‘My character should have things to do’: Arjumand Rahim on why she’s done playing cardboard TV mothers

It is said that actors are half-mad. You do have to be a little crazy to want to do this for all your life.” Arjumand Rahim says this, smiling wisely, like someone who has figured out a method to the madness.

With a career that spans three decades, Arjumand knows the ups and downs of the entertainment industry and has ridden the waves as they rolled up high and then crashed down. There is grit beyond the glamour of an acting career, and Arjumand has always been one of the very few to address different issues pointedly and very honestly. This is something that I am looking forward to as I sit across from her for this interview.

In the many instances that our paths have crossed, Arjumand’s observations have always been sincere, intelligent and completely natural. It is refreshing, considering that many in her fraternity have become pros at delivering practised answers in interviews, sidestepping questions with vague, predictable responses.

I tell her this, and she muses, “I think that would be more difficult, wouldn’t it — to come up with a manufactured response, to figure out a backstory to it, and then, to remember that backstory when you meet someone the next time? It’s easier just being honest!” She smiles.

It’s also much more interesting. And Arjumand Rahim is a very interesting woman, with a penchant for enacting interesting roles.

The veteran television actor is passionate about her work, especially when it comes to making sure scripts make sense, choosing the right character to play, and even putting together the right wardrobe for it. But she is also plain-speaking and candid about the many challenges in her line of work. So, why is she still looking for excitement?

She nods. “I have been working for a long time, but if you see my body of work, it is much less than that of my peers. There have been many times when I have taken long breaks because I have gotten annoyed with getting offered the same kind of roles. I don’t like repeating myself with similar characters, or working in a toxic environment.”

She adds: “I was also younger then, so I was more impatient.