Later, Saleem Nasir (late), Talat Husain, Subhani Bayounus (late), Arshe Muneer (late), Hameed Wyne and others from Karachi joined the bandwagon, adding further strength to the art of drama. They were refined individuals and intellectuals, hence the works they produced were splendid adaptations of novels and plays from both Urdu and English literature.
In the beginning there was black-and-white TV and Khalid Saeed Butt, Farooq Zameer, Mehmood Khan Moodi and Mohammed Qavi Khan appeared in visually strong plays such as Aik Khel, Aik Fankar. The state ruled PTV (it still does) and PTV in turn ruled our lives. The characters haunted us, the plots hypnotised us and we were proud of Pakistani drama which left audiences across the border in awe. Many of us still remember the glory days of Khuda Ki Basti, Ashfaq Ahmed's Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsanay, Mustansar Hussain Tarar's Aik Haqeeqat Sau Afsanay, Amjad Islam Amjad's Waaris, Samandar, Drama '82, '83, '85 and so on Jhok Sial, Parchaaiyan, Qurbatein Aur Faaslay, Shehzori, Kiran Kahani, Zer Zabar Pesh, Uncle Urfi, Shama, Ana, Ankahi, Tanhaiyaan, Kashkol, Dhund, Dhoop Kinaray, Tota Kahani, Sitara Aur Mehrunnisa, Jungle, Deewarein, and PTV Quetta centre's Dhuaan among many other long and short plays and serials.Īs clichéd as it may sound, people used to plan their domestic chores and social events around PTV primetime till not very long ago. Charles Dickens would probably not object to my stealing his line “Those were the best of days, those were the worst of days” if he knew my reference to context - the golden era of PTV drama.