Pakistani dramas have always banked on the becharis to get ratings but now the writers and producers have devised a new plan. This plan entails showing intelligent men act like the most unreasonable humans. The definition of a loser man is that he is unable to take a stand for the right, in fact, he is such a dimwit that he cannot even tell the difference between right and wrong. It is his ultimate mission in life to pay heed to every single wrong advice. It also depicts his incapability of using the organ placed inside his head, a magical thing called the brain to make accurate and rational decisions. In every other Pakistani drama, viewers come across a loser where he easily messes up the lives of others and then sulks thinking the viewers will have sympathy with him but that doesn’t turn out to be the case. The inability of sticking to their decisions, easily falling prey to baseless rumors or conspiracies, easily doubting their partners for infidelity; these are some of the traits that are widely found in the loser men in Pakistani dramas.
Unfortunately, these losers have taken over our dramas lately since somehow they ‘engage’ a certain section of the public the same way the bechari aurat does. This male version of the bechari aurat is worse than the original since these men’s loserpana is shown as something normal. While the bechari aurat only ruins her own life, these losers manage to ruin innumerable lives effortlessly! The writer does everything in his power to make these men losers and in the end, these losers most often redeem themselves by apologizing or by showing that they suffered greatly because of the mistakes they made. Male actors have recently started talking about this flawed depiction of male characters. Due to these flawed portrayals, all the unmarried girls out there watching Pakistani dramas must be convinced that every seemingly reasonable man must be capable of turning into the ultimate loser. All those married women married to ‘normal’ men find it impossible to relate to these spineless and brainless men in dramas. We definitely need to give men more credit and stop portraying them as losers in dramas.
Here is a list dedicated to the biggest losers seen in Pakistani dramas this season:
Shahjahan (Meherposh)
It won’t be wrong to say that Shahjahan was introduced as a wise and rational character and although it took him a long time to become one, he ended up being a loser too. Although this drama was promoted as the next big thing and with the association of Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor, people had high expectations but this drama could not live up to the expectations and in fact, didn’t even come close. It is unfortunate that after picking up some great projects in the past, Danish Taimoor became a part of a drama like this which is so typical that it puts the word typical to shame.
Shahjahan has been madly in love with Mehru and has done everything to prove his love to her every step of the way. However, he couldn’t tame his manipulative mother and when it was the need of the hour, he couldn’t really withstand the pressures and ended up caving in. Although Mehru too had a huge part to play in contributing towards this success of Shahjahan of becoming a loser but the least he could’ve done was not agree to get married to Ayat because that was something in his control. However, now that he has conveniently gotten married to Ayat, he has shown a face of a real loser because he has easily started mistreating her in order to show that he does not love her and didn’t want to get married to her in the first place. All it needed for him to be a man of substance was to say NO to his mother when she pressured him into getting married. He got married to Ayat to show Mehru how much he loves her? How twisted is that!
Saqib (Nand)
If there was an award ceremony to pay homage to the losers of the year 2020, Saqib would’ve easily won this accolade with flying colors because he has all the germs of being a loser. Saqib has been the enabler of his narcissist sister and on top of that, he himself was blessed with a peanut-sized brain because he just could not process the basic rule of maintaining a balance between his mother, his sister, and his wife. The moment he got married, he made sure to remind his wife that his sister meant everything to him.
If he wouldn’t have been the loser that he is, he would’ve done the same thing, making sure that his sister also understands that his wife too had a special place in his life. Saqib allowed his sister to threaten, abuse, and assault his wife and conveniently turned a blind eye to all of his sister’s atrocities. Now, in order to prove a point further of what a big loser he is, he is taking a full part in a plan devised by his evil sister to destroy his ex-wife’s life further. There is no denying the fact that Nand happens to be one such drama that has given Shehroz Sabzwari an opportunity to showcase his acting skills and he has actually done really well but unfortunately, his character is so shallow that it has made people resent Saqib’s face and his entire existence!
