Kate Winslet

When Kate Winslet rang me earlier today, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. A bit of beauty banter? Of course. But the conversation that ensued unveiled a genuine heart and sense of purpose below the striking exterior of this Lancome spokesmodel.

Though still in her early 30s, Kate’s sage-like qualities resounded over the phone. With all the awards she’s been winning and is nominated for, you’d think she’d be a little less grounded, not so.

Read below for a reality check from one of the most influential— and naturally gorgeous— heroines of our time.

Most people don’t have a public record of their professional and personal development, though yours has been well-documented since the early ’90s. Do you think this has had an impact on your sense of self? Who or what has helped you strengthen and retain your sanity?

No, I think that my sense of self has come as a result of my own life experiences. In my early 20s, I thought I knew myself so well and thought I was coping with life so well and actually, when I look back, [I see that] I didn’t know what the hell I was I doing back then— I hadn’t a clue who I was.

But now, I do feel much more centered in terms of who I am and feel the most comfortable in my own skin than I’ve ever felt before. And I feel less inclined to beat myself up now, as we tend to do in our early 20s. We scrutinize ourselves and are often very physically insecure in our early 20s, and it takes awhile to grow out of that. I think that becoming a mother, and just letting myself be who I am, has definitely helped me achieve a sense of balance within myself.

Has Hollywood had an impact on how you perceive yourself physically?

No. If anything Hollywood has made me more defiant— made me want to be more comfortable in my own skin. It’s made me less inclined to want to change myself. I think there are a lot of myths and a lot of pressure on women these days to look good, and I think a lot of that does come from Hollywood and it does come from the media.

I do feel that I’m very lucky to be in the position where I am working as an actress today and get to play very, very interesting roles. And to be recognized for those things is, you know, very rare. It’s a real blessing and I don’t take any of it lightly. But because I am in that position, I do feel that it’s important to stand up there and say, “Guess what everybody, this isn’t real— we don’t all really look like this. We’ve been in hair and makeup for two hours”, or “Magazine covers do get retouched.” That’s the way it’s been for a very long time, and no one really talks about that. I really don’t think it should be a secret.

So then it’s safe to assume that you’re comfortable with being a “body image hero”?

Yes, yes. Very much so.

Do you think that different directors see you differently? Which director’s vision have you found to be the most complex? Exciting? Perhaps the closest to how you perceive yourself?

Well, when Michel Gondry asked me to play “Clementine” in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I was really, really flattered because he was the first director who helped me break the mold of an English Rose who’s doing all the period films. He saw something in me— and I don’t know what it was— but he saw a sort of rebellious, feisty, ballsy person inside, and in many ways that is who I am. So I felt very understood working with Michel Gondry, and I also felt very comfortable and encouraged and yet challenged at the same time. It was a big, big step for me, a kind of turning point in my career, to play somebody as contemporary and unconventional as “Clementine.”

Do you watch yourself in your films? Is it hard to see yourself on screen?

I don’t watch myself, no. I always see [my films] once when they come out, but I don’t sit and avidly watch them. I do find it a bit strange.

As an actor’s actor, you have an extraordinary talent for interpreting and embodying your characters. How important is hair, make-up and wardrobe for you when creating a character? Do you have a favorite transformation?

My favorite transformation is “Hannah” [from The Reader] because I age 38 years in that film, and hair and makeup play a huge part. I mean, if it wasn’t for the hair and makeup team, they would have had to cast an older actress to play that role, so I was very, very lucky that the technicians were as capable as they were— that they could really create this look and make it very believable. That was a fascinating process for me; I’d never done anything like that before and was extremely happy to be able to experience that [transformation]. And it also meant that I could play that part— literally— so it really made a huge difference for me.

When the cameras are off, what’s your daily beauty regimen?

I don’t have any major secrets. I just really try and keep a healthy attitude and think everything in moderation. I try to keep my skin as clean as I can— use a good moisturizer, a good eye cream [like Lancome High Résolution Eye Refill-3X], and try and get rest. You know, not do anything to excess. And I can’t get away with the things I used to be able to get away with in my early 20s.

In my early 20s, I could eat chocolate and it maybe made a difference in the size of my hips, but it certainly didn’t make a difference in my skin. But nowadays, I have to be careful with that because I’ll just breakout. You shift and change, your hormones change, and that effects everything— your body, your skin.

So just maintaining a healthy attitude really, and having an understanding of what your body is and what your skin does, and not doing the things that might make you react.

Do you workout regularly? And if so, what exercises or routines have you found to be the most successful?

Well I haven’t actually done any exercise since October of last year, I just literally haven’t had the time. I haven’t done a stitch— not a sit-up, not anything. If and when I can— I’m not an avid gym girl and don’t have a personal trainer— I find doing a little Pilates at home with a DVD really helps. It’s also really good when traveling, as you can take the DVDs with you and use them in the hotel room; just lie down on a towel and stretch a little bit. That just seems to help me somehow keep it together, but I don’t do it obsessively and I’m very inconsistent about it.

Now on to a bit of fashion. Who would you say are your style icons?

I don’t particularly have any style icons. I just really admire women who dress appropriately, who don’t try and cover themselves up, and women who look the age that they are.

I really admire Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Judi Dench— you know, these wonderful, powerful women who are brilliant at what they do, and who are aging naturally and gracefully, and look absolutely incredible. Those are the types of women that I really admire. I would hope to be like that, giving out that type of message, when I’m older.

On a sillier note, if you were a fashion accessory what would you be?

I would be a locket on a chain, because you can put the pictures of the ones you love in the locket.

Any parting words for our Beauty Maverick readers?

Just try not to be too hard on yourself. I think that we can all get very bogged-down and stressed-out by how we’re supposed to look or by comparing ourselves to other people. I think that comparing ourselves to other people is just exhausting, and also pointless.

Try to play to your strengths and just be comfortable in your own skin, and try and stop wishing that you were somebody else. We are who we are, and we have to try to make the best of what we have.

Mahnoor Baloch

My Fair Lady Mahnoor Baloch is like this beautiful fragile desert flower who could play a mysterious Arab princess, delicate enough to bruise by the stem of a flower. The every next instant, she is a fire-breathing feminist who hates the idea of a woman being perceived as a brainless twit, fit for nothing more than sniveling on screen. Mahnoor has a visage that you can imagine starring out of reflective water when Oriental goddesses look into them. Chiseled cheekbones that can cut ice, large doe-eyes and a natural glow add to a face that could launch thousand ships. In an identical Joan-of-Arcish manner, she is pretty firm about her dos and don’ts. Check out the many facets of Mahnoor Baloch.

“Beauty with Intelligence is a rare combination…” this is what Bernard Shaw analyzed about women but Mahnoor Balouch certainly proves it wrong. A woman who has just not made the audience woo for her light straight air, smooth skin and big fluttering eyes but made them turn with her prudent directorial ventures.

At Karachi Gymkhana, Mahnoor attired in black denim jeans and hugging t-shirt of the same color, she reminded of a princess locked up in a tower waiting for her Prince charming to come and rescue her although she found the guy of her dreams way back around two decades ago at sixteen by an handsome young man of the corporate world.

Still, married happily with a beautiful daughter Mahnoor glows as she talks about her family. She doesn’t although feel comfortable enough to reveal much about her family life as she says, “If whatever I do is brought out in public, that is certainly fine with me but digging out my personal life is just not the right way to do it.” Mahnoor believes that her personal life has just been dug too much from the time that she got married in her teens to her daughter’s upbringing she feels that everyone knows far much than they should know. It is one of the basic reasons that she does not give out much of the interviews nowadays, “They all are just the same!â€

Very few people know that Mahnoor actually started off her career with modeling and yes she is back to the roots with a Bang. But before we discuss this, where was she, away from glitz and glam?

“I went to the film School of Toronto.” So is she moving towards film world or it’s just or it’s just the fitness of her acting and directing skills. Certainly, she aggress that there is a huge film market worldwide but she adamantly believes there is no film industry of Pakistan. “Film industry in Pakistan was gone in its seventies only! And I do not want badmouth or degrade our filmy setup but I firmly believe they don’t want to move forward at all!” Mahnoor is bitter about the silver screen because she says if it really progressed or “moved on” precisely what she calls it as she would have been the first person there.

Mahnoor has been accused of being just a pretty face in all her performances than being a substantial actress. She retorts back rather irritated, “I don’t understand what they want out of me? When I did Marvi wasn’t Marvi anyways. I was her friend from a posh locality and performed according to that.” She further elucidates that Chandni Raatein was a very challenging and different performance wise since she was the second wife of a man who marries again for a child. With a beguiling smile she states that the directors never consider her for low-society girl roles as they come up with a lame excuse that she does not have the looks for it. Hence, all the meaty roles are bagged by Sania Saeed, Nadia Jamil and other actresses. Besides she thinks that it is the basic flaw in our serials nowadays. “The only typical clad playing all the typical roles.” Is what she is definitely bitter about.

