Saheefa Jabbar calls out local dramas for endorsing masculinized ideas of female empowerment

KARACHI: Model turned actor Saheefa Jabbar Khattak took to Instagram to address certain rumors that have been spreading about her and why she hasn’t starred in any new drama. “It does not feel nice to hear untrue things about yourself,” she began to share. She clarified that she hasn’t quit acting and opened up about the real reason why she hasn’t been seen in any new drama as of late. The artist wrote, “No, I have not quit acting! I am being offered of leading characters in serials.” However, the reason for her absence is because she feels that on a personal level, “There are no good scripts out there,” and that the ones that are being offered to her are “Not up to the standards of story-telling I feel comfortable endorsing.”

Before going into the details, Khattak took the opportunity to make it clear that she does not “perceive acting as a bad profession.” Instead, she considers it to be “an art” and an important part of her life. She went on to say that she has great respect for all those involved in the process and that “artists, producers, writers, technicians, and their collective labor is admirable. Their strife is real and their struggle has helped us integrate dramatics into our culture.”

 

However, despite the respect and admiration she has for those involved in the process, Saheefa Jabbar Khattak feels that any new drama to hit the screen has the same story. “There is a home, a girl trapped inside of it, and marriage is her only possibility of escape,” she asserted. She went on to explain why she isn’t okay with these storylines and wrote, “I am not comfortable endorsing escapism. I am not comfortable with the lives of the characters I play, with the choices they are offered, and the root causes of the conflict in their lives.” More particularly, the model opposes to the “inherent associated oppression” that is shown in the stories. The model went on to call all these elements “Nonsense. It’s irrational and without reason.”

Comment: When will Pakistani dramas change the woman vs. woman narrative?

Despite her vehement dislike towards these plots, the actor did acknowledge that women do struggle with these problems. However, her issue is that “there are better ways out of difficult instants for women. I know them to be true too.”

Saheefa Jabbar Khattak ended her post by mentioning that if there is any new drama or “script out there, with well-thought-out characters, a coherent plot and intelligent dialogue,” she would be more than happy to consider the project.