Just finished watching Dastaan, again, for the umpteenth time, and like always I was left gobsmacked. I had tears in my eyes and goose bumps all over.

While watching it, when it originally aired in 2010, I remember thinking that if/whenever I watched it again I would never again be affected in a similar way. But, having watched it several times since, I can tell you I was wrong in my assessment. Even though I know what’s coming next, I still have a lump in my throat every time I see Hassan and Bano together; I am shocked anew when I see the extent of violence perpetuated in the name of religion; I get emotional each time I see Hassan telling his mother Bano is alive; when I see Bano chanting Pakistan, Pakistan, using Bibi’s necklace as a tasbeeh, I relive my guilt as a Pakistani, a nation that failed to own women like Bano when they finally made it here; I appreciate the honest self-critical analysis of where was it that we as a country went wrong … so much to savor in this beautifully produced extravaganza. The production, direction, story, screenplay, acting, cinematography, editing, and all other technicalities that go into the making of a drama, all were par excellence. Kudos to Momina Duraid, Samira Fazal, Haissam Hussain, Sanam Baloch, Fawad Khan, Mehreen Raheal, and the rest of the brilliant cast and crew for a job well done – truly Dastaan is a masterpiece, we can justly be proud of.

Unlike earlier times though, when I had viewed the serial on YouTube, this time around I watched the “Official DVD” of Dastaan. While I loved watching the Hassan/Bano saga unfolding on the big screen, I have to say there were several issues that left me sorely disappointed.

• To begin with, the print was not HD quality. In this day and age when every other production house is producing HD quality DVDs as a norm, the rather average print quality annoyed me.
• Moreover, given the global viewership of Pakistan TV dramas, and Hum TV serials in particular, I was very surprised to see no subtitles – why? Given that Dastaan was a mega project and so much time and energy were spent on producing it, surely a bit more effort could have been expended to get the serial subtitled. I had been waiting for the DVD so that I could share this drama with my non-South Asian friends, alas!
• I was surprised to see no acknowledgment or credit given at the end to the excellent black and white documentary that was interspersed throughout the pre-Partition period. It had added so much to the ambience of the period, enhancing the narrative, while adding a touch of authenticity to the story unfolding on the screen. In these times where legal wranglings over copyright infringements are commonplace, I sincerely hope that HUM TV will introduce the tradition of acknowledging the sources from which they seem to freely borrow movie footage/music etc.
• Most importantly, I sorely missed a special features section/extra DVD. All major production houses these days generally market their DVD sets with a little extra for those viewers who spend the money to buy the set. I had been waiting desperately to see Behind-the-Scenes footage, some bloopers, outtakes, deleted scenes, perhaps an interview with the director/ producer/writer offering an insight into the effort that went in to putting this mega project together. Surely, such an extra addition would have made us appreciate MD Productions’ efforts so much more and also introduced us to the technical people who work behind the cameras and never get the recognition/appreciation they deserve.

Now, I hear the Humsafar DVD set is out. Given that I’m in the US, I haven’t yet managed to lay my hands on an “Official” copy as yet. But, I do hope that, given the fact that Humsafar was a gargantuan success and entranced a global audience, MD Productions and HUM TV have wised up and hopefully addressed all these issues in their latest DVD offering. In recent times HUM TV has emerged as a trendsetter as far the entertainment industry in Pakistan is concerned, and I hope they will continue along this path and introduce new innovations as far as marketing their dramas after they have aired. There is huge market waiting to be tapped, and with just a little bit more of attention to detail, surely our Pakistani dramas can compete with the best of the Bollywood/ Hollywood offerings.

Written by SZ~ [email protected]

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