FOR the oldest time, Agha Nasir has remained associated with the electronic media of the country. He has held senior positions including the top post in both radio and television. It was his skill at writing and producing plays for these media which paved the way for him to enter in to these organisations and attain great heights.
Agha Nasir started writing plays while he was still a student. Through writings for and participation in the radio’s general and students’ programmes, he got his first job at Radio Pakistan as a producer in 1955. After having earned a name for himself as a drama producer, he switched over to television in 1964 which was then in a nascent stage. It was at PTV that he, apart from holding managerial positions, continued to produce plays and drama serials.
The book under review, Girah-i-Neembaaz Aur Doosray Dramay, is the third collection of his plays. It consists of three radio plays, three television plays and five one-act stage plays. Besides some original plays, the collection also includes adaptations of foreign and local works. In the foreword to his earlier collections of plays, poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz and playwright Ashfaque Ahmad maintained that Nasir chose contemporary issues for his plays. After going through the present collection it can be added that he has toyed with historical, supernatural and surrealistic themes as well.
The television play, Jab Ankhen Ahen Posh Hueen, is based on an incident from history. It relates to the famous Tartar commander, Tamerlane, who is bent upon taking revenge from his brother-in-law, Sultan Husain, despite the advice of a saint to forgive him. Tamerlane is portrayed to the extent of his cruelty and cunningness.
The one-act stage play, Guzar Gah-i-Khayal, carries a supernatural story. A mother has lost her son in a motorcycle accident and at a gathering in honour of his memory, other members of the family listen to a guest narrate a supernatural incident about a dead man. The lights go off momentarily and a stranger enters the room. He is wearing a long coat and has covered his face so that only his eyes can be seen. Those present wonder as to who he is. They also ask him to uncover his face. When he does so, every one is horrified as his face is highly mutilated. The lights then return and the stranger vanishes. The guest concludes his story with a remark that the spirit of those killed in unnatural ways, keep on visiting their home. It becomes evident that the stranger was the spirit of the boy killed in the accident.
Jinhen Tasveer Bana Aati Hae is a well-knit romantic play with several twists and turns. The visit of young Sufia, who has remarkably beautiful eyes, reminds the middle aged Razia of Sufia’s late father, who also had very attractive eyes. Razia believed that it was only through his eyes that he communicated his feelings of love for her though he never spoke of them. Razia disregarded those silent messages and married someone else. However, as a ‘compensatory measure’, she decides to bring Sufia into her family as her daughter-in-law, but her plan fails to materialise when she discovers that Sufia is already engaged.
Regardless of the nature of the theme, Agha’s plays are characterised by dialogues that carry a literary flavour. These dialogues are also very effective in creating a mysterious or dream-like atmosphere. However, adaptations from foreign literature have been fully harmonised with the local culture and conditions and, therefore, do not retain their foreign origin.
However, proofreading leaves much to be desired. Also, the book is priced very high. Books of literary nature should be priced at the lower side because the principal buyers of such books are students and scholars of literature who generally do not possess uncountable resources.
Girah-i-Neembaaz Aur Doosray Dramay (anthology) By Agha Nasir Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore 372pp. Rs1,200