Bushra Ansari wants Pakistani TV to tell more issue-based stories

For actor Bushra Ansari, the biggest problem with today's television was not simply what was being shown on screen, but what was being left out: the real social and economic issues affecting the country's ordinary citizens.

After decades in the entertainment industry, the veteran actor, singer and writer said she had little interest in returning to the familiar cycle of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts and repetitive domestic dramas. In an interview, she said she wanted to see television ask difficult questions, examine the roots of social problems and give audiences something to think about.

“I haven’t been writing for four years,” Bushra said, explaining that much of what was being produced did not interest her.

Her interest, she said, remained in issue-based stories. For Bushra, simply depicting poverty, domestic abuse, poor education, unsafe roads or dysfunctional institutions was not enough; a story should ask why these problems exist in the first place. “There should be root causes,” she said.

Recalling the television she grew up watching and eventually became part of, Bushra remembered a time when entertainment was closely connected to literature and real life. “We didn’t have the idea of a heroine in our heads,” she said. “We wanted good characters,” the actor added.

Her generation, she said, was exposed to a wider cultural world. “We used to watch films such as Gone with the Wind, read Wuthering Heights and follow Indian cinema. Literature, theatre, music and everyday life all fed into the work being produced for television,” she said.

Bushra added, “We used to do realistic, reality-based work.”

The actor pointed to Alif Noon as one example of a production that remained memorable even decades later. She noted that she saw that kind of storytelling as an important part of what television could do: entertain people while also making them observe, question and learn.

“It’s a sad thing to say we don’t have that now,” she said, reflecting on the changes she had witnessed over time.

The actor also touched on how she became a PTV icon. “When I was born, I was like, I will be a singer,” she recalled. “I joined PTV in 1968 and used to do singing programmes. When I was around 15 or 16, I was even approached for drama roles, but my father was hesitant until I got married to a director,” Bushra shared.

Her career eventually expanded through singing competitions and acting opportunities. Marriage did not end her professional life either; her husband, a director, supported her continuing to work.

Remembering the television industry of the 1980s as a place where performers could take creative risks, the actor recalled being made to wear a burqa for a comic production and another production in which the director used an exaggerated costume prop for comic effect.

The willingness to experiment extended to serious subjects too. Bushra recalled working on dramas that dealt with age, relationships and other issues that may still provoke discussion today.

The important thing, she suggested, was that television was willing to engage with subjects rather than simply reproduce formulas. “We used to make topics on lessons that matter, which I believe is important to do every five years or so to remind people,” she noted.

For an industry she entered as a young singer in 1968, Bushra's message remained remarkably consistent: entertainment should not be afraid to look at real life.