Will Khalilur Rehman Qamar stop rebranding misogyny as screenwriting?

By Maira Sulaiman

In case you were wondering whether Pakistani television would finally catch up with the 21st century, Khalilur Rehman Qamar’s “Main Manto Nahi Hoon” (MMNH) is here to tenderly remind you that regressive, fat-shaming and sexist “jokes” are very much alive, being happily delivered by some of the sought after stars in the industry.

Khalilur Rehman, a name that sparks excitement in some drama producers and is quite difficult to ignore for anyone paying attention is back with yet another gem of his, that’s less poetry and more locker-room banter disguised as artifice. Also, yes if you are wondering, isn’t he the same person who once declared that women who speak against men as “cheap feminists”, he is truly the same one. Rather he was in news last year for ailment which forbade him from going into the sun after being honey trapped. MMNH follows the life of a serious professor, Manto (Humayun Saeed) who faces harassment at the hands of a student (Sajal Aly), implying that female students can also make male teachers uncomfortable.

The recent fat-shaming joke about Manto’s wife in the drama feels less like a random quip and more like a manifestation of Qamar’s tendency to connect a woman’s physical appearance with her worth in a relationship. The idea that a “lack of motivation” would be equated with a “fat wife” is deeply rooted in body image issues and reflects an ingrained prejudice against larger body types, reinstating the old idea about ‘fat, unattractive wives’.

Unfortunately, Khalilur Rehman Qamar who is famous for his brazen scripts, has opinions and tone reflecting that his grievances against women are rooted in patriarchal beliefs, which he refuses to let go.

Three get jail term in Khalilur Rehman Qamar ‘honey trap’ case

But this time, it’s not only him alone. Sajal who was once celebrated for her ‘bold choices’ and ‘nuanced performances’ has now also decided to partake in a role which is quite appalling. Blatantly delivering a line which said, quote, “You look unmotivated, so your wife must be fat,”. And with that, her years of credibility is now being questioned. That is precisely because she was known as someone who once refused roles because they didn’t “align with her values”. But the same Sajal is now playing a character whose entire personality seems written by a character who echoes the kind of rhetoric you’d expect from someone overly fond of preposterous cultural notions.

Khalil-ur Rehman comes out blazing against Nauman Ijaz, Saba Qamar

But why should Sajal be the only one answerable? Her peer in question, veteran actor, Saeed has an adequate experience within the industry, and could’ve pointed it out and opposed the idea of equating a woman’s body size with a man’s motivation, even in disguise of a joke.

There’s a certain familiarity to how Qamar frames his male leads- often delivered with a signature intensity and a flair for dramatic conviction. In Meray Paas Tum Ho, the dialogues carried a tone that many found reflective of long-standing gender norms, evoking conversations usually confined to old-school narratives. He seems to lean into the classic traditional notion of the hero, flawed and hurt, unapologetic, and unchanged. 

Sajal Ali and Hamza Sohail reunite for a heart-warming Ramadan drama ‘Dil Wali Gali Mein’

Also just as a reminder that this dialogue was not just another “bad line”- it is a cycle which perpetuates gender-based discrimination even today but because it is delivered as jest, it can be taken as ‘learn to take a joke’. This so-called ‘quality entertainment’ is served to audiences; who internalise such values and further disseminate them.

Pakistan is already choking under unbearable beauty standards, body image & tremendously internalised misogyny – jokes like these aren’t harmless, they are very oblivious.

The most important issue is not that such content circulates on TV and social media, rather, it’s just that influential actors like Sajal and Saeed have the power to disregard such norms, yet they still participate in pushing them ahead.

HUM TV’s latest drama ‘Goonj’ celebrates women’s courage to speak up

It appears that no matter how many glossy interviews or woke hashtags they post, when the cameras roll, they’re glad to play along with whatever backward ideology is in the script. Also, considering that this drama is refers famous author Saadat Hasan Manto, the irony is laughable.

He was a writer who always exposed the filth beneath society’s polished surface -not add to it. He wrote about women with empathy, not as punchlines. He challenged the system, rather than playing court jester to it.

The real takeaway here isn’t just for the writer – it gently extends to everyone who tells stories. To the actors, it’s a quiet nudge to pause and truly sit with the words before stepping into a role. To the directors, a reminder that every frame carries weight, even in what’s left unquestioned. And to the audience, it’s an invitation to look beyond the surface but to also notice what’s being said, what’s being normalised, and what slips by under the guise of entertainment.

Pakistani dramas can be better, rather they must improve, because many especially the young ones might not be glued to the TV screen but are accessing these clips elsewhere. What we choose to glorify today becomes their belief system tomorrow.