Artistes got rich at cost of plays’ quality, says Ansari
ISLAMABAD: Famous actor Bushra Ansari believes that TV drama in Pakistan has lost its content it used to have in its glorious past and only three to four per cent of the plays have got some worth now while there is no or litle substance in comedy.
She said commercialism has perhaps become the need of the time as commercial elements in plays have brought a lot of wealth to the artistes; however, it all came at the cost of the standard of the plays, which has been compromised.
Referring to the code of conduct recently introduced by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), she lambasted the regulator, wondering why it does not find any issues with the graphic scenes of violence against women in the plays.
The veteran actor, a household name in Pakistan, shared her thoughts about a number of issues the television industry is confronted with and how the quality of drama productions has considerably dwindled.
Bushra said Pemra introduced a code of conduct for television productions; however, it did not mention the plays in which it had found the objectionable stuff.
“Why does Pemra not put a ban on scenes in which girls are being slapped and or thrown out of their houses forcefully or the scenes in which a brother is sprinkling his sister with petrol?” she raised some pertinent questions.
She suggested to the authority that the scenes of the atrocities commited against women should also be blurred like cigaretes and pistols in the plays.
Bushra took Pemra to task for not taking any steps or introducing a code of conduct to control the unbridled social media where dirty, below the belt and unethical comments are posted and celebrities are defamed.
Remembering good old Pakistan Television (PTV) days, she said that despite being the only channel, the state TV station offered quality content.
“From Ashfaq Ahmed and Bano Qudsia’s plays to Dhoop Kinaray and the comedy serials such as Uncle Urfi and Fity Fity there are countless productions of PTV worth remembering.”