Ever since Zindagi Gulzar Hai’s return to Indian television has been announced, fans have been sharing their excitement. The love drama featuring Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed in the lead roles is one of the most popular Pakistani shows watched across the globe. Apart from the storyline and characters, fans have always admired the casting coup that Sultana Siddiqui managed to pull off. Actor Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui, who played Osama in the series, however, revealed that he faced a hard time on set.
With most of the actors on the show — including Fawad and Sanam — being big names on Pakistani television, Sheheryar said that it was a ‘terrible experience’ for him as a relatively new actor. He also confessed that Fawad gave him a rather tough time on set. Having been part of theatre at the university, the actor said working on a televised drama was a a very different experience for him. Citing time issues, he said that no one could work on their characters or back story as the script would often reach them minutes before the shoot.
“I would struggle a lot with the actors around me. Rightfully so, it was also unfair to them that a new person was working with them. That whole experience wasn’t great to me,” Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui told in an interview to Desi TV. He also added that his performance was ‘terrible’ in the show, and he cannot sit through two minutes of it. “I just want to bang my head watching it,” he added with a smile.
Not many know that Sheheryar is the nephew of Sultana Siddiqui, the director and producer of Zindagi Gulzar Hai. He shared that she was in the lookout for a ‘good looking’ young boy, and so cast him in her big-budgeted show. While he had just about 14 scenes, Sheheryar spent more than a month on set, which in retrospect was a tough time for him. The Pehli Si Muhabbat actor further said, “I wish there was someone who could explain to me the scene and the dialogues. I would be handed the script two minutes before we rolled, and it would just add to the troubles. That whole experience was really tough for me.”
In the same breath, Sheheryar added that Fawad was also ‘pretty tough on him’. The actors played best friends in Zindagi Gulzar Hai. Most of Osama’s scenes were also with Zaroon, be it in college or when they meet later in life in the show.
Stating that they are quite civil to each other now, and he respects him as a senior, Sheheryar Munawar said, “Fawad was just out of Humsafar, and he may have felt the director-producer’s nephew is here. He gave me quite a tough time.” As the interviewer prodded if he was bullied by Fawad, Sheheryar said, “It was a different kind, not the bullying we see on television. But yes he was tough on me, and now that I think of it, the entire period.. the fear of being there on set, it was quite a difficult time for me.”
Zindagi Gulzar Hai originally aired between 2012-2013 on Hum TV. Starting May 23, the show will now be available on Tata Play, Dish TV and D2H.
