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Lmitating life
ln an era when plays are being churned out left, right and centre and irrespective of quality, script writer Sultana Sufi has stood her ground. Associated with television for around five years now as a script writer, she has mostly kept a low profile, only working on projects that she personally considers worthwhile. But the years have taught Sultana to wade in the murky waters of television entertainment. “I don’t work with a lot of people, only with a team I’m comfortable with,” she says.
She recalls the day lady luck smiled on her, “I had called Rubina Ashraf to congratulate her on her performance in a play. Back then, I used to write for a newspaper and Rubina asked me to write something for television.” The first long play heralded Sultana’s association with script writing, culminating in a number of long plays and serials for the small screen, Naseeb having recently been aired from a private TV channel.
From story writing to script writing Sultana says it was quite a difficult leap. “I did face some difficulty in the beginning, but with practice it became easier.” She credits her success not only to her family but also to the others who guided her through those years, specially Khushbakht Shujaat and Huma Mir who encouraged her every step of the way. “The senior writers were never encouraging. They felt insecure that newcomers will steal their position.”
Interestingly, while it was PTV that provided Sultana with her first break, she says the same channel has deeply disappointed her now. “I found my footing as a script writer with PTV, but today it does not let me write for it,” she says feeling deeply hurt. “I’ve tried my level best but the PTV authorities won’t let me do a prime time serial with them. What is interesting to note is that PTV will still buy my play from a private production and air it.”
‘A senior PTV producer wanted a script which should basically be a recipe of Ekta Kapoor’s plays. When I refused, he told me that my chances of making it big are bleak since I’m not cashing in on commercial value,’ says Sultana Sufi
In times seeped in commercialism, Sultana still prefers to work on family themes. She feels that television, being a strong medium, can play a role in highlighting various social themes related to both the sexes. She is a strong believer of good versus evil and prefers to portray the conflict in her script. “My next serial to go on the floor deals with women’s issues. So was Naseeb which dealt mainly with in-laws.” There are still many themes close to Sultana’s heart which she plans to pursue in the near future.
Presently, the scriptwriter is excited about her latest project that she is writing for the team which produced Naseeb. Why the same team? “I am comfortable working with them and they also like my work. In fact, even before Naseeb was aired, they had already asked me to do the next script with them.” As for the storyline, she prefers to stay mum for now.
Eventually the ad nauseum debate of how the standard of television plays has reached an all-time low comes into discussion. How much have script writers contributed to it? “Look, we write the script and hand it over to the editor, and that’s where it undergoes change. Plus, actors nowadays have little or no time for rehearsals. So how can one expect plays to regain their old glory? And not just that, when every Tom, Dick and Harry picks up a pen or directs, quality is bound to suffer. I speak for myself when I say that I do full justice to my script.” Sultana says she only works on one script at a time, giving herself breaks between each serial.She is quite pessimistic about any uplift in television productions sometime soon. “Life has become fast-paced and almost everyone has his heart set on earning a fast buck. It’s next to impossible to regain quality in such a situation. The only option is to bring back the days when rehearsals were compulsory, but that is not going to happen.” But she does not lay the blame squarely on the actors, citing that nowadays every director is looking for a star-studded cast.
Surprisingly, for a scriptwriter who puts so much emphasis on quality, Sultana isn’t averse to soaps. Doesn’t she think a short serial has more impact than a soap? “Our audience is more attuned to 13 or 15-episode serials. In other countries, everyone’s hooked on soaps. A soap can be successful given that the continuity of the story remains intact. If the focus is just on glamour, then the interest will eventually wane. The storyline, of course, is the integral part.”
At this point, the course of the conversation naturally shifts to how Pakistani dramas have turned into badly-tailored Indian soaps. Sultana has an interesting tale to tell, “A senior PTV producer came up to me and said that he wanted a script basically a recipe of Ekta Kapoor’s plays with a fair sprinkling of a few other Indian soaps. When I refused, he told me that my chances of making it big in showbiz are quite bleak since I’m not cashing in on the ‘commercial value’. With this kind of outlook, the result is pretty obvious.”
With a plethora of ideas and still more to come, Sultana’s plate is quite full. But unlike others, she takes her own sweet time. Add to it a reality-based stage show where she plans to shoot people in settings wholly different from their existing ones and it won’t be wrong to say that life for this writer is indeed a stage.
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