Clichéd storylines that need to stop!

Since years, dramas have been the most popular source of entertainment in Pakistan. Our dramas have gained the recognition as one of the best drama plots worldwide because of their powerful characters and different story line. However what we have seen in recent years is that there has been a rise in over sensationalizing the storylines. In order to get higher TRPs, social media viral memes and discussions, drama makers have abandoned the art of elusiveness for melodrama. So instead of going forward and making progressive stories that features women as the main lead, breaking the glass ceilings and the gender based norms. All we see is stereotypical portrayal of women with a knight in shining armour that saves her from the wrath of society. Showing gender-based violence has become a trend in the dramas. Hence we can see the effects in the real world as well.

Let’s look at some of the clichéd stories and if you can resonate them with some of your most cherished drama plots. Also let’s try to look at how that story line brings biasedness in the society.

The archetypal mother-in-law

The mother-in-law cliché character that first attracted my eye was in the 2011 drama Humsafar, which starred the excellent Atiqa Odho as Mummy. Khirad (Mahira Khan) was right to be afraid of her husband’s mother. Unbeknownst to her son, Mummy plotted against her daughter-in-law’s in cunning and surprising ways. Her schemes were superior to the typical desi saas behaviour. In a very non-desi fashion, she demonstrated what a powerful desi mother-in-law can do. Rather than laying her cards on the table, she chose the path of scheming.

Most on-screen mothers-in-law are so transparent these days that you can practically hear the next insult before they say it. So, what needs to change? How that depicts in the society is that it is usually expected from the groom’s mother to be cunning, plotting, cursing and son-obsessed women. When reversing the role, sometimes the mom-in-law thinks that this is how she should play her role as well.

Mean mother-in-laws needs to be re-written or taken out. Can we have kinder women or atleast women that won’t go around throwing shade every time she sees the ‘Bahu’?

Cousin marriages and love affairs

Even though cousin marriages are looked down upon in so many cultures it is a tradition in our part of the world. It is shown as the ideal style of marriage in Pakistani drama serials, and it provides young people with the option to find love within the family. However, the repeated depiction of it in television dramas is sickening and overdone- see- Hum Kahan Ke Sachy Thy. According to statistics, half of all marriages in South Asia are consanguineous.

However keeping it in the family is not always good and is proven to increases the risk of birth defect from 3% to 6%. By departing from this projection, our serials would be doing a social service. Stop writing romances in which the heroine has called her future spouse bhai for as long as she can remember. It’s downright revolting. Enough with the phuppo ki beti craze. There are a plethora of love and relationship options out there.

Dining table talk

It might be just an observation, but the majority of scenes in Pakistani serials take place around the dinner table, with people conversing, fighting, and debating over a delicious meal. There’s nothing like a good family dinner to bring everyone together! Return to the beginning of Zindagi Gulzar Hai, where Zaroon’s character is introduced while his family is enjoying a delicious supper. Even in Behadd, when Masooma tries to match up Jamal with the cousin of one of his colleagues. There’s a nice lunch scene with the characters joking around. Pakistani dramas simply demonstrate the adage that “a family that eats together stays together.”

Patriarchal Rules

Pakistani dramas are frequently assumed to depict “reality” in Pakistan. But we are unaware of how much sexism and misogyny it promotes on a regular basis. Instead of helping to abolish patriarchy in our culture, these shows serve to exacerbate it. By glorifying patriarchy, they are doing a great disservice to Pakistani society. Regrettably, the more sexist a drama is, the more viewers it attracts.

Even when the dramas tried deviating from this rule with female centric storyline. When it comes to certain areas, the men of the house rule the roost. For instance in Mastana Mahi the male lead marries a woman half his age because his first wife is unable to bear kids. Women in Pakistani drama lives to serve their husband and be the ‘good wife.’ Any women who is given Divorce is either a sobbing mess or a strong person.

Westernized girls

For the past ten years, TV serials have fostered the idea that a rich girl who wears jeans is a detrimental influence on the naik Parveen heroine. One encounters this cliche even in some complex scripts. Sarah (Navin Waqar) from Humsafar has been the most memorable of these personalities. I don’t think we’ll ever see a Westernized girl from a well-off family depicted as naik after this depiction. Pakistani serials will continue to meander in the twilight zone. If the script isn’t honest and representative of society – multi-dimensional and multi-cultural. Generation Z creates more engaging material for social media and the online than for television.

All’s well that ends well

Regardless how well-written and acted Pakistani serials are, most of them wind up being damp squibs due to their “standard clichéd endings.” In Humsafar, for example, Khirad forgives Asher despite swearing that she would never return to him. Falak embraces her infidel husband Salman when he ditches her to marry another lady who aborts his baby, robs him of his fortune, and then dumps him in Shehr-e-Zaat. The conventional endings are outright unpleasant and retrograde in comparison to the narratives. That are otherwise well-crafted and progressive. But, since it’s all about “love conquers all,” we figure we’ll just devour them whole.

Changing the Narrative

When it comes to presenting clichéd narratives in television shows, there is an urgent need to change the route. Stories that glorify any type of violence should not be approved by channel heads or production houses. Writers of dramas must also overcome their fixation with cliched plotlines including a damsel in distress and domestic politics. Strong female characters that can stand up for their rights should be written. In the name of love, stalking, harassment, and emotional abuse should not be tolerated. Dialogues should be written in a gender-sensitive and progressive manner. Even if the script necessitates the depiction of violence, directors should handle such situations with considerable discretion. It is not necessary to display a slap or an assault.

Violence, in any form or by any gender, should not be tolerated. Our drama actors have a large fan base, so they must be cautious about what they depict on film. It is not enough for our artists to condemn violence on their social media profiles; they must also do so in the stories they choose to convey on film.

Emotional and psychological abuse should also be depicted with caution and sensitivity. It’s upsetting to witness women being verbally and emotionally mistreated in our shows on a daily basis. We must reject the notion of adoring a female protagonist (heroine) who is meek and amenable to emotional torture throughout the play; Until, in the last episode, her abuser has a change of heart and she forgives him. This is the type of image that deters victims of assault from speaking up and fighting for their rights.

Why is it needed?

Pakistan is getting increasingly difficult for women to live in. The country now ranks 153rd out of 156 countries in terms of gender inequality, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Patriarchal standards pervade society, and women’s rights are routinely infringed in various ways. In this case, the depiction of physical, sexual, and mental abuse in television dramas must be banned because it can instigate it in real life also.