Sabahat Qamar Zaman (Urdu: صبا قمر زمان, born 05 April 1987), known professionally as Saba Qamar, is a Pakistani actress and television presenter.[1] One of Pakistan's most popular and highest-paid celebrities, her roles have been credited as a significant departure from the traditional portrayal of women in Urdu television. Her accolades include four Lux Style Awards, and a Filmfare Award nomination. The Government of Pakistan honoured her Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2012, and the Pride of Performance in 2016.
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Qamar first received positive media attention for the role of Fatima Jinnah in the historical drama Jinnah Ke Naam (2007), and this breakthrough was followed with further success in several television series, including the pre-partition drama Dastaan, the melodrama Uraan (both 2010), the romantic dramas Maat, Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye and Pani Jaisa Piyar (all 2011). She established herself for her critically acclaimed performances in the socio drama Thakan (2012), the thriller drama Sannata, the revenge drama Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahi, the romantic drama Bunty I Love You (all 2013), the family drama Digest Writer (2014), the crime thriller Sangat (2015), and the Show business-based dramas Mein Sitara and Besharam (both 2016), receiving Best Actress awards and nominations for each of them. Her career prospect advanced with the acclaimed biographical film Manto (2015), the romantic comedy Lahore Se Aagey (2016), and the educational drama Hindi Medium (2017). The latter rank among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time and garnered her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. Qamar continued to draw praise for portraying Fouzia Azeem and Noor Jehan in the 2017 biographical dramas Baaghi and Main Manto, and a strong woman, fighting for her friend's attempted rape and murder in the 2019 courtroom drama Cheekh. The first of these earned her a Lux Style Award for Best Television Actress.
In addition to acting, Qamar is involved with several humanitarian causes and is vocal about issues faced by women and children. She features in listings of the nation's most popular personalities, has participated in concert tours and stage shows, has featured as a host and comedian on the political satire Hum Sab Umeed Se Hain (2009–2015), and launched her on YouTube channel in 2020. Despite maintaining privacy, Qamar's off-screen life is the subject of substantial media coverage.
Life and career
1985–2011: Early life, career beginnings and breakthrough
Saba Qamar Zaman was born on 5 April 1985 into a Sindhi family in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.[2][3] She lost her father at a very young age and spent most of her childhood in Gujranwala with her grandmother. She got her early education in Gujranwala, then moved to Lahore to pursue further studies. Her family is settled in Karachi.[4][5]
Qamar appeared in the PTV Home television series Mein Aurat Hoon (2005).[4][6][7] The series was shot in Lahore, and was followed by several classic PTV series including Garoor, Taqdeer, Chaap (2005), Dhoop Mein Andhera Hai (2006), Kanpur Se Katas Takptv serial bint e adam (2007), and Unbiyaanable and Maamo (2007).[4][8] Later in 2007, Qamar appeared in ATV's series Khuda Gawah which was the remake of 1992 Indian film of the same name, and the biographical drama Jinnah Ke Naam, which was the production of PTV Home in the direction of Tariq Mairaj.[4][9][10] She has played the role of Fatima Jinnah and the series was a tribute to the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Though the series failed commercially, Qamar received a nomination for Best TV Actress (Terrestrial) at the Lux Style Awards. In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune, Qamar confessed, “For me, acting is being able to express the feelings, emotions and expressions of different people and characters”.[11]
In 2010, she appeared in a supporting role of Surraya in Hum TV's pre partition television series Dastaan, an adaptation of Razia Butt's novel Bano.[12][13] She was seen opposite Ahsan Khan, Sanam Baloch and Fawad Khan. Series proved to be the break-through for her and she won the Best TV Actress trophy at the Pakistan Media Awards (2010).[4][6][7] She won the PTV Awards for the best TV actress in both public and jury choice categories at the 16th Annual PTV awards, held on 23 July 2011 for her role in Tinkay.[4]Tinkay also earned her a nomination for Best Television Actress at Lux Style Awards.[4] This was followed by a supporting role in the PTV Home's social drama on women, Bint e Adam. Her role in the series was of a rich brat who falls for a boy from poor background, and marries him against her cruel father's wishes. Bint e Adam was a major critical and commercial hit, however, critics noted that her role was "limited" from an acting point of view.[2][4][7]
