Ohkay so, there used to be a time when our dramas were filled with amazing female characters but the most important character that almost everyone looked up-to was that of a mother because one way or the other, a mother had a very important role to play in the plot. Unfortunately, we experienced how writers creativity (coughing in sarcasm) took a toll on all the relations that are sacred to us but recently, they have literally butchered the concept of love, companionship, comfort & intuition that a mother is made of by showing us botched up mothers in our dramas & frankly speaking, no one understands these sort of mothers & no one can relate to them, why…because no one has seen such mothers & the likes of them in their real lives.

We have come across a lot of interviews where the writers believe they are showing us the “real picture” of what happens in our society but I would do the honors of bursting the bubble they live in that no matter how wrong a woman must be for someone else, when it comes to her children, she is always going to be an embodiment of selflessness, unlimited love, understanding & friendship because mothers are blessed with an intuition that never allows them to not notice the things their kids are going through. I am actually disgusted at how the writers have started using mothers as fillers who are free of everything, starting from sensibility to courtesy when it comes to their own children.

It is actually a sad state of affairs for our dramas that almost all the relations, well not almost, in fact all the relations have been ruined by the writers because they want to sensationalize & dramatize their stories by showing us extreme & most highly unlikely scenarios, but what I fail to understand is, what good are they achieving out of ruining a mother son or mother daughter equation in our dramas? It looks like the mother’s character is something that the writers do not pay attention to & when they are done with the whole story, they add the mother’s character as an after-thought, to complete the family picture because other than that, there’s no role that a mother plays in her children’s life & she is only used as a source to let everyone know how their hero & heroine made to this world because after that, her duty is done & she is free from all the obligations that a mother has towards her children.

It is quite amusing yet alarming to see them showing how the mothers are so oblivious of what their children are going through. I miss seeing such mothers who can sense the mental & emotional state of their kids just by having a look at them. It is actually quite contradictory that they start off at a point where they show that a mother is the most courteous & considerate human being that has walked on the face of the Earth, but it lasts till her kid; daughter especially lands into a trouble because that’s when the courtesy & consideration escapes from the roshan daan of the bathroom & mother takes a new janam & she is reincarnated as someone who is free of any such motherly instincts & we get to see a new avatar of mother who is worried about everyone else around her, except her own daughter.

Our recent dramas are filled with such beautiful examples that put all the mothers to shame because they do everything they are supposed to do, to make things even more difficult for a daughter. Ever since our writers have gotten fixated with the idea of rape, they have made sure that the rapist finds an alliance within his victim’s home & he hits a jackpot because it is the mother who is going gaga over the rapist of her own daughter for the reasons best known to her. The mahaan mothers in Chup Raho & Sangat are clear winners when it comes to befriending the rapists because when it comes to their daughters, they end up suffering from short term memory loss & easily forget what their daughter has been through. Our writers have really underestimated the power of a mother & the lengths she can go to in order to protect her child who has been through such a physical & emotional trauma. Where Rameen’s mother in Chup Raho was hired at Rs. 500/hour to say ‘Chup Raho’ repeatedly, Ayesha’s mother in Sangat is hired to create a comfy abode for her daughter’s rapist, but if I have to pick one of them for the Worst Mother of the Century Award, then hands down, Zubaida of Sangat is the undisputed winner because she has completely erased the memory of what happened to her daughter, she has defied the grandma gene because she is completely aloof to the condition of her ailing grand-daughter, she is educated enough to send her daughter off to see the shrink but doesn’t have a time to sit with her daughter herself, she is stupid enough to blame her daughter for flirting with her muh-bola beta aka rapist & to top it all, she has adopted the rapist & is doing everything to babysit him because she is so courteous that her heart will burst if she doesn’t shower someone with the love she carries in her heart for everyone, excluding her daughter & her granddaughter.