Harris (Sabaat)
Harris is the most educated loser on the list. He is a psychologist by profession but as far as his actual personality is concerned, his favorite hobby includes making the most loserish decisions. He looks like a sensible man who spends his time solving other people’s troubles yet he welcomes and even invites troubles in his own life with a wide drawn-out red carpet. It is almost as if this man has two different personalities because surely someone who makes such poor life choices cannot possibly help other people. On the paper, he has a long list of clients who depend on him, and without his help and advice, they cannot cope. Yet, when Miraal went to him with her problems, he completely failed to see the most obvious toxic personality traits in her.
Harris is also a loser since he fell for a woman because her ugly personality was hidden behind layers of make-up and designer outfits. Yet, he has no interest in Miraal’s money, doesn’t seem to be in love with her persona, and doesn’t even compliment her often enough to make the viewers feel that he fell in love with her beauty. Marrying Miraal wasn’t the first and the last loserish decision Harris took. When their marriage lost its spark after a few weeks, he suggested that they should have a child to spice things up! He looked extremely bored too when he suggested that. Well, actually he always looks bored to death which makes his character look like an even bigger loser. The fact that all of this has been coming from someone who solves other people’s problems, makes this man the most twisted version of a loser in Pakistani dramas. As if this was not enough, this grown-up, educated therapist lied to his wife so that he could go back to work! Miraal is having an affair and has filed for a divorce. Even after all this, Harris is holding on to his toxic wife like a toddler holds on to his favorite candy not knowing that it has already given him 10 cavities. We are pretty sure we haven’t seen the last of Harris and he will surprise us with his loserpan in the last episode as well. He is perhaps the only loser on this list who has done other people harm due to his profession, had he actually helped Miraal, many people would be living happily!
Naeem (Meherposh)
This was another loser character that left the viewers livid. He was probably one such character that didn’t take a lot of time in revealing the true colors of what a loser he was because he divorced his wife Mehru within the first few hours of their marriage. Naeem was so shallow that he allowed his conniving aunt to fool him and show him one side of the picture. It was so ridiculous to see him not even giving his wife a benefit of the doubt and right from the beginning, the writer made a point that he was a shakki husband who had severe trust issues – if that was the case, he should not have gotten married in the first place.
Ali Abbas is a fine actor and a powerful performer but to see him play such loser characters one after the other is not a good experience. After the divorce, Naeem became obsessed with Mehru, another loser trait where at first he couldn’t even stand Mehru’s existence for a second but after divorcing her, he wanted her to go through Halala so that he could get married to her. Naeem was a mix of both loser and empty-brained – a deadly combo!
Irtiza (Raaz e Ulfat)
Another fellow who recently joined the loser club is Irtiza Hassan. Irtiza was madly in love with Mushk and understood her dynamics completely. He knew that she came from a very conservative household and on top of that, had absolutely no exposure to even understand or read people’s mind and intentions. Irtiza fell in love with Mushk seeing how naive and gullible she was in the first place, therefore he should’ve given her one benefit of the doubt after the other. Irtiza convinced his parents that he wanted to get married to Mushk despite their disapproval but when he had to fulfill his promise, he backed out.
The first time Irtiza started showing the signs of being a loser was when he started brain feeding Mushk against her parents, he came across as a very wise person who would understand other’s perspective but he literally did everything that would upset Mushk’s father and when her father showed his disapproval, Irtiza used it against him to rile Mushk further. Irtiza wanted to own Mushk in every way possible but it just took him one half-baked truth to literally forget everything. Irtiza knew that Sehba and Nomi were evil, they were against Mushk and would do everything to ruin their relationship but Irtiza didn’t take much time in believing that Mushk had something going on with Nomi behind his back! Duh. Shahzad Sheikh has actually performed well in this drama and fitted the role of Irtiza Hassan perfectly too but it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t an ideal character that would be remembered for good reasons, or at all!
