Begging for survival

By now, with so many artists in the entertainment industry having gone public about production houses' inability to compensate them on time, it will surprise nobody to learn that for an actor in Pakistan, relying on paid work remains a pipe dream.

Last week, it was director Mehreen Jabbar who poetically but bluntly remarked that artists have to chase their employers "like beggars" to be paid; now, veteran actor and screenwriter Mohammad Ahmed has entered the fray, backing Jabbar's every word with crystal clear precision.

Joining the chorus

"Mehreen has spoken very clearly about the system and the drama industry, and it makes me so glad," began Ahmed in a video posted on his Instagram handle. "She said plainly what I have been quietly saying for years. The truth is, [production houses] expect us to be punctual and stick to whatever is outlined in our contract – and yes, we do this."

Having begun his showbiz career as a screenwriter in 1995 with Tum Se Kehna Tha and taking on acting roles over the years, Ahmed will be familiar to viewers from television dramas Zard Patton Ka Bunn and Sunn Mere Dil last year. With thirty years devoted to showbiz in some form or other, here is a professional who is familiar with the inner workings of the entertainment industry – and with that familiarity comes a strict personal code of ethics. Giving personal examples of the respect he has for his coworkers, Ahmed continued, "I don't think anybody can truthfully say that I have never been late to a set, nor have ever skipped a day of shooting, or left town and disappeared for days on end. I have tried my utmost to be professional and ethical."

The Cake star swiftly pointed out, however, that his employers do not reciprocate or adhere to this same level of professional ethics – certainly not when money is involved. Having devoted decades to the industry and now being left with a bedrock of well-earned bitterness to show for it, Ahmed minced no words as he noted, "When it comes to payment schedules, other than the odd production house, I have never seen people being paid on time. A delay of three to four months is extremely normal."

Backing up Jabbar's beggar analogy, the unimpressed actor continued, "You have to pretty much clasp your hands together and beg them to pay you. Then they dispense a cheque your way, all the while giving the impression that they are doing you a massive favour, just because they have deigned to pay you. In every project, I feel their aim is to make actors beg for money. It destroys your dignity."

Shining a harsh light on the very real need for timely payments in an increasingly difficult financial climate rife with bills and inflation, Ahmed took issue with the ideal notion that an artist's work is above money.

"Money is everyone's biggest need," stressed the actor as though pointing out the obvious. "Especially for those people who have no form of income other than showbiz. A production house will make you do a 15 – to 20-hour shoot, but when it comes to giving you a cheque, they either refuse to pick the phone or give you a ridiculous reason for not doing so."

For Ahmed, there is only one silver lining in this dire state of affairs: the fact that he is no longer alone in calling out production houses. "Thank you, Mehreen, for saying what you did," he said, a note of warmth entering his voice. "I'm glad that people have started speaking up."

Rising dissent

If Ahmed sought comfort in Jabbar's slam-dunk takedown of production houses, actor Faizan Khawaja in turn found solace in Ahmed's no-holds-barred summation of the entertainment industry.

The Dulhan actor has been absent from screens in recent years, and he propped up Ahmed's scathing verdict in an Instagram Story to explain just why. As a bonus, Khwaja also used Ahmed's words as an eye-opener as to why we are now witnessing an increasing number of news stories of actors spending their last years in poverty.

"To all those people who aren't in the media who keep asking me why actors die alone and poor, here is your answer," began Khwaja. "Finally someone had the guts to call them out publicly. And to all those people who keep messaging me saying, 'Why have you stopped working? Why don't you appear on TV?' Well, honestly, some of us don't have the patience to endure such bull**** treatment."

With both Jabbar and Ahmed having painted a picture of actors begging for money (a picture that those who have spoken up insist is accurate), Khwaja added that he would rather walk away from a career on camera than sacrifice his self respect.

"I'd rather not act than beg for my dues and give another human to flex his managerial position on me," he finished.

Khawaja, Ahmed and Jabbar are only the most recent actors calling out the entertainment industry's financial abuse. Last year, Dunyapur stars Khushhal Khan, Ramsha Khan also took to either an interview or Instagram to slam the lack of ethics displayed by production houses.

"It's disrespectful not to pay on time because we're there on time," Khushhal had stressed in an interview with the BBC Asian Network last year, a comment that was subconsciously echoed in Ahmed's latest video. "We're giving 110 per cent every single day. The least we expect is to be paid on time."

In the same interview, Ramsha added that being financially compensated was a necessity. "I have to pay my bills, man," she had remarked. Unlike Ahmed and his commitment to appearing on set, however, Ramsha illustrated that she had hit upon the perfect solution. "You either clear my cheque or I'm not coming on set," she had noted.

Can there be a shift in the way an actor's rights are respected? Will production houses ever be held accountable? Jabbar had bluntly commented that she had witnessed no change in her thirty years in the industry. But perhaps now, with veterans and newcomers alike raising their voices, artists could be closer to a change today than they were thirty years ago.