Rising Pakistani star Sahar Hashmi has done what few actors dare to do publicly — she has called out the industry’s paymasters. In a candid Instagram story this week, Hashmi accused television producers and production campaign heads of holding actors to double standards: show up a single day late, she said, and a performer is branded unprofessional; but when producers sit on contractually owed payments for months, it is waved away as money “stuck in accounts.”
Hashmi’s words carry weight beyond one frustrated actor. The former digital influencer turned actor made her television debut in the hit series Zulm opposite veterans Faysal Quraishi and Shahzad Sheikh, then built a strong run through rating hits like Shaidai and a widely acclaimed turn as Sheherbano in Zanjeerain. She is slated to appear as the younger Khushbakht in the upcoming Dar e Nijaat — making her one of the industry’s fastest-rising young names.
Her statement has resonated across the fraternity, reopening a long-running conversation about financial transparency and fair treatment in Pakistan’s drama industry. Whether production houses respond with real changes or with the usual silence, Hashmi has made sure the question is now impossible to dodge — and a new generation of artists is watching.
