‘...and television is furniture’. I read that in a film school brochure and wished I didn’t agree with that. The last two years were critical and fruitful for our local television. It may sound pompous and self obsessed but with plays like ‘Humsafar’ and ‘Maat’-- and earlier with ‘Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Baynishaan’, ‘Daam’ and a few others-- we managed to not only find new audiences, here and overseas, but also brought back a lot of viewers who complained about the degeneration of the legacy of drama that PTV had created in the 70s till the early 90s.
We also managed to create some local stars who became likable and popular enough to compel the corporate giants to not rely on Bollywood. It has been a rejuvenation and revival in many ways.
The notorious ‘housewives’- blamed for all the unintelligent and regressive content of dramas- were about to take the back seat as the late-teen audiences had begun to like and own our prime time shows. Drama production had established itself as a very viable and thriving business and it could have been a very good and opportune time to let it grow mentally, if not intellectually.
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