Opinion Why Pakistani TV matters to India

In a culturescape where technicolour dreams emerged from the dark shroud of Zia-ul-Haq’s Islamisation to crashland into the gilded environs of unimaginative,spruced-up drivel,there is a definite vortex of change. Take actor-director Sarmad Khoosat’s Humsafar. The view that it marked the resurrection of our teleplay is a fallacy at best. It certainly captured our collective imagination to achieve a cult status across borders — with Fawad Khan setting hearts aflutter as the new chocolate hero a la Waheed Murad — but its story was timidly conventional compared to audacious storylines and characterisations televised both before and after it took centrestage.

Undeniably,the super-hit serial’s appeal lay in how “real” it was — beautiful,strong characters,a taut screenplay,biting script and sizzling chemistry. But when juxtaposed with Mere qatil,mere dildar — another story of love gone sour,a weak male model,flawed family values and structures and a victimised female protagonist — Humsafar’s end becomes its undoing. It clearly succumbed to the audience’s penchant for happily-ever-afters,whereas Mere qatil held on to real life — it ended with a sense of closure,and an acceptance of regret,failure,revenge,betrayal as irreversible truths,as opposed to a fairytale of plastic forgiveness.

It takes a serious tele-visionary to come up with a Qudoosi sahib ki bewa. Starring a formidable,albeit new,talent in a double role — an ageing,unmarried daughter and a cantankerous,old mother — it is a riveting serial that sparkles with old-world,UP wit,immaculate characterisation,staggering performances and settings. However,its beauty lies in the way it carries an underlying theme of taboos such as a closet transvestite of a son in a family that handles him with wry wit and nonchalance. Meanwhile,his mother,who swims in and out of denial,is determined to marry him off. On her matchmaking sprees,she often ends up ridiculing the girl’s side in a bid to pre-empt a dig at her effeminate,rouged son: “Aap Agra ki howay hain aur aap kay mian Bareilly kay. Ajab ittefaq hai. Agra ka bhi paagalkhaana mashhoor hai aur Bareilly ka bhi.” She also makes no bones about the fact that she intends to live off her daughters’ earnings and is eager to have her eldest daughter marry her Bihari neighbour’s 80-year-old husband for his property. The same play also treats the marriage of a dwarf to a failed actress with incredible ease. Hence,it is an all-out matriarchal delight laced with political incorrectness and uncomfortable truths.

Where on one front wit and grit override issues that can easily slip into tragedy,on another,there are tales of feudal brutalities such as Dil behkey ga. Filmstar Resham once again floors her audience with a controlled,poignant portrayal of the “barhi bahu” of a Sindhi feudal family. After the death of her impotent husband,she becomes entangled with an “untouchable” land tiller or haari. A moment of weakness results in a child,which triggers macho mayhem and bloodshed. Similarly,in Kaash mein teri beti na hoti,a feudal set-up indulges in womb rental following a significant fee and a mock nikah.

Interestingly,like all societal dynamics,religion is also depicted as subservient to human survival. After Meri zaat zarra-e-benishaan,it was in the recently concluded Kaafir,where the lead takes a false oath on the holy book — an everyday act of survival for myriads of regular,entangled lives.

Such themes can only serve as windows into a society in transition,determined to break free from misinterpretations and misperceptions. Pakistan’s new entertainment is all about disturbing and stirring a controlling environment to generate dissent. India’s stance of a blackout of Pakistani television is alienating a creative movement imperative for people-to-people contact and understanding. Moreover,it results in sporadic reactions from Pakistan’s regulatory bodies who then suspend Indian TV shows and sometimes the much-awaited Bollywood fare — this time,the axe fell on Ek Tha Tiger.

At the end of the day,it boils down to the survival of a shared,age-old identity through the elimination of myriad factors that continue to gnaw away at its unique essence. For this reason,the story of our civilisation must be revisited through channels of communication and ideas; this time,to take root in the right perspective. Television entertainment from Pakistan is crucial in India — as opposed to news channels which are still a prickly area — as a barometer of not just social freedom but of social tolerance. Instead of buying Coke Studio,comedy shows or Pakistani teledramas from the black market — an area that cannot be contained — allow a new reality to enter minds.

Our television is not only confronting the rise of mediocrity,it is reinforcing cultural diversity and individual belief systems and choices. It is the sole cultural force that is bringing this nation close to losing its demons. A new socialisation has entered homes despite the opposition to redesigning a decaying society.

The writer is a Karachi-based journalist

Curated For You

Dharmendra worshipped ‘star’ Meena Kumari, tried to curb her drinking; she loved him ‘passionately’: ‘Most beautiful…’

Why BJP is concerned as urban voters in Uttar Pradesh seek to shift to village addresses during SIR

Dhurandhar box office collection day 3: Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller becomes Ranveer Singh’s fastest film to hit Rs 100 crore mark