Sona Chandi (سونا چاندی) is a classical PTV drama serial aired in 1983. It’s a light comedy enacted by Hamid Rana and Sheeba Hassan. They play the role of a couple who come from a small village to a city in search for work. Their fate takes them from one home to another, and while doing their work as servants, they solve various problems faced by the house-mates.
Sona Chandi is written by Manuu Bhai and directed by Rashid Dar.
The beauty of the play lies in the innocent personalities of Sona and Chandi and the humorous touch the play has. More than once, the story makes us see the life of relatively well-to-do families from the eyes of a poor couple.
Main Cast
Hamid Rana, Sheeba Hassan, Jamil Fakhri and others
Sona played by Hamid Rana is the simpleton of the two. While he is straightforward and knows what’s good, he cannot stop himself from getting advice on all matters from his wife.
Chandi played by Sheeba Hassan is more intelligent when compared with her husband. It’s her opinion which usually prevails over that of Sona.
Can I watch it online?
Trivia
It’s said that the play was inspired by a real couple with the names of Sona and Chandi, from a place known as Kallur Kot in Punjab.
Tanhaiyan (تنہائیاں) literally means “the loneliness”. In fact, the Urdu word is stronger than its English counterpart. Tanhayian is a Pakistan drama serial, produced by Shalimar Recording Company (SRC), and originally played on Pakistan Television (PTV) in the 1980’s. It was written by Haseena Moin.
Tanhaiyan is the sotry of two sisters who lose their parents in an accident, and are shocked to know that their family was heavily in debt. Life is further upset when their family house is sold. Fortunately, an aunt makes arrangements for them to live with her.
The elder of the two sisters becomes determined to become rich and buy back their family house, and it’s her obsession with become financially sound versus the lack of attention she gives to people closer to her which is the main plot of the drama serial.
The drama serial belongs to the era attributed to be the “golden era of Pakistan Televsion.” Having said that, at that time, there was a sheer lack of a choice with the viewers in Pakistan, and the standards of television entertainment were completely defined by PTV itself. People do have fond memories of the drama serial, but with no doubt, younger generations will have a hard time believing that the acting and direction can be thought of being “extra ordinary.”
Main Cast of Tanhaiyan
Shehnaz Sheikh, Marina Khan, Behroze Sabzwari, Qazi Wajid, Badar Khalil, Asif Raza Mir and others
Zara, played by Shehnaz Sheikh, is the elder of the two sisters. She is determined to work hard and buy back her family house. She starts a business in partnership, becomes successful in that, and eventually manages to get what she wanted. But it doesn’t end the way she expected! In her quest, she distances herself away from everyone, including her younger sister. Eventually she also meets an accident and then realises how fragile it all was!
Sanya, played by Marina Khan, is the littler sister. After their parents death, she is emotionally dependent on her elder sister. But as time passes by, her elder sister has less and less time for her. Sanya is lively and loud; she loves to play pranks on others, especially on Qabbacha, who is her neighbours secretary.
Qutbutdin (aka Kabacha), played by Behroze Sabzwari, adds a light touch to the drama serial. He is an introvert and dry person who becomes victim to Sanya’s pranks.
Faran, played by Qazi Wajid, is also a light character. He is a thoughtful businessman, living next to Zara and Sanya’s aunt’s house.
Zubi, played by Badar Khalil, is the aunt who keeps the two sisters with her after their parents demise. She is eventually proposed by Faran.
Can I watch it online?
Trivia
A sequel of Tanhaiyan, with the name “Olper’s Tanhaiyan: Naye Silsilay“, was aired by ARY Digital and PTV in 2012. Most of the cast was replaced. This new 13-episode drama serial was co-written by Haseena Moin and Mohammad Ahmed. It was directed by Marina Khan.
If you can understand Urdu, Half Plate is the best one and half hour entertainment that television
could ever provide. And I seriously doubt if anyone would be able to produce anything better. On a scale of 1 to 10, one would like to rate this long play above 10.
It’s a humour filled story of an old aged Urdu writer/ poet who is unable to make both ends meet; yet, his pride and self-esteem is unmatchable. He lives with his wife and four sons. The wife is always cribbing against the activities of the father and the sons who earn almost nothing and spend all their time in frivolous activities related to literature and poetry.
Half Plate was aired by PTV in 1980’s. It has been written by Anwar Maqsood where the lead role has been played by the legendary Moeen Akhtar. The whole drama has been staged on a single set depicting a room in an old house. It’s worth watching again and again.
Mirza Sahab played by the late, legendary Moin Akhtar (also spelled as Moeen Akhtar) is an old writer/ poet who over-estimates his literary capabilities, and has a very high self-esteem.
Begum Sahiba played by Khalida Riasat is Mirza’s wife. She has apparently been having very dis-satisfied with her matrimonial life; even at an old age, she doesn’t let any chance to mock Mirza and his interest in the literature. In fact, she insists that Mirza would earn more if he attempts to run a food stall (and thus, the name “Half Plate”).
Kaleem played by Jamshed Ansari is Mriza’s eldest son. He is a poet and lives with his parents. His father is very proud of his literary capabilities.
Iftikhar played by Lateef Kapadia is Begum’s cousin who has returned from Canada and pays a courtesy visit to the Mriza family. He immediately observes the poor financial condition of the family and offers some financial help. Surprisingly, the Begum refuses to take any kind of help.
