KARACHI: Pakistani actor Muneeb Butt has said that his upcoming project ‘Motia Sarkar,’ is all about experimenting with his looks, dropping the usual “cute boy” image.
Butt, who started his acting journey in 2013 and rose to prominence with drama serial ‘Koi Chand Rakh’ in 2018, has since appeared in lead roles in a number of dramas, including ‘Yaarian,’ ‘Tere Aany Se,’ ‘Qalandar’ and the recently concluded ‘Sar-e-Rah’ in which he played the role of an intersex assistant commissioner.
However, only this time the actor decided to experiment with his charming looks in Motia Sarkar, which will go on air this month. The 31-year-old will be seen playing the role of a pimp, Motia, who goes through a spiritual transformation as the drama unfolds.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Butt shared that it was actually his idea to have a darker complexion for the character, besides putting oil in his hair, wearing earrings and an amulet.
“Initially, when I was offered this character, Motia, the name of that character is Motia. Motia was a pimp, basically. And the entire story is [about] him transforming from a pimp to a spiritual person,” he told Arab News.
“So, there were some ideas I discussed with the director, and she said okay. The tanning of my face and giving me the dark brown [skin] tone, it was my idea. So, I thought, this is something in which we can experiment with my looks.”
Motia Sarkar will be a period drama set in the 70s or 80s, according to Butt. The story depicts Motia, his mother, sister and his love interest — all from the red-light area.
“It’s a beautiful story,” the actor said.
After Motia Sarkar, Butt shared, he would be playing what he described as his “dream role” in the negative character of a political leader. He said he would soon be signing a contract for the role.
“There is a lot of performance margin in a negative role,” Butt said. “The drama will go on floors soon and will air in the next 4-5 months.”
The 31-year-old, who is often caught in controversies due to his statements on TV shows, also spoke about an incident in 2021 due to which he got backlash for his comments on Nida Yasir’s morning show that “wives should fear their husband’s second marriage.” More recently, he drew flak for saying that it was a “tradition” at his home that women of the house cooked food.
“When you experience these things, you understand that you have to be careful with your words because there are some social media pages who run on controversies. They will get anything out of it. You say something, it turns out to be something you didn’t mean,” the actor said.
“Having influence on people, with a following in millions, we should be more responsible with our words because whatever we say people will listen to it.”
Butt’s wife, Aiman Khan, was an actor too, but has now turned into more of an influencer with 11.5 million followers, the second highest among Pakistani actors. Being a celebrity couple, he said, they keep a “check” on how much they reveal on social media.
“We restrain ourselves from sharing everything on social media. We share a very limited part of our lives for our fans and followers,” he said.
“Initially, we were not comfortable with Amal’s (daughter) pictures being shared on social media. After she turned two, we started sharing her pictures. She has more fan following than us. I see a lot of people coming to my house, a lot of people calling me to talk to Amal.”
