VIDEO: How not to become a drama writer in Pakistan
Screenwriter, lyricist, actor, and director Mohammad Ahmed has been an integral part of Pakistani showbiz for over two decades now. The Cake star eventually stopped writing scripts and shifted his focus to acting.
He revealed to SAMAA Digital that many of his scripts were rejected by “three big companies” which resulted in him leaving scriptwriting for good. He said that the Pakistan drama industry is a tricky place, especially for writers.
“It is more frustrating to be a writer today as we are not allowed to write exactly the way we want and we are rather ‘told’ to write according to the channels’ demands,” said Ahmed.
Mohammad Ahmed shared that he wants to write meaningful storylines and explores topics related to mental health. He said that the storylines today revolved around extramarital affairs, divorce, incest, and other saas-bahu issues because of which he didn’t 'meet the standards' of a good writer and his scripts were rejected.
“When I stopped writing, I was very fortunate to get work even at this age and I think Cake played a major role in this,” said Ahmed. “I was even nominated for it.” No one had approached me for acting before Cake.
After six years, Ahmed has decided to make comeback in the entertainment industry as a writer. After completing the scripts of two dramas, he is also working on a film script named Madam Jee for Mehreen Jabbar.
As the writer tries to make it big again in today’s industry, TV's favourite dad breaks down what it takes to make it in the scriptwriting business.
Ahmed is best known for Mystery Theater, Badtameez, Tum se Kehna tha, Dareecha, Azar Ki Ayegi Baraat, Dolly Ki Ayegi Baraat, and many other serials and films such as Khamoshi, Ghoongat and Ramchand Pakistani.
Critics praised his appearance as Agha Jan in Suno Chanda, and he went on to reprise his role in its sequel Suno Chanda 2. He also wrote the dialogues for Bollywood movie Tere Bin Laden. In 2019, he received a nomination for Best Actor for Cake at 18th Lux Style Awards.
