Shafina Shah: ‘Ms. Pakistan World 2023’ a star ready to shine on horizons of global entertainment industry
Interview by Amjad Mehmood Photos by Raja Farid
Miss Shafina Shah, is a British-Pakistani from Leicester, United Kingdom, and was recently crowned for the title of “Ms. Pakistan World 2023” in a beauty pageant held in a private hotel in Lahore. Ms. Pakistan World is a global beauty competition for women of Pakistani heritage. The event was used to be held in Toronto, Canada, but has now relocated to Pakistan, where it has been held yearly since 2020. Kuwait-born Canadian Pakistani and founder of Miss Canada Pakistan Inc., Sonia Ahmed founded the pageant in 2002 under the moniker ‘Miss Canada Pakistan’. Initially, the event was conducted in Canada because of security concerns and general public’s attitude toward pageants in Pakistan.
The British-born Shafina has a blend of Indian and Pakistani heritage in her blood as her late father Haji Ismail Raj Muhammad Patel known by his screen name Raj Patel (an actor & director) was from Gujarat, India while her mother Atiya Shah (actress) is from Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Following her parents’ legacy of acting, she discovered her passion for acting at an early age and started drama classes. She is a versatile actress, Model, TV presenter, and social worker. She completed her graduation in Nutrition, Health & Lifestyle from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Besides her artistic work, she is a strong supporter of humanity and social work across the globe.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Spokesman, she said her journey for ‘Ms. Pakistan World’ title was a mix-up of highs and lows since she was confused to decide about her participation in a beauty pageant in Pakistan. She added that the overall impression of Pakistan built by the Western media is totally against reality as she found everyone very supportive and full of hospitality. She traveled to Pakistan first time in February 2023 and her trip was amazing with memorable moments in different cities. She particularly mentioned the memories of her visit to Kohat, the birthplace of her mother where she visited her grandmother and met with lovely people. She said her friends in the UK gave her confidence to participate in the beauty pageant and then she decided to send her nomination being a British-Pakistani. Following the set rules for competitors, she cleared all the stages which included interviews, photoshoots, and scrutiny of personality traits. After a very tough competition with other beautiful participants, she passed all stages and was crowned the title of Ms. Pakistan World 2023 in May 2023 at Lahore in a fabulous ceremony held by the pageant organizers. She said it was possible with the support of her mother, grandmother, and friends who gave her the confidence to participate. She also admired the perfect arrangements from the organizer, especially Ms. Sonia Ahmed.
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Miss. Shah while talking about her family’s support in career said that her mother and grandmother always encouraged her in acting, modeling, and hosting. She had exciting experience of working with Bollywood superstar star and romance king Shahrukh Khan. She also worked for B4U and in the theater play which was themed about dementia. She is also trying to learn singing while she passionately loves dancing and choreography. She has her role in the movie Animal (2023) while she has a lead role in the film ‘Lahore to London’ directed by Waqar Iqbal. She also participated in the popular Matchmaker podcast serving to Muslim community in Glasgow. Talking about Pakistani dramas she commented that the standard of Pakistani dramas has improved significantly and she watches dramas in her leisure time. On an inquiry about her acting in Pakistani dramas, if a role is offered she replied she would love to act in drama but obviously, she will read the story and assess the character first. She also shared her thoughts about working in Bollywood, that art has no boundaries, and based on a good offer from any popular film or drama industry, she may consider the offer to perform and showcase her talent.
In continuation of her proclivity towards social work, Miss Shafina Shah accepted the role of ambassador earlier this year with OPSA (Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal), a registered charity organization working for Pakistani children who have cleft lips and palates. Miss Shah aimed to perform her role to raise awareness and spotlight OPSA surgical missions in Pakistan. Sharing her views, she said she prefers to see smiles on children’s faces. She said children with facial abnormalities and unrepaired clefts live in a state of shame and face difficulties in eating, breathing, and speaking while OPSA simply works to change the lives of such children to bring smiles back on their faces. She said she feels honored and proud of her association with OPSA and its amazing team members.
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She said Cleft Hospital Pakistan situated at Julyani, Main G.T Road, Gujrat is a state-of-the-art hospital with all necessary facilities. She visited the hospital and was highly satisfied with the treatment and facilities being provided to patients. The hospital has a capacity of 700 surgeries in a calendar year while over 24,000 surgeries are already successfully completed. She said the hospital has maintained excellent standards under the able command of Patron, Professor Abdul Rasheed Gatrad, OBE, and Chairman, Dr. Ijaz Bashir who have very golden hearts full of passion and humankind. Introducing more about the hospital she said the hospital also offers plastic surgery, cleft dentistry, cleft audiology, cleft speech therapy, pediatrics, and ENT services. The hospital is well equipped with laboratory facilities including pathology, screening and imaging, DNA, etc., She said the treatment is completely free for poor people while the patients who can afford the charges are billed marginally. She said the hospital’s team is performing their roles professionally with zeal and commitment. They give a reason to live to poor people who otherwise lost hope of a normal life. In a similar context, a delegation of OPSA and Cleft Hospital including Miss Shafina Shah, has a meeting with the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi to apprise him about Cleft Hospital’s performance and to seek his support at the government level to enhance the working capacity of hospital as over 2400 babies per month are borne with cleft lips in Pakistan. She said the hospital has several unique success stories to share and families from abroad are visiting Cleft Hospital Gujrat for treatment.
Miss Shafina shared a story of a school in Kohat that needed monetary support to enhance education standards for which she is planning to launch a fundraising drive soon in the United Kingdom and in Pakistan as well. She said she has plans to increase her interaction with the Pakistani community in the UK to boost her charity work. She said helping needy and deserving people is a collective effort and everyone should take part and support generously to noble causes.
Miss Shafina Shah aiming to continue her career in the entertainment industry to inspire the world with her talent and skills along with her resolve to bring positive change in society through social work. Talking about feeling about Pakistan, she added, that she naturally connects with her motherland and has plans to visit Pakistan frequently in the future to serve society as much as she can to the best of her abilities. She said women’s empowerment is quite essential in any society and she would like to see Pakistani women progressing well in every walk of life including the entertainment industry. She urged younger girls to participate in beauty pageants being held at national and international levels. Sharing her political thoughts, she said although she is not actively following politics and usually stays away from political affairs however, she likes to PTI Chairman as most youngsters in the United Kingdom are big fans of Imran Khan.
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Talking about recent barbaric Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinians she recorded her protest and said this was inhuman and highly irresponsible conduct of the Israeli government to bomb the innocent people, women, and children everywhere in Gaza city including hospitals. She said access to all basic necessities is a fundamental right of Palestinians and Israel is indulging in criminal activities by cutting the supply lines of the city.
She concluded that the world is very beautiful and it’s the collective responsibility of human beings to make the world more colorful and a better place to live with positive energy, harmonious conduct, and caring attitude towards others.