Maria Wasti (born August 14, 1980) is a Pakistani film, television actress and host. She currently hosts the game show ''Croron Mein Khel'' on the Pakistani television channel BOL Entertainment.

Biography

Early years

Maria Wasti was born in

Dar Es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. She spent her early years there before moving to Pakistan with her family. She is the niece of

Rizwan Wasti Syed Rizwan Wasti (1937 – January 24, 2011) was a Radio Pakistan, Karachi's radio news broadcaster and a film and television actor. Early life Rizwan Wasti was born in 1937 at Lahore but his family later moved to Karachi where he received ...

and

Tahira Wasti Tahira Wasti ( Punjabi, ur, طاہرہ واسطی) (1944 – March 11, 2012) was a well-known Pakistani writer and television actress. At the time, the only television network active in the country was the government-owned

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

(PTV). It would be later in the 1990s that

Network Television Marketing Network Television Marketing or ''NTM'' was Pakistan's first private television slot. The company's productions first aired on Peoples TV Network (PTN, later renamed as STN) in 1990. In the 1990s, PTN entered into a three-year agreement with Inte ...

(NTM), the country's first privately owned channel, showcased content specifically targeted to the young generation and Wasti became interested in acting.

First teleplay

In the mid-1990s, Wasti was approached by Bakhtiar Ahmed, the programme manager of PTV Lahore Centre, to be cast in a play called '' Sarah Aur Ammara'' alongside

Resham Resham is a Pakistani film and television actress and model. She made her film debut with ''Jeeva'' in 1995, and was a leading actress of Lollywood during the 1990s. Her notable film credits include ''Jeeva'' (1995), ''Ghunghat'' (1996), ''D ...

, a film actress. The

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

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.

Acting as a career

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 Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

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 Bano Qudsia ( ur, ‎; 28 November 19284 February 2017), also known as Bano Aapa, was a Pakistani novelist, playwright and spiritualist. She wrote literature in Urdu, producing novels, dramas plays and short stories. Qudsia is best recognized ...

and ''

Kallo Kallo is a village and ''deelgemeente'' (sub-municipality) of Beveren in East Flanders, Belgium. Kallo was an independent municipality until 1 January 1977, when it merged with Beveren as part of the fusion of municipalities in Belgium. Most of ...

'' among her most memorable plays. In other equally applauded roles, she played a victim in '' Baadlon Par Basera'', who is forcefully led into marriage with a man in the United States 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

Bilquis Edhi Bilquis Bano Edhi ( ur, ; 14 August 1947 – 15 April 2022) was a Pakistani nurse who helped save the lives of over 16,000 children. During her career as a nurse and marriage to Abdul Sattar Edhi, she was one of the most active philanthropis ...

. Wasti is known for being outspoken on various of issues like women's rights, harassment, gender equality and prejudice.

Recent ventures

Wasti has expressed that newer Pakistani plays should portray issues in today's Pakistan. She names drugs and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

being amongst the most sensitive. She also cites the reason for the decrease in the quality of drama serials as being the lack of a supply of actors, actresses, writers, directors and producers. In view of these thoughts, Wasti opened a production house in 2002, where she has successfully produced several serials and a dozen plays.

Filmography

Television

Telefilm

* ''

'' * ''

Parinda ''Parinda'' () is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed, produced and distributed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit. The story and scenario were written by Chopra, ...

'' * ''Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Kay'' * ''Mama I Love You'' * ''Survival of a Woman'' * ''

'' * ''Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Kay'' * ''Mama I Love You'' * ''Survival of a Woman'' * ''Ain'' (There Raj Main) * ''Sunrise From Istanbul''

Film

* ''

Ramchand Pakistani ''Ramchand Pakistani'' ( ur, ) is a 2008 Urdu-language Pakistani drama film directed by Mehreen Jabbar and produced by Javed Jabbar. The film features Nandita Das, Rashid Farooqi, Syed Fazel Hussain, Maria Wasti and Noman Ijaz in lead role ...

'', 2008 - Kamla *'' Love Main Ghum'' * ''Yarana'', 2009 -

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasti, Maria Living people Pakistani female models Pakistani television actresses Pakistani film actresses Punjabi people Actresses from Lahore 20th-century Pakistani actresses 21st-century Pakistani actresses Pakistani expatriates in Tanzania 1965 births PTV Award winners