Death of Stage Drama

Punjabi stage drama is one of the major cultural aspects of our culture. We had an audience that come to stage for a healthy entertainment but now a days it has become a place for the an adult dance and I cant find a better word for Juggat Bazi. First we had a drama that had a story and entertainment but now it has nothing in it. We still have person like Usman peerzada who are trying for the survival of stage and producing some great work but there viewers are specific set of people.
My point which I want to raise here is that who will come up and do some work. It is very easy to sit and hold responsible but difficult to actually do something about it. If we see Punjabi stage drama they are able to attract audience in halls. They are making something for which people are willing to buy tickets of three thousand and five hundred in the last row which is at least the twentieth or after that. The ones who critique them then come up with anything which makes there halls empty and I want to mention one thing here that they have a very committed fans and will not them so easily. I know they are not making the best but still they are earning for themselves and many others. Now they have even gone beyond Pakistan and had shows in England, Canada and US which is a great achievement. So to all those who just play blame game, either come up with something creative or go sit at home and stop doing this.

Written By: Ahmad Saeed

Is pakistan media working ethically?

There is a big question raised from a couple of months that isPakistan media working ethically or according to the universal rulesof journalism. In the recent past there are few incidents which werecritiqued alot among every social class. There is a view that media iscrossing the lines and they had shown or tried to show programs orfootages which are unethical or vulgar from all aspects. Some peoplesay that one will always get out of control when he gets somethingmore than what he deserves, they must not forget the time before 2000when there was only one channel ptv which was more of a governmentpersonal channel.The first time when i got dissappointed from our media and turned offmy television set was when the FIA building mall road lahore blasthappened. For complete one hour they showed the video of a carcrashing a guard into pieces and then going into the buildingpremisis. Now i agree it was a very useful video and showed the keymoments but why are you showing it on TV when there is an audiencebelow 18 or even 12-10 who can get affected with this type of footageand there mind can have a very bad perception about it. Give thisvideo to intelligence or law enforcing agencies who use it to traceany responsibles or find any clue about the incident and then aboveall just think once about the family or loved ones of that guard whowatcheed that video again and again on TV. Those moments must ve takentheir lives or atleast souls out of them. We all must have somerespect and integrity for others and in showing or breaking news wehave to be careful that we are keeping justice and fair value witheveryone. As i talked earlier there is not one incident there arealot,quickly giving you a few example the second worst was when afamous news channel reporter got murdered in swat and there cameramantook live in the postmartem room and next you can all imagine, thatwas the worst footage one can show on there channel and then they donthave the descensy to show a warning that what is its rating. Than inpakistan we have a culture that if we warn children to stay away fromone thing they get even more attracted towards it so media has to bevery careful and respobsible about it. other than that we have veenaasif case meera case in which media had shown vulgar pictures andvideos with adding background music to it to create a spicy story orusimg the media term sensational news. Here also i think that why areshowing them in every hour news dont u have any thing better to showor there are thousans of issues to raise but you keep on showing themand have made them heroes. at end my question is still that to getahead in the race of breaking news or fighting for trp's have we gonewrong or missing some point yes we are missing ethics!

Written By: Ahmad Saeed

Khuda ke Liye...

I am not talking about the movie khuda ke liye but for the whole pakistan cinema that "khuda ke liye" do something about it. We are witnessing the worst phase of our cinema with audience like rikshaw drivers, panshop owner or cutting the chase we are catering illetrate people.Our cinema industry says that we are competing the indian cinema but on ground realities we are atleast twenty years behind them. They are making movies like black, rang de basanti, taare zameem par and what are you making humayeun gujjar or wahishi badmash which have no story no nothing except meaningless fights and vulgar dance. Now adays movie has gone beyond the definition of entertainment, you can raise social issues, political problems or anything that has a meaning or value attached to it but our movies are not even fulfilling the basic definition of movie which is entertainment but they are just three hours of nonsense with some dances and dialogues that keep our lower class paying twenty or thirty ruppe of ticket to witness our mockery of cinema. From the decades we have very few producers, directors and above all storywriters who are working in this industry to only make money but not good movie. Those people have made movie on almost every cast present in Pakistan but not a single movie on any cause or better issue.Sometimes i feel that they are not only to be blamed but our government and ministry have equal responsibility they had not given any incentive or taken any action to improve it. They need to work on it on emergency basis but they are doing opposite and have left the industry on his own.Then there is another debate that fifteen years back we were equal to indian movies but i dot agree, even that time they were making alot better cinema. Yes if they say thirty years then i would agree when we had actors like waheed murad, muhammad ali,zeba and list goes on. We need to rethink that what had went wrong when we had a good history a good audience few good people in industry than why are we facing this cinema. What has indian cinema done right or where they had excelled and why we are left out until these questions are answered we can never prosperous like them.Using this forum I want to appreciate shoaib mansoor here who come up with a brand new idea with even better execution. The idea which is now adays followed by many other directors even across the boarders. He made a movie which bought people back to cinemas, he just picked the right idea and found a better team. All the major crew was from Pakistan so we need to see that if they can come up with a project like khuda ke liye than why not others. We need few more like him and i think we will be back on track and secondly we need sponsors like geo group to believe in them and help them make it. Then the responsibility also comes on us, we also need to support them, this blame game will never end we have to appreciate what they are doing because atleast they are keeping us in business and have kept our industry live. We have to consider it as an industry and give respect to everyone involved with it. Once we do it , our cinema will start growing itself.

