Taha Shah Badussha turns a year older today, and he insists that this birthday is different from his previous ones. “Previous years, it has always been about the career, but this year, it’s not just about career but also about self growth, self-awareness, work on my inner self and becoming a bit more connected to the universe,” he shares, adding the he will be spending the day with his family: “It’s all about keeping the right people next to you instead of more people.”
Interestingly, Taha Shah Badussha’s birthday coincides with International Men’s Day and he reflects on the evolution of men over the years through an introspective lens. “There used to be a lot of hard-core men before, especially for at least 30 years after the partition as their experiences through the time made them such. Then after 2000s, there were young boys coming out, who crossed over to become men. But in this generation, everybody is quite open. There is gender fluidity and the understanding of who a man should be has changed over time. For me, a man is a person who is high on integrity, a person who is patient, calm and devoted,” says the actor as he turns 38 today.
Even on screen, he feels the kind of men that the audience is looking for is someone they can relate to. It’s not the ‘alpha’ men, but someone who is in touch with their softer side, like the character he played in Heeramandi. “I feel the audience is looking for something romantic because there has been too much intensity and too much violence in the content coming out. With how Heeramandi or Saiyaara succeeded, it showed that people were looking for romance, something that they could fall in love with because love has become rare,” he says.
Contrary to how men were supposed to be strong and stoic in their persona, Taha believes today men’s vulnerability is accepted and appreciated. “I don’t think that a man should be separated from his vulnerable side. He should be in touch with that side and be able to control that, and not completely ignore or sideline it. In today’s world, you have to be a bit of both strong and vulnerable to survive.”
He adds, “The good thing about men today is that they are understanding and emotionally available, which maybe our previous generation might not have been. Although, one thing we could learn from our previous generations is patience and impulse control. They didn’t have so many distractions, but we do, so you just have to be able to hold on.” Emphasising on the need of embracing their sensitive side, he shares his advice for men: “It’s important that we are in touch with our emotions, otherwise how will we communicate or express to young people how they should be.”
