Mehwish Hayat – the acclaimed Pakistani actress, model and singer – has lately been all over news and social media on account of her nomination for the prestigious Tamgha-e-Imtiaz that she will receive on the 23rd of March. Today, her first look from her upcoming movie Chhalawa was also revealed. Mehwish has, undoubtedly, taken over our newsfeeds for a few weeks now. So, we at Galaxy Lollywood, got in touch with her and had a detailed yet a candid conversation with her, about her upcoming film Chhalawa, working with Wajahat Rauf and her web-series Ennaya.

On working with Wajahat Rauf

Upon being asked how her experience has been working with a different director this time, for she has previously only worked with Nadeem Baig and Nabeel Qureshi, Mehwish said, “I have always worked with a number of directors in my drama days so working with someone else for a film was no different.”

“Each of the film directors I have worked with have their own strengths and I think what appealed to me about Wajahat was that he also writes his own scripts which gives him a great insight into the character development. Moreover, we were already working on the web series Enaaya which I enjoyed very much. When he first narrated the story to me, I loved the idea and was even allowed to help shape the script as it developed. He is very collaborative in his approach. He also has a quirky sense of humour which is evident on screen,” continued Mehwish.

On her character in Chhalawa

Although, Mehwish said she couldn’t reveal much about her character in the movie, she did make sure to mention that her character “Zoya’ is a go-getter.” She further mentioned that we would have to wait for the trailer to find out more about the film and her character.

On working with Azfar Rehman

It is a well-known fact that Azfar and Mehwish are great friends. While answering the question about whether or not it was easy working against a friend, Mehwish had following to say:
“It is very easy to work opposite Azfar. He’s a brilliant actor and we already share a rapport and chemistry that we can build on. We are very comfortable with one another. Being romantic, yes that can be funny at times since he is my best buddy and I don’t really see him like that. But at the end of the day, we are playing characters and we give it our 100 percent.”

On what made her say yes to Chhalawa

While talking about what made her say yes to Chhalawa, Mehwish said, “For me, the most important things are the script and the team. I loved the script and the character I play. It is a very heroine orientated film which revolves around the female lead and I loved that challenge. I also had a wonderful time working with these guys on Enaaya, it was such a hoot. So when I was comfortable with the script, doing the film was almost a no-brainer.”

Towards the end, Mehwish revealed that “lots of naach gaana, masti and songs” are expected from Chhalawa that will soon be playing at all the weddings. Moreover, she mentioned that she is super excited to finally work with Wahab Shah, that too on a film project.

While talking about the three film clash on Eid, Mehwish said, “these are business decisions which I have no say in. In many ways, it is a shame but again the films are so different and I am sure that each will appeal to a different segment of the audience. It is also great to see our cinema flourishing. There can be no harm in healthy competition.”

Here’s wishing Mehwish Hayat the best of luck with her upcoming movie and of course, her Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.