Actress Rubina Ashraf recently shared her views on acting, the golden days of television, as well as the disappointing state the industry finds itself in today.

“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", stated Ashraf. 

For Rubina, while there is no dearth of quality actors, the lack of quality scripts has left the TV industry in a disappointing state. “There’s so much that is lacking [on television]. We were the people who put 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. 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 asked by the host whether the lack of finesse can be blamed on privatisation 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.”

Speaking about the lack of focus on character development, the Pas e Aaina actor shared, “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.”