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 there to burst this bubble.
“Our theater industry has progressed a lot and there was a very large audience,” said Mehreen during a virtual interview with Pakistani drama. “But behind the scenes, there is a lot of compromise and this industry operates in a very little professional way. This is the sad party.”
Based in New York EK JHOOTI Love Story The director, who has accumulated a rich catalog of works during her three decades career, deplored that the actors and the crew have a constant fight to extract the payments of the Pakistani production houses.
“You know, in the United States, they have many problems, but there, the payment hours are kept. You know that you will be paid,” she said. “But in Pakistan, with each channel and production house (and yes, some are better than others), you have to hunt them like beggars, asking you when you are paid.”
Mehreen confirmed that this is not a problem limited to the right actors. “Everyone is facing this, actors in the Boy spot to the director,” maintained the filmmaker. “There is no system. You ask anyone, and you will get thousands of stories about payment problems. ”
The director noted that in this Shambolic configuration, the crew members behind the scenes pay the highest price. “If you compare the salaries of our light men and our crew (because you have to do things in a certain budget), what they are paid is very low,” reduced Mehreen. “There is no union here, so nobody can really fight for their rights – but they are the ones who work the hardest part […] I don’t know how this cycle will never break ”
The director has developed that because of this frustrating situation in the Pakistani entertainment industry, undertaking a project in her country of origin has proven to be a largely incompatible experience.
“It is very frustrating to sometimes pull in Pakistan. The most fluid of my experience was either a short series, because these end in about 35 days, or if a brand is involved,” she sounded. “Which is the sad thing, because our theater industry is the greatest sage in the media in industry, because we do not have films and our musicians are difficulties. Our television industry must therefore find a way to improve the environment behind the scenes!”
Mehreen, however, has limited hopes that a change in the radical industry approaching the question of payments in time will never come. “I have been working for 30 years now, and sometimes I think that the problems I am faced with still today. In fact, they may be even worse! ”
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