Apart from being a splendid actress Mahnoor has also directed serials under her own production banner. “Sometimes you feel conceited and you want to express yourself. This is when I started up my own production house.” Just four years back she started up with her own production company entered the field through a production called “Lamhay” which was a huge success in the masses. Though the “smarter audience” as she terms them laughingly could not accept her in Shehzad Roy’s mother’s role. Since then she has never looked back. She came up with “Path Jhar ki Chaaon” in 2000, a sensitive tale woven around a mother daughter relationship which once again earned her a tremendous response from her audience.

She has always been blamed for being a moody actress who works under her own set of principles. And she firmly believes she has and she would definitely keep it up in future too as she states that it is the only way one comes with good wholesome projects. On the other hand she stubbornly disagrees with the fact of being called moody. She claims she has never been moody. However, she doesn’t want to do all the ‘stuff’ that comes her way as she wants to be remembered for a long time.

Unlike other models of the time who left modeling with a bad flavor in their mouth, she has returned to the ramp. ‘When I came back to Pakistan after a year and a half it was certainly a changed scenario. Firstly, there are so many private channels which is good and even the ramp modeling has changed. ‘So, what were the things that made her run away from the catwalk altogether and return. ‘Basically when I did this catwalk show it was purely nothing but showing of flesh. I mean what you expect from a show which had nothing but mere two cloths covering your body. It wasn’t just me but every single model felt uncomfortable with how the show was shaping up. After my arrival here, my ramp show at expo was marvelous. It had good clothes. All the trendy wear with decency and elegance. ‘She says that she is definitely back and plans to flourish in it too.

After her first directorial venture, she was considered a carp actress and director in whole. Mahnoor smiles sarcastically at this question and answer patiently, ‘I know many people who liked it in fact I would say the masses loved it but there must be people who disliked it. It depends on your likes and dislikes and you cannot mould people according to your will.’ What does she have to say over the fact that her last production ‘Pathjhar, ki chaoon’ had the same story as another serial called ‘Anie.’ ‘You know what it wasn’t the case. It was so different. I saw ‘Annie’ and I suppose the first episode only boasts the same story line apart from that there was not a single similarity. Annie’s kids were very young whereas in ‘Pathjhar ki chaaon’ I myself played the eldest daughter who takes revenge from her mother by seducing her step daddy. To the blame that ‘Pathjhar ki chaaon’ had a similar storyline as that of an Indian movie she expresses, ‘Concepts are worked upon again and again! I took the basic concept from a novel maybe the writer of that film too had his concept from the same novel. Anyways I never got to see any such film.

Mahnoor is actually putting her heart and soul yet for another of her production which is in pipeline and is called ‘shiddat.’ ‘I just sold the copyrights to new private channel Hum TV.’ She seems very enthusiastic about her latest venture as it is her first project after her film course and she has strived to put in all that she had learnt there. Nevertheless she is still not ready to reveal the story even in the tit bits because she says that it destroys the whole flavor of the serial in totality. It was huge rumor, not so long ago that a well reputed private TV channel refused to take up her serial for their prime time. ‘Seriously I don’t get what it takes to be on these private channels. They have put up such people in charge who don’t even know their job. Now this specific person tells me that my project is a copy of some Indian soap or movie which in fact was very wrong.’ She pointed out that earlier the same in charge had refused to take up another serial which turned out to be a success among the masses. She counts it as a big fault of the TV channel and considers the in charge a fall for the station.

Mention movies and Mahnoor gets a little nostalgic. She says she feels a strong urge to change the film industry bring in raw talent to shape them up for the betterment for not only the filmi scene but also for the progress of the country. ‘I’ve loved working with the raw young talent. They are always very hardworking and put in all the dint and effort they can to make their projects look perfect.’ Would Mahnoor prefer to work with newcomers is DIVA’s next query. ‘Definitely,’ she replies assuring, ‘There is no way I won’t. I am even looking forward in promoting newcomers at the ramp because they seem so diligent.’

With all that she is today who does she give all the credit to? ‘I feel there is no such institution in our country to help us learn the basics of acting and groom our performances. If you are smart enough you will have to learn from your surroundings only. Hard work pays of in the end surely.’

For the past few months as India-Pakistan progresses politically our actors have turned on the acting diplomacy. Pakistani actors are trying their luck in Bollywood whereas Indian actors are moving towards our small screen. This gives rise to, would Mahnoor one of those in the bandwagon and Mahnoor denies it with a spontaneous No! She feels that there is so much to utilize in our country that we don’t even have time to think about others. ‘I got offers from Bollywood when Zeba did Henna but I refused because I would not feel comfortable with a lot of things that they portray in their movie’ she says.

As the evening progressed one felt that this vibrant women as a lot of substance to offer inspite of all that she has done. What channels does she found worth watching nowadays? ‘It is a humongous change. I t was only PTV at one time. Now they have a lot of new channels. ARY is really good. HUM is doing superb. I think very single channel is adding colors to the small screen.

Mahnoor says that if we need to progress we should have an urge to do so. She thinks that our new generation lacks the competitive attitude and it is struck with glamour and has lost the touch to good performance. She is among the few people who are working hard to change the showbiz structure.

Taking leave of a lady of talents and going back, I couldn’t suppress a smile as I saw HUM TV run a trailor of the serial shiddat crossing the lobby. She certainly has all the talents to lead on.

Vidya Balan

She was and has been the quintessential young woman next door whom an intelligent man would love to take to his mother. Playing a quintessential 'bhartiya naari', whether belonging to the classical mould (Parineeta, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Eklavya - The Royal Guard) or the modern times (Paa, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Salaam E Ishq) with a brain of her own, Vidya Balan boasts of consistency as her hallmark.

In fact a closer study of her filmography pretty much confirms that after Katrina Kaif, she easily has the best success rate amongst leading ladies today with at least one hit a year ever since her debut effort Parineeta (2005). No wonder, when Vidya moves from her 'maa' performance in Paa to a 'woman with desires of her own' (in her own words) in Ishqiya, she makes viewers look forward to what's new that she has to offer in the New Year. More so because in the film she makes men as diverse as Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi dance to her tune.

"This is the best time to be working in movies", declares Vidya who now has two back to back successes in her kitty with Ishqiya following Paa, "Earlier when any filmmaker even thought of making a non-formulaic film, it used to be slotted as an art film there and then. Soon after it would be considered as economical unviable and unfortunately there wasn't much progress that any of such brilliant ideas made. I guess there was an attempt in the late 70s and the early 80s but then ever since NFDC has stopped making films, all doors seemed to be shut. However, in the current decade we are back to making different kind of films. Yes, it's a slow but a steady journey for sure. At least now with movies like Ishqiya, we have started pushing the envelope a little more."

At the beginning of 2009, it was Anurag Kashyap directed Dev D that followed a non-conformist approach towards cinema. Circa 2010 and the year has begun well with Ishqiya. It appears like finally there is some trend in the making here with mainstream actors not feeling shy about lending their support to films that break commercial mould. After Abhay Deol, it is nice to see Vidya Balan too joining the fray.

"I think what is actually happening is that even audiences want to see different things today. This is why when a few experiments worked earlier, people just lapped it up. Movies like Bheja Fry pretty much paved the way for quality films in controlled budget to start making an appearance because once these films worked, more and more people from the industry were further encouraged to present different ideas. It was obvious that even unconventional and non-formulaic films can work if packed, marketed, promoted and presented well. Slowly there are steps being taken due to which audiences too are accepting varied subjects with open arms. Thankfully, there are better budgets being offered as well in spite of increase in experimental cinema", Vidya goes on to share her 'gyaan' on the advent of new age cinema.

She can't be blamed though if she is sounding all excited about the advent of a different kind of cinema. After all, she is one of the rare female actors who has agreed to play the role of a mother in two films (Paa, Heyy Babyy), someone who has psychological disorder (Bhool Bhulaiyaa), a woman suffering from an ailment (Guru, Salaam E Ishq) and now a widow who doesn't mind getting into an intense romance with love (Naseeruddin Shah) and lust (Arshad Warsi) as the driving force. With the 'Jessica Lal' based film already in her kitty and things looking promising with Gulzar's next seemingly quite close, Vidya sure is getting all her calculations right.

kareena kapoor

Kareena Kapoor's next release is Yashraj Films' Tashan this week. "We've all worked really hard on the film. Let's hope it works. After Jab We Met, another hit wouldn't hurt."

