KARACHI: Unpacking gender imbalances in television dramas was what the Uks Research, Resource and Publication Centre on Women and Media has set out to do through its new initiative ‘Hopscotch’. As the director Uks explained, viewers these days are pretty much pushed into playing hopscotch over what is laid out before them in the name of content.

It is a balancing act, trying to hop, skip and jump over the violence, sexism, commodification, patriarchy, arranged marriages, low self-esteem that the faithful, obedient and timid characters of mother, sister, daughter or wife are shown dealing with in scripts.

Wondering about the kind of portrayals and characterisation in our plays and trying to understand the viewers’ role in bringing about a positive change in all this, Hopscotch asked well-known actors, drama writers and journalists about what they think. An interesting discussion ensued.

Senior actor Noman Ijaz said that the plays and serials being aired on our channels are influenced by society. “Perhaps they are exaggerating things but most of the things being shown in our plays are happening around us,” he pointed out.

Journalist Lubna Jerar observed that even though Pakistani plays are strong and have a wide audience here and abroad, they weren’t very positive. “We understand that certain things are included in the content in order to be able to sell the product but there is also a need to focus on reality and give the whole story or background. For instance, many here don’t know the real stories behind the ‘Me Too’ movement or the ‘Mera jism meri marzi’ slogan, which I wish could have been done through our plays,” she said.

Mehmal Sarfaraz, another journalist, also said that many of our plays are problematic because masala (spiced content) sells.

Director Uks also added that the plays are not inspiring women.

Screenwriter and director Bee Gul, who has penned many hit plays and who has a new serial Raqueeb Se currently being aired, said that still she can notice a shift in viewers’ impressions. “There is awareness as people are now talking about things that do not settle well with them,” she said.

That said, she added that popular serials these days happen to be those that are controversial, those in which women are not portrayed well. “There is a big number that watches and appreciates such plays, and this is shocking. But television, if used well, can bring consciousness. Still, the plays will need to be entertaining as they spread good messages and awareness about things because the younger generation, who have big exposure and other avenues of entertainment, will not watch them otherwise,” she said.

Noman Ijaz pointed out then that actors and even writers these days have no say about the content because what is being shown is what the production house and channels want. “It is not easy to say no, because we also need to run our kitchen,” he said.

Another actor, Munazzah Arif, also joined in the discussion to point out that women in real life are not always the victims though it is shown that they are in most of our plays.

Senior theatre performer Khalid Ahmed said that the media is not interested in reaching rural women. “It is because they do not see them as buyers of their product. So the plays are designed for the middle class, lower middle class in the urban setup,” he said.

He also said that the worldview of the writers also matters. “With what lens does he or she see society also matters. When their exposure is limited they don’t have other possibilities in their plays also,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2021