An essential ingredient that makes a Pakistani drama complete apart from the male and female protagonists is the character of a mother. Rarely have we witnessed a drama in ages without a mother who possesses either a caring, giving, sacrificing, or wicked, insecure nature.
Mothers in Pakistani dramas have had a separate fanbase and quite an impact on the lives and stories of the lead pair. Samina Peerzada is still remembered for her portrayal of a very calm and composed mother to Kashaf Murtuza in ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’. So is Atiqa Odho’s super-popular character in ‘Humsafar’ which gathered immense attention and the performance got appreciated by viewers worldwide.
However, it is not the out-and-out black or white characters that define a mother’s role in a household. Writers often overlook the fact that mothers are also humans and can be as flawed as any other character in the drama and still be justified in their actions.
Let’s have a look at some uniquely created roles of on-screen mothers, who have reshaped the landscape of character portrayal, setting new standards for every role they inhabit.
Samina Peerzada and Sabreen Hisbani in ‘Meri Beti’
ARY Digital’s 2013 drama ‘Meri Beti’ has a finely written story by Mohsin Ali set in the regular domestic environment. The drama highlights the journey beginning with a conservative mother Samina Peerzada and eventually concludes with her granddaughter’s take on motherhood.
‘Meri Beti’ covers the idea of three generations as mothers of daughters played by Samina Peerzada, Sabreen Hisbani, and Areej Fatima. The story begins with a divorced Saba played by Sabreen Hisbani who returns to her mother Samina Peerzada with her five-year-old daughter Iraj, who grows to be Areej Fatima.
Saba is married off to another man while being forced by her mother to hide her first marriage and daughter. Both mothers get tangled in a web of lies when Iraj gets married and ultimately finds out who her real mother is.
Atiqa Odho is ‘Pyaar Ke Sadqay’
In search of true love, when the widowed Mansoora finds a younger man Sarwar as her life partner, things become uncontrollable as her sincerity towards her children gets questioned. Written by Zanjabeel Asim, Mansoora’s character was not as simple as it seemed to be.
She was insecure about her rapidly growing old age as well as the youth of her seemingly nice and sweet husband. Mansoora’s belief in Sarwar’s genuineness kept getting intensified even though he was not a man to be trusted, at least for her children.
Sarwar’s torturous behavior towards Mansoora’s son Abdullah was always perceived as a father’s concern for the child’s well-being and personality development however, it only destroyed Abdullah’s mental state not letting him grow completely as a man in his head.
Samina Peerzada in ‘Bayqusoor’
A very unique character written by Samina Aijaz for ARY Digital’s 2015 drama ‘Bay Qasoor’. Sadaf played by Samina Peerzada gets married to Waseem played by Waseem Abbas after being divorced by Shehryar played by Sajid Hassan. Both Sadaf and Waseem had daughters from previous marriages when they got together, played by Aimen Khan and Saboor Aly.
When Waseem tries to forcefully marry off Sadaf’s daughter Hira to an old and greedy man, Sadaf feeds poison to Hira in order to escape from this unhealthy marriage. Samina Peerzada’s performance as Sadaf is undeniably one of her finest of all time as the character goes through several ups and downs including legal proceedings throughout the show.
Aamina Sheikh in ‘Pakeeza’
Written by Bushra Ansari, ‘Pakeeza’ discovered the journey of a celebrated artist Pakeeza Jibran played by Aamina Sheikh. Pakeeza is married to Jibran played by Aly Khan and both have a teenage daughter Kiran. Kiran is unaware of her parents’ unhealthy and abusive marriage and considers them an ideal couple.
However, Jibran’s psychotic behaviour compels him to secretly divorce his wife and then deny it in front of society. All this while Pakeeza finds a comfort zone with a fellow artist and family friend Azeem played by Adnan Siddiqui who is in one-sided love with her. Pakeeza ends up in a fight of honour against the misogynist society and even loses the trust of her daughter, eventually gaining it back with a tragic ending.
Bushra Ansari in ‘Jhoot’
Another beautifully written drama starring Bushra Ansari, Imran Ashraf, Mansha Pasha, Kamran Jeelani, and Mira Sethi, ‘Jhoot’ revolves around how a mother’s over-caring and possessive nature ruins her children’s life. Bushra Ansari plays Saleha, a disciplined woman who is extremely caring towards her children Zara and Waqar played by Mansha Pasha and Kamran Jeelani respectively.
Saleha’s fear of losing control over her children prevails over her personality so much so that she doesn’t get her children married until their right age passes. Bushra Ansari undoubtedly handles the character very well throughout the show and maintains the grey streak of Saleha’s personality.
Saba Hamid in ‘Aisi Hai Tanhai’
Sonya Hussyn, Sami Khan, and Nadia Khan starrer ARY Digital’s ‘Aisi Hai Tanhai‘ is one of the most intense and tragic dramas we have ever seen. The project highlighted various social issues including sexual assault, honour killings, and women empowerment while revolving around one major issue which is cybercrime.
Pakeeza’s obscene pictures go viral after her phone gets snatched from her university premises. Her life turns upside down when she becomes the talk of the town due to an extremely questionable scenario. Saba Hamid greatly portrayed Pakeeza’s mother who gets completely shattered by her daughters’ defamation and tries to kill her by poisoning.
The project grabbed a lot of attention and became one of the most-watched dramas of its time due to a disturbing and somewhat realistic portrayal of such sensitive subjects.
Summing Up
A drama is incomplete without a mother’s character. However, enough tolerance is required to accept mothers as normal human beings who can be flawed too. The stigma around the role of mothers is either they are too sacrificing, or they are way too wicked and clever to wreck homes. However, these dramas showed courageous mothers who were flawed and went for desperate right or wrong attempts while justifying their part in their children’s lives.
