Renowned scriptwriter Anwar Maqsood appeared in an interview with a publication and expressed his views on Pakistani drama industry of today.
The television presenter disclosed why he has stopped writing plays, he said, “I have stepped back [from writing] because what is happening on the television in the recent times, there is no place for me. Now that the rating has occupied a decisive place, the directors or producers have been left behind in every respect. The marketing department decides which actors are needed and which are not."
Maqsood elaborated, “In the beginning, Ashfaq Ahmed, Bano Qudsia, Munnu Bhai, Suraya Bijaya wrote the dramas. Noorul Hadi Shah also wrote very good plays and made his place. When Indian dramas paved their way to the Pakistani screens, we thought that they would learn something from our dramas, but on the contrary, our writers started learning from them. It was then that our drama industry began its demise."
He added, "Digest writers have entered the field. Since 70% of the population of our country is illiterate, they like typical saas-bahu narratives and it has become a trend."
He further added, “I don't call today's drama good or bad. I think there is no drama today. Then what is this? I leave it for you to decide.”
Maqsood said that the biggest flaw in drama industry is that the writers are writing in a hurry, “Today they [playwrights] are writing in a hurry. There is pressure on the writers. What is being written in one play is being repeated in the next. Nowadays, it seems that the playwrights do not have any books in their houses. I request those who are writing the drama, please shun the quarrels and conspiracies of the mother-in-laws."
