Yesteryear actor Ghazal Siddique to make TV comeback with Ramazan play

Veteran actor Ghazal Siddique has returned to Pakistan after 11 years, and said a lot has changed over the years. However, she will be seen in a Ramazan special comedy drama.

Ghazal lived in Canada for quite a while, and recently came back to Pakistan. She will play a comedy role in a Ramazan special drama serial, she told SAMAA Digital in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts from the interview are as follows:

Q: What difference did you find in Karachi when you came back from Canada?

Ghazal: A lot has changed, ever since I came back. Many things have changed over time. The weather is still cold in Canada, but your homeland always makes you feel different.

Q: What difference did you find in Karachi after 11 years? What kind of Karachi has it become?

Ghazal: Aside from the love and support from the people, Karachi’s condition is not very ideal. I’ve seen the people very upset, the traffic situation has gotten worse, and people have fallen far below the poverty line, and witnessing these things hurts a lot.

Q: After staying away from the country for this long, did you face any trauma after coming back?

Ghazal: It was traumatic to watch the news about your homeland sitting in a foreign country and thinking that God knows what’s going on in reality in your dear homeland. Though when I came back here, it felt as if I have always lived here, never gone abroad, since I was born and raised here.

When I started working here again here, the most disappointing thing was the kind of situation in which we had to work. That was because there is a huge difference between working here and working in Canada. Still, what keeps me positive is that here, the people are your own, and working with your own people has its own value and feels very different.

Q: How did you come across producing content for social media and YouTube?

Ghazal: I worked a lot in Canada and also worked with an art centre and a school there. I also learnt the technicalities of media, since I belong to the media, working in media always gave me relief, which no other job did. I also worked for media in Canada and hosted some shows as well. Before the start of the Covid pandemic, I left my job and focused on my YouTube channel. I was not expecting a such good response from the audience. It was those people’s love that they wanted to see me on my channel. When I got positive feedback, I started to focus on this specific side even more.

Q: Do you still plan on acting in dramas and films?

Ghazal: Currently, I am working on a drama for Ramazan, where my character is not serious, but a comedy role. Family issues will be the main theme of the drama serial, and if I am offered to work in a film with a positive theme, I will surely do it.

Q: Has anything changed in Pakistani media in these years?

Ghazal: Media has changed a lot, there is so much of new talent. There is a lot of variety of talent in the industry now, it makes me happy. Social media has provided opportunities to many talented people who were sent back home from the doors of PTV.

Q: Is the character of ‘Marvi’ still the reason for your fame?

Ghazal: I am still known for my character ‘Marvi’ everywhere. But the new generation follows me on my YouTube channel, since they haven’t seen my drama.

They do not recognize me from that play, as it has been years since it was aired, but they do know that I was an actor. So, YouTube is a part of my identity as well, but ‘Marvi’ is still on the top when it comes to my recognition.