Butt sahab played by Arshad Mahmood is the landlord who visits Mirza to collect rent, which Mirza tactfully avoids. He insists that his house should be vacated but doesn’t succeed in that either.
Ashir Azeem rose to fame in Pakistan in 1994 due to his super-hit action drama serial, Dhuwan (دھواں). Unbeknown to many, Ashir Azeem worked for Pakistan Customs, even when the Dhuwan was being recorded and aired on PTV.
His full name is Ashir Azeem Gill, though sometime people write his name as Ashar Azeem as well. Dhuwan was his only venture in the field of TV serials. He continued to work for Pakistan Customs until he got suspended. His last designation was Additional Director, Directorate of Post Clearance Audit, Karachi. That was the time when his name started appearing in news once again. It was due to a Customs Automation Project with the name of CARE. Some people severely criticize him due to his involvement and efforts related to the CARE project. Others think that the critics are the ones who don’t want to see Pakistan progressing.
He is said to have migrated to Canada, but then there were news of Ashir Azeem being reinstated by an FBR notification [document removed by FBR] on 1st Aug 2012.
PTV and action do not seem to mix well. But Ashir Azeem proved this wrong with his hit TV serial named Dhuwan. The drama was aired by PTV in 1994. It not only has an excellent story line, it’s one of its kind when it comes to outdoor shooting and action scenes.
Dhuwan has a short timeline where a group of five police commandos fight smuggling, narcotics and other illegal activities in the region of Baluchistan. The lead role was played by Ashir Azeem himself. Several of the other roles were done by new faces.
While the drama had lots of realism, the only grievance one can have is the way Information Technology (aka computer) has been used in this serial. However, back in the days it was aired, personal computers were not a household thing, and thus, the way technology had been used was not a hard sell.
The drama was directed and produced by Sajjad Ahmad. It was a production of PTV Quetta.
Main Cast
Ashir Azeem, Nazli Nasr, Nabeel, Nayyar Ejaz, Rohi, Asal Din Khan, and others.
Azhar played by Ashir Azeem is a police officer (an ASP) who is given a special assignment to build a squad of five commandos. He is not a stereotypical officer; he relies more on this group than his office comrades. He makes use of information technology and lives a lavish life.
Dawood played by Nabil is the closest of Azhar’s associates. He is good-humoured and remains loyal to Azhar. He is the first one who dies during a commando operation.
Sara played by Nazli Nasr is a lady who becomes an acquaintance of Azhar during the course of events. It’s later revealed that she is also on a special mission of her own.
Salman played by Nayyar Ejaz is the lead negative role. He runs the biggest racket in the region. He is the toughest opponent for Azhar.
Trailer
Can I watch it online?
Trivia
Ashir Azeem worked in Pakistan Customs. He is recently reported to have emigrated to Canada. He was last interviewed by ATV in 2008.
Back in 1998, as soon as the clock would approach 8pm, the streets would get deserted; the markets closed and everyone would confine themselves to their homes. No, the reason wasn’t the law and order situation. It was all due to Alpha Bravo and Charlie—the ISPR’s drama series—being aired by Pakistan Television Network (PTV) at that time.
Alpha Bravo Charlie was a sequel to Sunehray Din (سنہرے دن), though it can be seen as an independent TV serial in itself.
Direct by the acclaimed Shoaib Mansoor, it is the story of 3 Pakistan Army officers who came from completely dissimilar backgrounds yet became best friends. The drama involves romance and comedy while depicting the life of young army officers. The story very cleverly handles the relationship the three gentlemen with a single girl whom they all want to marry at different stages in their life. There are some episodes dedicated to the Pakistan Army’s military operations in Bosnian War and Siachin Conflict.
Main Cast of Alpha Bravo Charlie
Faraz Ahmad played by Faraz Inam is son of a rich landlord. He is the best in terms of his academic and professional background but as the story unfolds, he is the one who doesn’t get the best chances.
Kashif Krimani played by Captain Abdullah Muhammad is son of a senior Army officer. He is a happy-go-lucky sort of person who initially is least interested in his professional life but gradually starts to become more responsible.
Gulsher Khan played by Captain M. Qasim Khan is son of a JCO (Junior Commissioned Officer) whose father dreamed his son to do better than himself, and the son fulfilled that dream.
Shahnaz Sher played by Shahnaz Khawaja is the niece of a retired Lieutenant General. She is a Cambridge-educated elementary school teacher of special children and has her own philosophy of life.
Pakistani Drama Serials were made famous by PTV—the national television of Pakistan. Even during the black and white days of TV, PTV produced some excellent drama serials which set the standard very high for Pakistani dramas. Some of these TV series have become legend in their own respect where their popularity crossed borders, and made their way into all countries and constituencies where Urdu was understood.
Here on this website, we have reviewed the best of the work produced in Pakistan. This ranges from the hit TV serials like Aangan Tehran to the later days of Alpha Bravo Charlie.
The work is organized in categories such as TV serials and Long Plays. Search this website and you’ll definitely something worth watching!
Some people believe that PTV Drama Serials were a hit only because people didn’t have anything else to watch. While the statement about the limited choice is true, the deduction is not. I, for one, still enjoy watching many of these serials. However, this website is about Pakistani Drama Serials in general, and we’ll surely cover drama serials other than PTV’s old classics if we find something worth sharing.
