Yasir Hussain is not one to shy away from controversy and in a new interview with BBC Urdu, along with addressing his penchant for scandal, the actor also shared his views on being a public figure in the age of social media.
Talking to BBC Urdu about controversy-prone talk shows that land him in trouble Yasir pointed out that many of them have similar formats that force the guest to make statements that would land them in trouble.
“My question is, the person who asks the question is right, the channel who plays the show is right, the pages that pick the story are right, but only I am wrong for answering those questions?”
He went on to explain how many times he wished to avoid controversy by not taking names but wasn’t allowed to do that either. “If you ask me the truth I will definitely tell you the truth. Tell me what’s wrong in that?” he questioned.
The host then asked him how he feels about people who think of his numerous controversial statements as a publicity stunt, asking, “Some people must think that it is a publicity stunt because people start talking about Yasir Hussain every time he says something…”
To this Yasir responded, “People should stop talking about Yasir Hussain. You have a button to unfollow me, do that.”
On a lighter note at a particular point in the interview, the host remarked that Yasir provides more entertainment off-screen (social media) than he does on screen, to which he replied, “This is also a screen, and I think it is a bigger screen than TV now.”
“TV is now hiring social media to promote its dramas! There was a time when cinemas would hire TV to promote films, and today TV is hiring social media so it’s way bigger than TV now,” he elaborated.
The Jhooti actor went on to add that he feels he’s working on the right screen and is doing different work than his contemporaries.
The comedian also addressed talk shows in detail, saying that a lot of these shows have the same formats that involve asking incriminating questions.
How does he look at being a public figure in the age of social media? “I think it’s really easy and really hard as well. It is easy because you can become a superstar after just one project. And hard because the public has opinions and they express it more and you have to deal with it.”
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