Competition is improving the Quality of Dramas April 5, 2010

With the onset of the new millennium came a relaxation in the PEMRA laws, as well as a more ‘enlightened’ government. All these new changes resulted in a lot of channels and a variety of Pakistani dramas for the viewers. Over the years, viewers had to ignore many shows because unfortunately a lot of Pakistani directors had taken to producing overly glamorous and unrealistic dramas. Recently however the tables have turned and now most viewers have to choose between two or more most-watch drama serials, which air at the same time on competing channels. Every Saturday for instance, I keep switching between GEO and HUM TV to find out the story of both ‘Meri Zaat Zare Benishan’ and ‘Vasl’. Both dramas have an extremely realistic storyline and a very moving performance by the casts.

With such strong competition directors are making a lot of effort to come up with new stories and good casts for a good production. Instead of making glamorous sets and spending a lot of budget on appearances, most directors are producing dramas closer to home and trying to depict details, dialogues and circumstances that the viewers can relate to.

Interestingly the two earlier mentioned dramas “Meri Zaat Zara Benishan’ and ‘Vasl’ both show a mix of lifestyles. In ‘Meri Zaat’ the drama shows the mindset of a conservative family, and then shows the resulting poor lifestyle of the heroine Saba. At the same time we observe the hero Arfeens’, who works in France, lifestyle. In Vasl the drama also shifts between New York and Karachi, showing an average middle class families outlook. Therefore, these dramas have come up with a nice mix of ideas, so that the resulting drama can cater to Pakistanis abroad as well as lower and middle class Pakistanis.

Other channels such as ARY and TV One are making a great effort to keep up with the strong competition of GEO and especially HUM TV. ARY has recently started a new drama serial ‘Diya Jale’ which has raised quite a bit of interest amongst viewers. It basically focuses on how a woman when reaches an age above 25 doesn’t get marriage proposals and later on she ends up marrying a heartless aged man- so father of two young children. It’s a theme that gives a woman the strength to fight back for her rights. The lesson that it gives is that there is a certain limit that a woman can bear a torture, beyond that she gives up. This drama is very well watched and appreciated among all the viewers, esp. women. It gives them hope that a woman should not be taken for granted.  All she demands is for a little care and affection. Even if there are marriage problems that a woman goes through, that certainly doesn’t mean that she keeps on compromising to save her marriage. It’s totally unfair to let her keep bearing the torture just for the sake of saving her marriage. She is a human being after all. She has a right to opt for a life which makes her happy, not the one that requires compromises and only compromises!..

Similarly TV One has aired a dram serial ‘Kharashai’ with a good cast including Fahad Mustafa. He is one of the most dashing good looking TV stars who is appreciated for his multi talented acting skills.

Author :Anum Saulat

Revival of Pakistani Dramaz March 22, 2010

Pakistani media in the past history has played a major role in producing many unforgettable Pakistani dramas that inspired generations. Pakistan television started the trend of making classic dramas with the help of intellectual writers, powerful direction, and multitalented actors.

       In the very early days of 90’s, there was only one tv channel known as Pakistan television(ptv) that telecasted many popular dramas like ‘dhoop kinaray’, ‘ankahi’, ‘tanhayan’, ‘dhuan’, . The whole idea was to show a well prepared family drama with a strong script and a clean environment. All the credit undoubtedly goes to the brilliant story writers like Haseena Moen, Seema Ghazal, Ashfak Ahmad etc. Their stories focused on many societal issues that touched the hearts of many people. This was the glorious period of Pakistani dramas which led them to accomplish many awards not only at national but also at international level.

     There was a time starting from 2001, when Indian dramas showed on the channel ‘star plus’ became immensely popular. Not only the females but even kids started getting addicted to them. But now Pakistani dramas once again have reached the peaks of fame. Talking about Indian dramas, the only reason they became so popular was because all they showed was glamour, family politics, and endless episodes. These affected their lives so much that their living styles became Indian. Moreover, they had corrupted our society. Their stories and direction was totally unrealistic. These dramas were only about industrialists, elite class and landlords that made young girls materialistic. They were far from reality with funny cosmetic faces of the stars. After 2003, our dramas started copying the star plus culture that led to a downfall in Pakistani dramas. They badly lost their originality.

    Soon, these drama makers realized that these only corrupted our culture and should be free form all kinds of Indian elements and started making old way of drama making with limited episodes and powerful story line. Now, many writers have started writing many powerful stories for different tv channels like geo, hum tv, ptv, ary digital. Every channel is now struggling hard to provide the audience with the best dramas ever. This competition has provoked them to make good serials which include our own culture. Because of this sudden revival of Pakistani dramas, the audience is our dramas very much. The best thing is that they are well appreciated by the Pakistani people living abroad as well. 

      These days the dramas that have gained popularity are ‘meri zaat zarraye be-nishan’ on geo and , ‘nur pur ki rani’ ‘malaal’ ‘wasal’ ‘nur bano’ on hum tv. These are realistic with powerful direction and script. They focus on societal issues that actually take place in the society. Moreover, dramas like ‘wasal’, ‘ishk junoon deewangi’ ‘doraha’ and ‘malaal’ focus on the problems that are faced in a marriage like misunderstandings, extra maritial affairs, lack of trust. These problems do prevail these days. The reason why number of growing divorces has increased is well portrayed in these dramas. People should be well aware of the bitter realities that exist in our society. For example drama ‘ishk junoon diwangi’ is a story about passion and revolves around a happily married couple that finds their entire life changed with the entry of another woman. The husband is a famous director who casts this woman in his film and gets immensely attracted by her considering the fact that he is already married. He gets so obsessed with her that things reach a point when he fails to save his marriage. The point of this story is to show the audience how an obsession makes a man lose his grip and can change his entire life in a second.

    Another very popular drama that was highly appreciated was ‘ doraha’ directed by the very versatile director Mehreen jabber who showed that the difference in income class levels between the married couple led to a failure in marriage despite the fact that it was a love marriage. It showed marriage is a very sensitive issue and needs to be dealt carefully where a lot of adjustments, compromises, and understanding is needed by both the parties even in a loved marriage.

   The emergence of intelligent writers and powerful directors has managed to revive the Pakistani dramas. In short Pakistani media has changed by providing the audience with the dramas they want to see. Gone are the days when star plus was a huge hit. Paki dramas are now well produced and give a good message. The increasing competition among different tv channels has improved the quality of Pakistani dramas due to which the audience gets entertained and gets to watch the best dramas ever!. We should stop watching Indian channels and try promoting our own dramas. Watch Pakistani, listen Pakistani, and speak Pakistan

Author : Anum Saulat