Commercialism attracts everyone. Glittery dresses, popular actors, romantic stories with a ‘twist’, couples separating and re-uniting, sisters rivalry, dukhyari khwateen, revenge drams.. These are the stories that we often see on our tv screens mostly and are loved by all.
But there is another section of audience who prefer something different. Just like Bollywood industry is divided into sections like art and commercial cinema, similarly we have also had some ‘arty’ serials that do not get their due recognition in terms of ratings. But kudos to those writers for still trying and not falling prey of commercialism.
Here are some of the ‘hatke’ serials that have hit our screen in recent past.
Talkhiyan:
Starring Sanam Saeed, Hina Bayat Khan, Hassan Niazi, Shamim Hilali, Mehak Khan and others. It is inspired by Indian author Arundhati Roy’s 1997 novel The God of Small Things, which is a story of fraternal twins whose childhood experiences have defined how they should love others. Written by Bee Gul and directed by Khalid Ahmad. The story, the characterization and the direction is very different from what we see on our TV screens regularly. The drama is presented by Zoya (Mehak), who narrates the tale of her mother Bibi (played by Sanam), who has suffered and been abused. In a role different from her usually characters, Hina Bayat plays Appu, Zoya’s angry aunt. All the actors perform to the best of their ability.
Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahi:
This one has a stellar cast which includes Saba Qamar, Noman Ejaz, Irsa Ghazal, Noman Masood, Yumna Zaidi and Soahil Ahmad. Written by Amna Mufti and directed by Kashif Nisar. It is based on the novel of same name written by same writer. With such a talented cast you expected nothing but a masterpiece and it does not disappoint the viewers. Set in a village, the story revolves around the families of two landowning brothers, Mian Yacoob (older) and Mianji (younger), who are estranged. Their children are married as Vatta Satta (exchange marriage).
Pehchan:
Another masterpiece by the team of talkhiyan. This one had Iffet Umer, Alishba Yousuf, Sohail Sameer, Anita camphore and others. The story is about individuals finding their ‘pehchan’ (identity). It is the journey of Laila (Alishba Yousuf) who comes face to face to bitter reality of life after marriage & Kukoo (Iffet Umer) who needs to find her real identity and what she wants from life. The serial is directed brilliantly and all the actors did a fab job. The serial was shot in outskirts of Islamabad and the scenic beauty was captured brilliantly plus the background music was melodious.
Mohabbat Jaye Bhar Mein:
Okay, this drama does not exactly fall in ‘arty’ category but it had a different story. The only problem I had with this one was that it was too bold for family audience. The cast included Resham, Hina Dilpazir, Adnan Siddique, Sajjal Ali, Minaal Khan, Imran Aslam and others. The story was about different people, belonging to lower middle class, living in a chawl in Karachi. Adnan Siddique and Hina Dilpazir efforlessly played the role of parents to 7 childer (including Sajjal and Minaal) and 8th one on the way ;). Resham plays Shagufta who lives with her mother and brother (both not normal). The serial depicts bitter realities of life of people living in such areas. There is plenty of humor in this serial hence it does not get boring to watch. Sajjal Ali, Minaal Khan, Imran Aslam and Resham perfectly fits into their character and perform will full conviction. The OST by Shibani Kashyap, is very much apt for the serial.
Laa:
Written by playwright and poet Sarmad Sehbai, and directed by Farooq Rind and produced by Momina Duraid. It stars Meekal Zulfiqar, Sadia Khan and Sabreen Hisbani in lead roles. Story revolves around Danyal Malik (Meekal Zulfiqar), a rich and humble person who has bet with his friends that he would make Naina syed (sadia khan) fall in love with him, while her stay at Daniyal’s house with her family. The story then takes a turns when Daniyal’s came to know about his past and the two part ways to find eternal peace. It was a 13 episode serial. Certain audience had mixed feeling about the ending episodes since they thought it wasn’t tackled properly.
This is it from my side, you all can add more serials which do not fall in ‘commercial’ category. Some of the content has been taken from Wikipedia.
P.S This is my first article on this website. Comments (postive or negative) are whole heartedly welcome.:)
Usman