Afsheen is a professional dancer; she dances for a living. She has no training as such, but she just loves to dance. “I just like dancing. I have been doing it for four years,” says the 22-year-old. This Sunday, Afsheen has a gig. She has been cast by a group of university students to star in a short movie production for one of their courses. Afsheen comes to the set with her mother and another woman from her family. A man around 30 years old accompanies them. He drove the three women to the house. He is Afsheen’s agent for today. She refers to him as a promoter. He specialises in finding extras for movies, dramas and events. He provides the back-up dancers behind the star. No contract is signed between Afsheen and her agent. Therefore, Afsheen can work for other promoters if she wants to.
This particular shoot was set up through mutual acquaintances. One of the students, Ahmad, knew the agent. “I met this agent through a friend when I was doing my matric,” Ahmad says. “At that time, I wanted to model,” explains the student, who is also an actor. “I had met other professionals before, but they were not like this promoter.” Ahmad lowers his voice. “I had managed to get an interview with a famous photographer for a shoot. This photographer asked me straight away: ‘Are you willing to make compromises to pursue your passion?’” Ahmad smiles. “I was young at the time. I did not get what he meant, so I told him about my family and my studies. He said: ‘No, no, no…’” And then the photographer explained what he had meant: he was actually asking the aspiring model whether he would be willing to perform some specific sexual favours. “I was so shocked,” Ahmad remembers. “I became scared. I said no. The photographer then added that if I did not consider doing anything with him, I should at least consider the clients he would get me to work for. I ran out of there.”
Afsheen says she usually works at events, although she insists that she auditions for dramas and films as well, as an extra or as a dancer. In Pakistan, being a private-party dancing girl is very much attached to the stigma of prostitution. Indeed, in some cases, some girls are not paid for the dance performance alone. In Afsheen’s case, it is hard to know exactly what she does or does not do. “Look…,” Ahmad says, “in show business, some girls may get somewhat close to the world of prostitution to advance their careers. Even for boys now, it is no longer always safe. The only thing I am sure of with Afsheen is that, with this agent, she is safe. Personally, we have been friends for four years now. He is my agent too, and I have done a lot of TV ads through him. They have all been great and safe. The last job I had was in Faisalabad. I was there with a lot of other boys and girls for three days, and no harm was done to anybody. This agent always makes sure his clients are comfortable and don’t have to do anything other than the acting or dancing they are hired for. If Afsheen also uses other references, then I can’t guarantee that she does not have to do anything…”
Afsheen spends the whole day rehearsing, eating and talking to the director of the film. She does not have to worry about anything because her agent is constantly by her side. When the time for the performance comes, Afsheen follows the instructions obediently. Her movements flow as she takes a lot of inspiration from Indian classical dance. The make-up, the clothes, everything emulates old Bollywood classical numbers, like those in the movie Devdas. When she is done, Afsheen has to go home to her husband, a Pathan whom she married a month ago. “He does not know I even dance at all. I told him I was going to a friend’s wedding,” she laughs. “If he knew, he would kill me!” she adds. After four hours of gruelling shooting, Afsheen puts her abaya and veil back on to cover her whole face except for her eyes. She leaves the set with 3,500 rupees for the 12 hours she spent on location. As for her agent, he gets 1,500 rupees.