Kareena is looking forward to another film with Saif after Omkara and Tashan. "We're doing Renzil D'Silva's film together. But it's very important to keep the personal and professional lives apart," she says with a new-found wisdom. "Both Saif and I need to concentrate on our individual careers. No marriage for me for the next five years." She also cuts down any speculation regarding her sister Karisma's comeback. "How will she work? All her attention is taken up in looking after her daughter Samaira. My niece is the apple of everyone's eyes at home…Come to think of it, the letter 'S' has always been important in my life," she laughs, referring not just to her niece Samaira but also to Shahid and Saif.

Saif was recently in Bangkok shooting an ad with Priyanka Chopra. Kareena who's known to be possessive about her loved ones was blissfully at peace with herself. "I've never been more comfortable in my space. And when I read stories about me, I can't recognize myself," Kareena sighs.

It hard for us to recognize the new ultra-svelte Kareena. Post-Jab We Met she has lost so much weight there is a ceaseless spurt of speculative stories about her weight-loss. "People are saying I want to be like Victoria Beckham. I think the talk started when Saif got himself tattooed with my name. David had done the same for Victoria. So…but honestly, I'm proud of my sculpted body. It's a look that I needed for my new film Tashan. But I haven't starved myself to look the way I'm looking these days. Why should I want to be like anyone else? I've done nothing drastic to myself. I do yoga religiously. And I'm eating like any healthy girl, thank you."

She faints with amusement at anorexic stories about her. "It was written that I fainted on the sets because I've become weak. Utter rubbish! Kuch bhi likh dete hain. Have these people seen me in person? I look no different from the way I looked earlier. I guess I'm just happy in life, and that shows. I haven't lost weight. I've just toned my physique and that too for a role. "

If Kareena is glowing, it isn't just love. "I've right now entered the best phase of my career. Jab We Met has for sure been a turning point."

Her desire to pair with Aamir is fulfilled. "It was a dream to work with Aamir. We recently came close to working together in two films (Vishal Bhardwaj's Mr Mehta And Mrs Singh and Mani Rathnam's Lajjo).It's finally happening. As for Rensil's film, it's a stunning script. I'm doing something in it, I've never done before."

Katrina Kaif got up-set

The recent Star Screen Awards scrutinize the attitudes of the actresses; particularly, the Bollywood’s “kat”, Katrina Kaif who was finally awarded at the end of the event.

At first, when the announcement was made that the best actress awards were going to Vidya Balan and Kareena Kapoor, this made her disturb, obviously. She thought that she failed to win the Best Actress award in either the popular or the critics’ category; as she was expecting herself to get that award. No doubt, Katrina brings the maximum number of hits in 2009, to Indian Film Industry. She was also planned to perform for the televised version of the show.

But at the end, in a result of a quick decision a special award category was produced and then “The Best Entertainer of the Year” award was presented to Katrina.

Rani, working for Production House

One of the Bollywood’s attractive actresses, Rani Mukharji, has started working for the home productions; after the disappointment from her film’s feedback.

The films of Rani Mukharji are not doing good business or she is not performing extremely well, form the last few years. Presently, she is utilizing her acting skills on T.V. screen, besides working on a home production film along with her brother, ‘Life isy galy jily’. Rani Mukharji has nice plans about this film, like to surprise her fans and she is expecting good response as well.

While commenting on her current position in the film industry, Rani has revealed that she is not getting the role of her choice and this is the reason of her losing status. Even then, according to her, she always tries to do her best but the problem is, all the blame of the film failure goes to actors.

No doubt, Rani Mukharji is a big name of Bollywood, and she does not believe on shortcuts; she has planned to prove herself through her home production.

Priyanka Chopra is to judge the Miss World

The former Miss World is going to be the judge for Miss World contest this year. The actress is really happy for she will be revisiting her past after 9 years of wining the title.

After a breach of nine years, former Miss World Priyanka Chopra is ready to take part in the Miss World contest again, but as a judge. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra will be seen as a judge for the finalists during the last round of '2009 Miss World contest', which is being held on December 12 in Johannesburg.

On this, an elated Priyanka Chopra said, "When Julia Morley, who is in charge of the beauty pageant, invited me to be a judge, I was ecstatic. There I was a teenager all those years ago, nervous as a help on the same platform. Now I'm going in a totally different capacity." Priyanka Chopra also said that the invitation is very special to her.

Priyanka Chopra added that she is happy to become a part of the much popular contest regardless of her hectic shooting schedules around. Priyanka Chopra also said that the existing year is very special as well as lucky to her.

"This was a good year and hopefully 2010 will be as good if not better."
Priyanka Chopra will start 2010 with 'Pyaar Impossible' which is due to release in January. Miss World 2009 is the 59th pageantry event. This year twenty finalists will be chosen rather than fifteen for the semi finals.

Tehmina Bokhari

1. How does it feel to have a title like Mrs. Pakistan World?

I feel very honoured to be the 4th woman in history to win this title. I feel quite privileged to be among the women in the pageant who are beautiful, educated and who are really showcasing to the world how amazing Pakistani women are. Now, it is certainly very exciting to think of the year ahead.
2. What are your plans now that you have this new identity?

I am looking forward to working with the various people in the community at events, photoshoots, fashion shows and public speaking engagements. I am a living example of a Pakistani woman balancing career, family, pageants, culture and hobbies, and I want to talk to women everywhere about this careful juggling act we perform on a daily basis. I also want to discuss larger issues with those who are ready to make positive change.
I also want to address what may appear to be a contradiction, a dedicated social worker and feminist in a pageant. Yes, that is me, who would have thought?
For me personally, this is an opportunity to raise awareness on some very important issues that I have already spent over a decade working on. These include social causes such as violence against women, the image of Pakistanis in the media and the global status of Pakistan. When I meet people is when I get asked questions and we begin conversations, conversations from which I hope to leave people with something new, inspiring and positive that they take back to their own lives.
I have already had women coming up to me to ask how I do this. They are often surprised to hear that I am also a professor and a consultant with a very active family life. And this is where the wonderful conversation starts about the possibilities for women that exist out there.
3. Pakistan's pageant industry has developed since the last 8 years. The married section still needs a huge push. What change will you bring?

Yes, as mentioned I am the 4th woman in history to hold this international title. That is a success for the pageant but also an indication of how much further we have to go in the pageant industry where other international pageants for married women have been running for many more years. We certainly need more women from our community taking up this opportunity.
I hope during my reign to showcase specifically to Pakistani women that this title can be a platform for you to have a voice in the international arena, for whatever your passions in life may be. I hope to stay true to my roots and make the community proud through the work I can do with this title. I also want to say that I hardly saw myself as a beauty queen, as the majority of my life was focused in other areas, and I think I am changing the perception people, both Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis, may have of what a ‘beauty queen’ is. I think the average woman can relate to me in this way. With all of this that I bring, I hope to promote this title, raise awareness on the possibilities out there for married Pakistani women, and to encourage women to dream big.
4. What international pageants are you planning to enter?

I am looking forward to representing Pakistan on an international platform at the various pageants out there for married women such as Mrs. World and Mrs. Earth.
5. How will entering into the international pageant indusrty give a push to Mrs. Pakistan?

I think that representation in international pageants is important for Pakistan as a whole, and certainly for married Pakistani women. What does the world currently know about Pakistani women? What are the general misconceptions out there about us? When you think of beauty, do Pakistani women come to mind? How do the international media define Pakistani women for us? All of these are questions of which the answers to which we have an opportunity to shape by participating in international pageants.
It is also important to understand that pageantry is an industry like any other, show business, acting, modeling, fashion, even politics, with its own guidelines and culture. It is an area Pakistani women have traditionally not entered, so why should Pakistani women be left out of this when Pakistanis are moving forward in so many other fields, such as politics, law, fashion and so on?
6. As a Pakistani, and a moderate one, what is your message to the world about Paksitan?

Hhhmmm, I am not sure what moderate Pakistani means, although I can understand what a moderate Muslim may mean.
7. Where would you like to see the Pakistan pageant industry go in the near future especially for married women?

Well I would love to see more women join this industry and represent Pakistan on an international scale.
8. Any advice to the married women from Pakistan who would like to pursue pageantry?

Go for it! You have so much to offer the world, you are knowledgeable and beautiful, never forget that.
9. Any messages to married women in general?

Again, so many messages that you will likely hear throughout the year from me. However, most importantly, to married women, not just Pakistani, but of all cultures, you are just amazing with all that you do. I would say to take time for you as well. As women we are trained to give and we do as women give a lot of ourselves, but also remember to give back to yourself which in turn gives back to your loved ones. It is an interesting cycle that when we are happy, others around us are happy. So we have to allow ourselves to take care of us too.
10. How do you balance career, family, pageantry and all of the other life demands on you today as a married Pakistani woman?

