Till last year, I would have rated Umera Ahmed as the strongest contemporary playwright in pakistan. The depth of her characters, her insights into the dynamics of relationships, and ultimately her very strong storylines were unparalleled.
Doraha is probably one of the finest scripts written in the history of TV. Umera put a lot of thought into each and every character and the dynamics between them which made the storyline very relatable. No where did I feel like any of the characters were going against the personality which Umera had so meticulously defined. Malal and Daam, similarly, had very strong and ‘real’ storylines owing to the strength of its characters.
And then it was downhill from there with stories such as Uraan, Quaid e Tanhai, MZZB and now Maat which have all left a lot to be desired. All the stories have very similar and exaggerated characters such as the zalim/evil saas and,
self -deprecating/anhedonic lead characters (The educated lead in MZZB who chose to become a doormat wife to a chawkidar hubby and ultimately a maid and stitcher, instead of trying to look for better opportunties for herself and her daughter,
which she easily could have. Same predicament in Qaid e Tanhai). The stories have also become fairly preachy (what goes around comes around type), I feel like i am watching the same drama over and over again.
I can’t help but wonder why the quality has gone down so much? do you guys think the director at fault? I know that with Doraha, Malal and Daam, MJ and Umera Ahmed spent a significant amount of time discussing the storyline and characters. I am guessing with the other dramas, the director (read baber Javed) wanted to emotionally drain the audience. or do you think Umera is over worked and drained of ideas and just needs a big break
No, I do not think the directors are at fault for the decline in the quality of her writing. A good writer does not write story after story after story. In order to put together a well thought out story with characters who have depth, you need time. She is pretty much turning into the new Seema Ghazal but with better vocabulary.
She really needs a break and need to learn that not every short story / novel written by her in past can be converted into a good drama script. Even directors like Babar Javed needs break from direction because ( uski thakawat uske thake hue dramo se saaf jhalakti hai).
i liked all her scripts including MZZB(actually my fav) uraan n qaid-e-tanhai. only maat is boring me now. and i don't find its same story again n again.
i think MZZB was a great story but directors like baber jawed have ruined the script
he is a horrible director who throws the same cast into every drama and it makes it seem like the stories are all the same
we need more directors like MJ and sarmad khosat, where u can clearly tell the difference of good work..
but baber jawed needs to call it quits.
Btw, ignoring the over the top drama or draggy feel of Babar Javed's direction, MZZB and Qaid-e-tanhai actually had really good storylines. I would say that Qaid-e-tanhai was probably the better of the two. Doraha on the other hand, I do not understand anybody's fascination with that drama. The performances were definitely top notch, and so was the direction but the script and the premise of the story was total BS in my opinion. And if you look at the three I mentioned, they have a man who marries the woman he loves. Promises to love her and keep her happy for the rest of her life and then turns around and does the complete opposite, the whole while blaming everybody around him for his miserable downfall. AND the girl pretty much stays miserable till the end until he decides that they should be happy again or in MZZB's case, she dies!
I accept that a rubbish director can ruin a drama, but a rubbish plot line cannot be salvaged by the best of directors, Mehreen Jabbar's Neeyat is a very good example. There is nothing worse than a good writer failing to deliver. Umera Ahmed has been very good with Doraha and Daam, but yes I have also noticed the gradually slipping quality of her scripts. When a viewer starts questioning the story, I think its time for the writer to take a break and re evaluate their work.
I agree with you Doree to a certain extent. MZZB as a short story was well written but converted into a 20+ episode serial was just a BAD idea! You cannot turn a 30 page story into a 25 episode drama. It just doesn't work which again is evident in Maat. I have the same feeling from the new one they are directing 'zindagi gulzar hai'.
QeT had a very strong script. Some of the issues that were dealt with are rarely touched on in dramas, but again BJ had to ruin it by dragging it out. If a Mehreen Jabbar had directed it, I think it would have come out much better. Along the same lines if a BJ had directed a Doraha or Daam, we would have all hated it!
Even Uraan to a certain extent had a good story to it, but it was just sloppy from a scripting and direction POV.
I do believe Umera can write good scripts because she has a good heart. I would not compare her to a Seema Ghazal but she is treading pretty close to being a Samira Fazal IMO. If she cuts down to writing 2 good scripts per year, I think the quality of her work will improve and as someone else said, Not every story she has written can be easily converted into a drama so that needs to stop.
Both Daam and Malal were original scripts and not adapted from her previous work. QeT as well. And if you analyze them, you can see that the story and characters in all three were quite well written. For QeT's miserable-ness I blame Baber Javed.
I do agree w/ Passo that she needs to stop writing doormat type roles for women. Enough of that already.
yea in fact lets blaime baber jawed for ruining great scripts
cannot stand him and dk who made him a director...har dramay mai wohi puri ki puri cast phenk deta hai
yea in fact lets blaime baber jawed for ruining great scripts
cannot stand him and dk who made him a director...har dramay mai wohi puri ki puri cast phenk deta hai
LOL I agree with you! I was at someone's house and they were watching this drama on Geo about the gori and kaali ladki (can't believe they still have those themes!) and it had the same cast in different roles but what was funny was there was a house that was used in MZZB, Umm-e-Kulsoom, and Mein abdul qadir hoon being used again!! - THAT TOTALLY CRACKED ME UP
Aab tow ghar bhi yaad ho gaaye hain.
LOL I agree with you! I was at someone's house and they were watching this drama on Geo about the gori and kaali ladki (can't believe they still have those themes!) and it had the same cast in different roles but what was funny was there was a house that was used in MZZB, Umm-e-Kulsoom, and Mein abdul qadir hoon being used again!! - THAT TOTALLY CRACKED ME UP
Aab tow ghar bhi yaad ho gaaye hain.
There's this one house they have used in dramas so many times its not even funny anymore.
yea the same houses are in every drama! all of baber jawad dramas..wow i totally despise that man!! lol
kali aur gori drama, is it meri subha ka sitara?
at least change the settings around! hahahaha
Let's not even get started on any of the sets or houses used in dramas these days. With such a thriving tv industry and all these competing channels, you think someone would come up with a studio already. The old PTV sets were ugly but at least they had a studio and the sets were different in each drama.