From Nilofar Abbasi of Shehzori(Main boht buri aadmi hoon) to Nadia Khan in Pal Do Pal, the heorines of Haseena Moin’s dramas were bold, lively and could fight for their rights.
Umera Ahmed portrayed very week women. Who either surrender against the situations like ( Meri Zaat Zarra e Be Nishan) or take the route of suicide like Man o Salwa.
Why media is emphasizing to portray weaker women characters with the passage of time, when in reality women are now comparatively in better position than in yester years?
Back then you had proper writers, now we have "afsanvi novels" being turned into dramas. There was a drama Jalpari recently where they showed the lead role fighting for herself but it did not do as well while dramas like Meri Zaat were more popular among the audience.
I think that the Dramas today show the exact image of women held by society at large. Although we have more women in the work force the Pakistani society has increasingly become more conservative over the years which means that women are looked upon through a certain spectrum which wasn't the case in the past and that is mirrored in the tv serials today.
I agree with Gupper that today's writers are not really born and bred writers but rather pulled from Khawateen Digest to write dramas. So they are still stuck in the "ladka ladki ki shaadi, aurat mazloom, zaalim saas, khaufnaak nandein" mode. They have as yet failed to move beyond that mindset that has been ingrained in them from I am sure reading older Khawateen writers :D haha
There are very few dramas out there who show empowered women and most of them I think are written by men ;-) ironic
I think it's because we are losing urdu thinkers and writers. These days, all good institutions teach ALL subjects in english with the exception of 'Urdu'.So ppl who are writing interesting and original stories are doing so in english (and doing a great job at them too!- you'll be surprised how many pakistani writers win international competitions on poetry and short stories and what not). Institutes that focus on urdu do so, NOT in an effort to preserve and promote the urdu language but, unfortunately, because these are low budget schools that cannot afford bi-lingual(aka english speaking) instructors. So even though these kids study everything in Urdu, the standard and quality of education is very poor and you aren't likely to produce very enlightened individuals. So unfortunately, the sad state of our TV is a direct consequence of our poor education system. very depressing!
yes in this regard i highly appreciate old ptv dramas because drama should give positive and strong impact of women rather than weeping/crying women and in the end die with all innocence. shehnaz sheikh in ankahi, huma nawab in nijaat, nazli nasar in dhuwan, even jahan ara hai in ghar aik nagar were great characters
I agree with all the replies in this thread and the only thing I can add is that I personally feel in the current Pakistani society, its just somehow considered fashionable to talk about social issues for sake of it. When you watch most of the Pakistani dramas, all you see is the most crude and blatant representation of all the ills of the society, instead seeing a piece of drama with good story line, complex characters and well written script. Now its highly commendable to covey positive messages and raise social awareness through arts but that doesn't mean you start incorporating fifty different issues in one play. So much focus is placed on props and context while the characters and story line lack substance. I feel Pakistani entertainment industry in general is losing the artistic depth and values. For example Shoiab Mansoor from producing classics like Alpha Bravo Charlie and 50/50 produced total drivel like Bol.
I agree with all the replies in this thread and the only thing I can add is that I personally feel in the current Pakistani society, its just somehow considered fashionable to talk about social issues for sake of it. When you watch most of the Pakistani dramas, all you see is the most crude and blatant representation of all the ills of the society, instead seeing a piece of drama with good story line, complex characters and well written script. Now its highly commendable to covey positive messages and raise social awareness through arts but that doesn't mean you start incorporating fifty different issues in one play. So much focus is placed on props and context while the characters and story line lack substance. I feel Pakistani entertainment industry in general is losing the artistic depth and values. For example Shoiab Mansoor from producing classics like Alpha Bravo Charlie and 50/50 produced total drivel like Bol.
Shoaib Mansoor has just become propaganda machine from left wing. It was PTV's policy which controlled him during 80s and 90s to go totally astray. I didn't find anything artistic in both KKL and Bol.... They were propaganda at their best and were not meant for majority of masses in Pakistan. They targeted so called liberal audience, who will accept each and every bad thing being propagated against religion and religious people just for being cool.
Shoaib Mansoor has just become propaganda machine from left wing. It was PTV's policy which controlled him during 80s and 90s to go totally astray. I didn't find anything artistic in both KKL and Bol.... They were propaganda at their best and were not meant for majority of masses in Pakistan. They targeted so called liberal audience, who will accept each and every bad thing being propagated against religion and religious people just for being cool.
agreed, both kkl and bol are propaganda movies for liberal audiences, film is source of entertainment but to make a film (more like a drama or long play) just for a particular propaganda or self satisfaction is wrong.
We need a lot of research for new plots. Even Haseena Moin's heroines don't work now
Haseena Moin used to bring new faces for each of her plays from colleges during Zia's time and when society was more conservative compared to today's time. Do our today's writers and producers got this courage? I think no.
but even haseena moins characters had issues for example in Tanhayian, Zara was constantly criticized for her obsession with work.
workaholic persons exists in our society. The character was written as such.. running behind the home made by the parents from their jama poonji, so it was all justified of Zara.
On a side note, I like the fact that writers are very much celebrated in Pakistan and the focus is not only on the actors and directors. And I'm not into Pakistani TV or Urdu literature much but I feel Pakistani dramas are very well written. They're not artificial and dramatic like star plus crap.
