Pakistani drama industry has come a long way but unfortunately, we are still portraying all the negative connotations attached to love, marriage, and society in general. Drama serial Ishq Hai and its makers/actors have landed in hot waters for glorifying misogyny and romanticizing obsessive love.
Minal Khan and Danish Taimoor are great actors but the public isn’t happy with their recent projects. After Jalan and Deewangi, they teamed up for Ishq Hai, however, people are disappointed to see the problematic forced love trope over and over.
Pakistani dramas often recycle the same plot and we have seen the obsessive, abusive men torturing the damsel in distress numerous times. Sadly, the Big Bang Entertainment’s Production leans towards the same narrative but netizens have had enough of it.
Twitter condemns Ishq Hai
When Aamna Isani took to Twitter to share a problematic clip from the drama, it sparked a debate, and the majority of the people felt that the drama romanticizes the obsessive lover.
“The #ishqhai 101 on how to get a girl to agree to marry you,” she wrote.
In another tweet, she mentioned,
“Actually it’s one way of showing how the male ego in our society collectively destroys women.”
Actually it’s one way of showing how the male ego in our society collectively destroys women. Check out Shahzeb’s psychotic grin after she agrees.
— AHI (@aamnaisani) July 8, 2021
Here’s what netizens had to say about it.
Twitter user Asif Altaf said,
“You’re (Pakistani media) not helping anyone by portraying them as irrational and/or victims. These kinds of tv shows are the reason why I actively avoid exposing myself to anything Pakistani produced. This does not depict my reality. Unrelatable!”
You're (Pakistani media) not helping anyone by portraying them as irrational and/or victims. These kinds of tv shows are the reason why I actively avoid exposing myself to anything Pakistani produced. This does not depict my reality. Unrelatable!
— Asif Altaf (@profileofasif) July 9, 2021
Another Twitter user replied with:
“What’s sad is this is being portrayed as love. This is only his obsession that what is his can’t be anyone else’s. The girl is nothing more than an object. I wished, naively, that the girl walked away.”
What’s sad is this is being portrayed as love. This is only his obsession that what is his can’t be anyone else’s. The girl is nothing more than an object. I wished, naively, that the girl walked away.
— Rabi (@khrabi25) July 9, 2021
Here are some more reactions:
Thats what our entertainment media is all about : vulgarity , manipulation , domination and women objectification. This is what IK talked about , one of the main reasons behind increasing depravity and sexual violence in our society , but no one is ready to talk about it.
— Eeqan Ahmed (@Baigeeqan) July 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/SehrishSaqib9/status/1413040785839230977
https://twitter.com/huxaifaibrahim/status/1413379318152110080
Even more disturbing than this scene is the comments below that are praising this scene. It shows how wrongly our dramas are influencing the minds of our young generation.
— 💫 (@mystifying_me) July 8, 2021
I am not watching this drama but i did look up this clip somewhere and it was so disturbing in today’s time showing all this it’s in such bad taste
— Sana Zehra (@sanajafry) July 8, 2021
Every second drama is now showing or promoting Junooni Ashiq and which type of Ishaq these men are doing. In this way they are giving message that “A Sacha Ashiq is always Junooni” ,Pathetic #KAM3 #Fitoor #Raqsebismil #Ishaqhai
— Ayesha Arshad (@ayeshaarshad27) July 8, 2021
@doseofkard I can see what you mean when you say Pakistani dramas support misogyny because this is some of the worst misogyny that I've seen on-screen
— Amna Asad (@AmnaAsad19) July 8, 2021
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