What would Haseena Moin’s Tanhaiyan look like today?
The women in her dramas were independent characters that found their strengths and rose to tackle their own issues
Ever since playwright Haseena Moin’s sudden demise, I have been thinking about everything that our nation gained through the world that she created for us on television. Her dramas taught us lifelong lessons on empowerment, strength, freedom of choice, romance, relationships, friendships and above all basic human integrity.
My thoughts immediately went to
Tanhaiyaan that aired on PTV back in 1986, where Moin’s script was brought to life by late Shehzad Khalil. She had written dynamic, robust characters that actually grew with the drama and had depth.
Aahat and
Tansen in the early 1990s.
The playwright was considered way ahead of her times because of the way she both entertained and educated the audience, all at the same time. Being an educationist was a part of her personality, but being a playwright was something she excelled at. Her heroines stood shoulder-to-shoulder to men, she was her own master who knew how to get the job done and mostly ended up in happily-ever-after endings (except for in
Uncle Urfi). Like Fatima Surayya Bajiya, every actress wanted to play her heroine; but unlike Bajiya, she leaned more towards comedy than serious issues.
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Fabulous not frail, Haseena’s characters were everyday people with intelligence and agency KARACHI:
Haseena Moin often complained about how the pop culture industry doesn’t celebrate women in their totality anymore. She is weak, self-indulgent, and dependent to the limit that she almost comes off as a liability on society, Moin would say. Or as the deranged prince of Denmark puts it, “Frailty, thy name is woman.”
While Hamlet would disagree with her, Haseena stood her ground and walked the talk at the same time. As she grew older and slightly restricted due to worsening health, her characters continued to walk on her behalf. And that is exactly how a legacy forms itself; slowly and organically, without having to remind you of the shadow it casts over the imagination.