All of you must know by now that this year Hum TV has decided to have its own award function, the nominations for the viewer’s choice award have been made public. Nida already mentioned in her post that out of 32 categories, seven are for the viewer’s to decide who will bag an award. Since my primary interest is in dramas only so I want to share with all of you how I felt about the nominations for viewer’s choice related to the drama industry. First of all lets discuss the nominations for best drama. The nominations are
Best Drama
Maat
Shehr-e-Zaat
Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar
Yahan Pyar Nahi Hai
Roshan Sitara
Bari Apa
Why are plays like Roshan Sitara and Mere Qatil Mere Dildar there and not Hamsafar, Durr-e-Shehwar or Bilquees Kaur? Hamsafar may have been criticized by the critics for its cliché storyline and the stereotyped characters but there is no denying the fact that it was one of the most popular dramas of its time. Hamsafar was not only popular in Pakistan but also in other countries where people watch Pakistani dramas.
Durr-e-Shehwar had amazing dialogues, the direction was flawless, the underlying message was in line with our social norms and the acting was top notch, but it almost seems like Durr-e-Shehwar has been left out on purpose, although I see no reason for it except that two of Umera Ahmed’s plays have been nominated already so they did not want to nominate a third one. Bilquess Kaur is another play that deserved to be nominated much more than a drama like Roshan Sitara in particular that was a complete flop because the storyline totally went haywire.
Now take a look at these nominations
Best Actor Female
Mehwish Hayat For Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar
Saba Qamar For Maat
Mahira Khan For Shehrzaat
Sania Saaed For Zard Mausam
Sanam Baloch For Roshan Sitara
Savera Nadeem For Bari Apa
I was definitely expecting that Bushra Ansari would be nominated for Bilquees Kaur but like Durr-e-Shehwar, Bilquees Kaur has also been left out of the nominations although both the plays were incredibly popular among public and these are after all nominations for viewer’s choice! Sanam Baloch has been nominated for Roshan Sitara and not Durr-e-Shehwar, which is somewhat unfair because had she been nominated for Durr-e-Shehwar she had a far greater chance of winning this award. I am not entirely happy with Mehwish Hayat’s nomination too because I think Syra Yusef’s and Sadia Imam’s performances were far more powerful in Bilquees Kaur.
Here is the next category
Best Actor Male
Ahsan Khan For Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar
Adnan Siddiqui For Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar
Noman Ejaz For Bari Apa
Mikaal Zulfiqar For Shehrzaat
Imran Aslam For Sanjha
Faisal Rehmaan For Zard Mausam
Ahsan Khan for Mere Qatil Mere Dildar and not Bilquees Kaur? Mikaal Zulfiqar for Shehr-e-Zaat and not Durr-e-Shehwar? So is Durr-e-Shehwar not going to be nominated in any category and neither is Bilquees Kaur? I am sure many of the viewer’s would have much rather chosen their favorites out of these two plays than any other play.
The last drama related category in Viewer’s Choice is
Best On-screen Couple
Fawad Khan & Mahira Khan For Humsafar
Mikaal Zulfiqar & Mahira Khan For Shehrzaat
Ahsan Khan & Mehwish Hayat For Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar
I may sound like a die hard Durr-e-Shehwar fan but in my opinion Mikaal Zulfiqar and Sanam Baloch deserved to be in this category too. And I would much rather have the option of voting for Ahsan Khan and Syra Yusef for Bilquees Kaur rather than Ahsan Khan and Mehwish Hayat.
These were just some random thoughts about the nominations. What do you people think about these nominations? I think Durr-e-Shehwar, Bilquees Kaur and Hamsafar deserved a little more recognition.
Fatima Awan.
