Mahira Khan is spotted at the UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF) in United Kingdom, where her film Verna was screened in a special show, how badly the system needs a change. Based a story of a rape survivor, Shoaib Mansoor’s Verna was banned due to its sensitive content; however, the ban was later lifted because masses stood up for it. Mahira in her interview to The Guardian told about the ban on one of her films. “I was nervous about how it would work as a film as well as the performance. But about the subject matter? Never, because I stand by it. There were certain aspects of the story that people did not agree with, but not about the core message of the film. What we have to bear in mind is that, yes, Verna was going to get banned because of the decision of a small minority, but [it] did not get banned because of the majority who stood up for the film. To me, that is a victory,” said Mahira Khan.
She further added, “We are very quick to make generalizations about people – all Muslims are terrorists, all Pakistani women are oppressed, all Pakistani men are abusing them. The only reason people do that is because they don’t care enough to take the time to find out more. Because of this, I feel that I don’t just represent me, I represent every woman in Pakistan. I may not wear a hijab or have made the same choices, but there is a whole spectrum of women in Pakistan and I feel that I represent them.”
