ARTICLE: Six Sigma – Six Mistakes and Six Ideas
I am a huge fan of MD Productions, but when it comes to choosing my favorite production house, I am always in the middle between Six Sigma and MD Prod. The best thing about MD Prod. is that they bring interesting stories written by competent writers and directed by good directors. They have also given us bad serials in the past; however, their bad is still watchable thanks to a certain grip.
However, Six Sigma seems to be losing its grip and losing it fast. The production house that started along side A&B Entertainment (A&B Productions then) was ready to be the No.1 production house with dramas like Doraha and Ijazat.
It was the first production house to have brought the red light camera into the big picture. People had great expectations from this production house, which slowly went downhill. After a good few serials like Kaafir and soap Kaash Mein Teri Beti Na Hoti, Six Sigma just couldn't hold on.
SIX MISTAKES
Dramas like Lamha Lamha Zindagi, Neeyat, and Amma aur Gulnaz totally destroyed its image. After Amma aur Gulnaz I actually gave up on the production house. I was eager for this one because it had the name Khaaliq Khan (then creative head of the production house and writer of Kaafir) written over it. The serial, honestly, had the potential, but failed to take off.
Let's take a look at three big flops of the Production House and see what went wrong.
Neeyat: As in my review I said, the story had no life. Someone from the Prod. House told me that Humayun Saaed himself had gone to the channel saying that the serial would be a flop, but the channel was keen on doing it, because of Mehreen Jabbar. However, it proved to be a disaster even though it had good acting.
Amma aur Gulnaz: It was an interesting concept but poor writing and above it poor direction totally screwed it. Syed Atif Hussain just doesn't cut ice with me.
Maseeha: Now this broke the camel's back. I have heard a dozen people saying they will not watch a Six Sigma show after this. Maseeha in my opinion had a very very good story that the writer could do no justice to and the director even killed more. I wonder if they ever read the script in this case before approving it.
Same Faces
Poor Directors and Story tellers
No Promotional Strategy
So, one thing is clear, Six Sigma has potential. There is always something good with their bad serials, but they can just never use it correctly. So, what can be done?
Six Sigma needs to learn from its mistakes and past experiences.On one side A&B is busy creating a monopoly by offering talent exclusive contracts, and on the other side Six Sigma is losing talent (they have lost their creative head recently).
Six Sigma needs to buckle up. The excuse channel wanted this won't work anymore. Production Houses have the option to produce or not to produce a show, and if to produce then produce it correctly. Just providing cameras and money are not enough, there needs a solid base.
SIX SUGGESTIONS
1. The production house needs to move away from similar stories and give people what they want. There is a dearth need of romantic and light serials. Learn from Humsafar or Ishk-e-Mamnu, two big hits, that worked only because of big moments, romance, wardrobe, excellent faces. Who thinks it would have been the same if the serial starred Faysal Qureshi with Mahira? THEY WERE THE ORIGINAL CHOICE! The chemistry would've been missing and it would have looked like a regular serial. The casting and presentation gave them a new look.
2. Try new writers who can write well. In my opinion, stories are not that important. There is a small section that watched a serial for its story, most watch for entertainment. Get a simple story and present it in the best possible manner so that the person watching it stay glued.
3. Have new faced, God Dammit! People are sick of watching the same old faces. A&B has realized it. They introduced half a dozen new faces in the last few months, and all talented. Six Sigma should also do that. Humayun Saeed in a conversation with me said that cast is secondary, which is true, but given how A&B is snatching talent, Six Sigma will soon have no actors to cast in their serials. They need to build stars so that they can cast them.
4. Create goodwill again. Remind people the good things you have done, and make them take interest in your serials. Six Sigma's Facebook page is dead too, why not bump it up? Look what A&B is doing, they are posting regular updates and information so people take interest in it. Six Sigma has no dearth of opportunities, it just needs to use it well.
5. They have recently started co-production, which is a good thing, however, it seems to be overshadowing the production house. How many people know that this production house worked with MD Prod on Dur-e-Shahwar and Sheh-r-Zaat? Six Sigma needs to make things a little apparent so that people take notice.
6. Lastly, just provide people what they want. The production house now seems to have no strong connections with ARY, so why not try other channels? PTV, Express and TVOne might not pay them huge money, but they will give the production house exposure. Its serial Talafi on PTV is already a hit, and one cannot deny that PTV has a strong base. Urdu1 might not be an option (it is owned by A&B's creative's husband) but Six Sigma can produce for other channels.
I know it is easy to say but hard to work on all these things. However, there is no harm to open a talent ground and find new talent. I love our industry, even I am willing to work on that and unearth people who have talent. The likes of Umera Ahmed, Ayesha Khan, and Sarmad Khoosat also needed exposure.
A&B has jumped up winning Maya and Osman Khalid Butt (who debuted with Six Sigma's Durr-e-Shahwar but due to Haissam connection ended up with A&B). These two are future stars that will be seen in a lot of their shows. Shehryar Munawar already seems to have caught A&B's attention. Who's left? Let's find out together!
Just a well-wisher
Altaf
P.S: This is written with good intention at heart.
by admin in Happenings Tags: six sigma
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