If the writers want to show mothers like Rasheeda of Sadqay Tumhare, then it actually makes sense because Rasheeda’s character was completely black & she was against each & everyone in her family. She never had a good relation with her mother, she hated her sister, she used & fooled her husband & then when it came to her daughter, she was against her happiness too, so that actually made us understand her character that Rasheeda was someone who could never see anyone else happy so to see her bent on ruining Shano’s life seemed justified from her perspective, but what justification do the writers have for coming up with the characters like Rameen & Ayesha’s mothers who are best of friends with EVERYONE around them, who are walking an extra mile for EVERYONE around them, who are babysitting EVERYONE around them except their own daughters? I find it hard to absorb that the mothers in our dramas are shown to form stronger ties & relations with strangers & not worry an ounce about the sufferings of their own children. It is often seen that if a daughter is in a vulnerable state & has hit the rock bottom, the mother would speak about all the weak points & will only talk about the negative side of the spectrum to shake & burden her daughter even more. Instead of telling her that things are going to be ohkay, our mothers are seen forcing their daughters to do the things that will never make them happy & won’t let their inner-selves be in peace. Recently, Munira in Gul-e-Rana has hopped on the bandwagon too & the way she is progressing, I am sure it won’t take her too long to make it to the Hall of Fame of worst mothers because Gul-e-Rana’s cousin, who hardly meets her could sense that Rana didn’t look happy, even the servant of the house Gulab Khan looked more like a mother to her because he could see that Rana was down & depressed, but the one who became the brand ambassador of blindfolds at that point was Rana’s mother Munira, who only showed up with a baton to remind her daughter that she has to please her sartaaj & she is not allowed to cause him distress or else her mother will go on a wheezing spree!

I actually detest the idea that mothers are only used as preachers & that too for all the wrong reasons. It’s been a while where we got to see such a scenario that in stead of worrying about her own nose, a mother got down to the level of her daughter & thought things through her daughter’s perspective. I thank my friend Fatima Awan for pointing out another questionable trend that when a daughter shows at a door step with a luggage in her hand, a mother never asks or gives a thought to what her daughter must’ve been through. In fact the moment the door bell rings, a mother rolls up her sleeves & starts brainstorming to come up with an emotional blackmailing tactic to send her daughter back to her sartaaj’s house. Kiran’s mother in Kankar was also another one of those mighty mothers who thought it was ohkay to let go of her husband’s secret history of domestic abuse in order to convince her daughter that it is ohkay to get beaten up by your husband because by the end of the day, you need to rely on a man for so many things & that’s how the life goes by! Another fact that is sickening is that they always show women from middle class & at times those who themselves are educated, who can do so much more than what they think. I am not generalizing here by speaking about a social class but it doesn’t quite hit home for me that mothers who do have a little more resources are shown so weak & highly dependent.

Oh, another trend that has been prevailing in our dramas is that behind every forced marriage, there is going to be a mother & make no mistake, she will do everything to hold her ground & would resort to lying if she feels the need to add more weight to her decision. I just watched Aabro (keep an eye for its overview though) & in this drama too, Ali’s mother, even after getting a clear cut STOP sign from her son is bent on getting him married to the girl she thinks is good for him. Why can’t we see more such characters of mothers like Durr-e-Shahwaar, who when sensed what her daughter was going through, decided to guide her using her own journey as an example? She was able to do that because she herself lived an exemplary life, that is why when she felt her daughter needed a lifelong lesson, she shared everything with her just in order to help the situation. Even though, this one isn’t that examplary of a mother but I liked the mother-children relation that was shown in Miraat ul Uroos, where Rafia was in an awe of her kids but when her eldest son Hammad, who she loved the most started to draw a line after his marriage, she didn’t make things awkward for him & took a step back to show her support even though she was hurt by his attitude.

It is actually a shame that now when I am trying to think about the characters of good mothers, I really am forced to do some thinking but when it comes to the weird mummies out there, the list is never-ending. I actually wish to see a mother & a daughter having a heart to heart conversation with each other. I actually wish to see such a scenario where a daughter doesn’t have to say anything & before the words make it to her mouth, it’s the mother who reads her mind & asks what she is going through. I so wish to see such a mother who isn’t so oblivious of her daughter’s hardships. I so wish to see a mother who creates such an atmosphere for her daughter where she knows that despite failing many a times, her mother is going to stay by her side & protect her no matter what. I so wish to see them showing us what an actual & ideal relationship between a mother & daughter is like. I so wish to see such a mother who fights against all the odds & stands by her daughter’s side no matter what. I so wish to see a mother who is more sensitive towards her own children than she is towards the strangers.

