Aangan Tehra

If Half-Plate can be considered the best teleplay by Anwar Maqsood, Aangan Tehra (آنگن ٹھڑا) is his best TV Drama Serial. It’s an old serial, which was presented by PTV in the late 1980’s. It was directed by Qaisar Farooq.

Almost all the episode of the series are shot indoors, which is depicted as the house of Mehboob Ahmed (a retired civil servant played by Shakeel). Each episode is based around some characteristics of Pakistani society ranging from the effects of Marshal Law on the society to the life of journalists.

Several guest stars appear in this series include Moeen Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Shehki and Anwar Maqsood himself. He appears in the last but one episode to announce that the series is about to come to an end. Within this episode, he gathers all the characters and tells them which ones stay to perform for the last episode and which ones have to leave. The last episode brings a nice end to the series.

Main Cast

Shakil, Salim Nasir, Bushra Ansari, Durdana Butt, Arshad Mahmood and some guest stars

1. Mehboob Ahmed, played by Shakeel, is a retired civil servant with meagre resources.
2. Jehan Ara Begum, played by Bushra Ansari, is Mehboob’s wife. They don’t have any children. Jehan Ara Begum always cribs about Mehboob’s financial condition.
3. Akbar, played by Salim Nasir, is the servant who lives with the family and is never paid his salary. Yet he remains loyal and doesn’t leave Mr. and Mrs. Mehboob. He is previously a classical dancer, and his only desire is to earn fame with his skills in dancing.
4. Chaudhry Sahib, played by Arshad Mehmood, is Mehboob Ahmed’s neighbour. He is easily impressed by whatever Mehboob Ahmed says or plans to do.
5. Hamsheera Sultana, played by Durdana Butt, is Chaudhry Sahib’s sister. She is unmarried and secretly admires Mehboob Ahmed for his personality and character. Of course, she isn’t liked by Jehan Ara at all.

Trailer

Trivia

1. The name Aangan Tehra seems to be derived from the Urdu proverb: Naach na janay aangan tehra (ناچ نہ جانے آنگن ٹھڑا), which literary means that if someone doesn’t know how to dance, he complains that the flooring is not balanced.

Ankahi (the unsaid)

Ankahi PTV Drama SerialAnkahi (انکہی), which literally means “unsaid” is one of the most well-known drama serials of the 80’s. Like several other PTV drama serials of its era, the popularity of Ankahi grew out of Pakistan to all parts of the world where Urdu is spoken or at least understood.

The drama was broadcast by PTV in 1982. The play was written by Haseena Moeen and directed jointly by Shoaib Mansoor and Mohsin Ali.

Ankahi is a story of Sana Murad, a young girl with a mediocre background, who has big dreams. Her father dies when she is young, and that adds more to her problems, and consequently her desire to become rich gets even stronger. As luck would have it, she finally gets a job in a company. But she is not skilled in anything. Various hilarious situations arise due to her major blunders.

While attending a wedding, she gets liked by a young fellow who follows her to her office, and in order to get closer to her, finds a job in the same office.

Meanwhile, her aunt arrives from the US, while looking for a suitable match for her son. Sana and her family had boasted about themselves being well-off, and this causes several humorous situations when they have to live up to their claims during the aunt’s visit.

As the story unfolds, Sana has to make difficult decisions as marriage proposals start coming. The last few episodes revolve around these decisions and the complexity in human relationships which arise due to the “untold”.

Main Cast

Shehnaz Sheikh, Shakeel, Javed Sheikh, Jamshed Ansari, Badar Khalil, Salim Nasir, Behroze Sabzwari and others

1. Sana Murad played by Shehnaz Sheikh is the lead character of the TV serial.
2. Jibran, played by Faisal Ansari is Sana’s little brother who is a prodigy. He suffers from heart problems, and it’s partly because of his heart operation, Sana has a desire to become rich and afford his medical treatment to be carried out in the US.
3. Taimoor, played by Shakeel is a middle-aged. He is Sana’s boss.
4. Faraz, played by Javed Sheikh, gets to see Sana at a wedding. He falls for her, and later gets a job in the same company where Sana is working.
5. Timmy, played by Jamshed Ansari, is Sana’s neighbour. He adds a quite humorous touch to the serial. When Sana’s aunt visits from the US, in order to impress the aunt, Timmy is convinced to play the role of a butler for the family.
6. Zakia, played by Badar Khalil, is Sana’s aunt. She also happens to be the mother of Moby. She arrives from the US looking for a suitable match for her son.
7. The role of Sana’s Mamoon (uncle) is played by Saleem Nasir. You might also know him due to his excellent performance in Aangan Tehra.
8. Moby, played by Behroze Sabzwari, is Sana’s cousin. He is raised in the US and finds it difficult to adjust to Pakistani values. He has no desire to get married to Sana, yet his mother wishes the opposite.

Can I watch it online?

The drama is available in several parts on Youtube. Below is the first part of the series.