Evolution of TV drama discussed at LLF

Families throng Alhamra centre on concluding day of festival

LAHORE:

Halls packed with families, including university students and civil society members, were witnessed on the concluding day of the Lahore Literary Festival as panelists shared their view on pressing contemporary issues.

A session on Pakistani television drama was moderated by the journalist and producer Fifi Haroon, while director Kashaf Nisar, writer Bee Gul, and actors Amar Khan and Dur-e-Fishan Saleem were the panelists.

They described the female roles in the drama industry and the importance of locations and sets in production.

"The stories of our TV dramas used to depict innocent female characters who were always weeping. This trend was changed, especially during the past year, and we are also seeing bold and brave females,” said the moderator.

She said there had been an impression that the TV drama were limited to Karachi with a few locations repeated, but young directors like Kashif Nisar had produced super hit dramas in Lahore in recent years and variety of locations had also expanded.

Dur-e-Fishan said the viewers should understand that weeping was just an emotion and not a bad thing.

Read: LLF delves into ideas and culture

Kashif Nisar said,” Drama came through radio in our society, in which characters were in the habit of telling stories. The importance of the locations was ignored in the earlier dramas. Even during the golden period of drama there was a culture of installing one-room sets to tell a story.”

However, the time had changed and now the importance of locations in drama production could not be denied,” he added.

He said the locations of Lahore were wonderful due to the historical and cultural sites situated in the city, including those from the Mughal era, British rule and those designed by Sir Ganga Ram. Writer Bee Gul said, "In today's drama we have to explain the story through locations and the characters should have resemblance with the location.”

During the concluding ceremony, a puppet show on Kashmir was presented through shadow puppetry.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2024.