Our dramas have always been our pride & joy & we love it when we get to know that our dramas are being appreciated but unfortunately, it looks like some writers these days are only focused on ruining the image of our dramas not only in Pakistan but in the outside world too, because of their limited mental capabilities & typical mindedness. No doubt our writers deserve to be acknowledged for showing creativity in terms of writing but sadly, in a completely wrong direction. They have ruined each & every relation that we experience but I so wish they stop doing this to the sacred relation that a mother has with her offspring. I hope that before penning down the scripts & even before focusing on the problems & issues of a hero heroine, our writers put their heart & soul in the characters of a mother & would make her so strong that she will take the story forward by staying true to what she is known for & by showcasing what she is capable of. Please share your thoughts about this unfortunate portrayal of weak & clueless mothers & feel free to talk about the trends that you’ve noticed related to mothers in our dramas as well.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Aqleem Akhtar (اقلیم اختر) is one of the forgotten characters in the history of Pakistan. She was a power broker and had access to the power corridors of Pakistani decision makers from 1960’s to early 1970’s. Especially from March 1969 to December 1971, she was considered one of the most powerful lady in Pakistan politics without serving at any key position.

Why Aqleem AKhtar is being discussed on this showbiz portal, the reason is few of her family members later excelled in the showbiz. This article discusses all the famous persons related to the family of Aqleem Akhtar. Two names in this article i.e. Tariq Mairaj and Naseem Tariq are no more related to this family, but their names are mentioned for reference only.

Aqleem Akhtar
Aqleem Akhtar was from the city of Gujarat, Punjab. She was married to a Police officer and the couple has six kids. The marriage ended in divorce in early 1960’s due to disagreement between this couple. After the divorce, Aqleem Akhtar started a social club arranging dance parties from her apartment in the Rawalpindi with her nickname Raani. Her social club was regularly frequented by top government officials from military and bureacracry and thus she get acquaintance with officials serving on the key posts. During one such meeting around 1967 Aqleem Akhtar got introduced to General Yahya Khan, the then Commander Inchief of Paksitan Army. General Yahya Khan is famous as a drinker and womanizer and thus was a regular part of social gatherings in Rawalpindi.

Both Aqleem Akhtar (Raani) and General Yahya became good friends. It is said that Aqleem Akhtar Raani also introduced the General Yahya Khan to many other ladies than active in the social circles. Their friendship and association has been discussed widely in the Pakistani and International press. In 1960’s Pakistan was ruled by the military dictator General Ayub Khan who faced a violent agitation movement in 1968 and 1969 by the leftist student and labour organizations. As a result of this agitation, General Ayub Khan resigned in March 1969 and the Commander In-chief of Pakistan Army General Yahya Khan imposed the martial law in Pakistan. With the martial law of 1969, General Yahya Khan became the president of Pakistan as well and announced general elections in 1970.

Aqleem Akhtar Raani became the closest friend of General Yahya Khan suddenly gained importance. Due to her closeness with the General, she was being called as General Raani in the press, an identity which over shadowed her actual name Aqleem Akhtar. It was famous that Aqleem Akhtar Raani or General Raani can influence the decision of the President General Yahya Khan on politics and key political matters. With such reputation, Aqleem Akhtar Raani gained the status of a power broker. She was regular visited by politician, officials (civil or military), businessmen who want favor from the Yahya Khan regime. One such famous name is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who later also served as the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Being active in politics Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also targetted the association of Aqleem Akhtar Raani and Yahya Khan in his electoral movement, and thus the name of General Raani gained popularity with the commoners as well. After the election of 1970, Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman from East Pakistan got the absolute majority in the parliament, however Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto the head of the second largest party from West Pakistan refused to attend the parliament due to reservation on the manifesto of Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman. Unable to resolve the differences, in March 1971, the president Yahya Khan cancelled the parliament session a decision which resulted in a violent uprising in East Pakistan. The uprsising ended in the war of December 1971 and East Pakistan eventually became an independant country of Bangladesh. Badly defeated General Yahya Khan left the presidency and handed over the powers to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.With General Yahya the role of Aqleem Akhtar Raani as a power borker in Pakistani politics also ended forever.

