Actor and former model Vaneeza Ahmed spoke to BBC Urdu this week about breaking female stereotypes and the need for women to be “headstrong” and “unapologetic”.
Discussing her new show, ‘Kuch Ankahi’, Ahmed was asked whether she thinks a “Phupho” or paternal aunt has garnered a negative connotation in society. Ahmed responded that she is confused as to why it is so and hopes that through her well-received show ‘Kuch Ankahi’, this and other such stereotypes can be broken.
Ahmed, a veteran model, has appeared on numerous catwalks for Pakistani designers and campaigns in the 1990s as well as walking for including Calvin Klein and Donna Karan internationally.
She regularly graced the covers of local fashion and culture publications such as ‘Libas’ and ‘Visage’ through the print magazine era.
She eventually delved into film with a role in ‘Jinnah’ in 1998. She then appeared in dramas on PTV, including a role as Agent Vinnie in CBS’s ‘Criminal Minds: Beyond Boundaries’ from 2006-2014.
She got married in 2010 and has two children. After a break from the industry, she agreed to appear on Nadeem Baig’s ‘Kuch Ankahi’, stating how she fell in love with the script and the character of Sofia.
Speaking about the subjugation of women’s rights in society, Ahmed said: “Women have been oppressed to such an extent that they are completely unaware of their own rights.
“They have been taught that they do not deserve better simply because they are women.”
Ahmed said she hopes that these issues, highlighted in Pakistani dramas, can bring forth positive change.
Referring to a seminal moment in ‘Kuch Ankahi’, where a woman’s rights in a Nikahnama are being discussed, Ahmed recalled her own wedding where nobody was ready to speak about the Nikahnama or the rights for women specified within it.
“My mother kept Rs24 as my haq mehr, and I fought with her later about it.”
Highlighting this practice of eschewing such rights by the religious cleric as wrong, Ahmed said women should “speak up and not be fearful at all.”
Furthering this thought, Ahmed spoke about the hypocrisy in society when it comes to being outspoken.
“Sajal’s character is very headstrong - why is that a bad word? Why shouldn’t one be, she knows what she wants. When a man does it, its ambitious, when a woman does it she’s shrewd.”