ome of the television productions in the year 2022 turned out to be blockbusters.They pushed the envelope, had progressive storylines and gave us nuanced characters to appreciate.

One serial, starring the very talented Yumna Zaidi comes to mind, proving yet again the versatility of the actress. She is a powerhouse of talent and has acted in some extremely diverse productions including Dil Na Umeed to Nahin, and Ishq-i-La. Bakhtawar gives the versatile actress a platform to showcase her immense potential and challenges the typical stereotypical image of the female protagonists - as seen in productions like Kaisi Teri Khudgharzi, which was a huge blockbuster.

Bakhtawar is based on the real life story of, Farheen Ishtiaq, who lives in Lahore and goes to work every day dressed as a man to fend for her daughter. The various challenges endured by Bakhtawar as she struggles to survive in a patriarchal society are expertly captured in this production, which is a testament to Yumna’s talent as an actress.

Viewers now have more exposure to quality TV productions from all over the world on OTT platforms. This means that Pakistani plays have to change and adapt to cater to the needs of a diverse audience.

Mushkil was one of the mega hits of the year. Zainab Shabbir as Hareem, played the vamp and did full justice to her character. The razor-sharp dialogues and some fantastic acting by all the leads bagged sky-high TRPs for this play. The tall and handsome protagonist (Khushal Khan) is a talent to watch out for.

The play Siyani started airing on Geo when Mushkil ended and narrates the story of Kiran (Anmol Baloch), a woman who pretends to be from a privileged background and hatches a plan to ensnare a husband.The play has been extremely popular although the storyline is quite hackneyed and the characters appear to be caricatures rather than people viewers can identify with.

Agar is another play, starring Juggan Kazim.The lead character works as the principal of a school and is the sole breadwinner of the family. She is portrayed as a strong, independent woman who secretly marries a man working at her school despite strong opposition by her mother. The mother is played by the very talented Hina Bayat, who has essayed a wide variety of roles with admirable finesse and élan.

Agar touches on the societal dilemma of delaying or permanently postponing marriages of women who take on the role of the sole bread winner in the absence of an eligible male figure. Habs is another play where the mother, Saba Faisal, does not want her eldest daughter to get married as she is responsible for running the household and providing for the family.

With the proliferation of talented writers like Bee Gul and Amna Mufti, we see the TV landscape being dominated by women. As more and more productions hit the small screen, the discerning viewer is spoilt for choice. Ranging from Raqeeb Se, challenging the stereotypical image of females, to showing independent and strong female characters like that of Kashf in Zindagi Gulzar Hai, TV productions have come a long way.

This year, the HUM Awards were held in Canada once again as Pakistani productions are a rage with the Pakistanis and Indians residing there. The entire TV fraternity attended the momentous occasion.We were treated to some mesmerising and awe-inspiring performances.

The television fraternity is expanding day by day and we see more fresh faces adorning the television screens. The versatility and talent of it is impressive. The kind of challenging and layered characters being written and the unconventional storylines call for out-of-the-box acting, impeccable production and direction.

Another positive development has been the phasing out of stereotype or pigeonhole characters. The new actors are not afraid of experimenting and are eager not to be typecast. Zainab Shabbir as Hareem, in Mushkil, portrays an antagonist and does it amazingly well. The dialogues are also excellent and some of the performances, although the play was stretched, were extremely convincing.

Hadiqa Kiyani debuted with Raqeeb Se. She also played the role of an older woman romantically involved with a younger man in Dobara extremely well. Her play Pinjra is also garnering great reviews for highlighting the problems faced by couples today in bringing up children who with the exposure to social media combined with peer influences are struggling with challenges which their parents’ generation is unable to understand and identify with.

Hadiqa is opting for unconventional storylines and is bent on making her mark. She is also a powerhouse of talent and has impressed viewers.

The race for TRPs has seen many top-notch productions being sacrificed at its altar. Jo Bichar Gaye, despite rave reviews from most critics,did not make a profit.

Naureen, a social worker and housewife, spends her evenings watching TV plays. She prefers watching productions that challenge the intellect and have something novel to offer.

Maryam, a resident of Birmingham, believes that Pakistani TV plays suffer on account of predictable storylines. “They need to up their game if they plan to remain competitive, especially keeping in mind the cut-throat competition from international productions,” she says.

Irum, another housewife, prefers sitcoms and would rather watch light productions like Bulbulaythat offer soft entertainment. According to her, life today is riddled with so many problems that she prefers escapist TV productions rather than serious or thought-provoking ones.

Most local television series start off extremely well but once they start gaining popularity, they tend to be endlessly stretched. Fraud, starring Saba Qamar, for instance started off on a very promising note but has been infinitely stretched.

There are all kinds of viewers, so all genres are explored on TV.

The television industry is rapidly expanding.These are exciting time for the fraternity.

The next year promises to be even more exciting as we anticipate even more diverse storylines, layered characters and top-notch productions by some of the leading production houses.

The writer is an  educationist. She can be reached at gaiteeara@hotmail.com.