Anwar Maqsood, a well-known Pakistani scriptwriter, recently spoke with a local publication on the role that modern technology plays in lessening the importance of television.
According to the satirist, people are no longer interested in developing high-quality drama, as evidenced by the fact that “Urdu literature does not actually have drama.”
We have a few, but they aren’t what we would call dramatic in the traditional sense. It is true that there are a few plays by Agha Hashar, that there is an Anarkali by Taj Sahab, and that there are plays by Khwaja Sahab, but these plays are of such a nature that if you’re viewing them on stage or television, you will love them, but they do not have a place in the library. In addition, we do not have a lot of fiction in our literature. We used to have four or five folks who would create stories, but they’re all gone now.”
“New people aren’t coming in because these gadgets have taken away the pleasure of reading and writing,” Maqsood continued. People want to be able to do everything from a single device. “They don’t want to spend money on books.”
During a press conference with President Pervez Musharraf Sahab, the humorist remarked that “a number of renowned journalists were furious with me when I said, ‘You’ve provided media freedom, but you should have done this when the country had a higher level of education,'” he continued. Our population comprises 70-80% ignorant people. For them, freedom of the press is synonymous with destruction.’ There are so many stories on television these days that individuals who are uninformed watch them and then aspire to be like them. “They are only plays, and you should consider them as such.”
According to Maqsood, who expressed his dissatisfaction with the content currently being produced, “There are so many plays that even I cannot watch.” Media independence has been destroyed as a result of ratings. The higher the rating, the greater the amount of shamelessness, useless phrases, and disrespect.”
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