Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir’s new drama is getting flack.

The Pakistani drama industry gets a lot of flack for some of the story lines they depict on television. Many dramas peddle the same old narrative of women being miserable, constantly crying under the oppression of the patriarchs in their life and eventually submitting to their fate. Sadly new dramas coming up just don’t seem to be showing anything new.

And in the shit show we call the world of Pakistani dramas, enters another contender for ‘Why In The World Is This Being Aired’:

 

Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir’s new drama trailer just dropped and boy oh boy

Called ‘Yeh Dil Mera‘, the drama appears to be about a young woman seeking a job and eventually falling for her boss.

The drama has not been aired yet but the teaser for it is already making rounds on the internet. While die-heart Sahad shippers hype the upcoming drama up, a lot of people are confused about how just a 30 second trailer could show so many things that are just PLAIN WRONG.

In the teaser clip, we see Sajal Aly going for a job interview to Ahad Raza Mir. The interview makes anyone with even the slightest bit of professionalism in them physically cringe. Ahad who is the potential employer, fires off personal questions towards Sajal’s characters which leave her confused. And she seems visibly uncomfortable, but the romantic melody playing in the background tries to give you another idea.

And at the end of the interview, Ahad Raza Mir’s character straight up asks Sajal if she likes him. Please just for a SECOND, imagine how INAPPROPRIATE THIS SCENARIO IS. A girl going for a job interview being treated like this is plain wrong… and this drama is trying to romanticize it?

 

People were pretty taken aback by Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir’s new drama’s teaser

https://twitter.com/hodornm/status/1185842825205866497?s=20

As if we already don’t have people questioning the credibility of workplace harassment, we now have a drama showing that a potential employer asking female candidates what they like to eat and whether they like them in interviews is acceptable.

The power dynamic between someone looking for employment and a potential employer in a job interview is considerable. This drama shows Ahad’s character exploiting that power dynamic and goes further to show that it actually worked because by the looks of it, Sajal and him hit it off and fall in love?

Great way to normalize workplace harassment and romanticize the actual disgusting behavior from potential employers and bosses that women ACTUALLY have to put up with in daily life. There is NOTHING cute about it.

 

It’s disappointing when actors of Sajal and Ahad’s stature end up not pushing back at the regressive storylines they are asked to portray because it is them who fans will see as the faces of such behavior

It’s 2019 guys, and Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly are presumably both well educated enough on the current socio-political climate to know that workplace harassment is not only a VERY real issue but something women are trying to create awareness about. Depicting a boss asking inappropriate questions from an employee in an interview as anything near normal is not okay. Please for a second use your brain to remember that your dramas do create an impact.

Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir's new drama scene
Source: Hum Network Limited

The drama’s writer Farhat Ishtiaq should know well enough how her writing can create waves. She also wrote Udaari which created a lot of awareness about child abuse in the country and was lauded for it. But seeing the same writer try to normalize workplace harassment is incredibly disheartening. I’m sure she knows that dramas are not just entertainment but do make an impression on people.

It takes dramas like these to make serious issues women face in every day life seem frivolous.

Can Pakistani actors and actresses actually think about the script and the impact that it will potentially have before they agree to do it? Cause that would honestly be great, thanks.

What do you think about the trailer for Yeh Dil Mera? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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Cover Image Source: Hum Network Limited