Mira Sethi says she turned down Main Manto Nahi Hoon role because of Khalilur Rehman Qamar
The role was of drama lead Manto's close confidante Miss Maria, who is played by Sanam Saeed in the show.
Are we supposed to separate good art from those who create it if the artists aren’t good people? Mira Sethi says yes, but with certain caveats.
The actor-writer was on an episode of podcast Excuse Me with Ahmad Ali Butt on Friday when the question was posed to her and she said that she could respect a good craftsman up until they started “causing pain”.
The host asked Sethi what she meant by causing pain and to whom. She said she meant hurting people, society and dealing in “cliches that are harmful”.
When pushed on how many artists and writers throughout history have been deeply flawed, problematic people, she said she referred to such people as “art monsters”.
“An art monster is somebody who is vain, narcissistic, writes quite well or acts quite well, but they are a bit of a monster in their private life,” the writer explained.
“History is littered with art monsters, that’s okay, you have to have a view on it. Some get away and others you have to hold accountable.”
Butt then got more specific, asking Sethi if a particular person were different in their personal life, would she have accepted the role she was offered in their project Main Manto Nahi Hoon.
Sethi — likely referring to the show’s writer Khalilur Rehman Qamar — said that his personal life was really none of her business; she had a problem with his work.
“He traffics in these stereotypes about women, says things about women that aren’t just lazy, they’re deeply problematic. So, I thought to myself, it was going to be a lead role… I just didn’t want to be associated with something like that.”
She said she hoped he changes for the better and that his children — who the writer called “cool” and “Gen-Z” — would advise him.
Later in the programme, Butt brought up the film city project announced by the Punjab government in April and asked for Sethi’s opinion on the initiative.
She said she hadn’t thought about it at all, but was glad to see the government investing in the industry. “I hope they do it, it’s good for Pakistan’s soft power. Let’s see them do it, then we’ll discuss,” she said.
She also said the government should not censor the arts and that artists should be bold, because that’s the difference between something written by her and something written by AI.
Sethi said that being bold did not mean provoking people for the sake of being provocative, but being bold in vision and pushing the boundaries with their work.