Time and again we have mentioned that apart from a handful Pakistani dramas, the majority are absolutely crass. Makers churn out dramas left, right and centre, however, neither do they seem to make any sense, nor do they have a relatable story and yet they keep getting high TRPS. The audience cries out loud as one drama after another hits our screens and yet the actors and directors of the same keep getting popular. What is the secret here? We don’t know and we can barely fathom. And siding with our opinion is the very intelligent Maira Omair Rana as well.
Pakistani Dramas Leave Much to be Desired
We recently mentioned how the Hania Aamir and Wahaj Hussain starrer, Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha, was one such example of a drama without any concrete story line at all and yet one with a high TRP. Maira Omair Rana, wife of celebrated actor, Omair Rana, also recently questioned the credibility of such plots and the intelligent quotient of the audience who watch them.
According to Maira, majority of the most successful drama directors in the industry, consider their audience to be naive enough to be sold for absolutely nonsense storylines. Maira related an incident where she shared a complex script with a well known director only to be laughed upon. “If you think the audience is intelligent enough to digest this, you’re being naive (I am sure he wanted to call me stupid as well),” writes Maira reminiscing about how the particular director had taunted the script she had written.
The Fault In Our Audience
It is no secret how the drama creators consider the audience dunderheads for creating content which makes no sense at all. And if you get offended at being called idiots, calm down a little because the TRPs prove the claims. Apparently even the most intelligent of the audience, especially women, watch dramas with weak story lines, absolutely drooling over the male characters and contributing to the high ratings for such crap. “The TRPs of the current dramas with their bizarre scripts have gone through the roof. And guess who’s the majority watching them, drooling over them and discussing them to no end – women,” writes Maira on her personal blog.
Maira Omair Rana Shares Personal Opinion
Maira writes how she grew up watching and learning values instilled in them through dramas written by Haseena Moin. “I refuse to accept the title of stupid audience. I take pride in being a girl raised with #haseenamoin values and her progressive content – with the bold woman image that #shoaibmansoor promoted – with #anwarmaqsood Sb’s humour and fearless #sitaraaurmehrunnisa,” says Maira commenting on how our dramas today promote nothing but spineless doormat bahus, problematic husbands, sexist families and storylines hell bent on glorifying the nonsense patriarchal values of the society.
It seems as if rather than progressing with the years, our drama industry and its content is going in a reverse gear. The dynamics haven’t changed, if only, have worsened over the years. Its 2023 and we still have dramas like Siyaani and Meesni talking about nothing progressive at all. And mind you, they’re getting good TRPs as well.
We Agree with Maira
We completely agree with Maira’s point of view questioning the intelligence of our audience and the fact that content creators are not at all convinced of the fact that this audience is ready for something mature. Apart from a few dramas namely the currently running Kuch Ankahi on ARY Digital or the recently ended Sar-e-Rah, Pinjra, Bakhtawar, Parizaad and the likes of such on various channels, the makers have been resolute in not changing the problematic plots of their shows, claiming that it is what sells. While a few have made some changes to the logical aspects of their storyline, innovations have only made it worse.
There isn’t a scope of finding sense in most of our current shows. Whatever is, it flies away with stupid content every single day. Drama serials have become so embarrassing that we simply watch them for the sake of it. But then again, we have a whole category of audience drooling over heroes and cursing bold female characters. To conclude in Maira’s words, “What happened as we moved to the 21st century? Please tell me – where did we go wrong and where are we headed?“
