was a strong contrast because another drama of mine, which was filmed around the same time, also had a mother-in-law, but she was completely different calm and gentle. And I played both characters back-to-back, which overlapped a bit. I think it was fantastic how I managed to pull it off, and I believe I did well with both roles.”
Talking about her working relationship with Musadiq Malik,
Hamid said, “I am genuinely saying that I have worked with many directors, even with those who are very skilled. He is young and new, and Noor Jahan was only his second serial. The first one was Habs, and with Noor Jahan, he outdid everything he had done before. So, full marks to both (Zanjabeel Asim Shah) of them for making Noor Jahan what it is. “It was an interesting experience because he had assisted me before, and now he was directing me. When he assisted me, we had already formed a team where no one was the boss or subordinate. We always worked collaboratively, and even when I was directing, I valued his input. Similarly, when he was directing, he valued my opinions as well.”
