By Aqifa Ameen
Dramas are known as such because as closer to reality they might be, certain situations and scenarios are often exaggerated to show their gravity as well as intensify them. This is the reason why dramatization is at times is a little more elaborate and the viewers get to see things from a different perspective because reality is a lot more different to what is being shown on the TV. The Pakistani drama writers take pride in writing such stories which are very much reflective of the real life stories, however, the way the director directs and executes it gives a script the final touches.
Pakistani dramas have been popular for various reasons, people find their stories in the dramas they come across, they also connect and relate to the characters who are more or less going through the same situation as them in a drama. This is one of the best aspects of Pakistani dramas, however, then comes the not so best part, which often leaves the viewers amused and at times speechless because of how unrealistically things were portrayed. These scenarios are pretty much a part of every single drama, they may or may not impact the story overall, but they are always noticed. Such points often raise a question on how the director approached things and the actors also are not spared because they also give in without doing much to improve or change how the director was trying to perceive and portray the scenario. If these things are taken care of, they can make Pakistani dramas a lot more realistic and would also spare the viewers random thoughts on how wrong and poorly conceived the scene was.
Let’s take a look at the 10 unrealistic scenarios in Pakistani dramas:
Packing clothes with hangers
Each and every single Pakistani drama viewer who has packed a bag or a suitcase, for a longer trip or short, in urgency or after a lot of planning knows that hangers are not meant for the suitcase. Not only because they are going to eat the weight allowance, they are going to have the space inside the luggage compromised, but also because they are not practical and they are meant to stay inside the wardrobes. In Pakistani dramas, the actresses who threaten their husbands of leaving and going to their parents’ house often show urgency by packing their suitcase with clothes hanging on the hangers. This is quite a common phenomenon that takes place in dramas. Does this mean that the heroine wants to show that there are no extra hangers in her parents’ house and also because she doesn’t want to be a burden on her parents, that is why she is taking that extra care and being overly considerate by taking a thing as nominal and as impractical as a hanger with her! Also, a few shirts in and the bag is packed? What about toiletries, night suits, a pair of footwear, perfumes, deodorant, jewelry and makeup – all the other things that are required by the actress to survive? Because they look tip top in the following scene whereas they leave like hobos from their spouse’s house!
Cooking meals with untied hair
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a character in the kitchen, cooking meals for the family with her hair open. Kitchen is the hottest most humid place in the house; in Winter it gets warm and in Summers it is like an inside of the oven itself, therefore to see the heroines not tying their hair and cooking the food comfortably does make the viewers want to tie their hair tight in a bun, away from the nape of their necks because just by seeing such a scenario makes them uncomfortable. Also, the actors are lucky that the food they are shown to be eating is definitely ordered from the restaurants nearby before the shooting of the scene begins, because if they were to eat the actual food cooked by these young actresses, they’d be eating strands of hair instead of rice grains!
Having confidential conversations with doors open
This has to be one of the funniest parts of every drama. In all the scenes of all the dramas, where the characters are sharing secrets and discussing the most confidential matters with each other, they always do that without shutting the doors. This bad habit is not just restricted to sharing secrets, in most cases when the characters are talking on the phone and badmouthing people they are with, they often get overheard or someone walks in. No one in real life has this much courage to be openly backbiting or sharing important details so carelessly.
Ending phone conversations without telling to hang up
No Allah Hafiz, no Khuda Hafiz, no Byes, nothing is ever said. Each and every phone conversation in Pakistani dramas is ended without a proper ending note. This has to be one of the most unrealistic scenarios ever. In real life, no matter how short or important a phone call is, the people on both ends are always habitual of saying some parting words because that’s how the minds are conditioned, but it seems Pakistani actors are not used to it!
Waking up & going to bed with full makeup
This is another unrealistic scene in every single drama where the characters wake up looking like they slept-walk to the beauty parlour nearby and came back with a perfect blow dry and full face of makeup. Also, quite a lot of times, ladies are shown putting hand creams at the end of the day and they are doing this beauty routine just before going to sleep. Hand cream means this is going to be the last thing they are doing to do because no one washes their hands after they apply the hand creams and while looking at their face, the pores of the viewers cringe and clog at the thought of the ladies going to bed without washing their makeup clad face!
Fainting is a synonym for pregnancy
Pregnancy is a different experience for different women. There are no hard and fast rules for pregnancy but for somewhere pregnancy symptoms become stronger in the very early stages, there is also a huge margin of women who do not feel any symptom at all. In Pakistani drama, this situation is always dramatized by either the actress feeling dizzy or fainting straight away, which even before going to the hospital gives the Puphis and Chachis a confirmation that the bahu is umeed se. Also, God Forbid if a female character who is heard saying that she is craving something sour and spicy, the glimmer in the eyes of aunties lurking around is worth noting because they being the unqualified doctors themselves just know at heart that the girl is pregnant. What about those women who do not crave sour and spicy, rather develop sweet tooth during pregnancy? Does it mean they stand no chance in Pakistani dramas and won’t ever be represented?
Having perfect hair & makeup in grave situations
There are very few actors who believe in looking realistic and elaborating the scene which calls for their natural state without much makeup, but there are a lot of actors who want to look perfect no matter what. The actors and actresses always love to have a full face of glam on even if the character’s life has turned upside down. They do not believe in letting go of the makeup and compromise on looking natural which will actually add more reality to the situation.
Breaking tea cups without worrying about cleaning
No matter how shocking the news is, no one in real life just goes around breaking a full tray of filled tea cups or glasses of water just so carelessly. This is another aspect which is quite stretched in Pakistani dramas. In reality, if someone gets to hear something shocking, the first reaction usually is to put everything they are holding in their hands at the table nearby carefully, sit on a chair and then listen to the rest of the details. Scenes like these irk the viewers quite a lot because in reality is someone breaks a tea cup or a glass randomly, the first thing they get to hear are a few taunts from their mothers for ruining the set they had recently bought from the crockery shop and also, it is so messy that the one who committed this blunder has to clean it up properly. Imagine spilling a full cup of tea on the floor on a regular basis and then dealing with the sticky mess afterward because if going by this trend in the drama; in real life, a lot of things often come across quite shocking, which means destruction of a lot of crockery sets!
Children not speaking like children at all
In Pakistani dramas, it will be an exception if a child artist speaks like one and is given the dialogues fit for his age. However, that is not the case and a lot of times, the child artists put the grandfather characters to shame because of their over efficiency, wisdom and maturity.
This often makes the viewers wonder why the writers were relying on a child to do all the talking whereas they could have easily hired a mature actor to play that part in a drama. In real life, if a child speaks like that or pokes his or her nose in adult matters, the people around such a child tell them to stay silent and sit in the corner, play with the blocks or dig boogers out of their nose!
This concludes the list of unrealistic scenarios seen in Pakistani dramas repeatedly.