In 1970’s under the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto government, General Raani was widely targetted in the press especially in the Urdu Daily Musawaat, run by the ruling party i.e. Pakistan Peoples Party. She was accused of being part of the 1971 defeat with General Yahya. She was also put under house arrest for much of the Bhutto government until 1977 when Bhutto was overthrown by General Ziaul Haq. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also setup a fact finding commission known as Hamudur Rehman commission on the 1971 war. The report of the Hamudur Rehman commission was not made public until 2001, which has widely discussed the association of General Yahya and Aqleem Akhtar Raani. The association of General Yahya and Aqleem Akhtar Raani can be considered as a dark part of our history.

In 1977 General Ziaul Haq came in to power by over throwing Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and it also ended the difficult time for Aqleem Akhtar Raani. She gradually disappeared from the print media. In 1981, General Yahya Khan also passed away. Aqleem Akhtar Raani again became a subject of the press due to her involvement in a drugs smuggling case in 1980’s. But like no other charges proven on her previously this case also ended eventually.

Since 1980’s till her death in 2002 Aqleem Akhtar Raani or General Raani spent a quiet life at her home town Gujrat. She is mentioned in memoirs of many military and civil officials who have worked with General Yahya Khan. Interestingly a Punjabi film loosely based on her character was also produced in Lahore in 1990’s named Madam Raani. Anjuman, the most successful artist of the Punjabi cinema played the role of Madam Raani (General Raani).

Though largely forgotten, every year in December when on the 16th December, on the anniversary of the 1971 war the name of General Raani does appear in press and media.

The legacy of General Raani is not ended with her death. Her next generation also got fame in different fields of life.

Aroosa Alam
Aroosa Alam is the daughter of Aqleem Akhtar one of the six kids she had from her marriage with a police officer. Aroosa Alam married a civil officer. Aroosa also started her journalism career and is a prominent journalist working in English newspapers.

In mid 2000, Aroosa Alam became the subject of Indian media over her association to Captain Amrinder Singh a prominent sikh politican from the Indian state of Punjab who also served as the Chief Minister of Punjab. Aroosa has denied all such news and maintained the stance that she is only a good friend of Captain Amrinder Singh. As per journalist Hamid Mir, since 2004, Aroosa Alam mostly stays in India instead of Pakistan. Aroosa Alam’s son Fakhre Alam gained fame in the field of showbiz.

Fakhre Alam
Fakhre Alam is the son of Aroosa Alam and the grandson of Aqleem Akhtar. Fakhre Alam recieved his education from the United States and there he developed an interest in the rap music. In early 1990’s he released his urdu album consisting of rap music. The album became successful and his song rap bhangra became widely popular. Fakhre Alam also hosted various programs. He also ventured into acting and worked in the film Very Good Dunya Very Bad Log in 1998 opposite Resham. VGDVBL was an average hit and failed to establish the acting career of Fakhre Alam. By late 1990’s his singing career also ended, as the short lived rap style of singing also faded. He also worked in another film No Paisa No Problem in 2001 which proved unsuccessful at the Box office.

Fakhre Alam continued hosting of the various shows and was a regular entry in the shows hosted in the presidency during the Musharraf regime till 2008. In 2012 he was appointed the chairmen of Sindh Board for Film Certification (SBFC) and is still serving on this post. He occasionally also works as a sports host for the sports channel Ten Sports.

Fakhre Alam married twice. Her first marriage in 1998 or 1999 with a lady named Nadia ended within two years. His second marriage was with Hina Mairaj who is the daughter of the famous Pakistan Television director and producer Tariq Mairaj. Both Fakhre Alam and Hina Mairaj also separated ways. Now Fakhre Alam is married to an Arab lady and has three kids from this third marriage.

Tariq Mairaj
Tariq Mairaj is a famous director and producer of Pakistan television serving at Islamabad center. He direced many famous television dramas. Bandhan in 1998 is his most famous drama from PTV Islamabad centre. Tariq Mairaj is the father of Hina Mairaj and was thus father in law of Fakhre Alam.

Naseem Tariq
Naseem Tariq is the wife of Tariq Mairaj. Naseem Tariq is a prominent news caster of Pakistan in 1990’s and 2000’s. She regularly appeared at the 9 PM news bulletin called khabarnama at PTV. Naseem Tariq is the mother of Hina Mairaj and was mother in law of Fakhre Alam.

Apart from Aroosa Alam and Fakhre Alam, another grandson of Aqleem Akhtar also gained fame in showbiz.