This is a tough one, as ‘how’ is a never-ending negotiation based on what ever is going on at the time. Fortunately, I think, women are great multi-taskers and great at leading teams. I have a very supportive family and circle of friends around me who share in the responsibilities and joys of life. I think for women it is very important to have solid grounding in yourself, work on bettering yourself and taking care of yourself. Figure out a method that works for you to evaluate your priorities. These are different for all of us. Importantly, communicate with others in your life about your needs, ideas, dreams and ambitions. There is a message here for men as well, to support the women in your life. What has allowed men to ‘have it all’ if they choose such as a career and children and marriage and hobbies and so on? It is women! It is because of women who have historically been behind men, taking care of domestic issues, that then frees men up to focus on a career outside of the home. Similarly, for women to enjoy success in all of these areas, men must be supportive and shift their roles as well. We really have to work together. As for me, I would say that I am a product of hundreds of years of family history and I credit many others for who I am today, the women and men in my life. I am humbled and grateful to have this support. I am looking forward to talking more with the community on this and all of your questions.
11. Ok, so as a Pakistani, what is your message to the world about Pakistan?

Well, there are so many messages I would like to give as we are a vast, diverse and large group of people. Pakistanis, the people of Pakistan and those of us living abroad, are diffult to sum up in a few words or one picture, as we are so very diverse in our lifestyles, views, opinions, languages and histories. So importantly, to the world I say that a singular definition of ‘Pakistani’ will not do for over 170 million Pakistanis worldwide. I encourage you all to explore this country and the people to discover our depths, complexities and our richness. “Pakistani” is a national identity to a homeland that was created in 1947 out of a movement for liberation to carve out a unique place. The nation was founded by a man, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who stated the following in an international talk in 1948,
“Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught equality of man, justice and fairplay to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims --Hindus, Christians, and Parsis --but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.”
So to the world I say, that like any other nation and culture, Pakistan has developed into a diverse and everso evolving society. It is important to remember that Pakistan is both a player and a product of international and historical politics and everyone has a stake in strengthening this nation. We must all work to support Pakistan and importantly to support more Pakistani women being in positions of leadership.
12. How can people learn more about you?

You can join my fan page Tahmena Bokhari on Facebook
And of course you can always google my name to see what’s new.
Thank you.

Maram & Aabroo

1. You are the only women based team offering both styling and photography in Pakistan: how did you two get in to this field?

We never really planned on taking this up as a career. We knew we were interested in the creative arts since college, and as time went on we realized that we had a certain knack for it. Honestly, we didn’t even think that being a female team would be of note to anyone, but as it turns out it’s pretty unique in the Pakistani arena.
2. What are you inspirations in life and career?

We dream big, we want so much, all at once! We want to try our hand at new things, take on challenges and gain knowledge. We love our work and this is where we find joy. We want to go everywhere, be everywhere, meet new people and keep learning about the world around us. We’re inspired by so many wonderful artists, writers from all over the world, it’s hard to pick who to mention on the spur of the moment but let’s give it a shot: Monet, Caravaggio, tons of anonymous artists who created gorgeous images but whose names were lost in time. We appreciate beauty in the smallest of things.
3. What has been the most defining point in your career thus far?

We went for a proper job in Media City and landed in a studio in Abu Dhabi. That was where we discovered what having a serious career in the creative industry was like. A very important chapter in our story thus far.
4. This is a demanding profession: how do you both balance both your personal and professional lives?

We try but since our work is so much a part of lives, it makes up the personal part too most of the time! But our families are very important to us and we don’t let our careers encroach upon our quality time with them.
5. What do you believe is the biggest challenge faced by the fashion industry in Pakistan today?

The lack of ability to rise above differences and unite, as we believe that there is so much talent in Pakistan and if we could just set personal differences aside, we could rival the international creative scene easily!
6. A lot of your music photography has translated onto album covers. How does music photography differ from fashion shoots?

With music photography, the idea is to translate the personalities of the musicians in an image. It is an entirely different process from making a professional model look good in designer wear where the product takes preference.
7. What projects are you currently working on?

Many, but we respect our clients’ privacy!
8. Tell us a bit about those campaigns/shoots about which you are particularly proud.

The very first campaign shoot we did in Abu Dhabi comes to mind. That was a terrific and uplifting experience. We managed to turn our novice skills into a beautifully polished product which was then published in Al Mara al Youm, for which we will always be proud.
9. If you were not photographers and stylists, what would you have been?

Maram: I personally believe I would have been an asset to the medical profession! It was one of the biggest decisions of my life to choose the creative industry over medicine.

Aabroo: I would have been accomplished in the creative department of an international advertising firm.
10. Where do you see yourself ten years down the line?

We hope we are working hard at what we do by then, recognized for what we do and respected in our professional field in the international arena.

Sahar Atif

1. Your label Saai by Sahar Atif was launched in 2003: how would you describe the label in terms of philosophy and design and has your design philosophy evolved since you launched?

The business philosophy at Saai has remained consistent since in inception in 2003. At Saai, we aspire to produce designer clothing at affordable prices aiming at catering to a larger audience than just a selected niche.
However, the design philosophy over the years has gone through tremendous evolution. Bridal wear remains a forte of the brand. With the Pakistani fashion industry tilting towards ready-to-wear Saai has also decided to join in and ride the wave.
Regardless of the nature of the garment, be it prêt or couture, at Saai we strive to create unique, timeless pieces with impeccable quality of craftsmanship. Not every collection is about a profit making venture; most aspire to only keep the artistic signature alive.

2. You have a degree in fashion from Pakistan’s Institute of Fashion Design and later you further specialized your degree of study by reading Fashion Marketing, which is what you teach at your alma mater: To what extent do you feel an education in fashion helps one in their fashion career?

Education is not always about grades and degrees. It is about learning and a certain discipline that can be cultivated into an individual. A graduate of the first batch at PIFD, I consider myself amongst the fortunate few who where taught by the crème de la crème. Besides fashion being studied as a subject, a certain sense of commitment, responsibility and attention to detail was cultivated in us which has hugely paid off. To be the head of a team one has to encompass leadership qualities and a grip on the entire supply chain process, which only a professional degree can instill in an individual.

3. When designing a collection, are you inspired by local and/or international trends or is it entirely dependant on your personal choice/aesthetic?

One of the most frequently asked question is on inspirations. I realize there may be a lot of very organized designers out there who have their thought process together. However my feeling is that one cannot plan to be inspired. It is something that just hits you and sometimes takes you by storm. So I cannot really comment whether trends that are exciting me are western or eastern, it is more about the mood that I am in. Colour, texture, form and fabrics have always excited me and inspired me to create more.

4. In spring 2008, you introduced the socially conscious Saai Prêt a Porter line entitled ‘The Revival Collection’ in collaboration with Aik Hunar Ik Nagar [AHAN] which incorporated local art and craft into your fashion designing. do tell us more about it.

The cooperate social responsibility program initiated by Saai in collaboration with AHAN ( Aik Hunar Aik Nagar), namely ‘The Revival Collection’ revolves around the restoration and revitalizing of dying crafts and incorporating them into more wearable clothing more in sync with the latest trends. The collection is retailed out of the prestigious fashion chain Bareeze. An effort on the part of the designer and the brand to create connectivity between the rural crafts and urban Pakistani fashion.
The collection is far from having achieved its objectives thus yet. The creative journey through the villages of rural Pakistan turning into a retail concept is not as rosy a picture as it sounds. The lack of a dependable supply chain and the essential quality control mandatory to produce garments for the highly competitive industry makes the job discouraging.
It should be every Pakistani's effort to give back to our country in every way possible. By empowering women, reviving crafts and putting purpose to decaying skills and techniques, the Revival Collection is a manifestation of Saai’s attempts to give back to the country.
Personally my involvement in academia is also my way of paying back. Professional designers end up with their hands full with rapidly growing businesses. Hardly ever do any turn back and wish to share their practical experiences with the young blood which can gain enormously from it. The setting up of the A’Level department of Design and Textile at the Lahore Grammar School on a lay plan given by the Cambridge University has been my contribution to the academic world. Only last year, two out of the three world distinction holders were from our program, putting Pakistani students on a high esteem at an international front. Such efforts contribute to the positive image building of the country and change the way the west views us. At the end of the day fashion is a non conventional subject very contradictory to Pakistan’s extremist image projection.

5. Would you say your label’s strength lies more in Prêt wear or Bridal couture?

Bridal wear remains the brand’s forte. Over the years the sub-continental embroideries have been experimented with and perfected in bridal garments at Saai. Through innovative cut and unconventional colour combinations, accents of modernization penetrate into each outfit. The bridal garments are meant to look timelessly beautiful not only when adorned but also individually as objects of art

The recent tilt of the market towards Prêt has been extremely enticing for Sahar. Prêt has provided ample opportunity to the very creative designer to produce more rapidly and come up with frequent collections which is a delight for someone who aches to pour out her creativity on any canvas available be it Couture or Prêt, Western or Eastern.

