It’s that time of the year again
What’s more interesting this time is that star cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have also jumped onto the bandwagon to host a game show ‘Geo Khelo Pakistan’ on Geo TV while drama queen Veena Malik is also making her appearances in Ramzan transmissions
Ramzan – which was once known as the month of restraint, tolerance, patience and charity – has now become a season for the profit seeking television enterprises to sell religion in the name of Ramzan to get high ratings and make good money.
The first thing that comes to mind when we hear about this holy month approaching is the Ramzan transmissions associated with it. Like last couple of years, this time too, every channel – with Hum TV as an exception – is successfully carrying out its Ramzan transmission followed by game shows after Iftar.
This year is no different, the hosts are the same, only the channels are somewhat different. We have the same Maya Khan, the snake stunt on whose show some might remember, there is the same Fahad Mustafa and Waseem Badami, there is the same SahirLodhi who sparked the Quaid controversy this time, there is the same Mufti Qavi who was scandalised with Qandeel Baloch, and there is the same Amir Liaquat of Inam Ghar fame.
What’s more interesting this time is that star cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have also jumped onto the bandwagon to host a game show ‘Geo Khelo Pakistan’ on Geo TV while drama queen Veena Malik is also making her appearances in Ramzan transmissions.
No wonder everyone wants to join the club, they are paid good money. Unfortunately, a few who are actually doing well are lost somewhere in this lot. And then the people here obviously like to watch Amir Liaquat and Fahad Mustafa – little surprise they get the top ratings.
However, this time around the game shows are not all about giving away mobile phones, motorcycles and a few cars, BOL TV has outrivaled other programs by distributing much more expensive prizes like a Mercedes Benz and an aircraft. Now, who should knock some sense into them that this is not what game shows are meant to be. They are meant to provide healthy entertainment to people not humiliation in the name of giveaways.
What surprises someone with a little sense is the people of this country, who do not mind this kind of entertainment at all. Channels get ratings because people like to watch them so it makes good sense for them to invest in these Ramzan transmissions every year
The hosts of these shows speak for themselves. A few transmissions are being hosted by the same morning show hosts of those channels who talk about every flashy thing in the world the rest of the year and get all pious in this month. Television actress Ushna Shah also spoke out against such hypocrisy of the people saying, “…You’d be surprised at how many people do this, and they do this every year! Every. Year. For some, this is a holy month of prayer, discipline and ablution. For others, it’s the month of selling Islam and being a shameless hypocrite. And ladies (you know who you are) you can wear your white veils, put on the most angelic makeup with the lightest glowing highlighter, pronounce your Arabic vowels from deep within your esophagus, pretend to be descended straight from above (especially some of my favourite television personalities), but your souls will remain rotten and ugly as long as your behaviour is the same for every other month. You’ll go back to lying, spreading malicious gossip, being cruel, selling yourselves to get ahead, screwing people over, etc…”
What surprises someone with a little sense is the people of this country, who do not mind this kind of entertainment at all. Channels get ratings because people like to watch them so it makes good sense for them to invest in these Ramzan transmissions every year. Their point is simple – why shouldn’t they go on with producing such programs that can give them high ratings by engaging a large number of audiences? Not only that, Ramzan transmissions bring heavy commercials with them and the game shows aired at prime time are all the more profit gaining.
The problem with television broadcasting in Pakistan is that everything is plentiful, be it news channels, Ramzan transmissions or game shows on them. In this proliferation of such transmissions, the least attention is given to the script that can actually make a difference. Here the hosts of the shows are only required to have enough charisma and be enough impudent to look good on the screen. It doesn’t matter if they know something about the subject or not. One really can’t make a difference on who is doing better and who isn’t, this is just a big stage to get fame and make money and all of us are a part of it.