The girl teeters at the edge of a cliff, staring at the deep, choppy waters beneath her. She leans forward, takes a step and gasps, stepping back. The sound of her child’s crying rings out in her ears. She feels helpless, distressed and has nowhere to go — but the memory of her newborn daughter prevents her from ending her life.

This single scene, layered with emotion and meaning, from the drama Jafaa, puts forward the notion that, even in the darkest of times, suicide isn’t an easy option.

Unfortunately, within the murky domains of the Pakistani TV dramascape, it often is the easiest, most convenient option. In the past two months, at least five, if not more, mainstream TV dramas have placed a focus on characters who are considering suicide, commit suicide or, worse, consider suicide an easy way of gaining attention and manipulating people around them.

There are stories that have dealt with the matter with extreme sensitivity, charting the heartbreaking turmoil endured by a character that leads to extreme mental depression and then, shedding light on the debilitating consequences ensuing from such a death. And then there are other stories that are tone-deaf and just plain dumb.

Consider the particular predicament of a spoiled, irascible girl called Shifa in the drama Ghair. She is desperate to get the attention of the boy she loves and, when she fails to do so, her phuppo (paternal aunt)suggests — phuppos in TV dramas do tend to behave in inexplicable, annoying ways — that she should end her life. When Shifa hesitates, her phuppo insists upon this ingenious suggestion, telling her that should she consume only a certain number of sleeping pills, the people around her will believe that she truly doesn’t want to live, and she will also be able to get saved easily.

With the internet delivering alarming details about the rising rate of suicide in society and news reporting deaths by suicide nearly every day, Pakistani TV drama-makers need to show more responsibility when dealing with such sensitive issues

Shifa does so, gets rushed to the hospital, manages to survive and, hey presto, the boy she loves feels so guilt-ridden that he gets drawn towards her. She’s elated and Ghair — which has been raking in considerably high ratings — manages to put forward the clever idea that should you really want to get your own way, you could consider trying to end your life. Like Shifa, you might get saved — if not, well then, tough luck.

It’s unfathomable that with the internet delivering alarming details about the rising rate of suicide and news headlines reporting deaths by suicide nearly every day, the powers-that-be at Pakistani TV channels often deal with the issue so callously.

Drama characters often choose to end their lives on a whim, even making jokes about it and frequently using it as a tool for manipulation. The effect that such storylines could have on the mental health of the audience is ignored altogether — it seems that suicide is a convenient option, shocking enough to keep the audience hooked and neatly doing away with characters that are no longer needed in the story.

Veteran producer and director Nadeem Baig observes, “I feel that suicide is often sensationalised on TV, utilised when there is no story or when a character doesn’t have anything to do. This is unfair, particularly because we are all aware that this issue is very real and there are people who actually do end up taking their own lives.

“If it is absolutely necessary to make it part of the story, then the implications and what pushes a person to take such an extreme step needs to be narrated very seriously,” adds Nadeem. “It just can’t be incorporated into a story carelessly.”

Practising psychiatrist Dr Haider Husain says, “We have certainly seen a rise in suicide and suicidal tendencies over the past 10 years. There are many factors that have led to this — such as the increased use of intoxicants and the deterioration of family support systems. It is a sad reality and, if TV really does want to delve into this dark side of life, then it needs to be done with responsibility.

“The reasons pushing a person towards killing himself or herself need to be shown,” Dr Hussain elaborates. “Also, the consequences of a suicide attempt need to be highlighted. A person may not end up dying during an attempt and then remain comatose or handicapped for the rest of his or her life. The consequences following a suicide, endured by a person’s loved ones, need also to be depicted. It is a subject that has to be treated carefully.”

It’s a tricky balance to strike — to project suicide or suicidal tendencies on TV with sensitivity, without resorting to sensationalism. Producer Abdullah Seja understood this while helming Bismil, a drama in which a young boy undergoes extreme mental distress until — in a recent episode — he shoots himself dead.

“The topic of suicide cannot be taken lightly and, whenever it is an inevitable part of the story, we make sure that we have lengthy discussions on how to depict it,” he says. “The motive that leads a character to end his or her life needs to be properly explained and it is our aim to also show what happens after the suicide.

Veteran producer and director Nadeem Baig observes, “I feel that suicide is often sensationalised on TV, utilised when there is no story or when a character doesn’t have anything to do. This is unfair, particularly because we are all aware that this issue is very real and there are people who actually do end up taking their own lives.”

