Karachi:
For those of you who have the impression that a career in the Pakistani TV industry is similar to a thriving bank account, director and producer Mehreen is Jabar here to blow up that bubble.
“Our drama industry has come a lot and there has been a very high viewer,” admitted Mehreen during a virtual interview with Drama Pakistani. “But behind the scenes there is a lot of compromise and this industry works in a very unprofessional way. That’s the sad part.”
The New York-based Ek Jhooti Love Story Director, who has acknowledged a rich catalog of work during his three-decade career, complained that actors and the crew have a constant match that extracts payments out of Pakistani production houses.
“You know, in the US they have many problems, but over there are payment plans. You know you will be paid,” she illustrated. “But in Pakistan, with each canal and production house (and yes, some are better than others), you have to chase them as beggars and ask when you get paid.”
Mehreen confirmed that this is not a question that is limited to just actors. “Everyone faces this, from actors to the spot boy to the director,” the filmmaker maintained. “There’s no system. You ask someone and you get thousands of stories about payment questions.”
The CEO noted that in this shambolic setup it is the back of the crew that pays the biggest price. “If you compare the wages of our light men and crew (because you have to do things on a particular budget), what they are paid for is very low,” Mehreen fly. “There is no association here so no one can really fight for their rights – but they are the ones who work hardest […] I don’t know how this cycle will ever break ”
The director elaborated that due to such a frustrating situation in the Pakistani entertainment industry, a project in its country of origin has proven to be a largely unexplained experience.
“It is very frustrating to shoot in Pakistan sometimes. The smoothest in my experience has either been a short series because these ends in about 35 days or if a fire is involved,” she mouseed. “Which is the sad thing because our drama branch is the biggest industry -media as we have no movies and our musicians are fight. So our TV industry has to find a way to do behind the scenes better!”
However, Mehreen has limited hope that a radical change in the industry that addresses the issue of timely payments will ever come. “I’ve been working for 30 years now, and sometimes I feel the problems I was facing still exists today. In fact, they might be even worse!”
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