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Usman Peerzada is a lot of things. He can act, direct and write on film and drama projects, making him a force in the world of entertainment. One thing he isn’t is a civil award recipient, and that’s not something he wants to be either.

Peerzada appeared on an episode of the podcast Koi Reh Tu Nahi Gaya with Shahzad Nawaz on Friday where, during a conversation on state patronage of the arts, the host asked the actor if he had personally been recognised for his services to the arts.

“No no, I haven’t received any award, nor do I want one,” Peerzada told a surprised host who asked him where he had gone wrong.

The actor shot him a look and said, “I have no idea,” leading Nawaz to counter by asking if the state had gone wrong instead. That earned him a second “I have no idea”.

The host said people who had been working for two or three years were being recognised, so the state had a responsibility to appreciate senior members of the fraternity.

“Not that you are wanting it or looking for it. It’s not that you are waiting to be awarded,” he added.

“These state awards have become so controversial nowadays. My father had one, my younger brother has one,” Peerzada began, with Nawaz interjecting, “Nowadays, recipients have to explain who they have connections with.”

The guest said, “I pray to God that I don’t get one so I don’t get put in that position.”

Peerzada explained what he felt his true award was: “When a man or woman looks at me, the way they smile, that love and that affection.”

The host then said the state was like a mother, so where had the mother erred in her judgement.

“Look, this mother has always been confused about culture, that’s the problem,” Peerzada said. “If you begin your culture from the moment Arabs landed here, what are you even left with?”

The senior actor isn’t the first to talk about their dearth of civil awards on Nawaz’s show — Faysal Qureshi joked last month that the only way he’d get a Sitara-i-Imtiaz was by going to Imtiaz supermarket and asking them for a sitara.

However, unlike Peerzada, Qureshi said he would have to accept a state honour if offered due to its significance and what it represents.