'You can’t keep brushing things under the rug', says Nadia Hussain on social issues

You can't just keep brushing things under the rug," she said. She also credited social media with giving young Pakistanis the confidence earlier generations didn't have.

"I think social media has really brought about this change, and I am really happy to see so many youngsters coming up and talking about so many things without fear," the actor said, adding that the platform "has to be used positively, in the right way.

"The freedom, she cautioned, also came with the responsibility to keep discussions on-topic and civil. "Controlling emotions a little bit, keeping yourself focused on the issue at hand, there is no need to get personal," Nadia said.

She added, "Nobody is saying that don't talk about things, but don't cross the line either. "Citing India's recent youth-led political movement as proof of what the generation could accomplish when it took the lead, the actor stated, "If any change is to be brought about in our country or any nation, it has to be the younger generation.

"At the same time, however, she remained candid about the limited access to education which influenced the same kind of mobilisation in Pakistan. "Unfortunately, the problem we have here is poverty.

The Gen Z that came out [elsewhere] were not from the poor class; they were middle-class, university and college-going," she said, arguing that the segment of Pakistan's youth with exposure to change remained small. "Poverty is so much that people are more keen on just earning two square meals for their family," Nadia said.

She described the cycle as by design rather than accident: "This has been our problem from the beginning: keep the poor poor, keep the illiterate illiterate so they stay busy trapped in their own struggles. "Discussing disparity within the entertainment industry in particular, Nadia opened up about the double standards female actors faced as they aged.

"This is something that has existed not just in Pakistan, but all across India and Hollywood as well. The male actor will remain the same, but his heroine will keep changing to someone younger," she said.

As the root of the problem, the actor pointed to who typically controlled the industry. "It's male-centric stories; the male is the sponsor, the male is the producer, male is everywhere. It is a very competitive industry for sure," she said.

Across the conversation, Nadia returned to the common thread that awareness only went so far without structural change to back it up.