Pakistani dramas are a great source of entertainment for the viewers. Every year, Pakistani drama industry produces numerous dramas, where some do extremely well in terms of popularity, there are also those dramas that do not meet expectations. Quite a few times, viewers come across such dramas that they are highly anticipating and are excited about but they end up not being impressive.
A lot of times, those dramas which are not heavily promoted and are executed in a very simple manner become popular. There is no specific or fixed formula which is bound to make a drama work, however one thing that resonates well with the audience is realistic portrayal and closer to life execution. Many times, overly commercial, star studded and hyped up dramas fail to impress because as the stories progress, it becomes evident that these dramas were strategically and smartly marketed because they did not have anything new to offer. A lot of times, viewers and fans of different actors and celebrities also play a huge part in creating the hype, but in the end they get disappointed because of the weak script or generally the overall impact the drama fails to leave.
Let’s take a look at the recent Pakistani dramas that failed to impress:
Meherposh
Writer: Misbah Nausheen
Director: Mazhar Moin
Producer: 7th Sky Entertainment
Channel: Geo TV
Cast: Ayeza Khan, Danish Taimoor, Sania Saeed, Rehan Sheikh, Iffat Omar and others.
Meherposh was a highly anticipated drama because of its lead pair. Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor were doing a drama together for the first time after their marriage because of which it got the well deserved hype. The promos of Meherposh were grand and promising but after the drama started airing, it turned out to be a very typical storyline which had nothing new to offer. A simple Mehru coming from a decent background getting divorced at her wedding night because her husband failed to have an ounce of faith in her. Mehru then finds Shahjahan being responsible for all the mishaps in her life and finds one reason or another to blame and insult him. Shahjahan has no life of his own, his only motive in life is to love Mehru and do everything to make her happy but he ends up doing everything wrong.
This drama has a very commercial feel to it and the way it has been executed makes it very filmy. The genre being romantic is one thing but the note at which the drama has begun has promised nothing but melodrama. Talaq, talaq, talaq, sazishi chachi, roti hui bechari talaqyafta Mehru, clueless mother, younger sister dying to get married to Shahjahan who loves her elder sister – there is nothing in this drama which the viewers have not seen before or what might hold their interest. No wonder why this drama failed to live up to the expectations of the viewers and all the hype surrounding it fizzled out pretty quickly.
Sabaat
Writer: Kashif Anwar
Director: Shahzad Kashmiri
Producer: Momina Duraid
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Sarah Khan, Usman Mukhtar, Mawra Hocane, Ameer Gillani, Mohammad Ahmed, Seemi Raheel, Laila Zuberi and others.
Sabaat was another highly anticipated drama of the season. The cast of this drama played a huge role in drawing the attention of the audience towards it. Usman Mukhtar’s fans especially were overjoyed when he announced his new project and they counted days for the drama to commence. However, even after the drama began, the wait of his fans was not over because he did not make an entry in the initial episodes. The viewers were also skeptical about the character of Anaya played by Mawra Hocane because they felt the writer took inspiration from the well-loved character of Kashf played by Sanam Saeed in Zindagi Gulzar Hai.
Although as the story progressed, it did hold the interest of the audience because they did not want to give up on it just yet but slowly it became another which is failed to impress despite having potential. The scenarios are highly repetitive and the character of Miraal played by Sarah Khan, although challenging for her as an actor, is turning out to be an eyesore for the viewers. Some of the scenarios seem stretched and others at times fail to make sense. The viewers still have hope in this drama and are watching it but they can not hold back in pointing out the flaws and voicing out their disappointment in the show which they assumed was very promising. Another angle which the viewers are dreading is the love angle between Miraal and her psychiatrist Dr. Haris, which has become a topic of discussion as well as concern for the viewers now.
