Islamabad - Speakers at a conference stressed for incorporation of issues related to education, health, child and mother health, and other social issues in entertainment dramas.
The script writers were given training during the last ten days to introduce social education in dramas so that along with entertainment people might get some sort of education. Main purpose of the workshop was to inculcate some education lesson in the drama script writing.
During the era of only-PTV, Pakistani writers including Haseena Moeen, Asghar Nadeem Saeed and Noorul Huda Shah were at the forefront and had pioneered the use of entertainment-education strategy for television drama not just in the country but in the entire region.
With an objective to revive the art of applying entertainment-education strategy to television dramas, Center for Communication Programs Pakistan (CCPP) conducted a two-week long workshop at a local hotel in Islamabad with a group of talented scriptwriters invited from all over Pakistan. The CCPP through an open call had received nearly 50 concepts from leading television channels and production houses in Pakistan from which eight were selected based on originality of their ideas, strength of their plots and their ability to integrate health messages.
The workshop was facilitated by two international trainers Andrew Whaley and Peter Roberts and two pioneers of social dramas in Pakistan Haseena Moin and Asghar Nadeem Saeed. “Stories need to be inspired from within our society and day-to-day life so that when shaped into a television drama, they are not only relatable to its viewers but are also socially impactful,” said Asghar Nadeem Saeed as he facilitated young writers to think beyond their fixated ideas.
Haseena Moeen who discussed her experience of writing Aahat said, “All of us, in a way, through our lives are portrayals of drama, we live in it and try to understand it, and this is why we need to be careful when we create and write a drama as it impacts lives.”
Young participant Usman Cheema from National College of Arts (NCA) appreciated this initiative by CCPP and termed it a healthy effort, which can boost the skills and professionalism among the drama/script writers. Another participant Riffat Arooj from Karachi said that a workshop for drama/script writers was being held in Pakistan for the first time. “It is golden opportunity for young writers to have interaction with senior drama writers like Haseena Moeen and Asghar Nadeem Syed to share ideas and work on their ideas.”
Shahid Nizami, who was also from Karachi, said that these efforts should continue in future to bring new and old writers at one platform to provide a great opportunity to the young writers to benefit from the seniors.