Faizan and Maham – Happily ever after

Karachi: 2017 represents a special milestone in the love story of Faizan Sheikh and Maham Amir. That was the year they both had finally said ‘I Do’ to a never-ending bond for life. Fast forward to 2018, their wedding festivities took place and was then the talk of the town. Although their fans had believed that the two had been dating for a long time, the reality was different. After adding two new feet into the family, the couple opened up about how they met and how parenthood has beautifully changed their life altogether.

How did you and Maham meet and when did you both realise this is going to be a lifetime bond?

We first met at a theatre rehearsal. ‘You Only Marry Twice,’ was the title of the work, and Maham played my wife. That is how and where we met and became acquainted for the first time. We later worked together on a television show, where our chemistry developed and we became friends. After that, I invited Maham to my sister’s wedding, and our relationship grew a little more serious, we started spending more time together, and we realised that this could be a lifetime bond.

Irregardless of being from a ‘media’ family, how difficult was your journey to make it to the top on your own and enjoy the fame you hold today?

From theatre to hosting to doing projects on the big screen, things have been fun and tough at the same time. To establish yourself as a versatile actor, you have to struggle constantly and work really hard to make a mark in the entertainment industry.

My mother (Parveen Akbar) made it very obvious to me that I would not receive any assistance from her in regard to my career in the media world and that I would have to make my own way up. So, I started out from theatre and worked there for over three years with back-to-back productions, despite the fact that we weren’t paid. However, I met a few people there, including Ashir Azeem, who came to see one of my plays and was so impressed with my acting abilities that he cast me in his film ‘Malik.’ I also met a prominent television team at one of my plays, and they invited me to host their morning show, which aired on the channel for more than three years. As a result, I’d say the struggle was both satisfying and rewarding.

I’d want to add that life is full of challenges, but your motivation changes and evolves over time. The struggle begins with finding a job, then moving on to finding more and better work, and lastly maintaining the standard you’ve established. Today, my struggle is something I admire, with the goal of finding better work.

As far as fame is concerned then yes I do enjoy fame, admiring the love I get from people and fans around me. I usually hear celebrities complain about how difficult it is to deal with all of their fame, but I always believe the opposite; we work our entire lives to be recognised and live this life, and once we do, we become irritated. This is something I disagree with, which is why I am thankful for all of the love I receive from my fans.

Would you say your lives have majorly changed in some ways after becoming parents?

Life has changed in a wonderful way. The initial focus would be fully on work and ourselves, but now the primary focus is on Hadiya, her priorities, wants, and moods (Maham says laughingly). We only see ourselves after we’ve finished looking through all of her things as our top priority. So now everything is arranged according to Hadiya, our lives have changed as well, with all of our concentration on our little angel. I have said before and will say again, parenthood is a really surreal experience.

In fact, the realisation that I am now a parent to a daughter comes to me at random, whether on set or elsewhere. Just looking at her photos makes me realise how beautifully our lives have changed for both of us. We’re both looking forward to seeing how things turn out as she grows so quickly, and we’re making the most of this time.”

Being from the media industry, how tough has it been juggling life between work and home after parenthood?

To be honest, it’s not that difficult. There is a preconception that life gets very difficult while balancing work and home after becoming parents, yet we both manage to work our way out without being burdened by the thought of now being parents. We just make sure that we don’t make any compromises, whether it’s with Hadiya or with our work. As a result, we tend to organise things in such a way that we make time for family and friends in order to relax, even though our field of work is equally difficult and time-consuming. So the perception of parenthood being difficult to balance with work is something I would disagree with. God willingly, so far, so good.”

Talking about the month of ‘March’ what perspective do you guys hold feminism?

In terms of March and Feminism, we both feel that women’s empowerment must be voiced and accepted in our culture. It is critical to respect and acknowledge women empowerment, and coming from a family where my mother (Parveen Akbar), sister (Rubya Kulsoom), and wife Maham are examples of empowered women in our society, it would be my highest priority to make Hadiya as empowered as the women in our family. However, we have seen some people misuse feminism, which fuels hatred for anti-feminists. There is always a positive and negative approach, and I feel that the positive should be accentuated while the negative should be eradicated because there is always room for improvement. Nonetheless, we’re always in support of women’s empowerment.

You both have performed in theatres, dramas and films. Which floor do you both prefer and how do you see the industry growing in these areas?

We both believe that theatre has been and will continue to be our first choice because the feel and process of theatre is a genuine actors’ medium, which we both appreciate. So, as actors, we both believe that performing in theatre is the most enjoyable thing to do.

Unfortunately, despite many talents and legends belonging to theatre and serving their talents on the stage, theatre is not given the respect and importance that it should and does receive around the world, which is why it has not grown to much charm and respect as compared to other fields of the media industry.

Although we see the drama and film industries in Pakistan evolving in a favourable direction, we are both concerned about the lack of exposure in theatre and believe that it should grow as well, which we believe the government should encourage alongside multinational businesses and sponsors.

‘Ready Steady Go’ was one of the finest sitcoms we saw in the recent age; would we come to see another season of it anytime soon?

Ready Steady Go was definitely a great project and it wouldn’t be without a doubt that the project gave us both much recognition throughout the industry. However, there are no plans to renew the sitcom or do anything similar right now, but we would love to do something similar if the opportunity arises in the future. Currently, our emphasis is on serious content.

We’ve seldom seen you both as expressive as we see recently wedded couples in the limelight. What would you say about that?

Yes, when it comes to our relationship, we don’t normally express ourselves on social media. Those that do it do so out of their own free will. We tend to keep our personal lives private, but there’s no harm in expressing oneself, and those who do share their lives in public do so because it’s their way of life. It’s just that we’re not comfortable in doing so and would prefer privacy when it comes to expressing our affection for each other. However, we tend to share as much of our relationship with our fans as we believe we should, and whatever we don’t think is necessary is set aside and not ‘shared.’

Since you both started your journey in this industry from scratch, would you approve of your daughter being part of this industry someday?

Certainly, if our daughter believes she can and wants to pursue a career in the media field, we will always support her decision. However, I will maintain my mother’s condition that she finishes her education, study and grasp what she’s getting into, and then move forward. So her first goal would be to finish her degree before pursuing her desire to work in this field or any other for that matter. And I believe that children should not be forced to participate in any specific area of expertise or be restricted from doing something they wish. So, if Hadiya wants to work in this profession, we will certainly allow her to do so.

You Only Marry Twice, Malik, Ready Steady Go,