Written By: Ahmad Saeed

Media and entertainment in Pakistan

Pakistani dramas during the 60’s till the late 90’s were a novelty amongst the Urdu speaking community not only in Pakistan but all over the world. This was the time when theatre in Pakistan was also booming and we had stage dramas like ‘janam janam ki maili chadar’ which broke the record for the longest run stage play and we had artists of the caliber of Umer Sharif doing theatre which not only provided entertainment but also possessed the ability to educate and spread awareness amongst the masses.

With the influx of foreign media and cross border influences, television dramas have been reduced to mere second rate copies, losing the cultural element which endeared them to the viewers. Entertainment on television is presently confined to unoriginal productions which vary from soaps to sitcoms and music shows; all of which lack inventiveness. If the present trend continues we will lose market for home grown talent.

The query at hand is what needs to be done to revitalize our industry. Many new channels have sprung forth which have created an insatiable demand for media personnel, but there is a dearth of professionally trained individuals in the field. Entertainment companies such as Mastermind productions have taken the initiative and are working on producing dramas which take queue from the traditions laid out during the glory days of PTv. With the expanding market there is a need for trained actors, directors, producers etc unless this demand is met the standards cannot be raised, for this academic institutes need to be set up with media professionals trained in the field educating the aspiring media enthusiasts.

This brings us to stage dramas; television due to competition from foreign channels has hopes of sustaining itself as demands for quality increase. Whereas theatre is Pakistan has become synonymous with perverted humor, lewd remarks and obscene dances. The content is strictly adult and not a family entertainment by any standards. The excuse of the theatre producers is that they cater to the ‘market demand’, which is preposterous, as there is always demand for quality. Rafi Peer theatre is breath of fresh air in an otherwise dreary theatre industry; they have been bringing to the masses performing arts from all over the world and promoting young local aspirants to showcase their talents. The event has been met with vast acceptance which ensures that the society in general ‘does’ appreciate quality.

Pakistan is a cultural hub, a conglomerate of ancient arts, cultural values and talented individuals. The entertainment media needs to open up to new ideas and creativeness, youth should be given a chance to come forward and the audience needs to make intelligent choices. Focus should be on content rather than quantity; target audience surveys should be conducted to meet public demand yet at the same time moulding this demand to higher standards, only then can the media entertainment industry can serve both facets of its purpose i.e. entertainment with a purpose.

Written By: Saqib Shami

Media: Will it reform in Pakistan?

There is no denying the fact that media is powerful tool and has great potential to bring change but will it ever stand for truth, justice and dignity for the poor masses? In my humble opinion, the chances are slim, and because it’s always the weak and poor who suffer, and not the rich and wealthy.

. Here are some guidelines to be kept in view, while running a successful media.

• Recognize your responsibility & Reform yourself. Claiming to be fourth pillar of the state puts an enormous responsibility on your shoulders. That heavy burden warrants a lot of responsible behavior. Rise up to the great challenge and play your role.

• Never compromise the country’s interests for your monitory gains. If the West’s so called “freedom of expression” inspires you, have a closer look at what CNN & BBC are doing to cover up for the criminal exploits of their nations.

· Promote unity, harmony amongst provinces as a national responsibility, for that’s the primary target of Pakistan’s enemies.

• Stop promoting endless vulgarity & obscenity. For this is the poison that pollutes the hearts & minds of youth. Give them worthy ideals to look up to, and they can do wonders. Trying to compete with Indian channels in nudism will lead you nowhere. We have our own set of morals and values that is far more superior and worth following.

