The Best PTV Awards Ceremony..Ever

Posted on January 27, 2010
Filed Under >Shahran Asim, Humor, TV, Movies & Theatre
12 Comments
Total Views: 96232

?Shahran Asim

I miss PTV Awards of yesteryears. See the video clip below and following it I’ll build my case on why do I miss PTV awards.

Few days ago I was switching through channels as nothing interesting was on. News channels were full of NRO discussion , same guests were giving same talks and same point scoring statements were coming from both the opposition and the government. I switched off my TV and started thinking about the days when PTV used to be the only channel and the quality of the shows was superb – even in the days of Martial law. Now that we have so much more freedom our TV has somehow lost the touch. As I started recalling the days, one PTV awards ceremony which was held in 1985 stood out. PTV awards in 1980s were to Pakistanis what Oscars are to US viewers.

There are some interesting facts about this 1985. It was directed by Shoaib Mansoor and this was probably the first time where all the top brass of Pakistan TV was able to gather at one place. From Saleem Nasir to Arshad Mahmood, from Khalid Abbas Dar to Farooq Qaisar of Uncle Sargam fame. Shehanshah-e-Zarafat, Syed Zameer Jafri was there and so was Musarrat Nazir. She sang her famous long gawacha and according to some reports she infact lost one of her jewellery after the event. The award was held at the Liaquat Gymnasium in Islamabad.

The whole event was a resounding success and so much so that it was re run the next day and also a couple of days after. I still remember when we went to school these lines were on every child lips:

ye jo PTV award hai design is ka odd hai. ooper say narrow hai neechay se broad hai.

Those were the good old days when PTV Drama was the king. As Fouzia Mapara writes in DAWN about those days:

Many of us still remember the glory days of Khuda Ki Basti, Ashfaq Ahmed’s Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsanay, Mustansar Hussain Tarar’s Aik Haqeeqat Sau Afsanay, Amjad Islam Amjad’s Waaris, Samandar, Drama ’82, ’83, ’85 and so on; Jhok Sial, Parchaaiyan, Qurbatein Aur Faaslay, Shehzori, Kiran Kahani, Zer Zabar Pesh, Uncle Urfi, Shama, Ana, Ankahi, Tanhaiyaan, Kashkol, Dhund, Dhoop Kinaray, Tota Kahani, Sitara Aur Mehrunnisa, Jungle, Deewarein, and PTV Quetta centre’s Dhuaan among many other long and short plays and serials, As clichéd as it may sound, people used to plan their domestic chores and social events around PTV primetime till not very long ago. The characters haunted us, the plots hypnotised us and we were proud of Pakistani drama which left audiences across the border in awe. The state ruled PTV (it still does) and PTV in turn ruled our lives.

The sad knowledge that there is enough material on archives that should be re-telecast and that the PTV authorities choose to turn a blind eye towards this treasure trove is heart-rending to say the least. What could be done is to start an off-shoot channel by the name of PTV Gold or PTV Classic devoted to this fine fare from the past that enjoys a devoted viewership.

The PTV award is just one example of the sheer perfection that PTV had in special events. Even other neighboring channels then followed these formats for their events.

I think if PTV authorities just reran those plays similar to the TVLAND Channel in the US where you would always see old shows, I think they easily surpass the viewership of the current channels.

Lets go through the lyrics of the poem ye jo PTV award hai:

ye jo PTV award hai
ooper se to ye narrow hai…
aur neechay se ye broad hai……
jo mil jaye to theek hai…..
aur na milay to fraud hai…..
is taraf ko deen agar……
to os taraf dhuaaN dhuaaN…..
os taraf ko deen agar……
to is taraf al’amma’…..
ooper ooper taliaaN……
andar-o-andar galiaaN……
in ka agar bas chalay……
abhi yaheeN goli chalay………
uthaao hath dua kareN…..
ke mulk ki bachiyaaN….
nek hoN..parveen hoN…..
aray likhaai ki machine hoN….
yani Hasina Moin hoN………….
Hasina ki heroineN…….
kiyoN is qadar shaitaan haiN…
kabhi to haiN Shahnaz Shaikh…..
kabhi Marina Khan haiN…….
Hasina ko bulaaiye..bithaiye..samjhaiye
ke mulk ki ye larkiyaaN……
jo hain daal daal kachiyaaN…
susar ko thappaR mar kar……..
deewar ghar ki phaaNd kar…….
kabhi bhi bhagti nahiN……
aur jo haiN kache gharoN ki makeeN…..
qalam zara uthaaiye…..
aur un pe bhi aazmaaiye….
ke un meiN bhi haiN chupi hoi…..
kuch an-kahi..tanhaiyaaN……
Ye PTV award hai….design isska odd hai…………….

Four Video Clips of PTV Awards 85-86

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

12 responses to “The Best PTV Awards Ceremony..Ever”

  1. That good old happy Pakistan is lost somewhere…so sad!!!

  2. notaglic says:

    Amazing, just listen to the Chaste Urdu of the hosts compared to new generation who talks in an Anglicized
    Urdu. This looked like a piece of Classical Urdu Literature :)

  3. ptv says:

    east or west, PTV is the best.

    greetings from India.

  4. roxio says:

    Watching those clips takes us back to the good old 80s.
    I am sure the Liaquat Gymnasium saw more PTV awards held than any other sports event.

  5. Aziz says:

    Amazing. I remember watching PTV awards but I cannot recall that poem at all. Thanks for sharing.

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