Back with a bang

It’s the voluminous blow-dried hair and flawless skin that give her away. Sanam Baloch is dressed unobtrusively in a mucho simple off-white Shalwar Kameez and beige flats, but she is unmistakable. Fans have accosted her five times in the past half hour alone. However, she ignores the stares and continues to chat animatedly about her upcoming drama serial Khaas, on premier entertainment channel Hum TV. “Although I was quite long-winded and convivial since my childhood but being an actor was never my dream. Even my first play Kaalak, I was coaxed to do it and after that I thought that’s it – not anymore. People often talk about overnight success stories and this was indeed one of them for me. The telefilm got aired in the night and in the morning I was flooded with the huge feedback of calls and messages and what not. Imagine for that specific role I had to go all bald,” recalls Sanam Baloch. At the time, the fresh faced only had made an appearance on KTN, a Sindhi channel, as a host. Little did she know that a telefilm with an unpopular pitch would go on to put her on the path to becoming one of Pakistan’s most beloved actresses.From that point onwards, Baloch has earned critical acclaim for a string of roles portraying many versions of Pakistan’s sweetheart. Post Kaalak, Sanam starred in drama serial Doraha (2008) on entertainment channel Geo, directed by Mehreen Jabbar, which was followed by spectacular work in Daastan (2010), Durr-e-Shehwar (2012), Kankar (2013), all on premier entertainment channel HUM TV, and telefilm Ek Thi Marium (2016). After a hiatus of one year with mornings shows and reading scripts one after another, post portraying Suhana in ARY Digita’s Teri Raza (2017), Sanam is all set to hit television screens again with Khaas alongside Ali Rehman Khan. “Directed by Danish Nawaz, the play challenges the social norms and highlights for what goes wrong in this society. It’s how an environment and upbringing influences someone for who he becomes as a person – what he perceives and his approach to life and relations,” adds Sanam “The play is an emotional journey that will take you down and strike the right chord in terms of what needs to be changed and looked upon. It is based on the bitter realities of the world existing today. It’s something women of today’s time can relate to. It’s about love, remorse and guilt. It touches the taboo concerning women and how the society perceives them and treats them often and not just society but their closed ones including their husbands.” Drawing parallel on what has changed in Pakistan entertainment industry for over a decade, Sanam says, “A lot has changed. We’re still on our way to making it big in the world though. I think we’re in the revolutionary phase right now where we have finally understood what our audiences want to see. We’ve started making relatable content that is not exaggerated on screen with quality.” In Khaas, Sanam would be seen sharing the screen space with comparatively new actor Ali Rehman Khan. “Ali is a fantastic actor and he puts his 200% in every shot. We’re having a wonderful time on sets. He has studied acting and has practically learned it before he made it big on television screens. That makes helluva difference you know. On the sets we share our instant feedback and help each other with the scenes. I’m really hoping for people to like it once the play is out,” says Baloch. Despite the brassy work that speaks volumes about her talent, Baloch still feels nervous, every time she steps on sets. One would think the actor is teeming with confidence by now, having made numerous television appearances. “I’m very nervous. I’m always nervous about every project I sign. I always leave my work to the Almighty with a prayer that he’ll look into it,” she explains “I started my acting career with Momina Duraid Productions and HUM TV and I’m back with them again. We’ve created tremendous projects together with international acclaim that were not only loved in Pakistan but across the border as well. So even this time – we’re hoping for the best. We’re like lucky charms for each other.”Social media was recently catching up with the rumours of Samaa TV taking Sanam Baloch’s morning show off air, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Isn’t it? “Yes. The morning show is no more a part of Samaa’s transmission. Samaa is increasingly reducing its entertainment content and is trying to focus more on the news section. So yes,” she adds, “The thing about new beginnings is that they require something else to end.”