udos, Kashif Nisar has done it again. This time with Breaking News, a hard-hitting drama set in a newsroom that exposes the dark underbelly of the media industry.

Hussain, essayed by actor Hamza Sohail, is a content creator at a private news channel owned by Naveed Khan who is portrayed by Ali Safina. The other protagonist is Amar Khan, who takes on the role of Mishal, a budding news reporter, who is committed to her work and wants to break into the already-saturated industry.

Naveed Khan heads a private TV channel which goes by the name of Pakistan@10. Hussain is responsible for curating content for the various programmes that go on air. Mishal, his class fellow, is a scrupulous, struggling reporter, who lives in a rented studio apartment.

When Mishal bags her first break in the industry with a channel called JNN, her predecessor Ayesha, portrayed by Faiza Gillani, greets her forebodingly with the statement, “Welcome to hell.”

Ayesha is a single mother, embroiled in a child custody battle with her ex-husband. She has not been paid for over six months. The cheques issued to her by the channel keep on bouncing, exacerbating her precarious financial situation and worsening her depression. In this struggle for survival, she relies on the anti-depressants to get by.

Mishaal helps her out financially and promises to follow up with the finance department about her cheques. However, all her attempts are futile and she is constantly fobbed off by the accounts department and told to concentrate on her work instead.

Meanwhile, Hussain is also struggling and becoming disillusioned with the media world. Naveed Khan, his boss, had hired him to oblige his father but the growing professional differences between them force Hussain to finally resign.

Naveed is portrayed as an archetypical media baron obsessed with ratings and raking in the moolah. He has no qualms about compromising his professional integrity and using his channel as a PR machine to further vested interests. This ranges from inviting actresses to scripted shows to framing ministers by fabricating issues and presenting them through a sensational lens in a bid to promote his wife’s PR firm and gain government contracts.

…a hard-hitting drama set in a newsroom that exposes the dark underbelly of the media industry.

An insight into Naveed’s background is provided: he saw his upright and honest reporter father’s world come crashing down after he did an exposé on an influential politician. He was jailed and Naveed was tortured in order to coerce his father into revealing his source. The plan worked but his father did not withstand the trauma and died soon afterwards.

That intensely traumatic incident still holds Naveed in its grip as he hasn’t been able to recover from it. He crawls and grovels his way to the top and is determined to let nothing stand in his way. Now that he owns one of the leading news channels in the country and is a force to reckon with in the media industry, he uses and abuses his power to the fullest and is determined not to repeat his father’s mistakes.

Then, Azmat Bhagio, a new programmes director, joins Naveed’s team. He invites Hussain to join his team and promises to resolve his issues and revise his pay package. Hussain, after thinking about it, rejoins but the inevitable follows. Naveed and the new director have a showdown.

Mishaal is struggling in her own way. Hailing from a small city, she is determined to realise her dreams of being a leading news reporter as she arrives in Lahore. The play shows how she becomes increasingly disillusioned with the way principles, values and ethics are compromised in the industry. Everything that Ayesha tells her about the channel and the office dynamics begins to take an emotional toll on her.

Mishaal is portrayed as a sensitive and morally upright individual determined to bring about a change through her profession. Her dreams shatter into a million pieces when she encounters extremely unpalatable and obnoxious characters that have no qualms about selling their souls for money.

Kashif does an excellent job as a director, portraying the dark and dirty secrets of the media industry. Both Amar and Hamza act well and the viewer cannot help but root for them in their battle against a mafia that threatens to gobble them up. Ali Safina aces the role of a corrupt media baron. Haseeb Khan as the programmes director and his antithesis is equally determined to foil his evil designs. Tune in for the battle of the titans and the ultimate showdown.

Breaking News is a short, gripping story about the rot at the core of the media industry. Ably executed and directed by Kashif Nisar, the narrative moves at breakneck speed. With dialogues dipped in acid, a watertight screenplay and excellent acting, this is an incredibly interesting and thought-provoking watch.

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