Pakistani actor Mehwish Hayat opened up about why she turned down big offers from Bollywood during an interview with BBC Asian Network in 2019. Bollywood star and Miss World Aishwarya Rai took up the film project Fanney Khan that Mehwish initially reject, but the latter has no regret about it.
Mehwish Hayat, who also won Tamgha-e-Imtiaz award, revealed that she made a “conscious” choice of choosing not to go to India and for her “self-respect” is of utter importance. When asked by the host about what are her thoughts regarding India’s treatment of Pakistani artists amid the tension between two countries, Mehwish said:
“I think its unfair because all our actors who have worked in Bollywood, unfortunately we are not given the kind of respect we deserve,” she went on. “If you let the actor work and at the same time you don’t let them attend the premiers or even [let] them promote their films.”
“Nothing is bigger than the self respect,” she added.
Mehwish also admitted that she loves working in the Pakistani film industry and would keep working towards advancing it. She further said, “It was a conscious decision that I wanted to stay here in my country and work for my Pakistani cinema.”
Mehwish also turned down a role in Dedh Ishqiya that was later taken up by Huma Qureshi.
