Radio drama: PU student duo wins international award

Play depicts Pakistan’s struggle to cope with militancy

LAHORE: Two journalism students from Punjab University have bagged an international award for a radio drama depicting Pakistan’s struggle to cope with the growing scourge of militancy.

Ali Yaldram and Masood Mallhi from Punjab University’s Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) participated in a competition organised by the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) of the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

The competition was part of the Fall Super-Regional Conference held between October 13 and October 15 in Columbia.

The three-day conference featured professional and academic training workshops, topical and timely panel discussions and a variety of competitions for scholarly and creative works. The radio drama titled ‘Mom Calling’ bagged the third prize in the Student Creative Works category.

The drama was directed and produced by Masood while Ali played the main character. The duo’s work was selected among 180 other entries in the competition. Ali received the award at a ceremony held at the University of South Carolina.

Scale of human tragedy

The drama revolves around the March 7 bombing at Gulshan-e-Iqbal park that left 65 people dead. Through the radio drama, the duo has plumbed the depths of the human tragedy surrounding the incident. The main character of the drama is a student who puts a special ringtone on his phone that goes off each time his mother calls him. On the day of the attack, the student breathes his last while his mother repeatedly calls him.

Tale of resilience

“[Through our drama], we focused on the life of ordinary Pakistanis who continue to defy the odds despite terrorism attacks in the country,” Masood told The Express Tribune. “The drama depicted Pakistan’s struggle and highlighted the courage of its people. It also gave us a chance to show the world that we are a strong nation that can fight terrorism and look ahead despite these challenges.”

Masood claims this is the first time a radio drama from Pakistan has won such an award.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2016.