Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: April 11, 2022 | 
| 中文
Sania Saeed
Sania Saeed has a reputation of consistently giving a good performance, both on television and in films. Her acting journey started with street theater in the early 80s, when Sania’s father Mansoor Saeed established a theater group in Karachi called Dastak. The group staged plays on social and political themes, and a young Sania soon graduated from child characters and minor roles to essaying central characters. A theater play on Women’s Day in 1989, in which Sania displayed her remarkable acting skills was recorded and broadcast on television. That is how TV viewers got introduced to one of the finest actors of our media industry. Her skill of immersing into a character is so incredible that viewers never see her as an actor playing a role, but only as the character she portrays. Today, she would be a director’s first choice for a role that is complex and layered. There are many serials where she brought that extra depth and dimension to her roles. From Aahat to Sitara Aur Mehrunissa, Tapish to Aseerzadi, and in recent years Meri Guriya, Sammi, Pyari Bittu, Sang-e-Marmar, Raqeeb Say, and Dour, every serial has further strengthened her credibility as an actor of high caliber. Currently in Sang-e-Mah, her portrayal of Zarghuna, a revengeful and angry widow, whose husband was murdered leaving her alone to fend for herself and her child in a traditional tribal community, is keeping viewers glued to their TV screens, week after week.
Sania during a theatre performance
Sania believes that every character is like a Lego with multiple pieces to be joined together. “You can join each Lego piece in a new manner to make something unique every time. A keen eye is important in order to immerse oneself in a character. It can be part of an actor’s experience and sometimes may never have been experienced before. That is where his or her skill comes in. Sometimes we can define a character outward in, which means that costume and look will dictate the process and in other cases, the actor must first internalize the character so that it may lead to the look and the mannerism of that character. Every character must be approached differently. It is also important as to how your director wants you to build a character, and how much time you were given with the script. Theater offers you the luxury of spending more time with a script and your co-actors to build a character, but in television one has to rely on your craft and your experiences to form a character. It really depends on what is available to you as an actor, and each role has to be defined within available parameters. It’s a combination of various factors really,” she explains.
A young Sania Saeed with Faisal Rehman and Nadia Jameel
Sania considers herself lucky that despite the obvious dearth of meaningful characters that challenge an actor, she has been offered roles on television that go beyond the ordinary. “There is no doubt that there are very few roles written these days that challenge an actor. Stories that can be told in less than 20 episodes are stretched to 40 episodes because of commercial considerations. That can be equally frustrating for storytellers and audiences. I am lucky that in such an environment, I still get roles that challenge me as an actor. I have been regularly getting creatively challenging work despite the chaos prevalent in our media industry. I am extremely thankful for the love and respect I get from the industry as well as the viewers.”
Sania Saeed with her co-actors Hadiqa Kiyani and Iqra Aziz in Raqeeb Say
Talking about her character in Sang-e-Mah, Sania elaborates, “I was part of the process when this character was being written, and wasn’t given a choice if I wanted to play the role or not. Both the writer of Sang-e-Mah, Mustafa Afridi and the director Saife Hasan, are very close to me. I was told that this is a character that I have to play. I could play it in a few ways, but I liked the particular mannerism and body language that I adopted. The dialogues were written exactly the way it is being portrayed, and I didn’t make even a slightest change in them. It is very rare to get dialogues that are written imaginatively, and when I get such a script, I enjoy the challenge. Actually Sang-e-Mah has a very theatrical feel to it. Particularly Hilmand’s character is almost lyrical, and it was important to have an actor for this role who could deliver dialogues on a beat. It has been a great experience as most of the actors in the serial have theatre background or experience. Even the actors playing supporting roles are all senior actors of television, who are used to delivering impactful dialogues.” The serial is being filmed in a mountainous village of Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We have to shoot five to eight scenes everyday so that is a challenge. Memorizing the dialogues can be tough, but most of Zarghuna’s scenes are with Badam Gul, a character being played by Hassan Noman. He helped me a great deal and was a great support. It was like the way we used to be excited while working with his father, the great actor, late Rasheed Naz sahib. I did a few projects with Naz sahib, and it was always a joy to work with him,” Sania recalls.
Sania Saeed with Hasan Noman, Zarghuna and Badam Gul of Sang-e-Mah
“These days the challenge is to build a team that can work in harmony. The time span of every project, from start to finish, has shrunk. Because of that pressure, an actor is focused only on his or her part. That adversely impacts the synergy that we could see in productions earlier. Lot of actors take pride in the fact that they do 17 scenes in a day, but I find it very nerve wrecking that how can they even conceive so much in such a short time. I sometimes wonder if they actually enjoy what they do, because I believe that even a mason must enjoy what he does. How else can you derive creative satisfaction or a sense of achievement from your art or craft?” Sania wonders. “Lights have become cooler and that is a relief for an actor. Earlier the lights were so hot that they would burn an actor’s skin. When we were filming ‘Meri Guriya’, we had these big warm lights in a small room. It becomes tough to concentrate in that temperature. Earlier actors also had to manage sound, but now our sound recording technologies have really evolved. Our editors are also remarkable. We have very clever editors who are very skillful and sometimes I am amazed how they notice every delicate nuance in our acting, and use it to enhance our performance. They play a big part in stringing together the best parts of every performance, and all this effects the quality of the play.”
Sania Saeed, Atif Badar, Ayesha Saqib and Nadia Jameel.
Sania’s acting repertoire on television and theatre is unparalleled, and the next frontier for her is cinema. She previously acted in ‘Manto’, a serial which was also released as a film, and her depiction of the protagonist’s quiet but strong wife ‘Safia’, was appreciated by audiences and critics. Sania has recently completed an international film project in which she has a guest role. Pakistani cine goers will soon also see her in ‘Kamli’, a film directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, also featuring Saba Qamar. The official trailer of Kamli was going to be released in March, and is already creating waves with its unusual characters and extraordinary cinematography. One thing is for sure, that with a competent co-actor such as Saba Qamar and super talented Sarmad on the Director’s seat, Sania in Kamli is sure to turn in another performance that will stay with viewers for a long time.
Sania Saeed with Saba Qamar in upcoming film Kamli
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