Maria Wasti
| Maria Wasti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Maria Wasti Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Awards | Lux Style Awards 2006 Best Satellite Actress |
Maria Wasti is a Pakistani film, television actress and host. She currently hosts the talk show Sunrise From Istanbul on Turkey-based Pakistani television channel See TV.
Wasti's parents wanted their daughter to become a doctor. In the day, the only television network active in the country was the government-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV). It would be later in the 1990s that Network Television Marketing (NTM), the country's first privately owned channel, showcased content specifically targeted to the younger generation and Wasti got interested in acting.
In mid-1990s, she was approached by Bakhtiar Ahmed, the programme manager PTV Lahore Centre to be cast in a play called Sarah Aur Ammara alongside Resham, a film actress. The teleplay highlighted a story about two sisters going through the turmoil of arranged marriages. She has since done over 50 serials and around the same number of assorted plays.
Wasti recalls that her first experience in acting was for the passion of art, but later her parents told her to pursue the career in a professional manner. After her first stint, Wasti began receiving roles in various other plays in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad centres for PTV. She reminisces that people were sceptical when she stepped into acting, but once she proved herself they started accepting her.
She considers Bano Qudsia's Kallo one of her most memorable plays In other equally applauded roles, she played a woman victim in Baadlon Par Basera, who is forcefully led into marriage with a man in the United States of America on the phone and when she meets him for the first time, she realises the man is older than the picture she saw him in.
Wasti is usually seen playing unglamorous roles involving sensitive issues regarding women in Pakistan. She has played roles depicting prominent women like Salma Murad and Lenin Peace Prize winnerBilquis Edhi. Wasti is known for being outspoken on various of issues women's rights, gender equality and prejudice.
...
Wikipedia