“I Don’t Agree That Anyone Would Consciously Want To Consume Crap.”

Avoiding tasteless and crass content that Pakistan’s numerous TV channels dole out every morning, between 9am and 11am, is like walking through a Jumaa Bazaar and not getting shoved and pushed. These morning shows are no less abusive to the senses, perhaps they’re even worse because they indiscriminately expose their audiences to undignified and inappropriate content that should actually be declared unfit for human consumption. But wait, there’s an exception.

Geo Pakistan, on Geo News, isn’t your typical ‘let’s do a luddi’ or ‘who can change more diapers in 5 minutes’ kind of morning show. Conducted by Huma Amir Shah and Usama Ghazi, it covers current affairs in a way that is palatable to women watching morning TV and provides enough information (sugar coated with entertainment news) to keep them interested. It’s definitely not the kind of morning show that we have come to dread but is intelligent programming that does not abuse the senses and can appeal to men and women alike.

This cannot be the kind of content that gets ratings, otherwise all other channels would be following suit so I contacted Huma Amir Shah to ask her how GEO Pakistan got approval?

“We were just lucky to find like-minded people,” she laughed at the question. “We didn’t even need to sell it.  We came from BOL to GEO and brought this program with us. We wanted to create a show that people like us would watch. I don’t agree that people want to consume crap; why would anyone consciously want to consume crap.”

What kind of feedback was the show getting, I was curious to know.

“Geo Pakistan has been on air for three and a half months and it has been doing very well,” she confirmed. “People say it’s refreshing. We feel the difference.”

“I’ve been doing TV for 15 years and I didn’t want to get into the typical format,” she continued. “I don’t want to spend time hearing praises for what I’m wearing or how pretty I look. I want to give my viewers quality; they have to take something concrete away every day.”

Huma added that she wasn’t a very political person and it was her co-host Usama who was more politically inclined. He brought the news angle to the show and she balanced it off, making it easier for women to digest. Evening talk shows and political programming was too hard-core and it got aggressive and loud. This was gentler and more palatable.

“There’s no media trial here,” Huma explained. “It’s easy going and is conducted in a lighter vein. It should be palatable to the common man and housewife. We’re all interested in celebrities so we bring in celebrities. Celebrities are great for the ratings,” she smiles again.

Geo Pakistan stands out for more than its play on current affairs. There’s no song and dance or cooking competitions or ridiculous games. However, in discussing everything relevant and topical, Huma and Usama do bring in stars of the moment, whether it is the actors of an upcoming film, a sportsman after winning an important match or a musician who has just released a successful album.

Who was the most interesting person she’s ever had on the show, I asked. “It’s interesting how celebrities and media savvy people, who have given numerous interviews before, have a well-rehearsed answer for everything,” Huma replied. “Even if I ask them an extremely intrusive question they’ll have a prepared answer. Nothing ruffles them. Then there are people like Jamal Shah who was on our program recently, who – you can tell – are more genuine. We could tell that he was pleasantly surprised at our program format and he spoke of things like his love for music. He even sang for us. It wasn’t prepared and we loved it. But I think we got the highest ratings when Wasim Akram or Shahid Afridi came on our show. This country is crazy about Shahid Afridi. Another person I really enjoyed having on the show was Ali Noor (of Noori). His was such a good interview that he went back and wrote to us. Not many people expect this from a morning show but then we’re not your average morning show.”

Did you find a difference between conducting a show in English and Urdu?

“You’d be surprised. I used to feel so safe and protected when I did programs in English because the audience is tiny compared to when your medium is Urdu. I can say anything in English and get away with it. That gave me freedom. My last evening show was on PTV World and I could get away with saying just about anything. Maybe no one watched the show or maybe it’s because it was in English but it was a completely different experience. I mean, I’ve interviewed the same people in English and Urdu and they turn out to be completely different people when their medium changes. They know that their audience changes with language but their responses change. It’s amazing.”

Would you call Geo Pakistan a morning show or a news show?

“It is definitely a news show but we sugar coat it. We’re on a news channel and we give news about everything important that day. We even give away recipes and sing songs. But the pivot is news. Several other morning shows are on news channels as well and they could have created this kind of content if they wanted to. But then they were more interested in calling ghosts and spirits on shows and doing couples therapy for the entire country to watch. We just don’t want to go down that road.”

This article was first published in Instep on Monday, September 5, 2016