“Zara is fiercely independent and single-minded,” Sonya Hussain on Azaadi

“I recently left a play. It was a big name director but I felt that I couldn’t relate to the character. It wasn’t the right fit somehow. So I declined to be a part of it.”

Choices, we make it every day. Some big some small. But to be that decisive needs courage and conviction. And that seems to be case very much with Sonya Hussyn. She started out with Moor. A film one would categorize to be an ‘art film’. So why this massive switch?

“I wanted to venture out. This was a complete novelty for me. I wasn’t used to this type of work, the director, the hero were new. It’s a completely different work dynamic. But I am so glad that I did it. As an actor, you have to kind of put yourself outside your comfort zone and put your abilities to test. I am used to acting finely. ‘Palkon se jawab diana’. But now I am acting with full on emotions. This was exciting.”

For someone who saw her in Moor, and the plays, this would feel really different. And she acknowledges it.

“Yes, I know this would be unusual to a certain type of audience. I hope the audiences like it. The subject is important. Yes it’s a love story but with a message. We in our daily lives tend to ignore problems of the world. So, with this movie, you will see how Kashmiris are living their lives. I mean I did my research before the film and it is a terrible life out there. I felt I owe it to them to give my voice.”

There was action sequences she is part of. But that question got a generic response as such. What got her really excited was the question about Zara. She plays a single minded and independent journalist.

“Zara like a lot of my characters is an independent women. She knows where she is going in life. Her decision are based on her own reasons. Part of reason, I liked this script was I knew that the story had a major role for the heroine. I cannot be in a film just for the sake of it. There has to be a particular role.”

And with that I had my answers. We will get to see Zara and Azaad, two fierce characters, played by actors who come from very different backgrounds. How this mixes and what ‘chemistry’ they conjure up, time shall tell.