6. What are the fashion trends for Autumn/Winter 2009 -2010?

Well to start off with shalwars are a big no-no. Churidar pajamas and loose flowing pants will be the trendier substitute. Voluminous and free flowing garments enhanced with panels pleats and pin tucks will accentuate the shape of the garment. Layering will make a come back.

7. What was the most defining point in your career thus far?

I wouldn’t say I came across one moment that changed everything for me or Saai overnight. To name a few, the heart warming response to Saai’s collection at Bridal Asia ’07 boosted my confidence not only in the brand which was still picking up pace but also gave birth to the concept of ‘The Revival Collection’. The mukesh, shadow work and tarkashi pieces were an instant hit, which made me realize the huge potential in indigenous Pakistani crafts.

The press conference held at The Boulevard, PFDC made me realize the vital role Prêt plays in the world of fashion and that the time had come to start thinking out of the box and take the leap from Bridal wear into other lucrative and challenging pastures such as prêt.

8. What do you believe is the biggest challenge faced by the fashion industry in Pakistan today?

I feel the industry is fearless and now, no challenge is big enough to hamper the growth of fashion. Forward is the only way to go! The prerequisites for development of any industry, not just fashion, are political and economic stability, which we can all hope and pray for. This will eventually lead to Pakistani designers and fashion making its mark internationally.

9. Where do you see Saai, ten years from now?

Where Saai is concerned the next ten years are a long time. Frankly, I cannot comment on the next ten weeks even. The brand and the industry are both evolving so rapidly. Truly, the sky is the limit for both. It is ‘The Revival Collection’ which is my baby. I aspire to take a product of rural Pakistan to an International platform, which will be my genuine achievement.

Hiba Nadeem

1. How did the opportunity for you to become the Fashion Buyer for Men’s Store come about?

I believe we create opportunities for ourselves, and then follow through with deliverables.

2. Are you involved with the just the buying aspect of the business?

Good question. I am the buyer for the Mens Store however I am also the COO so I manage the overall business.

3. How do you feel your education has helped you in your line of work?

I get asked this question a lot, our experiences educate us and for me practical work experience across the board is imperative to truly understand the needs of any professional environment.

4. You get to travel a lot, which is your favourite destination for fashion retail?

I don’t want to sound boring but my favourite destination is the buying showrooms whether it is Milan, Paris, Hong Kong...etc

5. Compared to the West, Pakistan is a different market altogether, what do you keep in mind when buying pieces for Pakistanis?

It’s a good question, generally the core collection remains more or less identical to the West, the restrictions that come are with the ‘high fashion’ pieces where cultural and climate constraints are considered. However buying trends do differ between provinces which I find very interesting which allows me to be play more so with the collections.

6. Is it difficult sometimes picking up western accessories and clothes for a Pakistani audience?

Not really, once basic buying patterns are understood the creative aspect of buying kicks in (which is the exciting part!)

7. What is the criteria you use to select a collection for an upcoming season. Do tell us with regard to autumn/winter 09 specifically?

Well, climate dictates the weight of the collection particularly for autumn/winter. The rest is truly dependant on the designers’ collection itself and the direction for that particular season. so this to autumn/winter 09 is rather ‘sober’ with multiple accents of warm berry shades – its important to remember that ‘fashion’ is expression and the essence reflects what concerns us within the time that we live in.

8. Which accessory do you think will be the rage this season?

The structured jacket, trench and blazer. Think about its form and construction and relate it to my previous answer.

9. Name two essential wardrobe accessories for men and women keeping the season in mind?

Think Vintage!
So for my lovely ladies – keep a look for Gucci’s timeless handbags this coming season, trust me. Once you see this collection, it will speak for itself.
Trendy Guys – double breasted peak lapel tailored suit all the way, navy and grey dominates the season with regards to formals.
The 2nd accessory for men and women that I wouldn’t be seen without is the ever so classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer- the perfect addition to any outfit!

10. Is Men’s Store planning to introduce any new brands this season?

Rock and Republic! One of my favourite denim brand and there’s more! The launch of our new beauty division with the hottest niche skincare, makeup and fragrances which we are all really excited about!

11. How is your experience been so far working with Men’s Store and its team?

We are a team, and I believe that teams make better decisions than individuals; we have successfully created an innovative, progressive and responsible environment that evolves as we do.

12. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

The Sky is the limit. What do you think?

Iffat Rahim Omer

She is a model, an actress, director and producer. Having appeared in countless TV shows and catwalks around the country and internationally, Iffat Umar needs no introduction. In an exclusive interview with The Saturday Post, she tells us how she began her career and how she finds the time to balance work, home and motherhood all at the same time!

1. How would you introduce yourself to our readers? Tell us about where you grew up, education and family.

My name is Iffat Rahim Umar, I am a former model turned Producer-Director-Actress-Anchor. Currently, most of my work is related to acting which is primarily due to the fact that I feel I am good at it, and secondly because I think I can balance it very easily with my family life.
I grew up in the lovely and historic city of Lahore, which according to most people is also the cultural capital of Pakistan. I have travelled elaborately throughout the world and have stayed for an extended period of time in Europe and the Middle East, but I think I am in my element when I am in Lahore. I just love the city and of course all my childhood and teenage memories are associated with it. I went to school (Esena Foundation, Gulberg), college (Lahore College for Women) and university (Punjab University) here. I have a masters degree in Fine Arts with a Gold Medal in Film Making, which for me is my biggest educational achievement.
I was raised as a single child by my mother, who has been a constant inspiration and a role model for me all my life. She has been the anchor who has supported me through my early childhood until the time I was wise enough to distinguish between right and wrong, and I owe her greatly for that.
I fell in love with Umar and had a fairy tale wedding about ten years ago. We are blessed with a seven year daughter, Noor-e-Jehan, and as the name signifies she is the light of our lives.


2. When and how did you get into modeling and acting?

My modeling career began out of the blue, when one of the leading photographers saw one of my pictures from some school function and invited me for a shoot. My first shoot turned out to be a big hit at that time and my career just took off.
Acting came later when I was offered a lead role in a play, which I took just to try it out. That too was greatly appreciated by the critics as well as the masses, and I slowly made the transition from modeling to acting.


3. Did your family support your decision to model and act or did they oppose it?

My mother was very strict but professional in her outlook. She had the foresight to see that I could make a career out of show-biz. Her only reservation was that I must complete my education along with my professional commitments. Once she saw that I could do both, she supported me all the way. Similarly, Umar wanted a balance between work and family life and once we reached that balance he has been supporting me thoroughly.


4. You have a background in fine arts, why didn’t you pursue a career in arts?

Well, in a way I am pursuing a career in fine arts. I have produced/directed more then ten docudramas on fashion, history of film and biographies of actors and actresses belonging to the sub-continent. Some of these are divas & gurus, Chand Chera and Zikr Us Pari Wash Ka have been declared as masterpieces by the national press and are highly appreciated.


5. You have worked with countless designers, who is your favorite and why?

That’s an easy one; I would say Omar Saeed because there is no one who makes clothes better than him. I actually recommend that his work should be put in a museum because it’s out of this world!


6. How many TV serials and shows you have worked in and which is your most memorable?

That’s a toughie because seriously I have lost count, but I think a ball park figure would be around 50. The most memorable, at least for me, is Banoo Ko Pahchano which was written and directed by Salman Shahid.


7. A lot of models have turned to acting, does acting come naturally to models or do TV people just approach models in general?

It’s actually a bit of both. We have to be honest; show-biz is still considered a taboo by most segments of Pakistani society. So girls who have, so as to say, crossed the threshold are the ones who are in modeling and are always easy to approach. However, acting is not a natural extension of modeling, most models try, but don’t cut it. So I wouldn’t say that it comes naturally to them, although it might give them an advantage.


8. You are a working woman, a wife and a mother; how do you balance all these roles?

By keeping my priorities in order i.e., family and then work. It’s not easy, but once you get your priorities right everything else falls in place. Although in my case it was a little easier because my mother and then my husband both have supported me in my career. I also make it a point to not take on too much work, and what ever work I do, I finish by 8 or 9 in the evening so that I can be at home when my daughter goes to sleep.


9. What advice would you give to the young people who want to enter modeling and acting?

It’s a good career with a lot of opportunities, but also a lot of pitfalls if you don’t keep your head up straight. So go for it, but tread with care.

Madonna

Madonna has a swift, firm handshake and a straight, green gaze and a face that you know as well as your own. The sharp little chin, the heavy lidded eyes, the gap in the teeth: all familiar, but, also, all strange. She looks like Madonna but 300 times better-looking. She looks like Madonna, but smaller.

