Sania Saeed on flawed women and the crisis in Pakistani TV
Home Veteran actor calls for richer female characters, challenges television's reliance on tired stereotypes For decades, Pakistani prime-time television has largely confined female characters to an exhausting binary. Women on screen are often portrayed as either the helpless, tearful victim (mazloom) or the scheming, venomous antagonist bent on destroying families. Actor Sania Saeed recently sat down with Aamna Haider Isani to examine the systemic shortcomings of Pakistani television, the dangers of underestimating audiences, and society's discomfort with complex, imperfect women. Drawing inspiration from the iconic feminist poem We Sinful Women, Isani questioned why mainstream television remains so reluctant to embrace characters who exist in moral grey areas. Saeed, known for deliberately choosing roles that challenge conventional stereotypes, credited progressive writers such as Bee Gul for dismantling these simplistic archetypes. "She [Bee Gul] is incapable of writing a straight, simple character," Saeed remarked.
Published: June 22, 2026 2:13 pm
Source: The Express Tribune — Read original