Films about elderly people aren’t considered commercially viable: Simi Raheal

Veteran actress Simi Raheal recently starred with Salman Shahid in the acclaimed Eid telefilm ‘Budhi Ghori Lal Lagham’, about an elderly couple who are struck with a tragedy, then choose to live adventurously. The short film was written and directed by actor Sheheryar Munawar, who previously received rave reviews for his Mahira Khan starrer short film ‘Prince Charming’.

We spoke to Raheal at the premier of ‘Teri Meri Kahaniyaan’ at Cue Cinema and asked what drove her to the role.

“He wrote and directed it, and the inspiration came from his own parents. We had recently done a tv series and I don’t know why but he wanted both Salman saab and myself as pivotal characters,” she disclosed.

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Raheal was also of the opinion that people want to listen to stories other than the typical saas bahu dramas. “There are a lot of stories out there, and different types of people and a lot of issues. Elderly people have their own set of problems. They want to do things. It’s not necessary that everything is for the youth.”

Recently, veteran actress Mahnoor Baloch also apoke up about why she refused to work in Pakistani dramas, citing a lack of roles for women who are in their forties or fifties. Speaking on this matter, Raheal said it’s because stories that didn’t fit into the ‘hero heroine’ formulae are not considered ‘commercially viable’:

“It’s not written actually, because people don’t write stories about aged women. Mostly people are interested in writing stories about heroes and heroines, which all have the same formulae. Other stories, people feel will not be commercially viable hence they remain untouched.”

‘Budhi Ghori Lal Lagham’ is available to watch on Youtube.