Pakistani Star Meera On Her 'Psycho' Comeback: 'How Can You Retire From Creativity?'

2026-05-26 04:26:20

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) For years, people have quoted that famous observation by Madonna about survival in show business: while many of her contemporaries were gone, she was still standing. In Pakistan's entertainment industry, few careers echo that sentiment quite like Meera's. While many of the stars who rose alongside her have long stepped away from the spotlight, the legend of Meera refuses to fade.

For more than three decades, Meera has remained a constant presence in the public imagination, sometimes celebrated for her performances, sometimes caricatured, sometimes controversial, but never ignored. Her journey has been marked by resilience and an uncanny ability to stay relevant in an industry that is often unforgiving to its leading ladies. Love her or critique her, one thing remains undeniable: Meera is a fighter.

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Now, after an absence that has felt longer than it should have, she returns to the big screen with Psycho. Directed by veteran actor and filmmaker Shaan Shahid, is shaping up to be far more than a routine commercial release. It marks Meera's return after many years.

Alongside Meera and Shaan, the film features Sonya Hussyn, Javed Sheikh, Nayyar Ijaz, Shabbir Jan, and Adnan Butt. Shaan Shahid, who directs and stars in the project, described the film as something that goes well beyond surface storytelling. "Psycho is not built around surface storytelling. It explores the space where perception, emotion, and reality begin to conflict with each other," he said.

The director and the dynamic

Working with Shaan Shahid behind the camera is not for the faint hearted, and Meera makes no attempt to suggest otherwise. She speaks about him with the kind of candour that comes from genuine respect rather than promotional courtesy. "If you know your work, you will always be tough," she says, framing his nature not as a burden but as a badge of honour. For a performer of her experience, the challenge of a demanding director is not something to be feared. It is something to be sought.

"As an artist we always look for opportunities that push us and keep us on our toes," she explains. "These are veterans that we are working with and just by being with them, collaborating with them gets the finest out of us. And that's what has happened. We have made a phenomenal film and that will blow everyone away."

There is no false modesty in that statement, and perhaps there should not be. When you have spent three decades surviving an industry that routinely sidelines women the moment they are no longer considered the flavour of the season, one earns the right to trust their instincts.

Why she never left

Perhaps the most compelling question surrounding Meera's return is not about the film itself but about the woman at its centre. How does someone sustain this kind of passion across thirty years? How do you keep showing up when the industry has not always shown up for you? Her answer, characteristically, is delivered without hesitation and with complete sincerity.

"How can you retire from creativity? It's a beautiful business," she says. "I cannot explain the passion I have for camera and the film set. I get my oxygen from there. I feel suffocated if I am not surrounded by cameras and film. I am so passionate about the movies." It is a declaration rather than an explanation, and it tells you everything you need to know about why Meera has outlasted the sceptics, the critics, and the cycles of fashion that have swallowed so many of her peers.

On the subject of critics, she is refreshingly direct. She does not take the path that many Pakistani actors choose, offering vague pleasantries about respecting all feedback. Instead, she draws a line. "I welcome the critics to share their opinion provided they themselves are well aware and informed. They must have seen enough films and understand enough screenplay to comment and be constructive about the review."

A much-awaited release

Psycho is set for a worldwide release on Eid Al Adha, a slot that carries enormous commercial weight in the Pakistani calendar and signals the confidence of everyone involved. Meera describes it simply as "a layered experience that reflects how people interpret situations, emotions, and reactions differently." For a woman who has herself been interpreted so many ways over so many years, there is something quietly fitting about that description.

After everything, the controversy, the caricature, the comebacks, the years of proving herself all over again, Meera is still here. And if Psycho delivers on even half of what its makers are promising, Pakistan's most enduring screen presence will have given herself the sendoff she deserves. Not a farewell, of course. She would never allow that. But a reminder, if one was needed, of exactly what she is made of.

Sadiq Saleem is a UAE based writer & can be contacted on his Instagram handle @sadiqidas.