Kuch Na Kaho - Naveen Waqar, Emaad Irfani, Asad Zaman Khan - Page 96

I am writing to congratulate your team on having mounted a very engaging production, Kuch Na Kaho. The following is a link to a thread that was created by a few enthusiasts of this show, and has many comments appreciating the episodes, and more importantly, analyzing them and mining them for sub-text. I think your writers might really enjoy this detailed feedback.

Here is a bit of my recent feedback on that post. I hope it is taken in the spirit in which it is intended (to motivate your writers, performers, directors, casting agents, etc.). I apologize if any of it is unclear or if I missed something vital in the story; I come from a different set of sub-cultures than yours, which could lead to an error in my understanding, etc.:

"

Yes, good writing (which takes time and effort; writers need patrons to spot and foster their talents), good execution, and good casting (again, I think this takes time and the knack for spotting right talent for the right role). I mean I cannot imagine someone else in Mohsin or Aina's role. Change either, and the magic is lost because all the visual appeal is lost. Emmad Irfani and Navin Waqar look like they belong together, and as an audience, I cannot overstate the importance of such bang-on casting in a romantic show such as KNK. Part of the reason why a show like Humsafar had such appeal to me was the fact that Mahira and Fawad looked the parts to a T, and more importantly, they had that stirring romantic dynamic with each other because of which I wanted to see them together on camera, and was invested in their romantic fate as a couple. Similarly, in this show, Emmad and Navin look like they are a couple, and as an audience member, I want them to stay that way and fight against all the odds that the story throws at them, and stay bonded to each other. I think it is easy for ambitious actors to fall into the trap of thinking that their real test is in being able to do any role opposite any performer. I think this idea is fundamentally flawed because actors are limited by their physicality. You can add or drop a few pounds but you can change your fundamental physicality. This is why if you want to cast for a 25-year old's part, you cannot go to, say, an aging Robert De Niro no matter how brilliant he is. Similarly, I strongly feel that you cannot make a compelling romantic dynamic with any actor. This sort of magic just happens with a few performers, and I hope casting agents bear this in mind, and try to re-cast Navin and Emmad as a romantic pair in other, equally better written story lines.

Also, I cannot emphasize the importance of using money and resources to nurture writing talent (and acting and other talent), but especially writing because writers are historically underpaid and under appreciated, and it is ultimately their writing that can create memorable or forgettable characters. And good writing takes time, and effort, and cannot possibly be done by being forced to work under impractical time and financial constraints. I hope the people funding these shows realize that. In all, I think money is needed but instead of being spent on expensive actors (so-called stars), directors or expensive sets or advertisements, should be spent on spotting the right talent (writing, direction, acting), nurturing that talent (like not holding writers to a clock, and forcing them to live a paycheck by paycheck), and giving them opportunity to grow, and even, in my opinion, do pilot runs and workshops before green lighting a show, sort of how they do in Hollywood. SO, all this will need someone with money to spend on these resources, but it can be achieved as people like Dibaker Banerjee or Vishal Bharadwaj do in Indian movies. They run a very tight ship but nurture talent they spot and have vetted. As a result, even their most mediocre efforts are worth a discerning audience's time, and their films almost always break even, even when not generating profits for the production houses. I think Pakistani tv producers need to adopt this model, and really give writers the time and freedom to do something creative. I mean you could have a beautiful adaptation of King Lear that was also watchable and accessible to the average audience. The one thing about recent dramas here is that they are very cliched in their stories, and often in their execution as well. KNK soars about the mundane because even in the basically cliched plot, the execution, dialogue, and characterization are very unique, and in-depth. You feel for them, and you want to hear them speak. The characters really have a very vibrant interior life, unlike other many other dramas on TV. And pakistani producers, writers etc need to stop thinking of TV as an inferior medium. I mean I have lost track of how many times actors or writers of talent will score their one big hit, and move to making little watched, middling films. I mean films are great, but they are a fundamentally different medium, with far too short a time in which to tell a story. It feels like a talented novel writer, on attaining success, forcing himself to only write short-stories. One could make the switch, but is there really a need? I see both forms of story telling as valid and with their own pluses. Films are more expensive to mount making it harder to tell more experimental stories, and you really need to have the financial and technical wiizardy of say, Dibaker, to really be at home in that medium. It is a whole different ball game is all I'm saying :-). Sorry for the rant, but yes, KNK soars esp because it started off on familiar territory (romantic tragedy) and avoided falling into the trap of cliches. "

Lastly, I'd also like to give a shout-out to the other members of the team including actors like Zain Baig, Shazia, Asad Ahmed Khan and the rest. Good job, guys!

Cheers,

Anonymous Enthusiast Of Your Show

PS-I would drop dead if Mohsin bhai didn't go easy on Aina, and the two didn't end up having a happily ever after. Sorry, I am an incorrigible romantic :-)