The script is the sole foundation of any and every audio-visual piece of work in all entertainment industries, whether it’s theatre, film, or television both commercial or critical in nature. Scriptwriters continue to be in high demand in the Pakistani entertainment industry and yet cease to be celebrated individuals when it comes to crediting them for their meritorious contribution. Here’s a list of credible writers who are breaking ground with their scripts and defying norms by staying clear of regressive drama tropes and gender stereotypes.

Bee Gul

Bee Gul began her career with a telefilm titled Kaun Qamar Ara which was selected and aired as part of the second Hum TV Telefilm Festival. A poetic two char-acter story which featured veteran actor Shakeel and Faiza Hassan as a couple set against the backdrop of undivided India, this telefilm bagged Bee Gul the best telefilm writer award for her debut as a screenwriter.

Her latest drama Raqeeb Se is a story centered on the lives of four women, two of whom are middle aged characters and at the fore-front of this unconventional story. Often accused of subverting misogynistic and patriarchal norms and telling stories that make for an ‘uncomfortable watch’, Bee Gul has interestingly also worked for a leading TV channel that initially rejected her scripts but then hired her as content head.

It has been 11 long years since she began her career as a screenwriter for Pakistan’s entertainment industry, and yet her poetic and progressive writing, which is replete with staunch social messages, continues to be labelled ‘dark’, ‘experimental’, ‘cont-emporary’, ‘bold’, ‘adult’ and ‘artsy’ which she has taken as badges of honour for her stories.

Bee Gul has recently begun to write scripts for films and theatre, such as Intezaar (2020) a film directed by Sakina Samo and a one act play titled Bedroom Conversations, which was directed by Khalid Ahmed (staged 2019-20). Her drama Talkhiyaan, which was an adaptation of Arundhati Roy’s renowned bestseller God of Small Things, featured Sanam Saeed as the lead and carved a niche audience for itself.

Having received several objection notices for her dramas like Kitni Girhain Baki Hain and Dar Si Jati Hai Sila, Bee Gul continues to strive to write and produce nuanced scripts which rely on subtlety and metaphors as tools for effective storytelling. She has a deep love for literature and classics, in particular Maidan-e-Amal by Prem-chand, which she claims is one of her favorite books and a must-read for every aspiring writer.

Umera Ahmed

Umera Ahmed began her career as a digest writer and has risen to fame by writing some of the most popular dramas for the TV industry. Her notable works include but are not limited to the hugely popular series Zindagi Gulzar Hai, Doraha, Shehr-e-Zaat, and Alif. Her work has been praised for unconventional and progressive women characters in plays like Kankar, Uraan and Baaghi. Kankar highlighted women’s domestic abuse where the protagonist Kiran (Sanam Baloch) vehemently rejects the violence that accom-panies material wealth and rather accepts the stigma associated with divorce with dignity. Uraan showcased three educated Pakistani women: a designer, a TV anchor and a divorcee who are strangers but strong enough to fight the gas-lighting and psychological abuse they are subjected to by the same man. Baaghi was loosely based on the life of the late social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, who was brutally murdered. Her bold and eccentric character was essayed on screen by Saba Qamar. Her telefilm Behadd starring Nadia Jamil and Fawad Khan, touched upon how problematic overprotective parenting can be. Recently, Umera Ahmed ventured into scripting for an OTT platform and wrote the much adored web series Ek Jhooti Love Story.

Hashim Nadeem

Hashim Nadeem has mastered the pulse of the masses. His dramas Khuda Aur Mohabbat now in Season 3 and Raqs-e-Bismil are currently trending as the most watched drama serials on air. Nadeem is a published novelist and has worked on several telefilms and drama serials as a private producer. He was awarded the Tamgha-e-Husn-e-Karkardagi civil award by the government for his contribution to the creative industry. Nadeem’s dramas are based on on larger than life canvases for the small screen, featuring potent and striking characters with dramatic arcs.

Both Khuda Aur Mohabbat Season 3 and Raqs-e-Bismil are intense romantic sagas infused with themes of spirituality, divinity and the purity, pain and passion of unrequited love.

Amna Mufti

It is hard to label Amna Mufti to a single title that may define her career. A credible novelist, journalist, screenwriter, farmer, professor, mother and altogether a uniquely progressive thinker, there is very little ground that Amna Mufti has left uncovered when it comes to storytelling in Pakistan. Whilst teaching screenwriting at Punjab University, Mufti is also in pursuit of a doctorate degree in journalism and she firmly asserts that research refines and defines her style of writing. This incredibly diverse and unconventional writer’s latest ground-breaking drama – Dil Na Ummeed Tou Nahi (DNUTN) – touches upon the brutal reality of flesh trade and sex trafficking in Pakistan. Produced by the Kashf Foundation, not only does the show unveil the ruthless brothel business in the country but also sheds light on several parallel issues like child abuse, animal abuse and violence against women.

This is Mufti’s second drama with the Kashf Foundation, the first one being Aakhri Station, which was based on the inter-secting lives of seven women who remain strangers till they meet on a train to realize they have complex and intriguing stories to share.

Mufti has written and published several novels, one of which is a piece of environmental fiction, titled Paani Mar Raha Hai. Her drama Ghughi was based on Amrita Pritam’s 1950 novel Pinjar, which featured Amar Khan playing the role of a Hindu woman, Nirmala, who gets abducted by a Muslim man (Adnan Siddiqui as Rasheed).

With a decade of credible work under her belt, Mufti is inspired by Urdu literary geniuses like Qurutulain Haider and Altaf Fatima when it comes to storytelling. She says it sometimes takes her over two years to complete a single script. Her upcoming drama series in the works is a musical, tentatively titled Simporum, an idea which she had frozen for five years but eventually began to conceive and develop during quarantine last year.

