Dear Drama Makers, Is Ramzan The Only Month We’re Allowed To Laugh? Do I need a Netflix subscription 11 months of the year?
Why do we have to wait all year round to laugh – just open up our hearts and have a really hearty laugh, just like that, in our living room, on the sofa, with a cup of chai in hand, why, why, why wait for our Ramzan to get the comic in our lives?
Till this Ramzan, I had to resort to a dose of Brooklyn 99, Modern Family, Friends, or any old but happy Netflix show to recover from the H.E.A.V.Y. content churned out in our local television industry.
This is not to say it’s poor content. It’s not.
It’s mind-blowingly super fabulous content. I mean, who can dream up Maqsood Sahib in Raqeeb Se, or enact the daring Amal in Dunk, or relate a deeply intense love story in Pehli Si Mohabbat? Our drama industry is rocking.
BUT
Have we forgotten how to laugh? From pre Ramzan Shehnai that is pure love to heart-warming family matters in Ishq Jalebi to Feeno shenanigans in Chupke Chupke and young millenial romance in Tana Bana, I look forward to my iftar chai ka cup only to soak in the fun and enter the world of my onscreen family love!
What was that thing called Netflix now?
I confess to not having watched a single episode of Brooklyn 99 in Ramzan. And for those who are quick to judge and ask why I’m not engaging in divine worship, well, that, my dear folks is between me and my God, so let’s not discuss when, how or why I do it, or not!
I remember the days when an intensely scripted Fatima Suraiya Bajia drama would play alongside a hysterically comic Haseena Moin affair! We would laugh at the wild histrionics of Qabacha and tear up with Ana. We were fed an emotionally balanced recipe of onscreen entertainment.
Is it no wonder that we face a rising depression rate in our country?
Out of the total 140 million population of Pakistan 6% suffers from depression, which comes to 84,00,000 of the population. 50% of the sufferers do not seek treatment at any stage
JPMA
We wouldn’t have to import the laughter in our lives. We had it right there, at the click of our finger tips with only one channel running on air and yet, we managed to make people smile. And make no mistake, we depicted real life too. And yet, we managed to highlight societal issues, marital problems, and at the same time, have the likes of hilarious break out content like Taal Matol and Such Gup grace our screens!
Let’s hope the likes of the current Ramzan dramas go beyond this blessed month – we are truly blessed that we are afforded time to laugh in a deeply depressive Covid world! Perhaps we have Ramzan to thank for this – perhaps we ned to have more Ramzans all year round?
