Iman Ali on Bollywood and her Film

she is lucky that as high profile a director/producer as Shoaib Mansoor believed in her talent enough to have offered her first Anarkali and then the lead role in his much talked about feature film. The comfort level Iman established with the respected director while filming Anarkali, motivated her to take up the project.

"It's a film about an ordinary girl going through strange situations," she reveals, refusing to disclose more. "I'm hoping for comfort in this film." She does add that Khuda Key Liye has answered a lot of confusions regarding religion. It has answered the dilemma of blind faith for her, something she admits to be struggling to understand. "It will be controversial but it's great that Shoaib Mansoor had the guts to tackle such a sensitive issue. I'm happy to be part of it no matter how many problems it might create for me."

As an actor would you take up an offer for a Mahesh Bhatt film?

Iman: No. I'm not ready to take my clothes off. But it's wrong to condemn Meera for doing that in India as she does a lot worse here. But I wouldn't do in India what I wouldn't do here. Mahesh Bhatt's company makes awful films and I wouldn't want to work for them. So much seems to be happening in India but there is nothing really. In Paap, where did this girl living in the northern areas get new and glamorous undergarments? In Black why are people behaving as if they're in Rome? Fantasy is okay but not when touching such a sensitive subject. I have a serious problem with all this.

Q: What about the fashion council?

Iman: We have far better designers in Pakistan than in India. I've worked with Suneet Varma, Tarun Tahiliani, Rina Dhaka, JJ Valaya and numerous designers at the Bride and Groom show in India but they don't measure up to the quality work we do in terms of finishing and design. Some of them are really bad. Ritu Kumar's work is okay and she's one of the biggest designers there. What I'm saying is that if we handle the council honestly, then there is hope.