Sanam Saeed reveals how Umera Ahmed convinced her to play mother of four in ‘Kafeel’
- By Umaima Amir -
- May 23, 2026
Sanam Saeed has opened up about how writer Umera Ahmed convinced her to take on the challenging role of a mother of four in ARY Digital’s hit drama, Kafeel.
Speaking in a recent interview with Something Haute, the actress shared that she was initially hesitant due to concerns about typecasting in the industry.
Sanam Saeed recalled having double thoughts about whether the role was a smart career move at this stage of her journey, especially after returning to a leading role after a long gap.
“I was asking myself, ‘Is this a good career move for me?’ Because I’m doing the main role now after so long,” she said. “Now I’ll be typecast because people love to do that.”
“I’m not asking to play a 25-year-old anymore. And I do want to play characters that are for women of our age. But this is how the industry is,” she added.
Sanam revealed that she eventually called Umera Ahmed to understand the character better, asking detailed questions about Zeba’s age, personality, and background.
Umera Ahmed reassured her by explaining that Zeba marries young, which makes it believable for her to be a mother of grown children after a time jump in the story.
“You know, if the whole drama was on a young girl, then maybe not. People wouldn’t accept it and I myself wouldn’t do it. But because it was just a premise set up of 10 episodes. The rest of the story was different. So I said, okay: she added.
Sanam Saeed said Umera challenged her perspective by asking what kind of legacy she wanted to leave behind, encouraging her to think beyond appearance-based roles.
“She said, do you want to leave a legacy behind? Or do you want to just look pretty on screen?” Sanam recalled.
The actress admitted that this conversation ultimately changed her mindset. Despite initial fears about career impact, she decided to trust the vision behind the script and said yes to Kafeel.