She walks lightly into the heavily draped Duke of Newcastle suite at Home House, the club-cum-hotel on London’s Portman Square, and gasps. She explains she once stayed in this very suite for quite some time. “My baby was in that room” – Lourdes had to snuggle down in the bed the size of a school playground – “and I was in the one behind, and, uh, it was OK, except I don’t really like hotel bathrooms. Those towelling dressing gowns”

Madonna has been looking for a house in London the past six months. It seems longer: since she decided to move in on us, our press have moved in on her. Not a HEAT or an OK! Or a Sunday Times goes past without some mention of Madge. Where she got her highlights done (Daniel Galvin); where she goes to eat (San Lorenzo); to drink (The Sanderson); to wash the car (everyday garage in north London). How her boyfriend’s really pish (the son of a Lady); really rough (he has a scar on his face); really committed (he put his hand on her knee!); really not (Madonna rushes back from America for relationship summit meeting).

Madonna, by moving in on Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie, has changed from being a remote, fantastic, superstar hologram to a real-life local girl. And because she’s so close, we want her even closer.

So, then: up close, 41-year-old Madonna is beautiful, blonde, and pregnant, wearing dark blue Maharishi trews, a red vest with a Chinese letter on it and pointy red slippers. She doesn’t waste time; not hers, not yours: she arrives without fuss or entourage, gives some easy chit-chat – about the room; about being pregnant (”I’ll eat all these olives, I warn you”); about my accent, surprisingly (”Manchest-oh! Curry!”) – and then sits on the floor between the sofa and coffee table and agrees that we should start.

I’d been warned by several friends who have interviewed Madonna that she’s a tricky, unlikeable interviewee: “A cold fish,” said one. “Really, really difficult,” said another. But her press officer insists that Madonna has relaxed, and offers the fact that she goes to a public gym as an example of her new nonchalance: “The old Madonna would have insisted that it was all set up for her at home.”

So: I didn’t know what to expect. I certainly didn’t expect Madonna to be funny. But she is. Her answers are delivered wryly, with a camp sideways look, or a half-laugh. And I didn’t expect her to be easy company. But she’s that too.

Madonna’s accent has Los Angeles touches (some statements? Are questions?) and an occasional British twang (her vocals are rounder than most Americans). She speaks rapidly, but pauses a lot. She thinks before, during and after she answers: I’d say she’s naturally honest, and precise, but she’s well aware that when she speaks, the world listens in. “If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t do any interviews,” she says at one point. “Because (a) I think it’s boring to explain my work to the nth degree and not let anybody figure it out for themselves; and (b) I’m not that interested in blabbing my personal life either.”

Her posture has the neutral poise of a dancer; she carries herself with status but not starriness. I’ve met third-division indie boys whose high-rank body language would eclipse Madonna’s economic gestures. Still, she knows how to move. When she leaves, she does so abruptly. She turns her back and she’s gone.

But before she does that, we’re here to talk about her new album, Music. Madonna’s been having trouble with MP3 internet database Napster – THE FACE downloaded her new single before it even arrived at her record company – so I’m not allowed an album because I might run off a few CDs of my own. “And then people won’t buy my record. And how will I pay for my daughter’s schooling?” says Madge, with one of her sideway looks. “Anyhow, I didn’t want you to get bored.”

Before the interview, I go to her press office and hear seven tracks twice over. Two are get-thee-to-the-dancefloor numbers: ‘Music,’ the cheeky, Daft Punk first single, and the ‘Impressive Instant’, a complicated, Chemicals-related, headlong headrush of a track with a disco baseline to challenge Donna Summer. Then there’s ‘I Deserve It’, ‘Amazing’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’ – all spacey, twisted pop songs, and all about lerve.

‘Amazing’’s lyrics include: “It’s amazing what a boy can say/I cannot stop myself/Seems I love you more than yesterday/I love you and no one else.’ If Mr. Ritchie isn’t blushing – yes, I know he doesn’t look the type – then, ladies, he should be. Finally I hear the catchy silvery ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl” – likely to be the second single – and ‘Paradise (Not For Me)’, which is also on the Mirwais album, Production. Five of the tracks are produced by Mirwais, the 39-year-old French maverick introduced to Madonna by photographer Stephane Sedanoui. ‘Amazing’ is produced by William Orbit; ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’ by Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Seal). And they’re all ace: poppy, electronic progressions from the musical arena she moved into with Ray of Light.

As we talk, Madonna sips from a bucket-glass of Cabernet and munches her way through an impressive amount of olives and crisps.

Music seems a very positive LP. Kind of There are some songs that are tinged with sadness (sideways look). This record, more than any other records, covers all the areas of my life. I left off partying on Ray of Light. But I’d just had a baby, so my mood was complete, like wonderment of life, and I was incredibly thoughtful and retrospective and intrigued by the mystical aspects of life

You could connect Ray of Light with Like a Prayer. With you looking for spirituality, looking for a meaning, looking for God. It’s not that I don’t have to look anymore. Spirituality is still really important to me, but I don’t feel so inspired to write songs about it. I mean, I got to church: I go to Church of England, I go to Catholic churches, I got to synagogues, I partake in all religions. In my bones, I’m Catholic, because that’s how I was raised, but I am just as intrigued by Judaism as I am by Catholicism.

Between those two albums, there were some long wilderness years. You seemed to be flailing a little.
Sure. It was a combination of a lot of things. My marriage ended, and that left me incredibly cynical about love for a long time, and then also my fame increased and I had a love-hate relationship with that, feeling trapped by it, and feeling angry about it. I was running the gamut of emotions, and I think that creatively I was all over the place.

What mood were you in when you made Music?
To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what the mood was. I feel like an animal that’s, like, ready to be sprung from a cage. (Laughing) I’ve been living a pretty low-key domestic existence and I miss things. Like, I miss performing, and dancing, and being on the road, that kind of energy. So part of the record is about that. And then the other part is about love. So there’s the frivolous side of my life and then there’s the – hopefully – non-frivolous side of my life. I usually make a record that’s one or the other, and I feel I did both on this one.

Do you sit at home and write songs and then take them into the studio, or do you work when you’re in there?
I keep a pillow book, I jot things down – dreams or poems or things I’ve read in books. Or kind of diary-like entries, or I’ll cut out articles from newspapers, anything that I want to remember. So, I keep this scrapbook, and a lot of times I’ll go back and draw from an idea that I’ve kept for a song. But generally, it’s music that kicks me into thinking a certain way or feeling a certain thing, and I rely heavily on the people that I collaborate with to inspire me lyrically. Believe it or not, I’m at my most creative when I’m standing at a microphone and the pressure’s on.

“Impressive Instant” seemed to be about that brilliant point when you’re at a club and you see somebody and think
I’m going to spend the rest of my life with him! That’s why it’s called ‘Impressive Instant’ – it’s that moment. That moment where everything goes wooosssh (clapping her hands)! Of course, it helps to have had a couple of cocktails.

“What It Feels Like For A Girl” – who’s speaking at the beginning?
Charlotte Gainsburg [daughter of Serge]. Did you ever see a movie called The Cement Garden? Where she has an affair with her brother? It’s a scene where she’s saying to her brother “It’s OK for girls to dress like boys, to wear shirts and boots and blah blah blah. But for a boy to dress like a girl is degrading, because you think that being a girl is degrading – but secretly you’d love to know what it’s like.’ I just was like, ‘Oh my God, that is so brilliant!’

Is that song addressed to your daughter?
Um.. . ish. It’s to her, but then it’s me talking to myself, it’s me. It’s about me discovering that being an overachiever is not always to your benefit when it comes to relationships and dealing with men, because men are quite intimidated by women who accomplish a lot. There have been so many instances where I’ve said to myself ‘Oh I wish somebody would have said to me, “Be great, but don’t be too great because you’re going to limit your options”

Be great and then fall over?
It is a game that all strong women have to play. ‘Game’ is the wrong word, but the song is really a realization about the politics of the sexes. It’s a complaint. It’s also about traditional feminine behavior, this kind of thing (curling her hair around her finger and batting her lashes). I was thinking about girls in advertising, and about how on the outside something can look like pubescent acquiescence but in reality, underneath, it’s completely different. And it’s not a feminist anthem, but I feel like other women can relate to it. The song’s about quite a lot actually, but the more I explain it the more trivial it sounds.

And then there’s ‘I Deserve It’, ‘Amazing’, and ‘Don’t’ Tell Me’, which are all about love, aren’t they?
Yes. ‘I Deserve It’ is a love song. ‘Amazing’ is a I-love-you-but-fuck-you song. And ‘Don’t Tell Me’, that’s of the same thing too. They’re all I-love-you-but-fuck-you songs. Those are my best songs. ‘I Deserve It’, even, it’s a love song, but there’s something lonely about it. Sonically, the juxtaposition of the acoustic guitar and then that synth siren sound – to me, that strange combination makes it a little bit uncomfortable.

