Everyone knows what’s happening in Pakistan’s drama industry. People are criticizing it and veteran actors aren’t happy with the plot of current dramas on the air.
After a few other senior actors’ criticisms, Rubina Ashraf also took the charge and highly criticized what’s been aired for the past couple of years.
Rubina Ashraf who’s one of Pakistan’s leading and iconic actresses of her generation made an appearance on Time Out with Ahsan Khan along with her daughter, actor Minna Tariq.
Rubina Ashraf has done some iconic roles that everyone still remembers and recalls her acting career. She has recently stepped into the world direction and she directed her first-ever drama “Ruswai”.
Rubina Ashraf criticized Pakistani dramas
Rubina Ashraf started with the young and fresh talent emerging in the industry. She said, “Whenever people ask me about my opinion on the youngsters in the industry, I always say that we are blessed. They’re such an asset and are doing such great work.”
On the other hand, Minna Tariq got the privilege to debut in her mother’s drama Ruswai and she learned a lot from her experience on the set. The actor said, “You get to learn a lot and get to know the difference between right and wrong. I’ve learned everything from my mother, but I feel that the one thing that stands out amongst them is patience.”
Rubina Ashraf also shared how today’s young actors speak up when faced with a problem. “She’s always taught me to speak up if I feel that something is wrong.
That helps a lot now. If I go on set and I feel that something isn’t right, I try to correct things wherever I can, because when you speak up, you end up fixing things. Until you don’t say something, things will continue the way they have been.
At first, I wouldn’t speak up, but my mother told me to go and talk to my producers and directors. When I started to do that, things started to automatically fall into place.”
The veteran actress who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19 and she slammed the media even spread rumors about her death too.
‘Low-quality scripts left the industry in dark’ – Rubina Ashraf
Rubina Ashraf also highlighted the low or say lack of quality scripts have left the TV industry in a disappointing state. “There’s so much that is lacking [on television].
We were the people who put the television on the map at a time when everyone was interested in making films only,” she reflected. The actor added, “We earned a name for ourselves all over the world with the plays Ashfaq Sahab, Bano Apa, and Mustansar Hussain Tarar wrote.
She even also pointed out the lack of good shows. “There should have been a level of perfection which just isn’t there. There are still great dramas being made, but that’s only one out of ten. You pick one drama because you have to watch at least one thing.”
So many big names and the direction of the time with shows like Ankahi and Tanhaiyaan. We did such great work, and when compared to that we are nowhere near where we should have been.”
When Ahsan asked “whether the lack of finesse can be blamed on privatization of television, Rubina responded, “This happens. When quantity increases, quality usually goes down. But that should have been an issue in the first five years. Things should have picked up the pace by now.”
she added further, “It doesn’t feel good to say this, because we are also to blame for this in some way or the other. Everyone associated with this field is responsible somehow. And it’s not their fault.
An actor will be offered ten scripts and they’ll refuse the first line due to quality issues but they’ll settle on the tenth because they have a family to feed and a living to make. So, the situation is a bit heartbreaking. We need to work on our scripts.”
‘There’s no character development’ – Rubina Ashraf
Rubina also discussed the lack of character development in drama serials. “When I watch dramas of today, I see the hero, I know he’s the hero, but I have no idea why he is the hero.
There’s no background. When I did Ruswai, I made sure the professions are very in your face. You can tell that it is a doctor or an air hostess. I made sure to include uniforms so that people can tell that these are people from real life.”
When the host asked the young actress what led her to dive into the entertainment industry. She revealed that she’s never been forced to pursue acting as a career. “I didn’t always want to be an actor and my mother didn’t push me towards it either.
I wanted to try something different and I would always see my mother go to work and I would be fascinated by what she does, so I gave it a shot. Then things just fell into place in a very organic manner, and I started acting.”
Rubina Ashraf signed off after sharing her personal experience and put some light on her marriage after her name had not changed. Rubina said, “I was already famous as Rubina Ashraf, and I’d seen people change their names and then have to change them back eventually.
I didn’t want to go through that so I stuck with my father’s name. I was lucky because my husband also didn’t have issues with that.”
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