Qamar then appeared in Sarmad Khoosat's romantic series Pani Jaisa Piyar (2011), where she played the character of Sana who has been engaged to Adarsh, the son of her mother's best friend ever since she was a child. Adarsh, however, has been unaware of this engagement, as his parents thought that he needed to focus more on his education than wedding plans. It was followed by a role in PTV's Tera Pyar Nahi Bhoole.[4][6] She was paired opposite Ahsan Khan in both the series. Both of which garnered her Lux Style Award nominations for Best Television Actress.[4][14] Later that year, she appeared in Maat where she played the role of selfish, self-obsessed Saman opposite Adnan Siddiqui and Aamina Sheikh.[15] The series was critically and commercially hit and became the thirteen highest-rated Pakistani television series and also garnered her Pakistan Media Awards for Best Actress.[6][16][17] That same year, Qamar collaborated with Sami Khan in three of Geo TV's projects, Jo Chale To Jaan Se Guzar Gaye, Tere Ik Nazar, and Main Chand Si, receiving further praise.[14][18]
2012–2015: Critical acclaim and professional expansion
Qamar next appeared in Ameen Iqbal's Thakan (2012), where she played the role of Sadaf who works extremely hard like a machine day and night to run her family but no one except her grandfather feels sympathy for her or even cares about her.[19][20][21] It was followed by the leading roles in the Amna Nawaz Khan-written Na Kaho Tum Mere Nahi (2012) and Faiza Iftikhar's Yahan Pyar Nahin Hai (2012).[13][17][22] The later of which earned her a nomination for Best Actress at Hum Awards. She gained recognition for portraying a range of characters in the serials Shehryar Shehzadi[4] (2012), Kaash Aisa Ho[4] (2013), Sannata[23] (2013), and Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahi[24] (2013), some of which garnered her several best actress nominations.[18][25][26] Qamar won her first Hum Awards for the Best TV Actress for her role as Diana in Bunty I Love you, at the 3rd Hum Awards.[27] That same year, Qamar worked in the television film Aina (2013), opposite Faysal Qureshi. The film, a remake of the 1977 film of the same name, was well received by the audience and she was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Tarang Housefull Awards.[6]
After two consecutive years of poorly received serials, Qamar's career prospects began to improve in 2014; she appeared in five projects: Jaanam, Bay Emaan Mohabbat, Bunty I Love You, Izteraab, and Digest Writer.[13][28][29] The romantic drama Jaanam (alongside Adnan Siddiqui) and the romance Bay Emaan Mohabbat (alongside Agha Ali and Adnan Shah Tipu) earned little praise, but the family drama Bunty I love You (a story about a girl who got married at age of 17 to much older man, later dreams of living a free life after his death) was Qamar's first critical success since Maat.[3][6] Directed by Siraj-ul-Haque, the series was generally well received. Reviewer from Daily Pakistan considered it along with Digest Writer as "one of the best performances of Qamar".[3] The series received five nominations at Hum Awards including Qamar for best actress.[30] She next appeared in Izteraab. Her performance as the working women did not go well and despite the strong cast, story, production house and promotions, the drama turned out to be a major critical and commercial Disaster.[31]
Qamar appeared in three series in 2015. She first reunited with Muhammad Younis Butt and Fawad Wyne in the comedy series S.H.E where she played a role of lady S.H.O Bajirao Mastani.[32] She then starred alongside Adeel Chaudhry in Fahim Burney's directorial Kaisay Tum Se Kahoon which tells the story of star-crossed lovers who are reincarnated.[33][34][24] It was her third consecutive appearance in Momina Duraid's production. Although the series did not do well in terms of ratings, but her performance was praised by the critics.[18][35] The following year, Qamar collaborated with Mikaal Zulfiqar for the third time (alongside Zahid Ahmed, Kiran Haq, and Sonia Mishal) in Kashif Nisar's Sangat where she played a role of Aisha, a rape survivor who faced difficulties when her husband came to know that he was not the biological father of a daughter they have.[36][37] The series earned her the nomination for Best Actress in both Jury and Popular categories at the Hum Awards.[38]
