POPULAR ACTRESS KINZA HASHMI ON HER REMARKABLE RISE, FUTURES HOPES AND HOW SHE’LL BE SPENDING EID
SHE may only be 23-years-old, but massively in-demand actress Kinza Hashmi has starred in a staggering number of drama serials since making her debut as a teenager in 2014.
The popular Pakistani star has won acclaim for her performances in drama serials including Daldal, Ishq Tamasha, Tu Mera Junoon, Deewar-e-Shab and Tera Yahan Koi Nahi. The rapidly rising star has more projects on the way when the current Covid-19 lockdown is over and is part of an exciting new wave of world-class talent in Pakistan.
Eastern Eye caught up with Kinza during the lockdown to discuss her journey so far, Eid plans and future hopes.
How have you been coping with the Covid-19 lockdown?
I’m actually trying to make the most out of it and not letting the negativity take over. I’m polishing my cooking skills and trying to be more organised. Above all, I’m spending most of my time with family and feel it’s the best thing this Covid-19 lockdown has given me.
Is there one thing that has helped you most to get you through this?
My family and friends. They are the people who are helping me get throw this isolation and I am very thankful to them.
Have you had a chance to look at your incredibly successful acting journey?
I have lived my journey. I have and am enjoying every bit of it. I leave it to my fans if they see it as a successful journey, but for me it’s pure hardwork. I want to carry on working hard.
You have been prolific, but which of your projects have given you the greatest joy?
I enjoy all my work, but if I had to choose it would be Ishq Tamasha, Seerat, and Gul-o-Gulzar. I enjoyed doing these projects because I had a comfortable and talented cast. They were very well produced serials and have great scripts.
Which project was the most challenging?
I would not say challenging because I see all my projects as a challenge, but if I have to pick I would say Rani as we shot the whole drama in a rural area. The shoot lasted for more than a year. We had less facilities and worked hard under pressure, so in that sense I would say it was little challenging to do.
Who have you most enjoyed working with?
I loved working with Ayeza Khan. She is a gem of a person and helpful on set. Ayeza would tell you little things, which would help you to improve your skills. She is humble, sweet and easy to work with. She is like my sister.
You have been massively in demand; how have you coped with the heavy works schedule?
Alhumdulillah Allah has been very kind to me. However, I planned my shoots according to my available dates. I don’t over work, Alhumdulillah, I’m organised that way, so I easily cope with my heavy work schedule.
Do you have a process when creating a character?
Yes, I do have a set method and practise always before starting any of my new projects. I always read my script thoroughly, speak with my director and sit with my team. I always like to create and understand my character before going on the set.
What would be your dream role?
My dream character would be my own story. One day, I want to make a movie out of my life story. I’m sure it would be interesting, so my dream is to play Kinza Hashmi.
What will you do when the lockdown is over?
Its not about lockdown, but about the virus plaguing us right now. So, we should ask what would we do when the coronavirus is over. My answer is I will say Alhumdulillah and will appreciate every aspect of life.
What is your acting master plan?
I don’t have a plan as such and would just like to go with the flow. (Smiles) Allah is the best planner for me.
Do you see yourself working in the west?
Why not, Asjad? It’s my job. I would love to work everywhere in the world, not just the west.
Do you have ambitions away from acting?
I’ve always been ambitious about acting and I always wanted to become an actress, so that is my focus right now, but who knows what the future holds.
What are your passions away from work?
I’m living my passion right now. I’m very passionate about my work.
What is the best advice you ever got?
My mother gave me a piece of advice which really helps me in all aspects of life that is, never convince yourself why you failed, accept your failures and bounce back.
What have been your hopes and prayers during Ramadan?
I hope the kind of people we become in Ramadan, we stay like that throughout the year. Ameen.
How spiritual are you?
I am very spiritual and blessed that way.
How will you be celebrating Eid?
With my loved ones at home, so I would say, everyone also should stay home and be safe.
What inspires you?
Best behaviour inspires me. People who are beautiful at heart inspire me a lot.
Why do you love being an actor?
Acting gives me a pleasure of living different lives. It allows me to experience different problems and joys, by portraying different characters. That’s why I love being an actor.
Mourners gather for the funeral of Adrian Daulby, who was shot when police responded to an attack on Yom Kippur outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, in what police have declared a terrorist incident, at the Agecroft Jewish Cemetery in Pendlebury, Salford, Britain, October 6, 2025.
