After many years of wading through the swill of run-of-the-mill television plays revolving around marriage and the lack thereof, Udaari caught us all by the scruffs of our necks and gave us a much-needed shaking and waking up. That was probably why it was promptly put off the air for a while as it was decidedly based too much on reality, and we are after all too afraid to look in the mirror.

Udaari literally means ‘to fly.’ It took us through the lives of Sheedan and Sajida, two women like so many others, who have to face shallow man-made rules and norms of our farcical social system. Peripherally, it dealt with careers that women may or may not choose, as designated by the people they have to live with and face each day, and the basic taboos associated with women who try to make it on their own.

At the centre of it was a serpent that has so firmly ensconced its fangs into our young that it is difficult to even imagine how to go about ridding them of its poisonous hold — child sexual abuse.

Roshaneh Zafar of Kashf Foundation talks about her journey with Udaari

Child abuse is real and prevalent in our society. We need to face this reality and deal with it in the most measured and sensitive way that we can. It requires us to unmask faces that may be around us in the guise of our very protectors, but most importantly, it is essential to educate and make our children aware of the danger they may face even in the company of those we deem ‘trustworthy.’ Shying away from a reality as blatant as this means a generation of tormented and traumatised children that possibly grow up to become abusers themselves or unbalanced members of society.

Produced by Hum TV’s Momina Duraid, it was backed by Kashf Foundation headed by Roshaneh Zafar, who is no novice in the field of edutainment, as it is now known. Udaari was written by Farhat Ishtiaq and directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin. It brought forth some truly fantastic performaces in the form of Ahsan Khan’s character of Imtiaz and Samiya Mumtaz’s character of Sajida, and not to forget the heart-wrenching portrayal of the child Zebo by Hina Altaf Khan and Areesha Ahsan as the adolescent and teenage versions.

When Images on Sunday asked her if Udaari had managed to make the impact that Roshaneh hoped it would make on the public, she said, “Most certainly. The response that the show received and the debate it sparked on social media and other forums testifies to its broad-based impact. When we were putting together the concept, we wanted to reach out to diverse groups — urban, rural, low income, the youth etc. It was one of the reasons why we used the genre of music and introduced two tracks to the story line so that we could attract audiences across the board. Furthermore, we handled the core of child sexual abuse sensitively so that audiences would be able to become aware of the many myths surrounding pedophiles and at the same time raise awareness on how to prevent child abuse.

“Another reason for Udaari’s impact is the fact that it gives a message of hope. When tackling such serious topics it is important that one provides a solution otherwise the impact would be lost. The impact can also be seen that in both instances that is post-Rehaii and Udaari. We saw major changes in laws e.g. the Sindh Age at Marriage Act and the Anti-Rape Bill, which also takes up the punishment of rape of minors.” 

Now that Udaari has come and gone what would be the next step for all those involved in highlighting this issue? “Child sexual abuse is an endemic problem — statistics derived from reported cases reveal that 10 children are sexually abused every day in Pakistan. Udaari has let the proverbial genie out of the bottle, as now we cannot deny the existence of this most terrible of crimes. As an institution dedicated to the rights of women and children, in collaboration with Ahsan Khan, we are currently designing a child safeguarding and well-being programme through which we will be training 10,000 children and their parents from low-income communities. We are working with musician Mekaal Hasan to develop an audio book and nursery rhymes for primary schools, with the purpose of educating children and teachers regarding child sexual abuse and its prevention.”

Charity and show business have always been hand in glove. Film and television personalities have been known to participate in drives and organisations the world over in order to ‘give back’ to the community that showers them with praise and love. Either our local celebrities are really good at hiding their benevolent side or there are but a very few who are able to see beyond the razzle dazzle of their lives, for we do not hear or see too many of them coming forward to do a good deed. Acts of compassion are few and far between from the faces we so admire. Therefore it was a breath of fresh air when it was rumoured that Ahsan Khan will be donating 20 percent of his fees from the play towards the rehabilitation of children suffering from abuse.

Charity and show business have always been hand in glove. Film and television personalities have been known to participate in drives and organisations the world over in order to ‘give back’ to the community that showers them with praise and love

“People hear of abuse in our society but one never really understands how deep are its roots and how prevalent it is until we start asking the right questions. I never thought about it in too much detail until I read for the role of Imtiaz in Udaari,” Ahsan Khan told IoS.

Roshaneh’s response to this move is equally positive: “I think this is a great trend and it has increased my respect for Ahsan Khan manifold. Not only is he a great actor who put his life and soul in the character of Imtiaz — but he is a terrific human being. Using star power to take up social issues is a great trend and I hope other actors do the same. We are always delighted to join hands with celebrities to raise awareness.”

Finally, the scene where Zaibo looks at herself in the mirror and says ‘I am not a victim, I am a survivor’ is Roshaneh’s favourite scene in Udaari. She says that many abuse survivors have told her since that this one line gave them the courage to reclaim what they had lost. In this way she believes Udaari will always live on.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 23rd, 2016