Pakistani actress-singer Ayesha Omar, who was recently granted the UAE golden visa, described Dubai as a vibrant city that was incredibly safe for women.
Omar was in the emirate for the Dubai Shopping Festival last month when Gulf News got a chance to chat with the actress, singer and YouTuber. “Dubai is like a second home a lot of us in Pakistan. This time around, I had come for my golden visa processing. I’m very, very thankful and grateful to the UAE government that they’ve honoured me with this golden visa. I was also promoting some really cool tourist activities in Dubai and I got to be a tourist myself,” she said.
The ‘Bulbulay’ star, 40, is a popular face on the entertainment scene with a career graph that includes hits such as the Pakistani series ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’, along with powerful performances in films like ‘Karachi Se Lahore’ and ‘Kaaf Kangana’.
But Omar says her resume stretches far beyond her on-screen outings, identifying herself as a proud globe-trotter as well. Yet, her sense of adventure isn’t limited to her downtime alone. Even in her career and life, she’s known to have taken risks that few in her place would dare.
In 2018, Omar publicly acknowledged that she was sexually harassed at the age of 23 during her first few years in cinema by someone ‘powerful’ and ‘twice her age’, without naming the person.
Later in 2020, Omar went live on her official Instagram account with American actress Rose McGowan, who was one of the first few women to publicly accuse Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault in 2017, which went on to spark the #MeToo movement. At the time, Omar detailed the assault she endured at the hands of ‘a powerful monster’ in hope that one day she would have the courage to name them. Since then, Omar has been known as an unabashed advocate for issues women face in the film industry.
Gulf News caught up with the feisty actress to get her take on Dubai, working (and crushing) on co-star Fawad Khan on the sets of ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’ and the price she has paid for being an advocate for women’s issues.
How has your shopping experience in Dubai? Are you an impulsive shopper or a careful one?
Oh, I’m an impulsive shopper. In fact, I am what you call classic shopaholic. I will go out to buy one thing. And I’ll go and buy [a] hundred other things and not buy that one thing. So, you know, I shop impulsively but I’m becoming better.
But I buy a lot of high quality organic supplements, vitamins and snacks and nutrients — whether it’s chocolate or healthy snacks — to have while working because we have such long shifts, sometimes for 20 hours. I think that’s my biggest extravagance these days and that’s what I also bought this time around.
Did you manage to visit Expo 2020 Dubai as well?
I went to the Pakistani pavilion but unfortunately didn’t get a chance to visit other pavilions. This was in October… . I think Expo 2020 is just fabulous. The way all the pavilions have been designed, because I’ve obviously seen a lot of stuff on social media... there’s so much to see, so much to offer and so much to learn about different cultures and different countries. Expo 2020 is a great place to actually get a glimpse of different countries and cultures without having to travel.
You are one of a handful of celebrities who diversified into launching a skincare brand. What inspired you to launch Ayesha.O Beauty?
I always wanted to create a brand which represents wellness and is 100 per cent natural using organic ingredients... away from chemicals and toxic substances. And I love using similar products as well. So for years I was always getting stuff from my travels and felt that there was a void in my country that needed filling.
So when COVID-19 started, work came to a halt and the whole world was shutting down. That gave me time to really think and do a lot of research. So within seven, eight months, I launched my brand and now we’re going to launch a haircare line and fragrances. So a lot is on the way. And yeah, we want to distribute all over the world.
We saw you tried some adventurous activities in Dubai during this visit. Tell us more.
You know, I was actually only there for about three days. And I still managed to do a lot. I went to the top of [The View at The Palm Jumeriah]... I had always been to The Palm, but never really seen it from the top. And this was the first time that I got to go to this man-made wonder. In fact, I went live from there and took my followers on a little tour.
What are the projects you’re currently working on?
There’s ‘Bulbulay’, which is the sitcom that I’ve been doing for 12 years... So we shoot for that every month. And it’s been ongoing for five years now. So that’s like a constant in my life. Then this is other drama series called ‘Bisaat’ on Hum TV… That’s on air and we’re still shooting for it. Plus, three [of my] films are ready for release.
How was it working with Fawad Khan on the TV series ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hain’, which drew loyal audiences from Pakistan and India? Is there a sequel on the cards?
It was amazing. I’ve actually known Fawad since we were in school. He was a year senior to me and in my brother’s class. So I’ve known him since then. And then he was a part of a band. As I was a singer as well, we all used to perform underground... we were [part] of the underground music scene in Lahore.
And then one of the first projects that I did, ‘Jutt and Bond’, had Fawad as was one of the stock characters. He was Bond in the sitcom. So I have worked with him back in the day.
He was just a singer back then. But then he started acting and he was very shy. He wasn’t like an extrovert. He was more of an introvert. But [his] manners were immaculate. So we all had crushes on Fawad. And then working with him, of course, I was a little excited. And sometimes... I was nervous. I always had a crush on him... He’s a phenomenal actor.
Has there been a cost to boldly speaking out about issues that women face in the entertainment industry today?
[There] has... I didn’t speak about it [being abused] for 15 years until someone else in the industry got up and spoke about it. And as I found the courage to speak about it, I started gaining more confidence and speaking up about things that mattered.
So when you do speak about things, and when you are vocal about things, a lot of people will just victim blame you. A lot of people will not believe you, a lot of people will find all sorts of excuses to make you look like you’re not telling the truth... there’s a lot of trolling now with social media, which was not there 10 years [ago] because there was no social media.... We’re dealing with hundreds of people every day and we can’t always be at our best.
I’m very vocal about sexual harassment. I’m very vocal about rape. I’m very vocal about lack of education and vocal about domestic abuse because I have faced it all, because I have seen it firsthand... I can relate to it. And I really, really want to be a source of inspiration to not just women, but men also, because I have been inspired by other people in my life.
