Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: November 26, 2020 | 
| 中文
The Poster for Qarar
If you ask an average Pakistani drama writer what exciting new projects they are working on, they would most likely give you one of two answers: A story in which a middle-class “gold digger” plans to climb the social ladder by fooling an “innocent” rich man, or a story in which a man is inflicting immeasurable pain on a weak woman without agency.
If the writer is feeling particularly adventurous, they would even combine the two ideas to make the social-climbing woman steal the weak woman’s husband, and the man who is inflicting immeasurable pain on one woman gets played by the other woman. Other nuances or chances to have more serious conversations are seldom possible or explored by the writers.
Qatar (Endurance) is another one of these dramas, written by Aliya Bukhari and directed by Barkat Sidiki. Revolving around the social-climbing exploits of Maya (Sanam Jhung), the drama has not only failed to impress, but it has also raised quite a few problematic questions about relationships, social class and our depictions of women on television.
Behind the Scenes of Qarar
To recap the first three episodes, we see Maya, whose accomplishments are strictly limited to being “extremely beautiful”, and her ambitions involve marrying an extremely rich man. In contrast, there is Fareeha (Rabab Hashim), Maya’s cousin, who lives with the family since she lost both her parents at a young age. Fareeha is a wide-eyed, well-behaved, also pretty girl who works at a school. She is loved by her Uncle (Wasim Abbas), while her Aunt (Seemi Pasha) hates her for being a “burden on the family”. As any such drama would show, Uncle is a middle-class hardworking teacher, but his wife only dreams of her daughter marrying above her social status, and pulling her out of their frugal lifestyle.
Muneeb Butt as Ammar and Rabab Hashim as Fareeha
Then arrives Ammar (Muneeb Butt), who takes one look at Maya and falls in love with her, begging his Grandmother (Sangeeta Ji) to ask for Maya’s hand immediately, without making the effort to get to know her. He carries an idealized version of Maya in his mind, telling others that she must have many great qualities, she knows how to cook well and so on. One wonders not only about the basis of these assumptions within his character’s psychology, but also about the lack of common sense that this otherwise sensible man possesses.
This drama was highly anticipated due to the star power involved, with television darlings like Sanam Jhung, Ali Safina and Muneeb Butt joining forces. In terms of positives, everyone’s acting is quite realistic and convincing to their situation. One performance that is somewhat weaker than the other is that of Jhung, who has not made any interesting choices which might cause some to understand her character’s inner struggles.
Ali Safina as Salman and Sanam Jhung as Maya
Finally, there’s Salman, a landlord who had gone to university with Maya a few years ago and had proposed to her, only to be rejected. But now that he has inherited his father’s properties and business, he catches Maya’s eye when they bump into each other at the mall. However, Salman hides his first marriage from Maya, and when she discovers this, she instead agrees to accept Ammar’s proposal. Mikaal Zulfikar also features prominently in the cast, but his role is yet to be introduced in the serial.
Sanam Jhung and Mikaal Zulfikar
Besides the lack of imagination in the plot, there are many other factors which make this drama wanting. The big question that needs to be asked is how long the love-at-first-sight trope will remain relevant on television. Although there has always been demand for depictions of instant and passionate love on screen, people in reality are not falling in love simply based on looks or a brief first meeting. There are many kinds of love which take time to develop, and there are many complexities that closely resemble reality, which need to be kept in mind when writing about love on television.
Secondly, it is unrealistic that an educated middle-class woman with a supportive family would only resort to marriage as a way to achieve wealth or maintain a certain lifestyle. This is especially pertinent when we have so many examples of real women being successful on their own. Thirdly, why is there no space for complexity in female characters. For now, Fareeha is quite two-dimensional, working only as the foil to Maya. Viewers wait with anticipation to see if she expresses more agency, or if she falls into the traditional stereotype of the victim.
Sanam Jhung as Maya and Rabab Hashim as Fareeha
And perhaps most importantly, the question arises as to why production companies like Momina Duraid Productions, which are capable of producing good quality content, are instead choosing to put out mediocre scripts and plots. It is up to them to choose scripts and stories, which opt for subtler characterizations that are closer to reality, than over-the-top melodrama which no longer carries the same shock value as it did before.
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