Hassan (Nand)
Hassan’s character was refreshing for the most part. Most of us were naïve enough to think that for a change we were getting to see a good representation of men in dramas. He always saw things for what they were and used his own brain! As the story progressed, the writer decided that this character was perhaps too good for Pakistani dramas therefore Hassan turned into a complete loser in only 3 weeks! He went from being a wise and sensible person to being the most unreasonable human alive. He put into practice everything he had been ‘learning’ through observation and was very soon seen dragging his wife out of the house just like his loser brother did.
After showing how Hassan had been learning not to make the mistakes his brother made, he suddenly turned into an even bigger loser. Like many other losers on this list, Hassan’s transformation into a loser made little sense. Now, Hassan has turned into such a big loser that this week it was almost as if there was a ‘who will be the bigger loser’ competition between him and his brother. Both these brothers keep on cheering each other on as they take the lead in the loser’s race! We are pretty sure that very soon Hassan will be breaking all the records. Very soon he will be the head of the loser clan.
Saif ur Rehman (Muqaddar)
It is painful to see such big stars like Faysal Qureshi play such loser characters like that of Saif ur Rehman. He was introduced as a feudal lord who had big baggage of atrocities to his credit. It just didn’t stop there because when he got infatuated with Raima, a girl half his age, he literally abducted her, tortured her, pressurized her family to cut all ties with her, physically tortured her fiance to forget her and in the end, forcefully got married to Raima, also didn’t mind showing up drunk at their first night! After doing all of this, the writer made Saif ur Rehman emerge as an ideal husband who was totally wooed by his wife. Saif ur Rehman committed all these atrocities to win Raima over and even before all of that, he was literally an emotionally absent husband to his first wife and didn’t leave any opportunity of belittling her.
The writer was on some trip of her own where she even justified this poor behavior of Saif ur Rehman by showing that because he had zero compatibility with his first wife Farkhanda, he had all the reasons to mistreat her. After his second marriage, as if Saif ur Rehman wasn’t enough, he gave his second wife Raima an open hand to put his first wife Farkhanda down. Every step of the way Saif ur Rehman made sure to let Farkhanda know what was it that she didn’t have because of which he got so attracted to Raima. It has been gruesome seeing Raima falling in love with a loser like Saif ur Rehman too and more ridiculous is the fact that the writer has given him a clean chit. Faysal Qureshi is not only an experienced actor but quite mature too, therefore he should really know that he has a huge responsibility of picking characters who should set a good example. Only because he got to flaunt an accent and have aesthetic freedom to give Saif ur Rehman a personality that he liked, Faysal Qureshi got carried away and signed such a script that is wrong on absolutely every single level!
Adil (Tarap)
Syed Jibran should stop playing the roles of a rigid brother because it is not only monotonous but boring too. Adil was shown to be a man of rules and regulations, this is why he was a police officer but he completely forgot that he couldn’t deal with his family basis the same way he dealt with the criminals he came across due to his profession. Adil always saw his sisters as criminals and didn’t even give them a space to breathe easily, this is why both meesnis Zunaira and Hania found their manipulative ways to do what they liked doing. It was because of the lack of trust Adil showed in his sisters Zunaira and Hania that they had no other option than lying blatantly to his face.
When Zunaira got kidnapped and showed up at her brother’s doorstep after 2 days, Adil despite being a policeman didn’t bother inquiring about the issue and got her married to another loser. It was a perfect case of losers attract. After ruining his sister’s life and rejecting a decent proposal for her, Adil has now found out the truth and is sulking in his pettiness.
Omar (Bandhay Ek Dori Se)
Ahsan Khan made a return to television after years as a protagonist. He did have a role in Alif that started airing last year but his character was short-lived therefore Bandhe Ek Dor Se can be termed as his comeback which his fans and viewers were quite excited about. However, as much as this drama fell short of people’s expectations, Ahsan Khan’s character was not only disappointing but screamed loudly that it was not fit for an actor of his age. Although Ahsan Khan has done everything to look Omar’s age, it has not been sitting well with the viewers for obvious reasons. Just when the drama viewers were having a difficult time making up their minds about this drama and Ahsan Khan’s role in it, his character showed all the signs of being a loser.