Naureen Sami Khan – Arshad Sami Khan
Naureen Sami Khan is the niece (sister’s daughter) of the Aqleem Akhtar. In relation Aqleem Akhtar is the khala of Naureen Sami Khan. Unlke her khala Aqleem Akhtar, it is said that Naureen Sami Khan is an Indian citizen with British nationality. Naureen Sami Khan was married to Arshad Sami Khan who served in Pakistani Air Force and also participated in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India as a fighter pilot. After leaving the air force Arshad Sami Khan also served at key positions in Pakistan foreign office as well as ADC to three Pakistani presidents. Arshad Sami Khan served as ambassador in fourteen different countries from 1970’s till his retirement in 1990’s. As per the journalist Hamid Mir he was diagnosed with cancer in 1989, and his expensive treatment was financed by Pakistani government on the public funds or tax payers money. Arshad Sami Khan and Naureen Sami Khan settled in India and passed away in 2009.

One son of Naureen Sami and Arshad Sami Khan actively pursued music which is Adnan Sami Khan.

Adnan Sami Khan
Adnan Sami Khan is the son of the Naureen Sami Khan and Arshad Sami Khan. In relation he is also a grandson of Aqleem Akhtar, where Aroosa Alam is his khala and Fakhre Alam is his second cousin.

Adnan Sami Khan is brought up in Europe where Arshad Sami Khan was serving as ambassador of Pakistan. Adnan Sami Khan has an interest in music and he returned to Pakistan in late 1980’s. In 1989 he started a music program Behta Darya on the state run Pakistan Television (PTV) from Islamabad center. It is common in Pakistan that persons of influential families waste tax payers money, in the name of showcasing their talent. Behta Darya was not much successful. Adnan released his first music album Raag Time in 1991 which recieved moderate success. He also secured a commercial contract with the Coca Cola. In 1992 during a television show he announced he is leaving Pakistan. However he was again in the news when famous film director Syed Noor signed him for his film Sargam. Adnan Sami Khan composed the music as well acted in this film with Zeba Bakhtyar in the opposite lead. Both Adnan and Zeba got married during the shooting of Sargam. Sargam was released in 1995, though praised by critics it was not commercially much successful. The success of the music of Sargam bring Adnan Sami Khan in the limelight. After Sargam, Adnan Sami Khan and Zeba Bakhyar signed another film Mausam to be produced by SB Hussain (Late). By then both Zeba and Adnan had a son Azaan Sami Khan.

Around 1997-98 Adnan Sami Khan composed the music of Mausam in London with Indian signer Asha Bhosle. In the meanwhile his marriage with Zeba Bakhtyar ended. Their breakup made headlines when Zeba filed a kidnap case against Adnan Sami Khan, who kidnapped his own son Azaan and fled to Canada. After the intervention of then Home Minister Ch. Shujaat Hussain, the case was resolved Azaan Sami Khan along with Adnan Sami Khan was brought back to Pakistan, where Azaan was handed over to his mother Zeba Bakhtyar.

Adnan released the music of film Mausam in 1998, though he did not own the rights of the music but the album was not much successful. The album has songs like Kabhi To Nazar Milao, Mujh Ko Bhi To Lift Kara De. In 2000 he moved to India and re-released the album of Mausam, with the name Kabhi To Nazar Milao and it proved a massive hit in the Indian market. We Pakistani have a strange habit, many times we do not acknowledge our own artists, but when the same artist gets recognition in India or west we suddenly remember how valuable the artist is for Pakistan. It happened in the case of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and similar to this Adnan Sami Khan also became very popular. The same album of Mausam which proved unsuccessful in 1998, became a superhit one in Pakistan once it is endorsed by the Indian audience as Kabhi To Nazar Milao.

Adnan Sami Khan prolonged his stay in India and composed music for few Bollywood films as well. He made the headlines again when he filed for Indian citizenship. His first request was rejected, and he filed the second request in 2015. The second request was accepted by the Indian government and on 1st January 2016 he was granted the Indian citizenship after surrendering his Pakistani passport.

So it ends a quite lengthy description about Aqleem Akhtar and the other famous names directly or indirectly related to her.

Thanks for your time.

Reference: http://jang.com.pk/jang/jan2016-daily/04-01-2016/col4.htm

Rashid Nazir Ali