Lubna Salim's latest play HUM SUFFER is about an erstwhile couple at crossroads, meeting each other over a period of several years, revealing vagaries of contemporary lifestyles which creep into relationships.
Directed by husband-director Salim Arif and written by father Javed Siddiqi, Hum Suffer is about protagonists Sameer (Kiran Karmarkar) and Sonal (Lubna Salim) who decide to divorce after fifteen years of marriage.
They do so with an understanding that life can be started afresh, by taking a turn at a crossroad and going separate ways. What seemed an amicable solution leaves a few issues unresolved- While Sameer moves on with his quest of solace, an emotionally fragile Sonal finds herself tangled in a web of isolation and despair.
The intricacy of human emotions and the delicate threads that hold a family together keep pulling them to each other and apart.
Poignant, romantic and often funny, their lives follow a bittersweet journey of marriage, divorce and missed opportunities. The play is a story of two soul mates betraying a need for individual search of love, closeness and some form of happiness. It is as much about love, as it is about urban alienation, family and relationships.
Lubna feels that having grown up with the likes of actors and theatre people like A.K. Hangal, Rohini Hattangady, Shabana Azmi, Arundhati Nag, Farooque Sheikh, Sulabha Arya, M.S. Sathyu and others, her sensibility and the skills she required for the the theatre got the best possible schooling. Later plays like LOK KATHA, BAKRI, AAKHRI SAWAL, ANDHE CHOOHE followed.
She hence grew up acting and never considered snapping her ties with the stage. She joined Mithibai College where alongside her studies she could pursue theatre at the inter-collegiate level. In her college days she won many awards, including the prestigious Balraj Sahani award for best actress.
She met Salim Arif, her husband while she was doing the tele-serial ‘Discovery of India’. She married early and soon thereafter took a long break to raise her two sons. Nevertheless she always had her husband’s support and it was he who encouraged her to return to acting after her sabbatical.
Thus along side plays, voice-overs and modelling assignments followed. Tele-serials such as ‘Daaman’ and her role as Jijamata in ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji’ were appreciated. She has done ad-campaigns for ICICI Bank and for consumer products like Ariel, Pepsodent, Dettol, etc. These days her role as Leela bhabhi in the soap ‘Baa, Bahu and Baby’ has made her quite popular. And she is also creating waves as Paroma in the newly launched show 'Ek Packet Umeed'.
She formed her own company, ‘Essay Communications’ along with her father and her husband and produced plays like Kharaashein, Ghalibnaama, Aapki Soniya, Peele Patton ka Ban, Kachche Lamhe and the recent Shyam Rang.
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