Nadia Afgan on breaking old drama formulas and finding her place with a new generation

Actor discusses changing audience habits, mentoring younger stars and how she got into the entertainment industry

Actor Nadia Afgan discussed the changing landscape of Pakistan’s entertainment industry, her evolving relationship with younger actors and the unlikely turn of events that launched her career decades ago during her appearnce on Good Morning Pakistan recently.

Reflecting on how much the industry has changed, Afgan said production houses could no longer afford to become complacent as audiences gained more ways to consume entertainment.

“Production houses have become complacent. There are so many more options for viewers now, between digital and social media, that we need to up our game instead of assuming we're still the only place people will come for entertainment,” she said.

For Afgan, her upcoming serial Hey Fam represents the kind of shift she believes the industry needs. The project moves away from familiar family-drama formulas, instead placing a largely new cast at the centre of a story shaped around the realities of the digital generation.

“It takes guts to walk away from the usual saas-bahu formula and put your trust in a fresh story with a cast of mostly new actors,” she said, praising the production for backing untested talent both in front of and behind the camera. The serial is being directed by Zeeshan Ansari, who is making his debut as a serial director.

Her conversation also touched on a subject that extends beyond the entertainment industry: how older generations communicate with younger people. 

“One of the biggest mistakes we make as elders is jumping straight to advice or a lecture the moment a young person shares something with us, instead of just listening,” she said. “You have to hear them out completely first, and then ask if they even want your advice. That's what actually builds trust.”

That approach has also shaped the way she interacts with younger actors. Afgan described taking on a mentoring role similar to the one her own mentor, Samina Ahmed, once played in her life, while being mindful of whether the other person actually wants guidance.

“I watch whether a young actor is open to guidance. If they seem receptive, I'll offer it. If not, I step back, because I don't want them to feel overwhelmed,” she explained. “I'd rather be a friend than just a senior colleague; that's what makes them comfortable enough to share what's really on their mind.”

Afgan acknowledged that the world younger actors are entering is markedly different from the one her generation grew up in. Traditional career paths and traditional media have given way to an environment dominated by digital platforms, metrics and follower counts.

“My generation was about traditional career paths and traditional media. Now everything is digital; it's all about metrics and followers,” she said, admitting with a laugh that she is “a bit late” to keeping up with new apps herself.

While she credited younger people with being sharper and more tech-savvy than her generation, Afgan also pointed to the darker side of growing up online. The internet, she noted, exposes young people to material that previous generations were far more likely to encounter with some form of filtering.

“They're smart, they're tech-savvy, but they're also absorbing a very bad world online without any filter,” she said. “You can't control them the way parents used to. What they need from us is soft guidance, not restriction.”

For Afgan, that generational shift inevitably finds its way into storytelling as well. She argued that television dramas need to reflect the experiences of the audiences watching them rather than relying indefinitely on familiar premises.

“Dramas used to open with a simple romance or a college story. Now our stories need to reflect what young people are actually going through; that's what we're trying to do with Hey Fam,” she said.

Afgan also looked back at the beginnings of a career that, in many ways, started without a carefully laid-out plan. Her first opportunity came while she was studying at Punjab University, where her Head of Department, Shahnawaz Zaidi, was connected to director Ayyub Khawar.

“Zaidi sahab was acting in it too, and he knew I was into theatre at university, so he suggested me for the role of his daughter,” she recalled. “I said yes right away, even though the PTV set was quite intimidating for me at the time.”

Her breakthrough, however, came through an even more unexpected opportunity. Through friends at NCA, Afgan was asked to step into a music video for Jawad Ahmad’s O Kehndi Aay Saiyan.

“The girl who was supposed to model for it didn't show up, and I happened to be around, so I said I'd do it,” she said. “That song became huge. It's genuinely my claim to fame; it's what opened the door for my drama career, including Shashlik.”

Years later, Hey Fam finds Afgan on the other side of that journey, working on a project that deliberately moves away from the familiar tropes that have long dominated television.