• Encourage and promote the bright students/workers who, despite hardships, stand out in their own fields or do worthwhile projects, as talent and thrive on appreciation.

• Honor your National Heroes. Give more of your airtime & space to them

• Unveil the Social Evils like corruption

• Uphold your Faith in Islam. Project it, protect it and praise it, for this is the strongest of our support here, as well as in the hereafter. It is only by sticking to its belief that Allah’s divine help descend

Written By: Mohsin Saeed Khan

As we all know, nowadays people don’t need to be talented, genius or especially pretty to be famous. Everyone who is confident and controversial has big chance to be famous if they want to.The media is strength of last centuries. It easily can make a mediocre someone famous. Other people are famous for scandal and for them popularity was created by various media: TV, newspaper, radio etc. The media needs new programs, so it employs well-known people. People who lie to be popular and who want to get control over the mass media must be careful.

What is more, the media detect every little skirmish. They use it to make a sensation.

To sum up, the circle is closing. Somebody manipulates the media, invents a story or glosses over the real facts. Then the mass media add something from themselves to manipulate our views.

Journalists look for more and more public attention. They do not care about people but only about a good story which is likely to be described in the newspaper or shown on TV. What is more, and what is really makes me disappointed, is the fact that truth is not the most important thing for the media. They show what they want to show, and write about the things they want to. This news which we see every evening is just half true, or sometimes it even has no connections with it. The media, which are thought to be a source of information, are in fact a big stage for the journalists’ abilities to create scandals.

From the very beginning of their existence the mass media exert huge influence on people: their behavior, views and lifestyle. For many of them tugging the public is more important than showing true information. Newspapers, radio and television, by all possible means, manipulate public opinion. The mass media is the fourth power because for many people they are the main source of assimilation outlooks. People stop thinking and they base only on what they hear or read in the media.

It is said that the media manipulate public opinion. The Media write things which we want to read, things which are catchy. Dry facts are boring, so TV and newspapers exaggerate their stories to be more attractive for the masses. But have we ever thought why it happens? We want such modified information because it can be a topic for a good talk or it will be a pretext to do something exciting. So it also works the other way round. We do manipulate the media! By our behavior we suggest which type of news we desire. We want scandals and affairs and we get them.

Thus I think it work both ways. We manipulate media and it manipulates us in return by giving us what we want and in between taking advantage from it for itself.

Written By: Mohsin Saeed Khan

"Insight Of Pakistani Media"

Stating the same fact in an altered manner changes its impression on the listener. This principle is applied by the international propaganda machinery of super powers and media is used to do the brain washing of the people – especially of the third world countries.

Today when we have hundreds of TV and radio channels, newspapers and magazines and all of them portraying news in their dissimilar manner the common man is confused and does not arrive to the conclusion. It’s a dilemma of the third world that western media is considered to be the standard and trustworthy. And the local media is either conquered by the authorities or mostly such people are managing them that have no vision of national interest. In this scenario if the local media initiates campaign for their selfish interests it can make the situation worse for the government. This goes perfectly for the Pakistani Government as well.

To get rid of such situations it is essential that the young generation must be politically conscious, they must know the national interest and they must have the power of analysis of news. To understand the role of media and how to set apart facts and rumors, it is necessary that one must know how media works, how it is financed and what factors influence it. Some channels are sponsored by the government like PTV of Pakistan. Mainly these organizations are given funds by collecting license fee from the public. But private media is mainly run by advertisements.

As most of these private media groups are run on commercial basis so there are always chances of conflict between national interest and their vested interests. These incentives are not given directly but in shape of ads of multinational companies.

Half truth is even more dangerous than a lie. To mold public opinion some times media highlights only some aspects of the news while some are kept hidden. Sometimes the statements of certain political leader is given preference and published on main pages or broadcasted repeatedly. And the idea is injected in the people that particular leader is popular and most of the people support him.

Keeping in view all these aspects of media the western governments have taken preventive measures. For example there are laws that keep check on media’s foreign relations and its political affiliations. News that is conflicting with the national interests is not published. Scenes of violence and injuries are avoided to broadcast. But over here in Pakistan beheaded corpses are shown on the TV screens.

Our people are illiterate and those who are literate, are not politically aware of the consequences of uncontrolled media. As our political parties are not organized and they don’t have strong roots in the people so public can be very easily misguided by the media.

Instead of unbound media Pakistan needs a strong, independent and politically conscious media that does not make suspense of the news. Our journalists must realize that what is our national interest and what are the negativities. Media must disclose those names that have exploited the youth of Pakistan.

Written by: Mohsin Saeed Khan