Senior Actor Syed Mohammed Ahmed’s Green Room Incident Sparks Industry Backlash

ISLAMABAD (GNP): Veteran television actor Syed Mohammed Ahmed has become the center of an outpouring of support from Pakistan’s entertainment industry after revealing that a much younger co-star mocked him on set, sparking a wave of solidarity from colleagues and an informal push to identify the actor involved.

Ahmed shared the account during an appearance on the Dareecha podcast with host Sheeba Khan, where he described an incident in a green room in which a significantly younger actor began ridiculing him in front of others. According to Ahmed, the actor in question was the lead of the production and appeared to raise his voice deliberately, referencing an earlier project where Ahmed had reportedly evaluated his acting ability before giving the producer a favourable assessment.

That earlier collaboration had ended without any friction, Ahmed said, but tension resurfaced when he was later cast alongside the same actor in a different show. Ahmed recalled voicing his reservations to the producer at the time, only to be reassured that the actor’s behaviour had improved since their first project together. Those assurances, however, did not match what unfolded on the new set.

On the very first day of filming, Ahmed said the actor picked up a portable fan being used by another cast member and held it up to Ahmed’s head as though styling his hair, loudly announcing the gesture to everyone present. Ahmed said he chose not to respond in the moment, explaining that he was conscious of how easily such interactions can be filmed and shared online without proper context, and that he preferred not to engage on those terms.

The account has since drawn a strong reaction from within the industry. Actor Faysal Quraishi, reacting to a post about the incident, asked to be told the actor’s identity so the matter could be addressed directly between them.

Zara Tareen, amplifying Quraishi’s comments, pointed to what she described as a broader industry problem of producing performers who repeat the same style and mannerisms across every role, echoing Ahmed’s own description of the actor’s acting and hairstyle staying identical from show to show.

Amid online speculation, actor Ali Raza was asked directly by a fan whether he was the person responsible, a suggestion he firmly denied, describing himself as an admirer of Ahmed’s work and expressing regret at never having had the chance to act alongside him.

Actor Syed Jibran also weighed in, writing that the person responsible should come forward and apologise, even though Ahmed himself had chosen not to publicly identify him. Jibran added that Ahmed’s willingness to speak openly about the episode suggested he had been genuinely affected by it, calling the incident deeply unfortunate.

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Filmmaker Shamoon Abbasi went further, indicating he believed he knew the actor’s identity and urging that person to apologise before facing wider public backlash. Abbasi described Ahmed as one of the industry’s most well-regarded senior figures, which he said made the incident all the more troubling, while noting that guidance and evaluation from senior actors has traditionally been a normal part of a young performer’s development.

For his part, Ahmed addressed the outpouring of support in an Instagram post on Wednesday, expressing gratitude to colleagues across the industry for the messages, calls and voice notes he received following the podcast episode. He said the response had left him touched and that he was choosing to focus on the encouragement he had received rather than the incident itself, adding that the support affirmed his years of work in the industry had been meaningful.