I was flipping through the channels and I happen to catch a glimpse of Jamal Shah on the Sundance channel.
I started watching this program about drug trafficing in Europe which also sketched a picture of Pathaans growing poppy in NWFP.
The channel aired the first to of the 6 episodes. This was aired on Friday in the evenings. I will try to get the schedule. Traffik stars many well known Pakistani actors like Jamal Shah, Talat Hussain and Rahat Kazmi!
I would recomend for people to check this out! They have portrayed Pakistan in a very accurate manner!
Next Screening on the Sundance channel:
Tuesday 08.13.2002 2:00AM ET
Wednesday 08.28.2002 9:00PM ET
Traffik: Part 1
320 MINS, Color
While this six-part British TV drama may be now best known for inspiring Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winning feature film TRAFFIC (2000), that shouldn't overshadow its stature as one of the best British mini-series of the past quarter-century. Starting with the efforts of Jack Lithgow (Bill Paterson from THE SINGING DETECTIVE), a British government minister assigned to negotiate an agreement to reduce opium production in Pakistan, writer Simon Moore dissects the dynamics of international heroin distribution. The developing parallel stories of Fazal (Jamal Shah) a poor farmer who rises in the organization of Karachi's major narcotics kingpin, Tariq Butt (Talat Hussain), and Helen (Lindsay Duncan from SHOOTING THE PAST), the British wife of a German businessman who discovers that her family's wealthy lifestyle is dependent on the illicit drug trade, provide the other two dramatic foci that illustrate the dynamics of world narcotics traffic. And in her screen debut, Julia Ormond plays Lithgow's troubled daughter, Caroline, who threatens to destroy his family with her addiction to heroin. Unlike the later feature film, this engrossing drama, directed by Alastair Reid, uses the extended mini-series format to slowly define each of the central characters, allowing the director and his cast to create portraits of surprising subtlety and sympathy. Traffik was awarded an International Emmy Award for Drama in 1989.
Christabel Albery
Brian Eastman
Simon Moore
Clive Tickner
Jon Gregory
Andrew McClelland
Neil Thomson
Tim Souster
Bill Paterson
Lindsay Duncan
Jamal Shah
Talat Hussain
Tilo Pruckner