hile browsing channels on television, yours truly was looking for a play to sink her teeth into before reviewing it.

Many abortive attempts were made. It was disappointing to see the lack of quality material on television these days on mainstream channels like HUM and ARY. Why aren’t writers like Bee Gul of Raqeeb Say or Afia Mufti of Dil Na Umeed to Nahin being encouraged to write more frequently? Television is an extremely lucrative and thriving industry in Pakistan, especially post Covid-19 when it was the only source of entertainment for those facing social isolation.

Pakistani plays have an audience all over the world and are known for their solid content, realistic characters and relatable stories. Plays like Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai catapulted Fawad Khan to international fame. He was welcomed with open arms across the border where his soaring popularity threatened to give quite a few known names in the industry a run for their money.

Following suit, quite a few Pakistani TV actors made films across the border. However, most of them disappeared without a trace. With the growing religious intolerance and fundamentalism in India, Pakistani stars were soon shown the door. Mahira Khan was not even allowed back in the country to promote her film Raees with King Khan after shooting for it. The rest, as they say, is history.

Television, as a thriving industry in Pakistan, has turned out to be a goldmine for some of the big players in the market, namely the large production houses and the TV channel behemoths. Only a tiny fraction of this pie is enjoyed by those we see in front of the camer. With thousands of plays being churned out every year, the media houses are veritable goldmines and money making machines for their owners and directors.

The recipe for a masala TV play is to throw in a long suffering, beautiful heroine, a super controlling and insufferable fiancé (read: the antithesis to the hero), a dashing young gentleman, a conniving mother-in-law, a villainous sister-in-law, prolonged wedding scenes, palatial residences, immaculately made up women, hackneyed and one-dimensional characters and stereotypical dialogues with a melodious OST and voila! you have a play that will set the cash registers ringing.

With so much at stake, it makes sense for producers to play it safe and stick to tried and tested storylines and big names, especially if the budgets are massive. Plays like Teray Bin, a blockbuster starring Wahaj Ali and Yumna Zaidi that was stretched endlessly, encouraged producers to make big budget plays on a grandiose scale where all the focus stayed on art direction and lavish costumes. What suffered was the quality of the scripts. As the motive was to make quick money, run-of-the-mill stories were churned out throughout the year, compromising the quality of production. Plays like Sukoon and Ishq Murshid are prime examples of the trend. The recipe for a masala TV play is to throw in a long suffering, beautiful heroine, a super controlling and insufferable fiancé (read: the antithesis to the hero), a dashing young gentleman, a conniving mother-in-law, a villainous sister-in-law, prolonged wedding scenes, palatial residences, immaculately made up women, hackneyed and one-dimensional characters and stereotypical dialogues with a melodious OST and voila! you have a play that will set the cash registers ringing. The producers will be laughing all the way to the bank. The actors and actresses will sleepwalk through their roles, mouth the dialogues uttered a million times before and walk away with their fat pay cheques. A win-win situation, all the way.

Except there is a hitch. How long will the tried and tested formula work? The content on OTT platforms has the younger generation hooked and the majority prefer to watch those rather than tune in to their local productions.

For businesses to evolve, change is necessary. Now and then, there is a glimmer of hope in the shape of Razia or Sar-i-Rah. But such productions are few and far between. Let’s face it; the viewers of today are spoilt for choice. With exposure to content from all over the world, they can no longer be taken for granted.

The next logical step is to encourage promising young writers to come up with engaging scripts and opt for shorter plays (not more than five or six episodes.) There is a certain niche that wishes to view quality content. The success of plays like Razia and Sar-i-Rah is proof that content will always be king. The viewers and consumers of today are extremely fickle. They switch loyalties at the drop of a hat. So solid content and novel storylines are needed to keep them hooked. This might sometimes mean eschewing commercialism and mindless productions in favour of thought-provoking material.

We need to keep encouraging young and upcoming writers and provide them with a platform to showcase their potential. The projects also have to be commercially viable. So maybe a balance should be sought where our local TV productions have something for everyone.

The plays features on some channels are like a breath of fresh air. The success of productions like Kabuli Pulao, Working Women, Jindo and Teray Husn kay Naam provide ample proof that the modern-day viewers’ tastes have matured. They are ready to try something different. Let’s up our game, experiment and innovate, give OTT platforms a run for their money and not make the cardinal mistake of taking our viewers for granted.

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