Veteran Pakistani playwright, satirist and humorist, Anwar Maqsood has broken his silence over his absence from script-writing on television. The writer of several iconic screenplays has been away from the drama industry for a while now.
Living legend Anwar Maqsood has written countless emblematic plays for the Pakistani drama industry including Aangan Teerha, Show Shaa, Half Plate and Sitara Aur Mehrun-Nisa. Anwar is also the mastermind behind the groundbreaking comedy show Loose Talk with the late legend Moin Akhtar which still makes rounds on social media.
The veteran composer opened up about stepping back from writing dramas during a recent interview with a TV channel. He said that he stopped writing dramas because what is happening on TV has left no room for writers like him.
“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,” said Maqsood.
He continued to express his discontent over present-day dramas saying these dramas lack writers like Ashfaq Ahmed, Bano Qudsia, Munnu Bhai, Suraya Bijaya and Noorul Huda Shah who wrote very fine plays.
“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 also complained that digest writers have dominated the field who attract the vast illiterate population of the country with typical “saas-bahu” narratives.
When asked what the biggest flaw in today’s drama is, he said that playwrights today are writing in a hurry since they are under a lot of pressure.
“What is being written in one play is being repeated in the next. I request those who are writing the drama, please shun the quarrels and conspiracies of the mothers-in-law.”
The Angan Tehra writer also shared his memories of working with legends like Moin Akhtar and Tariq Aziz. Recalling his conversation with the Neelam Ghar host, he told that once Tariq asked him why his family members had white hair.
“I replied, ‘When we came to Pakistan, we had two paths in front of us, one that turns the blood white and one that turns your hair white. We preferred the path that turns the hair white.”
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