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Showing posts with the label 41 years later

41 years later, ‘Ankahi’ is still more progressive than current drama serials

If we were to tell you that a drama is on air on Pakistani screens, showcasing a feisty, independent woman who stands up against forced marriages, is living with her single mother and uncle but never laments about not being married or plots 24/7 to entrap a man? You would say petrol is mulk mein sasta hojaye ga, but Pakistani dramas kabhi itnay achay nahi thay. We’re sorry to tell you that there was a time when Pakistani dramas were progressive and revolved around empowered women who never waited for a man, but were powerful and independent. Despite airing decades ago, more and more Pakistani women are watching classical dramas from PTV, and expressing their shock at the kind of empowering, witty women in these shows who never tolerated abuse, or the horrifying kind of things Pakistani dramas today think that all women want. Take ‘Ankahi’ penned by the brilliant Haseena Moin in 1982, decades ago and yet appealing to a mass audience with its main lead, Sana (played by Shehnaz Sheikh) ...