Felt like being punched in stomach with 'Raees': Mahira Khan

Karachi: Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, who made her Bollywood debut with Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Raees" this year, has said she felt like "being punched in the stomach" when she saw the movie.

Mahira spoke at length about her failures in life during a lecture at a university here on Thursday, reported Dawn.

"The truth is that we have all gone through failure. I have personally as well as professionally experienced failure," Mahira said.

"I was advised by many people to not accept the role in ‘Bol' (Pakistani film) as it was a small one but my gut feeling told me otherwise. I also decided to act in the serial ‘Humsafar' on my gut feeling.

"There are no repeats of your first film, but somehow my name was missed as the ‘Bol' credits scrolled in front of me. Then for ‘Raees', even though the teaser said ‘introducing Mahira Khan', I felt like being punched in the stomach when there was no such credit in the film itself. 

"Then when it was released, I was banned in India and the film was banned in Pakistan," added the actress, referring to the unofficial 'ban' on Pakistani actors by certain outfits in India after the terror attack at Uri last year.

However, Mahira is not affected with failure.

"It is a big thing to work in a foreign film. I pray I get my introducing credit when I work in an Iranian film," she said.

"Failure is knowledge and knowledge is success. So it is a win-win. We actors know how to paint smiles on our faces and carry on, I did too," she added.

Mahira recalled that her grandmother wanted her to opt for medicine as she was good in studies. However, Mahira always harboured dreams of becoming an actor.

"I was dreaming of wearing a sari and dancing like Madhuri Dixit. I also used to dream of working with Shah Rukh Khan. I did nothing to make it happen. I only dreamed and believed in my dreams," she said.