“While putting an end to his or her misery, the person who dies brings so much misery to those who care for him or her. In Bismil, Musa’s character makes threats about ending his life even during the initial episodes. This tendency of his was not addressed and eventually, he kills himself.”

Bismil’s director, Aehsun Talish, adds: “We particularly focused on showing the emotional turmoil that Musa goes through, his pain, his journey that eventually builds to a crescendo and he takes his life. It was important that the audience knew that he wasn’t in the right mental state, so that it was understood that suicide is never an option. Also, it is not allowed by religion, so it is only because Musa is not in his right mind that he ends up dying.”

Actor Saad Qureshi, who plays the long-suffering Musa, describes his character’s difficult journey. “He goes through so much, loses the love of people who are dear to him and, ultimately, he goes off the edge. He is in so much pain that he doesn’t even realise the torture that his mother will go through once he dies.”

In TV dramas that actually address the issue intelligently — and don’t sloppily utilise it as a trope — the religious fine line concerning suicide has to be dealt with a gimlet eye. In Jafaa, for instance, when it is assumed that a girl — Andaleeb, played by Sehar Khan — has killed herself, her father tells her mother to pray for her daughter, because “mother’s prayers get answered.”

Even though Andaleeb had suffered a shock which prompted her to leave home — with her family presuming that she had killed herself — it was hinted that her parents would be praying for her because she had done something that religion did not allow.

Jafaa’s director Danish Nawaz explains: “Andaleeb tries to commit suicide earlier in the story but she only takes a few pills, doesn’t know what she’s doing and gets saved. At that point, our intention was to make the audience consider the repercussions that may ensue when a girl, who is very immature, is forced into a marriage.

“When she tries to end her life the second time around, she is more mature and, when she is reminded

of the people that she loves, she is unable to do so. Ending your own life isn’t easy and we wanted that message to go through.”

In the haphazard world of the drama Sunn Mere Dil, though, writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar treats suicide with extreme frivolity. Ammar, enacted by Usama Khan, talks about taking poison countless times. The characters around him — played by established actors such as Maya Ali, Hira Mani and Saba Hamid — similarly have long-winded discussions on his penchant for poison. Hira Mani’s character, at one point, insists that he go ahead with taking the poison, so that the girl he loves takes him seriously.

It seems like ingesting poison is the easiest thing in the world.

Writer Farhat Ishtiaq observes: “The topic of suicide in TV dramas needs to be handled with a lot of responsibility. There are people who may get triggered when they see it on TV and channels should ideally give warnings when the story is about to take such a turn.”

Hum TV Network President Sultana Siddiqui adds, “The causes leading up to suicide also need to be discussed. This isn’t just something that you see on TV, suicides are actually taking place in the real world and I find that very troubling.”

But what of the many who continue to be tone-deaf when it comes to depicting a topic as devastating as suicide on TV? What of those who are willing to turn a blind eye towards the repercussions that such a drama may have on its audience, opting to highlight suicide simply because the shock can lead to higher ratings?

Perhaps, at times, directors need to take a stand when presented with such scripts. Perhaps, actors need to be more discerning.

Sajal Aly talks about how there have been times when she has utilised her power as an established actress to get suicidal tropes in a drama changed: “Such projects have been offered to me at times, but I have always discussed the story and gotten it changed. And if suicidal tendencies do get portrayed, then they need to have a back-story, as in the case of the character that I played in the drama Yaqeen Ka Safar.

“Beyond career concerns, it is our duty as humans to be sensitive to the mental pain of others. And as actors, we need to use the clout and the respect that we gain through our work, with responsibility.”

It seems that many Pakistani TV drama-makers continue to live in a bubble, where concerns regarding mental health and the toxic effects of troubling, sometimes downright dumb, storylines don’t bother them. And so, characters continue to partake in heavy doses of sleeping pills, poisons, and getting trigger-happy with a loaded gun. And channels proudly create social media posts celebrating the high ratings generated by such dramas.

The world is changing, though. Haphazard, sensationalist stories receive plenty of backlash on social media. Audiences get disillusioned. The ratings may come in but the critical acclaim and awards certainly don’t follow. Suicidal tendencies are nothing to celebrate. Not in the real world, not in TV dramas.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 15th, 2024