2 Saba Qamar Dramas You Must Watch
- The Crux
- Apr 5, 2020
- 6 min read
By Fatima Azhar
Saba Qamar is a star having earned numerous accolades for her acting skills; starting from four Lux Style Awards, a Hum Award and a Film Fare Nomination to the honor of receiving two of Pakistan's highest civilian honors: the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance.
Here we look at two of her most iconic dramas. These dramas are social commentaries focusing on different social issues but have one thing in common. The showcase strong, independent women who do everything in their power to make the people around them happy but also stand for themselves and what they believe in.
1. Digest Writer:
Digest Writer is a drama based on the life of Farida who belongs to a lower middle class family and studies in college as well, she does this against the wishes of her parents who just want to see their son, Farhan, becoming a doctor. Often treated as an outcast in the family, Farida is talented and determined to accomplish something big in her life; she is a dreamer who believes that working hard can change your life.
When Farida's family is hit with financially difficult times, she decides she wants to be a Digest magazine writer and after many sleepless nights she accomplishes what she had set to do and is now writing under the pen name "Rashk-e-Hina" much to the chagrin of her father who initially scolds her of wasting electricity at night. But once she starts providing an income for the family, her parents become more accepting.
Later on, Farida is forced to marry her cousin Shaukat, who makes her life miserable. He and his mother taunt her about being a digest writer and restrict her from writing at all. To ensure she doesn't leave, he rapes her; but he and his mother are horrified when she gives birth to a daughter as they had wanted a boy.
The mistreatment continues and Shaukat's father has an accident after which they need money and so ask Farida to start writing again; but they want to keep the money for themselves while she wants to give a portion of it to her mother as well. Eventually, Farida finds out that Shaukat has been cheating on her and he admits to being in love with someone else. And that is when, she finally leaves him and goes back to her parents' house.
The drama then shifts to 8 years later where we find out that the family is now wealthy as Farhan is a doctor and Farida has become a well-known drama writer and all the dreams she had for herself and her parents had for her brother have come true.
This drama is about a girl working hard to fulfill her dreams, no matter what obstacles she faces and no matter what she has to do to please her family. She takes it upon herself to try to make the best of whatever opportunities she has been given and fights for herself, even when she is sure she will lose.
If you're interested in watching this drama. Here is the first episode:
2. Baaghi
Baaghi is a this TV show loosely based on the life of the controversially famous Qandeel Baloch who sparked outrage in the Pakistani society and was eventually murdered by her brother in the name of honor in July 2016.
Fauzia Batool is a beautiful young village girl who lives with her parents, a younger brother, a younger sister, an older brother and his wife. She is outspoken, rebellious and the apple of her father's eye; always telling her older sister Nazia to not allow her husband to hit her and not being affected by her mother's constant attempts to discipline her.
Sajid, the brother of Fauzia's sister-in-law falls in love with her and convinces his sister to take a proposal to the family, only to be rejected by Fauzia, as he is lazy and jobless and also because she wants to become famous and independent. But it is too late, as the family has already accepted the proposal and the engagement has been announced in the village, calling which off would ruin their reputation. But Fauzia has fallen in love with Abid, the owner of a cosmetic shop who has recently come back from Dubai. He promises her that he will help her accomplish all her dreams, gives her magazines of models and even sends his proposal through his mother which Fauzia's mother rejects.
Escaping right before her marriage to Sajid, Fauzia goes to the Chaudhri amd Chaudhrani of the village which results in her eventually getting married to Abid. After the marriage, Abid loses interest in Fauzia and after they have a son, she discovers that he is having an affair with a girl called Ruby. They have a fight but resolve matters.
Fauzia wants to be a model and Abid has promised to help her, but now he insists her to sit at home and raise their child. In a fit of anger, he beats her up, divorces her and throws her out of the house. She is devastated and leaves the village, travelling to Karachi to be a model and provide for her initial family.
After joining a company and getting a makeover, she is introduced to the party life of the elite, which enrages her and she leaves, deciding to go to a women's hostel instead. The caretaker of this hostel is an evil woman and sends her as an escort to a rich man's house but Fauzia escapes and returns to the company after failing to get any work for many months.
Her boss, Gauhar, sets the terms on which she is to work and she starts refining herself and uploading videos on social media under the name, "Kanwal Baloch" gaining not only fans but also haters. And eventually she meets Shehryar who is a widower and who starts falling for Fauzia's true innocent nature. Through it all, she supports her family, pays off their debts, gets her father treatment when he has an accident resulting in his leg being cut off, shifts her family to Karachi and gets close to her family, doing everything for them and providing them all the amenities they did not have before.
Shehryar proposes to her and after much thought she agrees to marry him, realizing this would be her safe exist from the glamour world. He is overjoyed and introduces her to his mother. All seems well, as she is about to finally get away from all that circumstances have forced her to do, but suddenly, a breaking news on television channels mentions not only her real name but even the details of her past including marriage and child, with an interview of her ex-husband who has twisted the facts.
Shehryar is hurt, but his mother tells him to give Fauzia a chance to tell her side of the story; hearing which his affection and respect for Fauzia increases and he promises her that one day he will help her bring her son back. They happily start wedding preparations and she decides to pay one last visit to her parents' house.
Her family is angry with her as they thought she worked at boutique to earn money however when they find out she is getting married to Shehryar, their anger starts to subside. But her younger brother who is now a drug addict and has been mocked by friends and peers strangles her to death.
One of the more difficult and controversial topics out there, Baaghi is a drama which forces you to put yourself into the shoes of someone so many loved to hate. It shows the resolve of a woman, how she can get through the worst of times and still hope. It shows that we must not judge a book by it's cover for we do not know what goes on behind the scenes. It shows that a woman can do anything to protect and help her family, which doesn't always mean well for the woman. It shows that the media holds a responsibility to respect the privacy of people and ensure it does not end up endangering them in their race to bring the most unique news. But most of all Baaghi shows that no matter how bad things get, no matter how many Abids and Gauhars exist, there are also people like Shehryar and his mother, who accept without judgement and bring out the best in you.
Perhaps the end of the drama was the most impactful as Fauzia's voice addresses society, stating that she had left the world, however good or bad she was; that the society had snatched away any chances of her redemption. She questions in the end whether the society had been purified by her death.
This drama is a must watch for it changes perceptions. If you want to watch it, here's the first episode:
Fatima Azhar
The writer has an interest in script-writing and is doing her Master's in Journalism. She also enjoys writing poetry and painting.
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