Karachi:
For those of you who house the impression that a career in the Pakistani television industry is equivalent to a prosperous bank account, director and producer Mehreen Jabar is here to exploit that bubble.
“Our drama industry has progressed a lot, and there has been a very high audience,” Mehreen admitted during a virtual interview with Pakistani drama. “But behind the scene, there is a lot of commitment and this industry operates in a very unprofessional way. That is the sad part.”
Headquarters in New York EK JHOTI LOVE STORY The director, who has accumulated a rich work catalog on his three decades career, regretted that the actors and the crew have a constant struggle extracting payments of the Pakistani production houses.
“You know, in the United States, they have many problems, but there, payment schedules are maintained. You know they will pay you,” he illustrated. “But in Pakistan, with each channel and production house (and yes, some are better than others), you must chase them as beggars, asking when they will pay you.”
Mehreen confirmed that this is not a problem limited to only actors. “Everyone faces this, from the actors to the child and the director,” the filmmaker maintained. “There are no system. Ask for anyone and you will get thousands of stories about payment issues.”
The director said that in this chambolic configuration, it is the members of the crew behind the scene who pay the highest price. “If you compare the salaries of our light men and crew (because it has to do things in a certain budget), what is paid, is very low,” Mehreen Ruye. “There is no union here, so no one can really fight for their rights, but they are the ones who work harder […] I don’t know how this cycle will break “
The director explained that due to this frustrating state of things in the Pakistani entertainment industry, assuming a project in their country of origin has proven to be an unnecessary experience.
“Sometimes it is very frustrating to shoot in Pakistan. The softest in my experience has been a short series, because they finish them in approximately 35 days, or if a brand is involved,” he reflected. “Which is sad, because our drama industry is the largest in terms of industry media, since we don’t have films and our musicians are fighters. Therefore, our television industry has to find a way to improve the environment behind the scene!”
However, Mehreen has limited hope that a change of the radical industry that addresses the issue of appropriate payments will arrive. “I’ve been working for 30 years, sometimes I feel that the problems I faced still exist today. In fact, they are still worse!”
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