Pakistani star Sajal Aly wants latest drama to raise awareness on family planning, women’s health

LAHORE: Pakistani actor Sajal Aly, who is currently starring in drama serial ‘Zard Patton Ka Bunn,’ has said that it is important to talk about population growth, need for family planning, and women’s education and health in Pakistan, hoping that the audiences would understand the “message” in her latest television show.
Set against a rural background, the first episode of the drama, which highlights the significance of family planning and its impact on women and their health, went on air on May 12. It is a co-production of Pakistani entertainment channel Hum TV and Kashf Foundation, a Pakistani microfinance company that provides financial services to women from low-income areas.
Apart from Aly, Zard Patton Ka Bunn stars Hamza Sohail, Samiya Mumtaz and Rehan Sheikh in key roles. Two episodes into it, the drama, which airs every Sunday at 8pm, has hinted at multiple story tracks that will be unfolding in the upcoming episodes. It was written by Mustafa Afridi and directed by Saife Hasan.
Aly plays the role of Meenu in the drama who tries to challenge the status quo in a rather conservative society she is part of. Meenu, an advocate for women’s education, has a supportive father, while most men around her wish to cut her feathers.

“In our project [Zard Patton Ka Bunn], there are such heavy scenes, but the way in which Saife Hasan had me play those, it is very simple. And those day-to-day talks should take place because we [as a society] do not touch upon them,” Aly told Arab News at the official launch of the drama in Lahore on Friday.
“When we do [talk about such issues], it hurts people’s ego. I hope people like it and also understand the solution we have tried to provide through this story.”
Aly, along with the rest of the cast, attended the event in Lahore to raise awareness around women’s education, empowerment and maternal health as well as population growth and control.
“There is a dire need to shed light on these issues,” she said. “There is nothing better if we can talk about such issues, besides entertainment, and get to perform in such stories.”
Roshaneh Zafar, founder and managing director of Kashf Foundation, said media had a “huge” role in highlighting such issues.
“Media has a huge reach. If you want to bring change in the society, your reach will come from drawing rooms or the households,” Zafar said. “Our purpose really was to bring real-life stories of women on to the screen. A lot of research goes into every script that we develop.”
This is the foundation’s sixth TV project that strives for a “social change,” according to Zafar. Their previous projects have tackled themes of child abuse and human trafficking that rarely feature on screen.
“Zard Patton Ka Bunn is about the growing population, its impact on women and children, and the impact it has on people’s future. This is how it starts off but you have to make the story interesting at the same time too,” Zafar told Arab News.
“On one end, you want to educate [viewers] while on the other hand, you want to entertain them. There are other tracks too [in the drama].”
Speaking of the potential of such narratives and their impact on audiences, Zafar said the society did not talk much about these things. “When you bring them to the screen, it initiates a dialogue,” she explained.
Highlighting the role of men in empowering such narratives, Hamza Sohail, who plays the male lead in the drama, shared that he signed the project without “thinking twice.”
“I said yes to it with my eyes closed because I feel, being a man in our society, there is a huge responsibility on us in current times to advocate for such topics,” Sohail told Arab News on Saturday.
“Being a media person and being an artist where I have a platform where I can create awareness in my humble way, I think it’s very vital to make whatever contribution I can [make].”
Sohail plays the role of Dr. Naufil who, according to the actor, is a “man of principles.”
“He is someone who stands up for injustice and speaks against it. He speaks up against any wrongdoing or anything illicit. Eventually, you will see how his and Meenu’s paths meet and how they come across each other,” the actor said.
“Then, the real story begins. Then is when they come together to serve something that is being promoted in Zard Patton Ka Bunn.”