Perhaps most of our TV experience has come from HUM TV. Sigh, what quality of dramas the channel used to bring. There wasn’t a single opponent for HUM TV when it came to dramas and quality content. Top-notch stories, casting accurate to the T, excellent direction, the channel just had the best in everything.
Until recently, HUM TV garnered top TRPs for its primetime content but something has been off for the past few months. Simply put, the channel has been going through a very rough patch for quite some time now. The shows are in the low rankings and have not been clicking with the audience. There’s a lot going wrong. Why?
The past few months on television have been a disaster for HUM TV in terms of ratings. The reason? The channels declining content. The second half of 2022 has seen a big change in the pecking order where HUM TV has seen a steady decline from its top position, coming down steadily, offering nothing major and exciting in terms of its dramas to its audience. We’ll not take the Ramazan special into account since they did manage to grab a certain audience (especially those tired of game shows across channels) but after that, the channel hasn’t managed to bring about one interest-worthy drama at all.
Cast, Story or Direction?
Maybe its one, maybe it’s the other but for some, like the currently on-air ‘Wehem’, ‘Amtul Hayat‘, ‘Aitebaar‘, ‘Wehshi‘, Sarah Khan’s ‘Wabaal‘ or even the recently ended ones, such as Hiba Bukhari’s ‘Pehchaan‘, nothing has been garnering the audience’s attention like Hum TV dramas usually do. An average television watcher, even if you count the female gentry that tunes in to television during prime time, wants to see a different and new story, rather than the same old repetitive content. Hence, Hum TV needs to produce more watch-worthy content.
Let’s take a closer look at a few prime-time dramas currently on air on Hum TV.
Badshah Begum
A stellar mega cast, high-end production values, and direction by Khizer Idrees, ‘Badshah Begum’ had everything working in its favour and had built a big hype around it before the drama even aired. It was expected to be one of the very best, but what happened? Quality-wise it definitely delivered what it promised, although there was room for improvement, but somehow the genre of the drama was too alien for the audience which is accustomed to your average, run of the mill dramas. Therefore, despite its strengths, the drama couldn’t dominate the ratings as was expected.
Aitebar
The Zarnish Khan, Syed Jibran and Ali Safina starrer presented a new concept with its story. Here we had a traditional husband leaving his wife under doubt but then Ali Safina came in as a breath of fresh air, promising a new wave of husbands who would trust their wives over everything else. The story seemed promising enough with a woman who refused to back down but again everything went astray in the execution and ‘Aitebar‘ just lost track of its own story. It then set itself on a path to doom that couldn’t be saved.
Looking at the recently ended one.
Pehchaan
This Hiba Bukhari, Syed Jibran starrer began with a bang. The story seemed interesting enough and with a stellar star cast, ‘Pehchaan‘ was expected to be a blockbuster. However, the story began to lose its lustre right after the second episode. Who would want to see a drama that had absolutely no head or tail? ‘Pehchaan‘ had a promising story but its execution just took everything down the drain and the audience just didn’t stick around long enough to find the reason as to why Kuki did what she did.
Will the new wave of releases, save Hum TV’s sinking ship?
Although Hum TV’s current content seems subpar at the best, it won’t be incorrect to say that the channel does have a string of promising dramas in its pipeline. The very recently started Yumna Zaidi starrer ‘Bakhtawar‘ is bringing a very fresh new story that isn’t only inspiring but highly interesting as well.
Urwa Hocane and Ali Rehman Khan starrer ‘Meri Shehzadi‘ is another drama in the pipeline on Hum TV. The drama seems to be bringing a very strong storyline of a woman with a political background, intent on being independent and making it on her own terms. From the promos, ‘Meri Shehzadi‘ seems to be an interesting watch, which perhaps will save Hum TV’s sinking ship.
Other major releases for Hum TV could be ‘Kaala Doriya’ and ‘Tinkay Ka Sahara’. The former has been penned by the veteran writer Saima Akram Chaudhry, who has already given Hum TV its series of major hits earlier. With Osman Khalid Butt and Sana Javed in the lead and a supporting cast with Nadia Afgan, Samina Ahmed, Farhan Ali Agha and Ali Safina, this one certainly sounds interesting.‘Tinkay Ka Sahara’ featuring Sonya Hussyn, Sami Khan, Rubab Hashim, Haroon Shahid, Saba Faisal, Ayesha Toor, Adnan Jaffer, Sana Askari and Naveed Raza. It is the third upcoming drama written by Zanjabeel Asim. It shows two sides of love and marriage through two couples.
Not only these but Hum TV will have another offering in the face of ‘Mohabbat Ek Saza‘ starring Zahid Ahmed and Sana Javed. Both actors are powerhouse performers and we expect nothing short of excellent content from the duo coming together for a drama serial. These are some content with the trademark Hum TV quality, which we are hoping would bring the spark back.
