I was reading something somewhere and the writer made a point that some of the blame for the Pak dramas’ decline rests with the top actors such as Talat Hussain, Humayun Saeed, Sadia Imam etc etc. He/she said that these actors keep on playing the same roles over and over again and hence the same dramas keep on being recycled with new soundtracks. I think I agree with this assessment.
I have seen Talat Hussain play a loving grandfather who is a believer in tough love (I odn’t remember the name of the long play). The little quirks that he brought to the role added so much life to the play. All in all the drama was fabulous and the ending left you miserable just like a good Pakistani drama should.
The point is that Talat Hussain is such a gifted actor. He is capable of bringing characters to life that you’ve seen around you in your lifetime and that just stuns you for a bit - teh sign of good acting. But most of the times he keeps on playing the same old character - middle-aged, highly successful professional who must face up to the demons of his past. And then you throw in a few frills here and there and voila, drama tayyar! (I’m referring to Zulfikar Sheikh’s dramas like Ansoo, Aik Castle Aik Umeed, Thori Kushi Throa Gham, waghera waghera)
He is in the same class as Shakeel, Qazi Wajid, Saleem Nasir, Sikander Shaheen, Subhani Bayounis (maybe not quite there with the last two, three but around there). He does not change his roles though like these stalwarts did. I haven’t seen his older work like I have of the others that I mentioned. Maybe in the past he did do new roles and now he doesnt? (if that is indeed so please point that out)
The way I see it if he and other top actors liek him refuse to do the same role over again then the directors will realize that they won’t do the same story again which should bring in new stories, new dilemmas and most importantly new characters. what do you guys think?
There are so many new channels, (private ones) every week about 28-35 or more dramas air. It's only logical that a few of them would share storyline and the characters. Fifteen years ago things were different. There was only one channel and more time could be allocated toward one specific project.
Now this doesn't mean that I'm implying that private channels are ruining everything. They've given so many classics themselves. It's up to the artists and the production team of what they make out of their project. If an artist keep accepting same roles and a director keep churning out the same stuff then of course quality would hinder.
I don't know but I think it has changed since the past two years. I haven't seen so many big stars all around the year and that too in almost identical roles. Emergence of new people helped as well.
I don't know about the private channels or 15 years ago but we got only one Pakistani channel in the US and only 7 prime time dramas air weekly. And I can honestly say that none of those are redundant. No super star is on the screen all year. Shabir John is such an excellent actor and after one year (his last drama was Safar on Prime) he has appeared in Wardi and what marvelous drama that is.
Tulat hussain I only saw in Thori kushi thora ghum and now in ik nai mor pe and can honestly say that both characters were tottaly different.
Humanyun saeed was last seen in Suraj Girhan and then 8 months later in Kahniyan and what marverlous piece of art that is. (i duuno if it's still on or not)
Faisel Qureshi is a talented new commer. He had only two dramas last year and one was the magnificent Behlawa.
Maria Wasti, Shakeel, Shafi Mohd., Samina Ahmed, and so many other senior and talented artist only 1 or two dramas last year.
Maybe you're right about redundancy in dramas in Pak but the way I see it, i don't find anything wrong with it. Maybe when there are like 3 Pakistani channels in USA then i can discuss it better.
I don't think Maria Wasti is a good actress at all. In fact, I think she's horrible as is Humayun Saeed. Faisal has done some good work but not too much of it. IM-Very-Humble-O, Behlawa was crap. Samina Ahmed was marvellous; now she's bad, very bad. Shabbir Jan is okay. He plays the middle-aged hunk pretty well but give him something else and he will fail miserably. I've seen some of his different characters and he did not do well.
And just because you play a businessman in this serial and a doctor in the next one, the character does not change. And Mohd. Shafi is actually the best example of this phenomenon. He was the one I was forgetting when writing up the first post. Can he do anything other than the big, mean but extremely calm and in control wadera/father/businessman? Note I'm not doubting him as an actor. I think he's capable of pulling off some great acting but he does not try to change. I've seen him play his Shayad Kay Bahar Aye role so so many times.
Dr.Evil, I discounted the whole private channels issue but even if you look at what Prime is playing how many talking about honour killings, karo kari, hero worship? The issues are there and they are not getting enough coverage. Instead we keep on going back to guy-likes-girl-in-xyz-country-and-it-is-not-that-simple themes. And this is where the actors' accepting the same role over and over again issue kicks in.
If it were upto me for example, I would have made 10 dramas on the gang-rape ordered by the Panchayyat and ran them simultaneously. And I wouldn't have stopped until inhuman practices like this actually died and not just became low-key.
Kahaniyan is excellent and is the exact opposite of the above trend. It talks about issues that people don't think/hear about enough.
What can I say Samb jee, it’s your openion and you’re entitled to it and so am I. You’d say these actors are horrible, I’d say they’re superb in their respective role so why bother discussing this. You think Behlawa was crap but on the other hand I loved it and think it was a marvelous drama.
ok lets see. He played an evil drug lord in TKTG and a goodie-good grand pa in INMP and you think the character does not change. Now either I’m crazy or just lost the sense of distinguishing or maybe by changing character you meant to make Talat Hussain a college lover boy (which I sincerly hope you diddn’t).
:k: great.
a shame that our media did such a piss poor job of exploiting that incident. Only one play was aired and even that was of one episode and backed by some British NGO.
I think that actors and actoresses keep accepting similar roles because it is easier. It's easier to get paid for a role you do well rather than try to play another, possibly more difficult one. They might have lost their love for the art.