Pakistani actress Alina Abbas Shah playing the role of everyone’s favorite Safeena of the super hit drama serial ‘Noor Jahan’, recently appeared in Iffat Omer’s podcast ‘Say It All’ and opened up about how she was about to lose her project.
Talking about it, Alina Shah said, “So, we shot the first day, and the next day, I was having a lot of vomiting, and I was throwing up like crazy. It was the initial post-COVID era, and things were not so good, 2021 wasn’t nice. I remember my best friend, Fiza Abid, was also working on the same project. I was lucky to have her, although we didn’t know we were both there. She was such a Godsend. At that time, she found out that I was sick. People from the production came and asked me to go home to avoid risk; maybe they didn’t want to put my life at risk too. Fiza got so worried after hearing this. She started crying for me and took a firm stand for me. She said no; she said the only girl who was going to play Kriana would be Alina. Because they asked me to go home, it was the post-COVID recovery era, so they were not wrong. My best friend stepped up and made it possible for me. She took me to the hospital, and I had emergency treatment, and she took responsibility for me. I gathered strength after seeing her passion for my project, and because of her, I was able to perform in “22 Qadam”.
Here is the full coverage of the podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URbO-U58EOY&t=671s
She also talked about the height-shaming she had faced since childhood. She shared her experience with height-shaming and age-shaming, given her ‘tall, broad body’ and ‘intimidating aura’.
“I am 6 ft. tall and started my career at the age of 29. I am 32 now”, she said.
“I’ve been height-shamed since childhood which Pakistani society finds ‘abnormally tall’. I remember this teacher very distinctly, who once pointed me out saying ‘you look like a 5th-grader and still you are in 2nd’. How is it my fault if I’m tall”, she stated.
“Age-shamed is something I never cared about. I will not stop working because of someone’s opinion. If the audience wants to see me, I will continue to work”, she added.
Talking about her role in Noor Jahan, Abbas termed Safeena as her ‘toughest yet most rewarding character’ to date.
“It is because a lot of women could relate to it, and it makes me sad that many women could relate to it, I wish they didn’t,” she said.
Alina Abbas Shah is a talented new Pakistani actor who stepped into the industry three years ago.
She made her debut in the drama '22 Qadam' which aired on Green Entertainment.
Her second project was the Kashf Foundation’s 'Kuch Ankahi'.
Alina got married in 2021. She got her first project right after her marriage.
Her impressive acting skills in Noor Jahan have caught the eye of many fans, who are eager to see her in more projects in the future.