No more drama?

Our drama history is as old as Pakistan itself. PTV has been presenting us with excellent programmes since its establishment in 1964. PTV dramas gained fame despite the fact that we had no proper recording facilities: all the dramas were telecast live! Pakistani drama maintained its identity from the very first day. In the 1970s, when recording facilities finally arrived, Pakistani dramas gained even more fame. The PTV Lahore centre drama, Waris, broke all existing records and became a trend setter. It was written by the famous poet and writer, Amjad Islam Amjad, and directed by the late Nusrat Thakur.

Wherever Urdu is spoken, Pakistani dramas are viewed with great interest. Who can forget the character of Chaudhry Hashmat in Waris? Mehboob Alam gave life to this character through his performance. Sona Chandi by Munnu Bhai, Kiran Kahani, Tanhaiyaan, Dhoop Kinaray by Haseena Moeen, Amjad Islam Amajd’s Din Raat and Samandur, Younas Javeed’s Andhera Ujaala and Darya and Pyas by Asghar Nadeem Syed, etc, all are successful Pakistani dramas and the list goes on.

Today, while our film industry has been destroyed by unprofessional people, our dramas are also in danger. Our drama industry is deteriorating. Access to private television channels has brought in tough competition but at the same time, these channels are crossing all social and moral boundaries. Turkish dramas are fast becoming a major cause of the local industry’s decline. A lot of channels use Turkish dramas with Urdu dubbing but these dramas are not in line with our social values. And all this after these dramas are edited by the censor board. What would the dramas have been like had they not been censored? Our industry is being ruined by greediness.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2013.