Zebaish
Writer: Bushra Ansari
Director: Iqbal Hussain
Producer: Momina Duraid
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Bushra Ansari and family
Although Zebaish is still in the initial stages, the first impression of this drama has been unimpressive. Zebaish was also one such drama that was being looked forward to by Bushra Ansari fans. The pairing of Zara Noor Abbas with her husband Asad Siddique was going to be seen for the first time in a drama, which also got people excited. However, it turned out to be quite disappointing.
The first two episodes failed to impress and it seemed as if a lot of information was cramped up in order to establish the plot and introduce the characters. So far, the characters are looking caricaturish with most of their tracks and scenarios not making sense. As much as the viewers are trying to find the purpose behind the given circumstances of these characters, they are finding it really hard to figure out the purpose of the story. This is the reason why viewers are forced to say that it appears Zebaish was basically made for Bushra Ansari and family to just please themselves. People are hoping that the story might improve but with each passing episode, it is becoming a lot difficult for them to keep their hopes high.
Jo Tu Chahay
Writer: Qaisra Hayat
Director: Ilyas Kashmiri
Producer: Momina Duraid
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Imran Abbas, Alizeh Shah, Zarnish Khan, Nargis Rasheed and others
Viewers had a lot of hopes due to it being a Qaisra Hayat drama. The original title of the drama Kun Faya Kun also helped a great deal in adding to the hype because viewers were quick to assume that this will be one such drama that will explore the aspect of spirituality. However, when the drama progressed, it didn’t take long for the viewers to notice that it was just another typical story based on cousin love, love triangle, plotting and scheming – old story, new packaging.
Imran Abbas and Alizeh Shah’s pairing was also being looked forward to but there was nothing special that they had to offer. In the pool of negative and helpless characters, these two were made to look like selfless saints but the surrounding scenarios and circumstances were so typical that this drama failed to impress. An overdose of negative characters and their comeuppance was least impressive and did not make much impact because everything got sorted in the last episode, like it usually happens in below average dramas.
Jhooti
Writer: Ali Moeen
Director: Syed Ramish Rizvi
Producer: iDream Entertainment
Channel: ARY Digital
Cast: Iqra Aziz, Paras Masroor, Madiha Rizvi, Ahmed Ali Butt, Tauqeer Nasir, Asma Abbas, Yasir Hussain and others
After Ranjha Ranjha Kardi, fans of Iqra Aziz had high hopes and expectations from her but she decided to choose such a script which was nothing short of a dark spot on her acting career. Iqra Aziz on her own must have found this character to be challenging but the end result was not appreciated by the drama watchers. Even before Jhooti began, it faced a lot of criticism because of how the promos showed the character of Nirma trivializing domestic violence.
After watching the drama, it dawned on Iqra Aziz’s fans that she made a wrong choice. This drama is filled with continuous negativity spewed by Nirma against every single person that she comes in contact with, apart from her evil friend and fraudulent husband. It is unfortunate that so much of resources were wasted to show a story based on such a character which has absolutely nothing good to contribute to the drama world.
Deewar e Shab
Writer: Aliya Bukhari
Director: Iqbal Hussain
Producer: Momina Duraid
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Nausheen Shah, Mohsib Abbas Haider, Sarah Khan, Bushra Ansari, Asma Abbas, Zara Noor Abbas, Shehzad Sheikh, Shehroz Sabzwari and others
Deewar e Shab started on a strong note. It was another one of those dramas which had a considerably good cast and decent characters to begin with, but as the story progressed, everything went downhill with every single story and character showing no development or growth. Although it was a multi-faceted story with a lot of tracks, the way they were executed made one question the purpose behind this drama.
Those who had read the novel watched this drama with a lot of interest but as it usually happens, the dramatization did not do justice to the storyl. The characters would show zero growth and they just continued being repetitive to an extent of being boring. This drama also had a very abrupt and unconvincing ending. The actors performed decently but this project failed to leave a mark in general.
This completes the list of those dramas that failed to impress. Which one of these did you follow? Feel free to share your opinion in the comment section below.