‘Amazing’ starts off: “You took a pretty picture and you’ve smashed it into bits/You took a poison arrow”
‘and you aimed it at my heart’. My daughter goes around the house singing that bit. I don’t know why she picked up on those lines.

What’s that one about then?
Well, durr! What do you think it’s about?

You’re meant to tell me. But I’ll tell you what I think. It’s about people seeing you as an image, not as a rounded human being, and then if someone comes up and sees past that, then it blows you away.
Yeah It has to do with shattering an image that you have of somebody, but it’s also a song about loving someone that wish you didn’t love. Because you know that you’re doomed, but you can’t stop yourself, because it’s amazing.

It’s amazing?
You figure out what ‘it’ means

When do you think people will listen to the record?
At night. This is night listening. I think it’s too moody to listen to during the day.

You could put the first two tracks on before you go out, though.
Actually, the third track is a William Orbit track and is also a really up-tempo, dancey, clubby song as well.

You could put the first three on before you go out; and then, after you meet the man of your dreams you come back and listen to ‘I Deserve It’ and ‘Amazing’.

We talk about the prospects of her touring. After she’s had her second child, before the end of the year, she’d like to play a few small venues in America and Europe. And then, informs Madge, a proper full-blown tour may be in the cards. ‘I feel like I want to, but I know it will such an enormous undertaking: be really intricate theatre. Lots of work. So I’m having a back-and-forth game in my mind about that, because I’ll have two kids.’

I ask her if her second pregnancy has been different from the first: she says it has, simply because the first time around was new and she was utterly overcome by it. For Madonna, this is what made Ray of Light a spiritual adventure: she was overwhelmed by the experience of having her first child, and it was this personal transcendental event that informed the LP.

Despite her mystical protestations, though, most of us classed Ray of Light as, essentially, a dance record (her first 1990’s ‘Vogue’). And though Madonna may classify it as a ‘moody’ LP, Music builds on Ray of Light’s legacy. Its pop songs are poppier and its dance tunes proper ripsnorters, unashamed of their disco destination. Like ‘Into the Groove’, they celebrate the true brilliance of throwing yourself about like a berk to a tune that sounds like it fell from heaven. Only when you’re dancing can you feel this free.

Ray of Light was made in one fell swoop in Los Angeles and was, according to William Orbit, an intense experience: ‘I walked into Madonna’s World and emerged blinking, five months later.’

Music, though, was made in London, using various producers. It was a bittier process: plus, Madonna hopping back and forth from America during recording. Still, both William Orbit and Mirwais testify to her concentration and dilligence in the studio. She works fast and decisively: ‘She wants it to be done quickly, it’s cool. I can spend years on a song, it’s not really cool,’ says Mirwais, while Billy O informs: ‘If a track has a good vibe, that gets her off the runway. She doesn’t have to give it much thought – either it does or it doesn’t. And she’s always rehearsed, she doesn’t like to be one that holds up the session. She always does her homework.’ Madonna, it seems, is a keen user of the dictaphone, and she drives around listening to half-formed tracks in her car.

Music is the first ever Madonna LP made outside America. The first one recorded in the UK. And it shows, in parts. Mirwais says that he and Madonna both ‘consider to mix experiemental and commerical music’, and in ‘Paradise’, she even tries out a bit of French: ‘je suis cassèe’ (’I'm broken’, but also, in French slang, ‘I am out of it’). She tells me that the recordings Serge Gainsbourg made with Birkin and Brigitte Bardot in the Sixties and Seventies ‘floated in our subconcious’ during the making of this album.

Plus, ‘Impressive Instinct’, even more so than ‘Music’, has that muffled chemical squelch guaranteed to tear up British dancefloors. And lyrics that could have come straight from the UK’s National Songbook For A Messy Night Out: ‘The universe is full of stars/Nothing out there looks the same/You’re the one I’ve been waiting for/I don’t even know your name’. Made in Britain, indeed.

How do you find living in Britain? Do you like it? Or does it get on your nerves?
Both. There are many days when I feel like a stranger in a strange land and I despair, and I miss my friends and I miss certain things that one always misses about the country of their origin. But I love the idea – whether it’s in my work or where I live – exploring new frontier, and I like putting myself in strange places and trying to survive and figure things out and gather up an infrastructure. I like knowing that I could figure out a way to live anywhere.

And at least we speak the same language.
Yeah. But just because we speak the same language doesn’t mean we’re actually that similar. Actually. It’s interesting, because one always thinks about England as being this repressed, tradition-based place, where everyone has this uptight prim way of relating to each other. But, in fact, Americans, who are known for being boisterous and straightforward, are puritanical, so it’s a strange paradox. Because on the outside it seems like everyone in England is uptight, but actually they’re not, they’re a bunch of dirty wankers. My God, all you have is naked people in newspapers here! I can’t get used to naked Page Three girl, no matter how hard I try. You know, I’m having my cup of coffee and I’m opening a newspaper and.. uh! I mean, tits are everywhere here but really!

Are you still thinking of buying a house in London?
I’m definitely going to buy a house here, but I can’t find the perfect house for me. And I cannot believe how expensive real estate is here, and I refuse to bend over and get fucked up the ass – and I say that to my boyfriend. It’s misleading because I could get my mind around buying a house for $6 million in America and here, you get tricked into thinking £6 million is $6 million, and it’s just too outrageous and I’m just too middle-class to throw my hard-earned money away like that, it’s absurd.

So you’re going to have to move to Birmingham?
No! God, no. I’m just going to bide my time I have a love/hate relationship with England. I always, always, always fantasized about living in London, and then I started living in London and it wasn’t what I thought and I went though a whole, oh fuck this, America is so much nicer.

What let you down about London?
Well, partly, I don’t like living in rented houses with other people’s things; I miss my things. And partly, it’s just a different lifestyle here. At six o’clock everybody goes home here and nobody works on the weekends and people go away for a month in the summer. It’s a very old-fashioned lifestyle. It takes a lot longer to get anything done here. In America, my employees work 24 hours, around the clock.

Here, you can’t whip them into shape
Exactly – I can’t beat all my employees into submission. I mean, I’m going on a vacation in two days, but it’s the second vacation I’ve had in my life and it’s a foreign concept to me. Because I love what I do, and travel so much for my work, so going on holiday seems weird, because when I’m not working I just want to go home and sleep in my bed. So, yeah, it’s a different mentality. People are much less work-oriented and ambitious here than they are in America.

But surely the people you meet must be ambitious, for British people.
Half and half. I’ve met some dilettantes and some bon vivants. I envy those people.

No, you don’t.
No, I don’t. I don’t envy them! I don’t – I can’t imagine my life not being productive. But there’s an appreciation of life here – in all of Europe – that doesn’t exist in America, and that part I like.

And by ‘life’ do you mean ‘cultural life’?
Yeah. Culture. Music and art and literature and things like that. Nature.

What’s a normal day for you here, then?
It depends on what I’m doing. I get up at the same time every morning because my daughter wakes me up. So, I get up at seven, and she goes off to school and I drink my coffee and look at the naked girls on Page Three. And then I go into my office and I spend hours in front of my computer emailing people. That’s how I conduct all my business in California. And then I have yoga practice every morning, with my teacher. I do it to music. All kinds of stuff, lots of traditional Indian ragas and ambient stuff: Nitin Sawhney – I have all of his CDs. Then I meditate at the end in silence. By then, my daughter is usually home from school and I have lunch with her, and then she takes a nap, and then I go off and do my things, whatever they are, for the rest of the day.

Do you have good friends here?
I have a very small handful of good friends here, but I do miss my friends in America because obviously I’ve known them a lot longer.

Who’s your oldest friend?
This girl called Debbie – I knew her in New York, when she was an elevator girl working in Danceteria, before anything every happened to me. She’s one of my few friends I have that knew me before I was famous. Because the rest of my really good friends I’ve had from ten to five years.

Neither of us, as yet, has mentioned the reason for Madonna in Britain in the first place. Though she may have always wanted to live in London, it wasn’t until she started seeing Guy Ritchie that she actually made the move from New York. She bought a four-storey mansion in South Kensington in November of last year, only to sell it on a month later – too damp and cold, apparently – trousering a tidy £900,000 profit in the process. Since then, she and Ritchie have been renting; soon after this interview, she snaps up a disgraced tycoon Asil Nadir’s old Belgravia residence, a snip at £10 million.

Moving to London is a big step for America’s Pop Queen: the father of Lourdes, Carlos Leon, still lives in America, and she’s had to relocate her work, including her PA, and make new friends. (She contacts people she considers interesting and arranges to see them, at their house, or for lunch: a nice way to meet stimulating acquaintances, but no substitute for old chums.) And from the way she talks, the move has not been as easy as she thought. All this for a relationship that didn’t become official until February this year, when Ritchie took her to the Evening Standard Film Awards. A month later, she announced she was pregnant with his child.

