Ishq e Mamnu

I never wanted to admit this publicly but I am confessing that I am a fan of Ishq e Mamnu (Aşk-ı Memnu, Forbidden Love). The craze this Turkish TV play is creating especially amongst the ladies these days it is quite impossible for me to ignore it.

Bihter and Behloul, famous characters from the play are immensely popular with our audiences. At first beautiful faces, dresses, the makeup, the jewellery, exquisite room decoration and delightful scenery attracts you and once you start to watch it then there is no going back. Initially I resisted but then it captivated me as well.

However, we have to admit that it has quite remarkable acting by all the actors. In particular the protagonist of the serial Beren Saat famously known as Bihter is exceptional both in beauty and acting and of course it has excellent direction.

What I am against is the boldness in dressing and very different social practices. There are also apprehensions in our media that if this trend of importing foreign TV plays continues at the same pace then our television will vanish just like our films and theaters has become history.

I have to agree that this short cut is going to have devastating consequences but on the hand our own TV is not producing any good product. Our TV producers use private houses for shooting and there also we have two extremes, either it’s a huge mansion or it’s a house in slum. Every house is a reflection of its residents and when you use someone else’s home they don’t exactly reflect the characters. So on this level as well our TV plays failed to make any impact.

Where ever you go there are abusive males, manipulative ladies, unnecessary exposure of alcohol. Either our TV heroine is a saint who prays five times a day in the serial or she wears western clothes and has no moral values.

 

It is a fact that if when there is space anything can take over. 

We should never undermine the impact of TV or Films or theater both domestically and internationally. If we play our cards well then these creative mediums are multi-million dollar industry as they not only give jobs to our actors and technicians but they are vital in creating our country’s positive image globally.

 Good Night, my friends.

Sonya Syed. (Day 378)