That Eighties’ Show

Zoya and Ahmer were created in 1987 in Karachi,and made actors Marina Khan and Rahat Kazmi household names. Twenty-three years later,Sony Entertainment Television bought its official rights to create Kuch Toh Log Kahenge,on air since October,with Kritika Kamra playing Zoya and Mohnish Behl in the role of Ahmer. The setting might be borrowed from the Pakistani show but Dhoop Kinare it is not,with slo mos and Bollywood songs in the background.

Karachi-based Haseena Moin,who wrote the original classic,isn’t impressed. She was hesitant to give away the rights of her famous drama. “Basically,I’m against remakes because woh baat phir se nahin paida hoti jo pehle keh chuke hain,” she says. It was the merit of Rang De Basanti writer Kamlesh Pandey,who is the creative in-charge of Kuch Toh Log Kahenge,which made Moin change her mind. She saw the first episode and didn’t watch it again. “Dhoop Kinare was about a relationship that developed over a period of time. In this show,the romance started from the beginning. Their eye contact started from day one. Do minute tak woh ankhon mein dekhte hi rehte hain. Zoya was bubbly,but she never overacted. The casting doesn’t feel right,” she says.

The Kanpur-born Moin is a doyenne of Pakistan television industry,and the characters she created still strike a chord. Indian viewers also know her for Ankahi (1982) and Tanhaiyaan (1985). The former was about the sweet-and-sour life of Sana Murad (Shehnaz Sheikh) and her family,with Jamshed Ansari in the role of Sana’s neighbour,Timmy,giving a standout performance. Tanhaiyaan was about two sisters,Zara (Sheikh) and Sanya (Khan),whose lives take a turn after the demise of their parents.

Just like Hrishikesh Mukherjee did in his films,Moin told Everyman’s stories with a comic touch. Her shows were rich in characters and astutely commented on the value system of the emerging middle class of Pakistan in the ’80s and the ’90s. She sketched real people with endearing quirks,devoid of filmi-ness.

Tanhaiyaan,for instance,brought alive the character of Qutbutdin aka Qabacha,played to comedic perfection by Behroze Sabzwari. The latter—named by Moin after the famous army general—was given a terse brief: “You’re no-nonsense but you blunder.” Sabzwari,who is actor Javed Sheikh’s brother-in-law,took inspiration from Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther films and Norman Wisdom. “It’s the biggest compliment for an actor to be recognised by his character’s name. It’s been 26 years but people still call me Qabacha,” says Sabzwari.

Even though it’s only now that Moin has been officially contacted for the rights of one of her shows,Indian directors have borrowed liberally from her shows in the past. Imtiaz Ali’s Star Plus television show Imtihaan,starring Renuka Shahane and Firdaus Dadi,was a desi remake of Tanhaiyaan while David Dhawan copy-pasted an entire tie-stapling sequence of Ankahi in Chal Mere Bhai,where a flustered Karisma Kapoor was made to staple her khadoos boss (Sanjay Dutt)’s tie with office documents,just like Sana did to her boss Taimoor (Shakeel).

Sahira Kazmi,who directed Dhoop Kinare,attributes the cross-generational appeal of the shows to “the romance of everyday (life) mixed with the naturalness in relationships,peppered with a touch of humour.” While directing her husband,Rahat Kazmi,and Khan in the medical drama,she was careful to keep the tone natural. “I remember telling Marina to take off her eye make-up during scenes in the hospital. The dialogues were also made natural. I believe in extempore,in conversational lines. If I found the dialogues worded in very proper Urdu,I would change them. Marina’s Urdu was weak,it had to sound as if a young girl was saying those lines,” says Kazmi.

The shows stood out for the strong female characters. They were independent,funny and outspoken. Moin made sure all her heroines went to work. Zoya drove a car while Tanhaiyaan was all about Zara’s ambition to build her garment business so that she could buy back her house. “It was challenging to write strong roles for women in those days but we believed that they should be bold,and fight for their rights. I tried to sketch my heroines in such a way that they speak their mind,take a stand aur bura bhi na lage.”

Those were the days of strict censorship laws in the Pakistan of Zia-ul-Haq. The creative team of PTV had to churn out entertainment within pre-set regulations. Moin remembers being served with a strict directive midway during the shooting of the show,Kasak. “We were told the girls would always need to keep their heads covered. Even if it was a drowning scene,the head had to be covered. We came up with a style of tying the dupatta in such a way that the head was covered yet it looked stylish,” she says. In the serial,Parchaiyan,which was about a mistress,the word was never used.

Kazmi recalls shooting two options for the famous hand-holding moment betweenDr Zoya and Dr Ahmer. “I took a shot where RK (Rahat Kazmi) gives his hand to Marina and then there’s a tight shot of the hands. The second shot was without any close-up,it was a quick jump across the shot of the hand and that’s all. My thinking at that time was that even if they censor it,I should at least attempt it. Eventually,it went on air. It’s ironic but I think Zia was fond of television because some of our finest serials went on air in his time,” says Kazmi.

After a lean phase,the television industry in Pakistan is returning to form. Hum TV’s Humsafar has become popular. Moin and Khan are working on a Tanhaiyaan sequel. Khan will paddle up as a producer and the story will begin with Sanya’s character. After a five-year sabbatical,Kazmi is looking to do a comedy with her husband,who is presently the artistic director of Pakistan’s National Academy of Performing Arts.

Quiz the Dhoop Kinare team if a show for Indian television is possible and the excitement is very real. Moin did attempt Tanha on Star Plus,which didn’t catch on. Raj Kapoor had once called her to write the dialogues of Henna,when he was making it. Dilip Kumar had also sent her a message “ki hum baghair palak jhapakte Ankahi dekhte hain.” Says Moin,“Hum zaroor India ke liye kuch likhna chahenge par yeh visa system ka problem ek majra hai.”If we can sort out the visa issues for Veena Malik,we can do it for Haseena Moin.