Qamar then made her acting debut with a leading actress in the acclaimed biographical drama Manto (2015).[39][40] Directed by Sarmad Khoosat, the film was made on a big budget and performed poorly at the box office with a lifetime collection of Rs5.05 million, however it was critically praised and Qamar's portrayal of the singer Noor Jehan was well reveived by the critics, and earned her a nomination at the ARY Films Awards for Best Supporting Actress.[41][42][43] The film was later adapted into a television series with the same cast in 2017, titled as Main Manto, and was aired on Geo TV.[44]
2016–present: Established actress
In 2016, Qamar played the role of a struggling actress in the period drama Mein Sitara, (serial based on lollywood golden era)[45] alongside Mekaal Zulfiqar and appeared as Mishal in Farooq Rind's Besharam opposite Zahid Ahmed.[46][47][48] The later was a commercially and critically hit.[47][49][50] Sadaf Haider of The Express Tribune praised her saying, “Qamar is in great form as Mishi and plays her with restraint and quiet power; a welcome relief from the wounded women she has played of late”.[47] During the 16th Lux Style Awards, the series earned 5 nominations including Qamar for Best TV actress.[51] She was also nominated for her projects Mein Sitara and Lahore Se Aagey in Best Actress category.[51] Qamar next played a rockstar opposite Yasir Hussain, in the travel comedy Lahore Se Aagey (2016).[52] The film, a sequel to the comedy Karachi Se Lahore, ranks among the highest-grossing Pakistani films of all time with a worldwide grossing of Rs21.60 million.[53][54] Later that year, she played a leading role in the psycho–thriller 8969, a critical and commercial failure.[55]
Qamar was offered a Hindi film opposite Randeep Hooda, and supporting roles in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2012) and Heroine (2012), which she declined.[56] After the 2016 Uri attack, relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated; the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Film Producers Guild of India banned Pakistani artists from working in India until the situation normalised.[57] The comedy-drama Hindi Medium (2017), in which Qamar played the lead female role of Mita Batra, a nouveau riche opposite Irrfan Khan, marked her first project in the Hindi cinema.[58][59] Critical reception of the film was positive. A reviewer for The Times of India wrote, "Saba, as the dominating wife is sheer delight onscreen".[60] In a scathing review, Sreehari Nair of Rediff.com labelled the film "fascinatingly frustrating" and called Qamar "natural actress, sexual daring".[61] The film earned over ₹334.36 million worldwide, a majority of which came from the Chinese box office.[62] and China with a collection of ₹334.36 million.[63] Qamar received several Best Female Debut and Best Actress awards and nominations at various award ceremonies, including a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare. Later that year, Qamar was declared as the top Bollywood debutante of 2017 by Eastern Eye.[64][65][66]
In 2017, Qamar worked in the biographical drama series Baaghi, in the role of Pakistani controversial figure Qandeel Baloch.[67] The series was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Pakistani drama of 2017.[67] Qamar's performance was widely praised by the critics and her portrayal of the actress and singer was applauded even before its release. Neeha of The Nation wrote, "Without a doubt, Qamar has done an outstanding job",[68] whereas reviewer from The Express Tribune said she "slayed the social media star with such finesse".[69] The series earned her a Lux Style Awards for Best Actress (Television) and IPPA Awards for Best Actress.[70][71][72]
In 2018, Qamar appeared in three short films. She first paired with Ahsan Khan in Siraj-ul-Haque directorial Moomal Rano.[73] The film was made as part of the Zeal For Unity initiative to bridge cultural barriers between India and Pakistan. It was critically praised and was nominated for Best film at the 2018 European festival.[74][75] It was also released by digital platform Zee5. She then appeared in Fahim Burney's Dil Diyan Gallan, opposite Zahid Ahmed where she played the character of Raniya and Iss Dil Ki Essi Ki Tessi.[76][77][78] Qamar will next collaborate with Sarmad Khoosat for film Kamli, and will also star in Saqib Khan's debut film, titled Ghabrana Nahi Hai.[79][80]
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