Gathering steam

I had said the Muslim social and simply the Muslim presence was on the up in our mass-y space and it turns out I was right.

Soon enough, the Zee TV umbrella began a new TV channel called Zindagi exclusively for content from Pakistan. So now, series Zindgai Gulzar Hai, Aunn Zara and Humsafar are finding new (very appreciative) audiences in India - which they thoroughly deserve.

Today, Sony TV begins a new story called Hamsafars with a Muslim heroine - it appears, on the face of it, to be a reprise of the cult hit Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon. And on Sony's new channel Sony Pal, there is yet another soap set in Lucknow. Tum Saath Ho Jab Apne doesn't wear its milieu on its sleeve with an overt Urdu name and its ambience has a delicious Ganga-Jamuni flavour: this is a fairly satisfactory exploration of the society it's looking at.

It comes from the production house Sphere Origins, who have quite a reputation for bringing out quality content and the beginning was very impressive.

Mariam is a widow and her life now revolves around her young daughter and her endeavour is to give Najma the very best of opportunities. Easier said, because Younis miyan, her brother in law, resents providing for them. The rejection is many-layered. Mariam and Najma are discriminated against subtly. This is so far a lightly treated, interestingly-detailed soap with a well fleshed out support cast.

I was particularly delighted with their dedicated comedy track. Now this is an old fashioned device but is worth bringing back for many good reasons. Indian soaps always work under tough deadline conditions and the ‘fools’ serve to both pad content and leaven the grimness elsewhere. Besides, when one of them is a Lucknavi poet, what’s not to like!

But as this is the only soap that keeps me to a TV schedule these days, it deserves a more detailed review, which I will do soon, insha'allah.

Naya Zamana: Revival of the Muslim Social?

My sister and I were watching Highway when it released a few months ago, and as the opening credits flashed by, we noted the name of the film in English, Hindi and also Urdu. “After so long!” Shweta exclaimed. It’s true that Bollywood has by and large given up including credits in that language, when only a few decades ago, no film would have started without including readers of Urdu in its fold. Besides, as we clearly see, there has been a tapering off of the Muslim social. Barring a few efforts by Khalid Mohamed, a sprinkle of Muslim characters here and there, this section of society has been under-represented.

When Ekta Kapoor unleashed the ‘Saas-Bahu’ genre on India in 2000, it led to a massive revisiting of what were termed ‘Indian’ but in fact were Hindu values. Festivals, rituals, pujas, aartis all got a look-in and were integrated solidly into the story-telling. Regional celebrations were aired anew leading to some rather heavy cross cultural borrowing. Influences went as far as Afghanistan; Indian soaps are welcomed and avidly watched in Africa, the middle-east, eastern Europe, apart from neighbouring Pakistan, of course.

Still, for almost a decade, a Muslim-based soap didn’t seem viable. It was a gap that begged to be filled. No TV addict in the sub-continent can have kept away from the delicious array that streams out of Pakistan. Serials such as Dhoop Kinarey and Tanhaaiyaan are surrounded by a veritable halo of nostalgia among Indian viewers (who saw them on tapes and later VCDs). Did Indian soap makers think the Muslim context didn’t lend enough colour, given that they’re obliged to mark at least six festivals in a calendar year? Surely they must’ve been nervous about the rather touchy Muslim clerics who were apt to cry foul over creative liberties. Also, the traditional Islamic society tends to be more severe about modesty. (TV is ostensibly more conservative than films in India but costumers have found ways around that.)  

However producers 4 Lions took the first brave plunge in 2009 with Qubool Hai. And straight off, it became clear that the makers were not minded to be apologetic. Zoya Farooqui, coming down to Bhopal from New York, wore jeans (gasp!), which not any of her contemporaries did, across channels. Outspoken, humorous and fun-loving, she was set up to clash with Asad Ahmed Khan – dominating male, conservative, hidebound, prejudiced. “I am not what I wear, Mr Khan,” she once told him.

Now, there has been a second such effort. Beintehaa is set in Mumbai, and the Abdullahs are well-to-do hoteliers and move in fashionable circles. Aliya is your classic heroine – strong, devout, unshakeable in her ideals or in her reading of right and wrong. Happily, the soap heroine seems to thrive in Muslim soil as well.

Then there appears more such news. As a fond viewer of Muslim-based stories and as a Hyderabadi, there are two films to look forward to. Dia Mirza’s Bobby Jasoos, and Habib Faisal’s Daawat-e-Ishq – both set in my city and yes, with Muslim characters. I have no great cinematic hopes from either of these, but they will be super fun to watch.