A call for more positive male leads in Pakistani dramas.
Being a girl in her twenties, born and raised in a deeply rooted patriarchal society, while also being an avid consumer of similar content on media, I wish for nothing more than a healthy and positive portrayal of men in fiction. I admit the dramas are mostly based on real life stories from society, but it is also true that the sole reason why we watch dramas is to escape the harsh realities of life. If we must relive our real-life problems through dramas as well, we will eventually drift towards the content that is more fictional and feel-goof than hard hitting and an emotional roller-coaster.
A majority of our nation is comprised of young adults, who are unable to resonate with the content being fed to us. Why? The reason being the persistent portrayal of traditional toxic male leads. It is almost as if writers have stopped experimenting with their storytelling and rational character development of male leads. We are still depicting male leads who take zero accountability of their actions and are not held culpable. Women of Pakistan, who are now largely career driven and motivated to harness their lives are fed up with the conventional representation of men in dramas. The emergence in the demand of positive male characters is obvious and well-known now.
The number of green-flagged – in other words, positive – male characters in recent times are so few, I can count them on my fingertips. The most recent has been Farjaad Khan from the recent Ramadan rom-com serial ‘Fairytale’. Played by the emerging actor Hamza Sohail, the character of Farjaad was a portrayal of a soft, respectful man. But the reason why he has become so popular with the youth was his adulation towards the women in his life. One trait of men that is dearly admired by women. In fact, the admiration for the fairytale pair was so immense, it led to the production of another season of the serial!
Another healthy portrayal of men on Pakistani television was Asfandyar Ali Khan from ‘Yakeen ka Safar’. The role was played Ahad Raza Mir – 6 years ago! The character of Asfandyar was confident, sympathetic and generous. Even after all these years, it’s one of the few characters that is loved, remembered, and yearned for.
We as a nation have been deprived of good male characters for years. A few of the reasons that I can think of are the normalization of abusive and toxic dramas, the acceptance of monotonous content and not holding the producers of problematic dramas accountable for their actions.
Consistent negative portrayal of men is indirectly contributing to the patriarchal values of society, leading to an increase in privileges enjoyed by men and further deterioration of status of women in the society. Because mass media is a powerful tool that influence large heterogenous groups of people at a rapid pace. It’s high time makers and creators of content are reminded of their ability to persuade masses in such a short span of time and realise the responsibility that comes along with this.
(The above text is based solely on my observation of dramas.)
Hi, I’m Sukkena Afzal, a 22 year old aspiring writer and a common Pakistani
Wow!!! Loved it Sukkena !!🤍🤍🤗
Loved it.