Pakistani actress Hiba Bukhari has offered fans a rare and honest glimpse into the exhausting reality behind the glamour of the entertainment industry, revealing how actors are expected to remain flawless despite long working hours and physical exhaustion.
Appearing on the KMB with Shahnilah Podcast, the actress candidly spoke about the pressures of showbiz, demanding shoot schedules, and how her real-life love story with husband Arez Ahmed unexpectedly blossomed from a simple co-working relationship into marriage.
In a candid discussion, Hiba stated: “Mostly hamara kaam shuru hota hai 10 bjy which means ky subha 10 sy raat 10. Aur kabhi 10 bjy ky baad bhi aapky pass AD (assistant director) aaty hain or kehty thora sa kar lain, ek chota sa hi scene reh gaya hai and then you are like bhaii, kaisy? Because wo chota sa scene ka bhi matlab hain 45 minutes ya ghanta to laagy ga. 11 bjy ap free howy then you go back home and then you have to come back early in the morning and then look good.” (Mostly, our work starts at 10 o’clock, which means from 10 in the morning till 10 at night. And sometimes even after 10 p.m., the AD (Assistant Director) comes to you and says, ‘Let’s just do a little more, only a small scene is left.’ And then you’re like, ‘Brother, how is that possible?’ Because even that small scene still takes 45 minutes to an hour. By the time you’re free, it’s already 11 p.m. Then you go back home, and after that you have to come back early in the morning and still look good.)
She added: “Basically hamara profession, I usually say hum who wale mazdoor hain jinko khoobsurat bhi dekhna hai, thaky howy bhi nhi lag sakty , aisy feel hi nhi karwa sakty ky in ky saath koi masla hai. Unko lagna hai ky ap har waqt achay lag rahay hain.” (Basically, our profession, I usually say that we are the kind of laborers who also have to look beautiful. We can’t even appear tired, nor can we make people feel that something is wrong with us. People expect you to look good all the time).
Later, talking about marriage with Pakistani actor Arez Ahmed she stated: “ We are really nice as co-workers. Hamari koi itni dosti bhi nahi thi ky mein ye kahu ky meri boht dosti thi aisa nahi tha, hum boht achy co-wokers thy, bary achy tareeky sy kaam kar rahay thy, maybe kahin feel howa ho, maybe kahi kuch ho it was just spark, maybe I don’t know but a lot of people said ye becuz hum us time py boht piyary sy lagty thy to meri family said you know tum is sy shaadi kr lo. Kyun ky un ky liye to ye tha ky ye drama kr ky wapis ajaye gi is ny kon sa dramon mein kaam krna hai just she get married. To wo ye kehty thy k tum shadi kr lo you both really look good together and shadi ky baad mujy pata chala ky Arez ki family mein bhi Arez ko loug kehty thy ky is sy shadi kr lo because you guys look great together.” (We were really nice as co-workers. It’s not like we were such close friends that I would say we had a very deep friendship it wasn’t like that. We were just very good co-workers and were working together really well. Maybe something was felt somewhere, maybe there was something there it was just a spark, maybe, I don’t know. But a lot of people used to say that because we looked really cute together at that time. So, my family said, ‘You should marry him.’ Because for them, it was like, ‘She’ll do this drama and then come back anyway it’s not like she’s going to keep working in dramas forever, so she should just get married.’ So they would say, ‘You should get married, you both really look good together.’ And after marriage, I found out that in Arez’s family too, people used to tell him, ‘You should marry her,’ because we looked great together).
It is worthy to mention that Hiba Bukhari and Arez Ahmed have shared the screen together in hit drama serials such as Inteha-e-Ishq, Bholi Bano, Tarap, Bol Kahani-Do Anjaane.
The duo tied note in an intimate Nikkah ceremony on January 7, 2022. Hiba Bukhari and Arez Ahmed welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Aynur, in late December 2024.
