30 years on its themes resonate
For a couple of weeks late night, my family and I watched Ankahi, the classic and popular drama serial back in the 80s, directed by Syed Mohsin Ali and Shoaib Mansoor. It brought back so many memories especially the name of my youngest sister after its female protagonist Sana Murad. At the time, Ankahi written by Hasina Moin, produced mirth, but watching it 30 years later I thought some of its themes hold true even today. Such as:
- Tenants refusing to pay rent and unwilling to leave your property.
- Male relatives with no career aspirations, ever ready to dole out unsolicited advice.
- Foreign relatives finding Pakistan scorching and filthy.
- A career woman who has to prove her domestic credentials to be eligible to get married to a jobless man.
- Self-hating Pakistanis.
Popular one-liners in Ankahi:
Kya aap vakaiee main sanjeeda hai, nahi nahi
Ahem Ahem thoiee
Mian Nanhay
Ankahi cast: Shehnaz Sheikh as Sana Murad, Faisal Bilal as Sana’s brother Jibran, Azra Mansoor as Sana’s mother & known to her siblings as Aapa bi, Saleem Nasir as Sana’s uncle Shehryar & known to his niece and nephews as mamoon, Badar Khalil as Sana’s khala, Behroz Sabzwari as Moby & Sana’s cousin, Jamshed Ansari as Sana’s neighbour Timmy, Misbah Khalid as Sana’s best friend Sara, Arshad Mehmood as Sara’s husband, Jawed Sheikh as Faraz, Shakeel as Sana’s boss Taimur, Qazi Wajid as Taimur’s father in law, Raju Jamil, Rehana Saigol as Dr Farzana, Tabassum Farooqi as Maryam, Khalid Nizami as Siraj
TVnama 
Oooh – one of the classics. Some brilliant non-humorous dialogue as well: Jo log iss duniya main aatay hain un kay dil main kabhi na kabhi surakh zaroor hota hai – bachpan main na sahi, tau baray ho kar….
You can see I’ve watched it a zillion times
And don’t you just fall in love with Shakeel? I did.
i remember those dialogues from this serial when i was childhood ,,,,,,!
sana murad meanz shehnaz sheikh marry with whom in end i didnt get last episode overthere 😦