Haseena Moin

Pakistan’s girl-with-the-golden-pen is still active at 79 and shooting her next web series at a hill station near Islamabad. Undoub-tedly Haseena Moin is nothing less than a boon to the country’s television industry. It is safe to say that her literary genius has carved an entire league of its own and her vigour and undaunted vitality to tell stories is thriving till date. When asked about her process for writing and creating memorable characters, she shared: “For me, writing a TV drama is like painting a picture with words, which is intended to delectably impact the viewer who’s not just listening to my words, but also intently imbibing everything visually. When you create a character, that character requires ample thought and research; you need to sit and think; what is this fictional person’s taluqaat (socio-cultural background), kefiyaat (state of mind), harkaat-o-saknaat (body language), guft-o-shuneed (conversational ability), jazbaat (feelings and emotions), andaaz-e-bayaan (style of expression or mannerisms) and nafsiyaat (psyche). Only then, will you be able to choose the right colours to paint your final image, such that it has an effective and accurate portrayal of your characters”.

After penning immortal PTV classics like Tanhaiyaan, Perchaiyaan, and Ankahi, Moin has begun to write for OTT platforms and adapt her older classics for the stage. To this day she uses the old-school kaagaz-qalam to literally pen each word of her script and has had to fight several battles to procure intellectual copy-rights of her own work. Her upcoming project will be a comedy series based on Breast Cancer Awareness for a digital channel RINSTRA under the Dice Foundation. It is the story of a cancer survivor who uses humour as a tool to battle her illness. She has also committed to three other series, a love story and a short web series followed by a longer full length drama serial about a woman who is an architect, which will also be for the same digital platform RINSTRA.

Fasih Bari Khan

Plausibly the king of Urdu social satire with a knack for witty dialogues, Fasih Bari Khan has certainly carved a distinctive space for himself in a rapidly evolving entertainment industry that is primarily driven by figures and ratings. His raunchy style of humour incorporates hyper exagge-ration, mockery and irony as a means to critique unfavorable aspects of Pakistani society and the hypocritical human nature. His dramas are undoubtedly entertaining but inadv-ertently feature elements of fantasy and absurdism whilst his characters are power packed which a desi critical punch.

Khan’s notable and most popular works include Burns Road Ki Nilofer, Quddusi Sahab Ki Bewa and Khatoon-e-Manzil, which focus on the mundane yet dramatic lives of the working, struggling and penny pinching middle class in Pakistan. His way with words has revived and introduced audiences of all ages to classical Awadhi and Deccani Urdu adages that seem to have lost value in today’s colloquial style of daily interaction.

While having penned feature films like 7 Din Mohabbat In and Jeewan Hathi, his most recent drama Ghisi Piti Mohabbat broke all age-old conv-entional TV stereotypes and received critical and commercial acclaim. The drama touched upon issues like women’s harassment in the workplace, cognitive dissonance, body odour and resulting intimacy issues, the stigma surrounding women’s divorce and multiple marriages and the liberating idea that there is more to a woman’s life than having a happily ever after with a husband.

The story con-cluded with an alternative happy ending that had the protagonist Samia (Ramsha Khan) finally becoming a restaurateur and hiring non-binary/ trans individuals as her assisting staff. This show was also quirky and eccentric because of its self-reflexive genre that mocked the most overwrought and regressive tropes that primetime TV dramas make viewers succumb to.

Faiza Iftikhar

Faiza Iftikhar has skillfully mastered the genre of commercially popular romantic dramas and it is safe to say that her scripts make her the queen of epic romance when it comes to storytelling on television. Some of her most popular dramas include romantic comedy Auun Zara and romance-drama Dil Lagi.

Her current show Pehli Si Mohabbat is a simple yet entertaining love saga between two neighbours who struggle to unite owing to their respective complicated family ties. Iftikhar’s dramas rely on themes like strong family values, close knit bonds, old-school style of expressing affection, and subtle social messaging, which altogether evokes a sentiment of togetherness. Her most popular drama was Ranjha Ranjha Kardi which was directed by Kashif Nisar and depicted that even a mentally challenged indivi-dual could fall in love and hope for a happy ending with a family of his own.

Farhat Ishtiaq

Celebrated for penning what was considered a pivotal shift in the popularity of Urdu dramas across the globe, Farhat Ishtiaq changed the game for the entertainment industry by gifting us the epic saga of love, loss and life, Humsafar in 2011. This legendary 21st century romantic drama not only broke records in Pakistan but was also translated in languages like Somali, Arabic and Persian to be broadcast around several countries across the world. The drama made Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan rise to stardom as an epic duo and lead them to become the most coveted on-screen couple. Her more recent drama Yeh Dil Mera, was a romantic thriller starring Sajal Ali and Ahad Raza Mir.

Farhat has penned several novels and short stories, which have been later adapted for the screen. Her film Bin Roye (2015) was a massive blockbuster and was re-released on popular demand as it broke all records at the box office. It was later adapted for television starring Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed as leads and was well received on television as well.

These renowned names all seem to have something in common, a love for literature and a passion to tell progressive and thought provoking stories which incite curiosity in audiences and leave them craving for what will happen next, which is the key element that draws viewers every week to their seat. We hope the entertainment industry gives writers the space and the freedom to thrive, express and break free from regressive drama moulds that have been pre-conceived for writers trying to evolve mainstream entertainment.

Afreen Seher is a creative writer and a Digital Media professional with special interests in TV and pop culture. She can be reached at afreenu3@gmail.com