The story goes that she was introduced to Ritchie by Trudi Styler, Sting’s wife, at a party. (Styler produced Lock Stock) Madonna took him to the Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999, though at that point, Ritchie was insisting that they were just friends. The relationship was considered an on-off one for quite some months: rumors that he stood up to her in an argument, and that she, unused to such treatment, finished with him on the spot. But they bumped into each other again, a few months later, at a party in New York’s Moomba bar, and got back together again. Aw.

And now, as well as glamour snaps at premieres, we get to see Madonna and her feller doing ordinary, coupley things: washing the car, going shopping, coming out of the gym, leaving restaurants. Not very Warren Beatty. But sweet enough, and the pair of them seem pretty settled. Madonna is reported to have ‘calmed down’. Though Guy’s still peppy enough to have a fuck with a fan outside their Kensington home, for which he received a police caution last month.

When you met Guy, was it like in ‘Impressive Instant’?
Yeah. I had a whole premonition about my life fast-forward. That’s only happened to me once before.

With Sean Penn?
(No answer)

Is it frightening?
No, it’s invigorating.

Did you tell Guy how you felt?
Not then, no way. I went into a state of denial because he lived here and I lived in America and wasn’t interested in torturing myself by having some long-distance love affair. But it happened anyway. It was just one of those inexplicable uncontrollable things. But it’s hard work having a long-distance relationship and he’s really stubborn and so am I, so it does turn into a bit of a war of the wills.

When you say you had a premonition about what was going to happen, what exactly do you mean?
It’s weird. I couldn’t even tell you specifically what my thoughts were, it was just You know when people say ‘he turned my head’? My head didn’t just turn – my head spun around on my body! Do you know what I mean? In this business, my business, I get to meet all kinds of incredible people, fascinating people, glamorous people and sexy people and highly intellectual people. And you meet them and you go ‘interesting, interesting, interesting’. They’re interesting, but not very many people stop you in your tracks. But that’s got so much to do with chemistry and timing.

It’s very exciting that, meeting someone that makes you go wobbly.
Umhm. Bonkers, wobbly-bonkers.

Where exactly was it you first met him?
Oh, out in the countryside. I was having lunch in the garden of Sting and Trudi’s house and he was a guest. This coming Sunday it will be two years since I met him. I remember it, because it was Father’s Day in America, and when I was at Trudi’s I excused myself from the lunch table because I had to go and call my father. So, yeah, I had no idea he was going to be there. He just appeared on the seat next to me.

Did he make you laugh?
Yes, immediately. He’s very funny. He has a great sense of humor.
It must be hard to have a relationship that’s so public.
Yeah, but it’s only public on one level. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s inevitable. I mean, he has a sense of humor about it all and so do I. We know what people write about us is not anywhere near the truth.

What’s the truth about Guy beating up a fan of yours?
Umm. Oh God, it’s so boring to talk about it. Nothing.

He just fell over onto Guy’s fists?
He didn’t hit him with his hand, he kicked him. This guy had basically been stalking me for the entire time I’d been here. And he’s a grown man, he’s not like a kid, so it’s a bit creepy. All the fans and kids have been getting more and more aggressive, and he was one of the leaders. They don’t leave me alone – they ring my doorbell, they order pizzas, they harass my daughter, they stand in front of the car so we can’t back in and out of our driveways, they make life impossible. It’s just a serious irritant every day, every day, every day. And on this particular day, we arrived in a car, and this guy opened my car door. And so Guy had to get out and tell him what’s what. I mean, Guy kept warning him saying, ‘If you piss me off, someone’s going to get it,’ and they sort of defied him. But the thing is, since that happened there has been no one in front of my house. So, thank God for chivalry. I mean, he was just being a protective boyfriend.

If you had to think of five qualities you liked about Guy, what would you pick?
I’m not sure I feel so comfortable talking much about Guy.

He’s really good-looking, he’s nice to his mum and dad
Yeah, those two And he makes me laugh. And he’s brilliant and he’s gorgeous and he’s smart and (pause) How many is that? I don’t want to do any more or he’ll get big-headed.

Since you’ve been here, what’s been your best night out?
My best night out (thinking) Oh dear, I haven’t really been out that much. Sorry. I’m pregnant, I can’t go out on the piss or anything. And I don’t really feel like dancing. I mean, I do, but now I’m a big fat whale and I can’t dance, so what’s the point? So I haven’t really been going out that much. I’ve had lots of nice evenings out, but not nightclubbing or anything. I haven’t been to Ministry of Sound.

Do you think the British are really class-ridden?
Yeah. Everybody always asks you what school you went to here in England. Even middle-class people. It’s accents and schools. People use them to put other people in categories, whereas in America, nobody cares what school you went to. Well, it’s not a way to pinpoint someone.

You were invited to Highgrove for dinner? What was it like?
It was fun. I got to sit next to Prince Charles. It was boy, girl, boy, girl. I had Michael Parkinson on one side and Prince Charles on the other, and my boyfriend was across the table from me and we waved at each other. Prince Charles was very charming, I must say. He was.

What did you talk about? Art?
We talked art, we talked the entertainment business, we talked about the media, we talked about traveling and jetlag, ha ha. We covered every topic. He asked me how I met Guy. He’s quite romantic: he wanted to know kind of what you wanted to know. And he was very down to earth. I didn’t find him stiff at all. He’s very relaxed at the table, throwing his salad around and stuff. Flinging lettuces willy-nilly. I liked him, he’s funny.

Were you late because you had to choose something to wear?
Do you believe everything you read? No, I was late because I wanted to skip the tour of the garden. And also, it’s an hour-and-a-half drive, and I’d rather spend time with my daughter and hang out with her, put her to bed

It must be strange to act naturally and then have a spin put on the top.
I think in the end, when you’re famous, people like to narrow you down to a few personality traits. I think I’ve just become this ambitious, say-whatever’s-on-her-mind, intimidating person. And that’s part of my personality, but it’s certainly not anywhere near the whole thing.

Do you think you’ll stay in Britain for a while?
Well, I’m going back to America to have my baby and spend a little bit of time there. I want the same doctor that delivered my daughter to do it. It’s familiarity. And my sisters live there, and I want to be around my family and my friends – they can all come and look after me, come and visit me. I miss my house anyways. And I think Guy wants to spend time there, because he’s a filmmaker and his film’s coming out, and he wants to check out LA for a while, and it’s a good time for him to be there. But I’m sure we’ll come back. Absolutely.

Did you go to the set of Snatch?
Yeah. It was great watching Guy direct. It’s a great aphrodisiac, actually. I just liked him being in charge of everybody. But not in an obvious way, because he’s really laid-back on the set. He’s in charge, but he’s not bossy.

I’m glad that you’re in love.
I am too. It only took me 40 years to get it right. Write that down.

Time’s up. Tape’s off. Madonna uncoils herself from the floor, stretches a little, pads round to the back of the sofa. We talk some more about her pregnancy: she knows what sex her child will be – ‘but I’m not going to tell you’ – and she and Guy have discussed names – ‘but I’m not telling you that either’. She wanders into another room and comes back with a keen young man from her record company, Maverick, who must have turned up during the interview. We chat music, music videos. The video for Madonna’s new single has Ali G making an appearance as her driver: he grapples at her breasts in hilarious ‘I am the new Benny Hill’ fashion.

Madonna has become an Ali G fan when someone gave her his video as a present. ‘I hope he breaks America,’ she muses. ‘I think he could do you like his other characters, the Kazakhstani? I love him’ Last Friday, Madonna went round to Sacha Baron Cohen’s parents’ house for dinner. ‘Sacha’s not at all like Ali G,’ she says. ‘He’s a very lovely young man and the apple of his family’s eye.’

It’s not until she leaves that is strikes me: how much UK culture she has absorbed in so short a time. From Ali G to the Royal Family; from Page Three to Ministry. She buys British art (’three pieces by an artist called Julie Roberts. She’s Welsh. Or Scottish’), she reads books about ‘high-society English ladies that threw everything away for love.’ Madonna is accused of constantly ‘reinventing’ herself, as though it’s a self-conscious, deliberate act of changing her image. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she’s always developing, changing in reaction to her environment. She likes to learn; she’s quick to observe (she mentions both my T-shirt and a particular charm on my charm bracelet); she’s known to consume new music; she’s voracious in her appetite for stimulation. Let’s hope Britain gives her enough to think about.

Madonna shakes my hand firmly. ‘You didn’t insult me,’ she says, ‘too much’ Before she leaves, she makes me say five nice things about my boyfriend.