There seems to be a new trend of highlighting social and controversial issues through dramas these days. However, handling these sensitive issues is an art. The most recent drama succeeding at delivering thought-provoking content is Dar Si Jati Hai Sila, which confronts the issues of sexual abuse, harassment, and secrets within families.
Written by Bee Gul and directed by Kashif Nisar, DSJHS stars Naumaan Ijaz (Joi Mama), Yumna Zaidi (Sila) and Saman Ansari ( Sila’s mother Sadia) as the lead characters.
The story revolves around a joint family caught in a petrifying relationship of abuse and secrets between the three characters. Joi Mama is the two-faced character seen abusing Sila in secret while the family assumes he’s a saint, labeling the victim as mentally unstable. As the story unfolds, Sila finds that her brother is an illegitimate child and the result of her mother and Joi’s twisted relationship.
It is shown that both the mother and daughter have been harassed by Joi all their lives, but are too scared to fight back or raise their voice.
“The director is the reason I agreed to work on this project,” revealed Naumaan stating he was hesitant to sign this drama at first. “I’ve worked with him before and was sure he knew the art of storytelling. Kashif is sensible enough to use symbolic elements for content that’s made for such a huge audience. He, in fact, knows how to tackle sensitive/controversial topics without making them look vulgar on screen.”
“Also, I was initially reluctant in doing it because in our society people start judging you by the characters you play and sometimes it affects your image too,” he added.
We asked him if the joint family system was the root cause of this evil.
“We have these individuals existing around us with masks on; be it the traditional joint families or liberal families. Let’s not target joint families.” He added that it’s a personality disorder and can exist anywhere. “The abused becomes the abuser and so the cycle continues.”
“At times people do not even know that they’ve been abused but it affects them psychologically,” he said, stating that these individuals aren’t normal people, they are mentally unstable. However, he added that children need to be educated on the matter since it is important for their safety. “We need to create awareness.”
“Yumna Zaidi is an intelligent actor,” said Naumaan
“When I do one project, I do that in a stretch and live in that character. I’ve given Joi’s character my 100%. But as an actor, I make sure it’s decent enough to be shown on TV. Since the topic is sensitive and controversial, you might feel uncomfortable. But you cannot label the drama as vulgar, ” he said talking about the sensitivity.
Read More: “Ahad Raza Mir is like my son,†says Naumaan Ijaz
“Yumna Zaidi is an intelligent actor and she has the capability of transforming into variable characters,” he said about her brilliant performance as Sila. “In fact, all the actors in Dar Si Jati Hai Sila have done justice to whatever they were offered. I feel they gave it their best,” he added in appreciation.
13 Comments