Sajid Hasan, the veteran actor, is content with his life as a mortal who rents an apartment
Actor and scriptwriter Sajid Hasan will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who adore the pearls of 1980s PTV. The Dhoop Kinare star welcomed audiences to learn about his rise to stardom, his enduring marriage, and his thoughts on the cliched screenplays that plague modern show business. He had stumbled into the profession after being discovered on the cricket ground outside his home.
He grinned sarcastically and said, “My wife calls me a bachelor husband,” while chatting with Ahmed Ali Butt on his podcast Excuse Me.
Since his twenties, Hasan has been wed to fitness instructor Shakila Chapra, and like any loving husband, he gives her full responsibility for bringing him to this point in his life. Hasan acknowledged that, while he loved the old-school Hollywood stars Audrey Hepburn and Vivian Westwood, they were no match for his significant partner.
“Women are artistic creations, but in a married relationship, your spouse ought to be on one side and every woman on the planet on the other,” he said. As a writer, Hasan freely acknowledged to having his head in the clouds, but he also gave thanks to his wife for keeping him grounded.
He admitted, “My wife still scolds me whenever I do something wrong.” “I’ve had incredible luck. She is an absolutely fantastic lady. You know, she still practices yoga, and I feel like I’ve fared better as a result of her. She handles everything.
Hasan, a father of three boys, thought about how a parent always learns on the job. He immediately added, “You have to teach your kids, and I don’t know whether I’m a good teacher.” “You realize why your father treated you the way he did once you become a father!”
But Hasan only remembers his own father in glowing terms. He spoke kindly, “My father was very laid-back and gave me nothing but love.” “I don’t recall him ever becoming agitated. I always hung myself because he treated me like an adult and provided me all the rope to do so.
As he tries to emulate his father, Hasan is aware that he wants to be as honest with his kids as his father was with him. “I think you ought to be friends with your children,” he said. My sons are all my buddies. Even my youngest can be impolite! However, after they’re all out in the real world, they’ll all discover the truth and go their own way.
Hasan is still on his journey to figure out how to navigate life on his own. Some people mature into serene individuals. However, it never works out for folks like me who still haven’t found what they’re seeking for,” he remarked. “You need to look for your life’s purpose, and because you live so many lives in dramas, sometimes you forget to do so.”
Desiring to play cricket
As a young boy, Hasan had always wanted to work in theater, but he nearly slipped into the field unintentionally. When he was a student, his university closed because of political instability while he was supposed to be pursuing a master’s degree in literature. Hasan used to spend his free time exercising at the neighborhood cricket ground in Nazimabad, where he secretly hoped to play cricket.
He recalled, “I thought I’d enter cricket even when I was 35.” Even though Dhoop Kinare was quite popular at the time, I still wanted to play cricket! I was sure that I was a terrific all-rounder since so many great cricketers, like Javed Miandad and Moin Khan, came out of that ground. However, I was never sure how to properly contact the authorities.
But fate had other plans for Hasan. Editor of The Cricketer, an English-language magazine, Riaz Ahmed Mansuri, saw him on the ground and requested him to write for his journal after determining he knew a little bit about literature. There was no turning around. Hasan found that working at the magazine was a great way to network with other writers in the entertainment industry and eventually secure acting opportunities.
Looking back at his work, Hasan regretted, “I was always very picky with scripts.” With an intense desire to work with only the “right” materials, Hasan disclosed that he gave up on a lot of projects in his quest for excellence.
He bemoaned that “scripts today have become so commercial.” “When producers have to continuously feed people’s insatiable thirst for television, quality inevitably suffers. Actors no longer receive adequate guidance at all.
Hasan believes that there are more issues affecting Pakistani television besides commercial scripts. “PEMRA must come to an end,” he declared firmly. When it comes to moralizing and telling you what to write and what not to do, it is an absolutely terrible authority. It must not turn into a moral compass.
But Hasan emphasized that when discussing screenplays, anyone in the industry with a family to provide for should set aside personal preferences. Consider it a job, he said. “I would tell today’s youth to take up any work they can. I’ve always believed that although acting is a lucrative career, it’s not a money-making one. Even if you don’t like those scripts, just pick them up.
Even though Hasan is now well-known in Pakistani entertainment, he still lives in a rental and makes occasional real estate investments to supplement his income. He worries about the electricity bill just like the rest of us mortals. “Maybe I should have done it,” he said, “but I never accepted ads that were offered to me, and there were so many roles I didn’t take because I didn’t want to keep playing the same character.”
Even though Hasan is considered a national treasure, that is undoubtedly not how he sees himself. He said, “I think of myself as a very ordinary, down-to-earth human being.” It was never my goal to be a “hero.” It still seems so strange to me.
With a childlike spirit at heart, Hasan offers one essential piece of guidance to anyone aspiring to pursue acting as a career. He said firmly, “An actor should be very childish.” “Always. I still need to mature.
It appears that Hasan will remain in his followers’ hearts for a very long time because he is a young man at heart.
I am a dedicated student currently in my seventh semester, pursuing a degree in International Relations. Alongside my academic pursuits, I am actively engaged in the professional field as a content writer at the Rangeinn website.