MURDER at the synagogue made last Thursday (2) a dark day in British history. Yom Kippur, the holy day of atonement, sees soul-searching Jews cut themselves off from electronic communication for many hours. Some, guarding other synagogues, heard of the Manchester attack from police officers rushing to check on their safety. Others from whispers reverberating around the congregation. Some only found out in the evening, turning on mobile phones or car radios after the ceremonies were over.
“There was an air of inevitability about it,” Rabbi David Mason told me. He was among many Jewish voices to describe this trauma as shocking, yet not surprising. No Jewish person has been killed for being Jewish in this country for over half a century. That victims Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Dauby died seeking to protect others exemplifies the enormous everyday efforts on community security in recent decades. There had been a grim, rising expectation, over the last two years of simmering antisemitism, that such a day might come. David Mason told me he fears a ‘double tragedy’ if the response was to disrupt efforts to build cohesion across communities, rather than galvanising them.
Manchester is the centre of British Jewish life beyond London. The magnificent restoration of the 1798 synagogue which today houses the Manchester Jewish Museum testifies to deep Jewish roots in the city. But as the heavens opened over north Manchester during last Friday’s (3) vigil, there was a fractious cocktail of grief, solidarity and raw anger. Deputy prime minister David Lammy was heckled over Palestine and protest marches. Yet my colleague Avaes Mohammad, attending from nearby Blackburn, told me too how local Muslims were warmly thanked in person by local Jewish residents for being there.
The divisive provocation of an Israeli government invitation to Tommy Robinson was the last thing that Jewish civic leaders needed during such a moment of pain. So, I was impressed with the robust clarity of the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies in reiterating why Robinson is a dangerous thug who will never be trusted by most British Jews. Israel’s minister for antisemitism and diaspora relations declared that the Board of Deputies had been captured by pro-Palestinian forces of wokeness; a reply that shows why he is ‘minister for the diaspora in name only’ to anyone who knows Britain at all.
For progressive voices, calling out the far right is the easy part. The response from Jewish civic leaders reinforced the crucial boundary between challenging Islamist extremism and Robinson’s attempt to recruit Jews into sweeping anti-Muslim prejudice. It could be reciprocated best by challenging Islamist hatred as strongly as the racist far right.
British Muslim civic leaders understand that challenge. The arson attack on an East Sussex mosque is just one example of how Muslims often suffer most when Islamists convey, through words or deeds, a narrative of extremism and incompatibility. The result is so often more fear, more prejudice and more threat to the status of Muslims as equal citizens of our country.
The lines between politics, protest and prejudice are sharply contested. Many in politics offer wildly inconsistent principles on different issues. A government review, of how police set conditions to ensure the line between democratic protest and intimidation, should be used to demonstrate consistency – whether the issue is Palestine, India and Pakistan, or asylum seekers in hotels.
It is antisemitic to hold British Jews responsible for the Israeli government – in mere words or murderous deeds. Rationally, by the same token, challenges to Israeli government policy and support for a Palestinian state are distinct from antisemitism, unless made in antisemitic terms. But the emotional landscape can be more complicated. A new study from the Institute of Jewish Public Research (JPR) illuminates a lonely two years for British Jews. The pervasive experience of casual antisemitism unifies the Jewish community – but Israeli action in Gaza is a source of pain and division. JPR finds that a majority of British Jews now say that Israel’s military excesses in Gaza offend their Jewish values, yet that they also feel closer emotionally to Israel since the Hamas atrocity. Many British Jews now feel closer to Jewish friends – and try to avoid talking politics or about Israel with others.
Our age has seen a concerted effort to delegitimise expressions of solidarity as mere ‘virtue signalling’, in order to deepen political polarisation, at best, or at worst to socialise violence. Thousands of lives were lost in Northern Ireland in living memory as men of violence claimed to defend one community against another. Before Manchester, there was only one murder at a place of worship in Britain this century: the far-right inspired murder at Finsbury Park Mosque in 2017. Americans seem desensitised to violence in churches and schools. We must never emulate that here.
Responses to Manchester show why expressions of empathy still matter – not only symbolically, but also in practice. Far from being an evasion, empathy can provide the foundation for the deeper work needed to address the roots of hatred. That is a task we must do together.
Sunder Katwala is the director of thinktank British Future and the author of the book How to Be a Patriot: The must-read book on British national identity and immigration.
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