The month of Ramzan usually brings on a procession of religious shows on prime time television in Pakistan. Special religious segments are set aside for Islamic discourse, there are timings allotted for renditions of naats and transmissions dedicated to religion may go on all through the night, till the early hours of the morning.
Sometimes, though, some very strong messages can be given out in the form of storytelling. Beyond sermons, there are moral lessons to be learnt from stories that tackle societal vices like the lust for wealth, showing off and passing judgments on others. On this tangent, a groundbreaking initiative has been put forward by Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi by bringing out a diverse range of shows designed with Islamic teachings and learnings in mind. Month-long series of episodes, aired daily on Geo Entertainment, pinpoint moral digressions and narrate stories related to them. At a time where negativity often reigns over media, positivity is spread through this content by visionaries Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi of 7th Sky Entertainment.
Four different daily shows are dedicated to separate themes: Makafat, now in its fourth season, Dikhawa, in its third season, Nisa and Maamlat.
Dikhawa – Season Three
Targeting the common tendency to show off, Dikhawa has been extremely popular because the stories that it narrates are true to life. Ostentatious behavior and the desire to impress those around us can negatively influence others and lead to dreadful repercussions. Dikhawa puts forward this message again and again with its storylines, without resorting to sermonizing.
Dikhawa’s thought-provoking and inspiring stories were met with success in the past and the series is now in its third season. A range of prominent writers have been taken on board to write the various episodes. The series is directed by Ali Akbar whose past projects include major successes like 2019’s Bharosa Pyar Tera, 2020’s Main Agar Chup Hoon and Khoob Seerat and Banno in 2021.
Dikhawa – Season 3 airs daily at 4 p.m. on Geo Entertainment all through Ramzan.
Makafat – Season Four
7th Sky Entertainment’s Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi produced the first three seasons of Makafat with great success and this year, they have moved on to the fourth season. As the name implies, ‘Makafat’ means retribution and the stories told in the series reflect on how one ends up paying for evil as well as good done in this world. What goes around always comes around and each episode features a different take on how victims struggle to survive and the culprits end up suffering for their actions.
Multiple writers are on board for penning the episodes and the drama’s cast includes Humayoun Ashraf, Babar Khan, Saniya Shamshad, Erum Akhtar, Sidra Niazi, Raeed Alam, Asim Mehmood, Hammad Farooqui, Shazia Naz, Nida Mumtaz and Shahood Alvi, among others. Saleem Ghanchi, who helmed the first three series as well, is on board as director.
Makafat – Season 4 airs daily at 7 p.m. on Geo Entertainment all through Ramzan.
Nisa
Nisa, in a range of sensitive, thought-provoking stories, highlights the rights given to women in Islam. It is common for talk shows on TV to discuss women’s rights but Nisa attempts to create awareness through narratives that try to inspire empathy and shed light on the importance given to women by religion.
The series is penned by mainstream writers and well -known TV directors such as Mazhar Moin, Muhammad Iftikhar Iffi and Khurram Walter have directed the episodes.
The actors’ montage is also impressive and includes well-known names such as Hina Altaf, Moomal Khalid, Hina Dilpazeer, Srha Asghar, Haris Waheed, Farhan Ali Agha, Nida Mumtaz, Javeria Abbasi, Rashid Farooqui, Beenish Chauhan, Saife Hassan, Shahood Alvi and Kamran Jeelani.
Nisa airs daily at 6 p.m. on Geo Entertainment all through Ramzan.
Maamlat
True to its name, this series looks upon how small every day affairs can make a huge difference to an individual’s life and of those around him or her. Each story covers day to day life matters and how one should focus and implement the basic teachings of Islam in them. Once again, Geo Entertainment and 7th Sky Entertainment have strived to give out messages of learning and reflection.
Shahid Younis has directed the series and a range of through-provoking characters have been enacted by actors like Humayoun Ashraf, Saniya Shamshad, Sohail Sameer, Waseem Abbas, Kamran Jilani, Nida Mumtaz, Dania Anwer, Saleem Mairaj, Srha Asghar, Maira Khan, Hammad Shoaib, Behroze Sabzwari, Khalid Anum, Furqan Qureshi and others.
Maamlat airs daily at 4.30 p.m. on Geo Entertainment all through Ramzan.
What do you think?