Well-known actor, Nausheen Ali Sardar, who is now playing an evil queen in new SAB TV show, Aladdin, is not a very big fan of typical TV vamps, “I don’t like the poisoning and trying to make the lead girl fall stunts, as they bring discord to the family unit.”
“But the fantasy bit is different, where the story revolves around the hero and villain, e.g. when you talk about Snow White, you always talk about the ‘Mirror Mirror on the Wall’ quote of the evil queen.”
“Similarly here, I make Aladdin’s life hell. I must credit the creative team for giving me the apt evil look. Even on set, people get scared looking at me; it is not Halloween scary, but evil chills. Having said that, the make-up and costumes are very beautiful and pretty, making me look very hot.”
Why did you choose this role as your comeback vehicle? “Well, I don’t really plan. There is no agenda for signing on the dotted line, apart from that it is a great role.” She was last seen in Gangaa, on &TV.
Naush, who has been around for years, starting with Kkusum, says, “The whole industry has changed. There is just one major issue that I wish to flag. Today, producers sign multiple actors for the same role; this has happened not only to me, but to several others industry friends as well. The concerned actors are not even given contract copies, with the net result that, leaving the one actor who eventually gets the role, others end up wasting their time. And if you wish to walk out of the project, you are threatened with legal action. Although the above practice will not meet judicial muster, yet, no actor wants to end up in expensive, lengthy courtroom proceedings.”
Ask Naush whether her decision to move to films (Three – Love, Lies and Betrayal, etc.) after Kkusum was a right one, and she says, “While I have no major qualms with my career, which has not been too good or too bad, I will admit that had I not done films, I would have been seen more on the tube. It is not that I did not want to do TV, my producers asked me to hold back.”
“Having said that, I still feel that in the long term, things do even out, for very few actors can go on for years at end. I have been lucky compared to several others, to have been given second and third chances.”