Sadia Imam remembers how hard it was to work in an industry mostly run by men when she was starting out.

An actress said she set strict rules with coworkers after feeling that some male co-stars used her naivety.

Actress Sadia Imam talked about her early days in showbiz. She said some male co-stars judged her wrongly and wanted her to be part of their group.

 In a recent interview, she shared that when she started in 1996, there were few women her age in the industry, so she was mostly around men.

I often heard my male co-workers talking about me; when I walked in, they'd say, 'Leave her alone' and 'She doesn't like parties.'

 Imam remembered that Pakistani shows were often filmed in other countries back then, like Dusri Duniya, which was shot in London and the US. She said some colleagues at first thought she'd want to go to clubs and parties during these overseas trips.

Back then, many of our shows were filmed in other countries, but now only our award ceremonies happen outside Pakistan. When we filmed shows like Dusri Duniya, we shot in London and America. Before that, they thought I would be a fun-loving person who would go to clubs with them. 

When I started in the industry in 1996, there were very few women. Besides me, there were older actresses like Sania Saeed, Huma Hamid, and Maria Wasti from Lahore. I was mostly around men.

Looking back, Imam said she felt betrayed by some male coworkers, especially because she chose to keep private boundaries instead of being too friendly with people at work. So, I can tell you that I was backstabbed by male colleagues in the field, mainly when I didn't open up, she said. 

Imam also thanked her dad for helping her keep work and personal life clearly separate. He told her not to bring work relationships home or into her social life.

I never had friend groups. If you visited my home, you'd see that my father had drawn that boundary for me over the years. He said work colleagues don't need to come over, and you don't need to go out with them. So I didn't have friends. 

The actor also thought about how social circles in the industry can affect job chances, meaning people who don't fit into those groups might sometimes get left out.

"When they would remove you from the group, they would make you go in the second lane. I always wondered if they added a new weak character, how that would go," she said. 

Imam concluded by saying she has always preferred to have a small circle of friends and does not think it's necessary to be close friends with coworkers. "I always believed that you should not get close to people in this life because people will take advantage of you," she said

On the professional side, Imam is currently co-hosting the TV review show Kya Drama Hai with Nadia Khan and Ateeqa Odho. She also has a YouTube channel where she talks about and gives her thoughts on current TV dramas.

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