When I think of all the dramas that went on air this year, I can’t help but think that there were countless dramas which I started watching with great interest and found them engaging too but after ten episodes or so I completely lost interest in these plays and thought that I would probably catch up after the 20th episode or so. Has this ever happened with you? You started watching a play, enjoyed the story and acting and then lost interest in it after a few episodes? I would like to point out some of the reasons why this happens and how it can be avoided.
Firstly, in my opinion the producers need to stop stretching the plays to 20 episodes plus. If a play can be decently wrapped up in 15 episodes than why add five or more episodes? Obviously this is done in order to gain revenue. When a play is doing well it is extended unnecessarily in particular even if some of the episodes have to be added later on, case in point, Hamsafar and Shehr e Zaat. Durr e shehwar was one play that ended decently and was not stretched without end and therefore engaged its audience right till the end. In fact many people did not want it to end that early, is that not a better feeling than wanting the play to be finally over? Even with Hamsafar I remember feeling that the whole misunderstanding bit was being stretched without end.
When the dramas are stretched, the dialogues tend to be repetitive and the scenes too long which makes it difficult to look forward to the play week after week and catching up with it after a couple of weeks or so seems like the right thing to do.
Secondly, single track stories or a side track that is not interesting enough also makes a play less engaging. When the focus is on one person only or just one family it is nothing short of a feat to keep the interest of the audience alive. There should be multiple tracks in a play in order to make it more appealing.
Thirdly, Some of our dramas just become a little too serious and it would be a brilliant idea if there could be a comic character or a lighter side track in every play in order to break the monotony and bring a smile on people’s faces. Serious issues need to be addressed by our dramas but a lighter side track won’t hurt. In that way we can have some wholesome entertainment.
Fourthly, introducing new couples on-screen would also break the monotony. Our drama industry is blessed with some amazing actors and it is not that difficult to keep on experimenting by pairing different actors on-screen. We have enough bright directors too to create good chemistry between them, so why not.
Share with us how you feel about the points I discussed and if you would want to see these changes in our dramas.
Fatima Awan.
