Sara Loren of Murder 3 nudges TV to get into films

It seems that TV’s loss is Bollywood’s gain. Take for instance the case of Pakistani film and TV actress Sara Loren, also known as Monaliza. She turned down a Balaji Telefilm’s small screen offer, to get into films. And now, she is in the news for her bold avatar in the Vishesh Bhatt-directed Murder 3 that also stars Randeep Hooda and Aditi Rao Hydari. “I was to shoot for a Pak TV soap Kajal while I was in Dubai, but I turned it down because I wanted to move on to films, that’s a different ball game. I don’t believe in wasting my time elsewhere once I know where my goal is- films. Later Ekta Kapoor offered me a film while I was doing my debut Hindi project Kajraare directed by Pooja Bhatt. But that project also did not work out,” says Sara. Sara, who is of an Indo-Pak parentage, is a well known name in the field of Pakistani television. “I have done over 20 shows across the border for Urdu channels like ARY and Geo TV etc. However, I prefer cultural roles as it helps me understand and touch ordinary people’s lives better. For example I played the role of a Rajasthani girl in one film; it was quite close to my heart as my father hailed from that part of India.” “Then I also acted as a female rickshaw driver in Billo CNG. This role, again, was out of the box as women normally don’t follow this profession in Pakistan. Last but not the least, I played a brick kiln worker in Main Marrgayi Shaukat Ali.” The actress has also worked in three Lollywood films (Lahore film industry) Gidhi, Saltanat and Love Mein Ghum as well. Sara is pained to note that over the years TV content has gone downhill in Pakistan. “We all have seen great Pakistani dramas like Ankahi and Tanhaiyan. These PTV shows rocked for the artistes Shehnaz Sheikh and Roohi Bano were very graceful. Sadly, people were more open minded. Then I have seen leading ladies of Pak TV wearing saris with backless blouses back then.” However, Sara escapes from comparing Indian TV with that of Pakistan as both reflect their respective local cultures.