Comedy’s a farce
Comedies on television have become a farce as many muse themselves over politics rather than performing arts.
LAHORE:
Comedies on television have become a farce. Except for a few politically oriented comedy shows like “Hum sub ummeed se hain” and “Hasb-e-haal”, the genre of comedy has been relegated to the backwaters of the broadcasting networks.
Actor Ahmed Ali Butt of “Jutt and Bond” and “Inspector Khojee” feels that, “Since the entire country’s focus has shifted to the news, television networks have also shifted from entertainment and moved towards ‘infotainment’ programming that projects politics in a humorous way.”
Butt acerbically quips that, “Comedy has shifted from the performing arts to the government where people are amused by our political actors who are conducting the biggest sitcom of our times.”
A staggering 40 out of 90 channels that are currently on air are news channels. The statistic is ironic considering that while the country has been facing some of the worst political, economic and social setbacks in its history, citizens should ideally be starved for entertainment. Playwright Vasay Choudhry said, “Our biggest irony is that our channels do not want to invest in comedy in spite of the fact that only funny films like Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots have been box office hits in this region.” Choudhry is also critical of production houses and television corporations that do not offer adequate compensation for comedy which he says “is a niche and a difficult genre to enter” nor the protection of royalties for plays that are hits and go for re-runs.
Yet if there’s one thing across the board that actors and writers have bemoaned, is that comedy seems to going down the tube (pun intended). The queen of comedy Bushra Ansari has gone so far as to say “I hate sitcoms. Sitcoms in Pakistan have been a failure because that is not our nature of satire. Our tradition has been to do comedy plays, the genre of sitcoms is very western and Pakistani audiences cannot laugh at just one-liners that are the premise of sitcoms.”
Meera Hashmi, thespian and actor who was part of the initial team of “Family Front”, feels that the media explosion in broadcast has resulted in poor quality programming. “The general belief is that if it is comedy, it should not be taken seriously so people don’t put in the work that is required.” However Hashmi feels that trends are changing and people have seen so much of bad programming that they are no longer responding to it and thereby challenging the media to end the mediocrity.
The time when “Anghan Tera” and “Sunahray Din” reigned television channels was deemed as the golden era for broadcast and comedy in the country. “Our sense of humour has historically been very different from the Indians whose cheap programmes and programming techniques have filtered and adulterated our television screens,” says senior playwright Mohammad Ahmed. “India’s humour came from its street theatre while ours came from our literature, hence the vast difference in the ethos of the genre. But now that Indian aesthetic has been imported, everything on the channels is becoming similarly garish and loud. What’s worse is that vulgarity that has seeped in and many producers who emulate the Indian paradigm proudly defend it as mass entertainment. Our masses have always seen educated humour and not this crassness that was confined only to a certain class that visited Lahore’s street theatres.”
The media explosion paved way for many people who traditionally worked at its periphery as menial workers but then moved up the hierarchy to take up positions as directors, producers, writers and actors. The absorption of such labour force is cited by seasoned professionals and newer entrants alike as a resulting force in the downfall of the genre of comedy on television.
Ahmed is so fearful of the over arching effects of this phenomena that he is fearful that “television will soon reach the state of our collapsed film industry.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.
Comedies on television have become a farce. Except for a few politically oriented comedy shows like “Hum sub ummeed se hain” and “Hasb-e-haal”, the genre of comedy has been relegated to the backwaters of the broadcasting networks.
Actor Ahmed Ali Butt of “Jutt and Bond” and “Inspector Khojee” feels that, “Since the entire country’s focus has shifted to the news, television networks have also shifted from entertainment and moved towards ‘infotainment’ programming that projects politics in a humorous way.”
Butt acerbically quips that, “Comedy has shifted from the performing arts to the government where people are amused by our political actors who are conducting the biggest sitcom of our times.”
A staggering 40 out of 90 channels that are currently on air are news channels. The statistic is ironic considering that while the country has been facing some of the worst political, economic and social setbacks in its history, citizens should ideally be starved for entertainment. Playwright Vasay Choudhry said, “Our biggest irony is that our channels do not want to invest in comedy in spite of the fact that only funny films like Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots have been box office hits in this region.” Choudhry is also critical of production houses and television corporations that do not offer adequate compensation for comedy which he says “is a niche and a difficult genre to enter” nor the protection of royalties for plays that are hits and go for re-runs.
Yet if there’s one thing across the board that actors and writers have bemoaned, is that comedy seems to going down the tube (pun intended). The queen of comedy Bushra Ansari has gone so far as to say “I hate sitcoms. Sitcoms in Pakistan have been a failure because that is not our nature of satire. Our tradition has been to do comedy plays, the genre of sitcoms is very western and Pakistani audiences cannot laugh at just one-liners that are the premise of sitcoms.”
Meera Hashmi, thespian and actor who was part of the initial team of “Family Front”, feels that the media explosion in broadcast has resulted in poor quality programming. “The general belief is that if it is comedy, it should not be taken seriously so people don’t put in the work that is required.” However Hashmi feels that trends are changing and people have seen so much of bad programming that they are no longer responding to it and thereby challenging the media to end the mediocrity.
The time when “Anghan Tera” and “Sunahray Din” reigned television channels was deemed as the golden era for broadcast and comedy in the country. “Our sense of humour has historically been very different from the Indians whose cheap programmes and programming techniques have filtered and adulterated our television screens,” says senior playwright Mohammad Ahmed. “India’s humour came from its street theatre while ours came from our literature, hence the vast difference in the ethos of the genre. But now that Indian aesthetic has been imported, everything on the channels is becoming similarly garish and loud. What’s worse is that vulgarity that has seeped in and many producers who emulate the Indian paradigm proudly defend it as mass entertainment. Our masses have always seen educated humour and not this crassness that was confined only to a certain class that visited Lahore’s street theatres.”
The media explosion paved way for many people who traditionally worked at its periphery as menial workers but then moved up the hierarchy to take up positions as directors, producers, writers and actors. The absorption of such labour force is cited by seasoned professionals and newer entrants alike as a resulting force in the downfall of the genre of comedy on television.
Ahmed is so fearful of the over arching effects of this phenomena that he is fearful that “television will soon reach the state of our collapsed film industry.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.