Omar has been madly in love with Roshni but has been unable to understand how evil she is. Omar too fell prey to the circumstances and got married to his cousin Maheen, but ever since he has been guilt-stricken for deceiving his one true love Roshni. Omar has left no stone unturned in proving a point that he does not have brains whatsoever, this is why he is easily getting manipulated by Roshni. He puts Maheen down and undermines her value in his life. He is coming across as a spoiled brat who actually has no sense of responsibility or even reasoning to understand the changes that his life has gone through. Omar continues to be smitten by Roshni and is failing to understand Maheen’s perspective. Omar is not only a loser but a one-dimensional character which makes it another deadly combination. The forlorn expression and a face resembling a clock stuck at 12 AM is not really an idea of a hero that the viewers like to see. Ahsan Khan lacks spark in this drama and overall watching him as a loser Omar is a boring experience!
Nadeem (Zebaish)
Nadeem is your typical spoiled brat who absolutely has no aspirations in life and because he is so used to the luxuries that his mother has provided for him all his life, he feels totally entitled to mooching off her even when he has fully grown up. Nadeem poses that he has set up a business for himself but jumps with joy when his mother provides air-tickets to him so that he could come to see her. The overall attitude and personality of Nadeem’s character scream that he is a big loser. He has been asking his mother left right and center for money so that his conniving wife can set up a business.
Although Nadeem’s father has already told him to be a bit cautious when it comes to financial dealings involving his wife, he has conveniently ignored his advice because he knows he has his mother’s wealth to burn out. Nadeem’s character has absolutely nothing going for him and on top of that, seeing Asad Siddique playing it with such a laid back attitude where he makes it obvious that he struggles to even deliver the dialogues and could fall asleep any minute makes his character a perfect candidate for the loser club!
Hassan (Sabaat)
Hassan is another loser man on this list who kept the viewers confused for quite some time. After taking a complete u-turn when he first fell in love with Anaya, he took another turn and an unpleasant one when he got married to her and started living independently. Hassan actually turned into a complete loser only after he left his house to live a ‘happy’ life. He was clearly not ready to live independently and definitely not ready to make a commitment. This man who never used to listen to his friend before he got married started going by exactly what this good-for-nothing friend said and finally turned into another one of those shakki husbands who think that their wife is having an affair. Hassan failed to give Anaya the kind of life she wanted or deserved. Instead of looking at the positive, he kept on playing the victim.
Hassan gradually turned into the kind of loser all of us hate to see in dramas. Despite knowing Anaya so well even after so many weeks of being apart from her, he continues to believe every single lie being told. Even though his mother tried to knock some sense into him but he refused to listen to anything. This loser also lives under a rock which can be the only explanation for him not trying to find out what is going on in Anaya’s life at all. He relies on Atif for all information and trusts him blindly. He keeps the viewers confused and most often disappoints. He is doing his duty as a loser diligently by continuing to hate the woman who stood by him with a smile on her face. In the end, this loser will perhaps be forgiven, we are still wondering how he will figure out that he was being lied to all along since he definitely does not have the brains to figure that one out on his own!
Asfandyar (Jalan)
Asfandyar is the most handsome loser on the list who fell for his wife’s sister and divorced his wife using his male privilege. By doing so he also got the license to make the most loserish decisions in the shortest time possible. Never did this man even once pause to think why Nisha fell for him and he is completely at ease with all the foolish decisions he has made. This grown-up man who runs a business is such a loser that he let a little girl make a complete fool out of him. He is so satisfied with his loserpan that he has no idea what he has lost and what he is in for! Like most of the men on this list, this one too in the end is most likely not going to take any responsibility for his actions. This man failed his wife completely and even after she died he feels no remorse. Now, he wants to take the child away from his grandparents instead of doing something to ease their pain.
Although, Asfandyar’s sister keeps on reminding him what a big loser he is, he is in complete denial. This is the reason why he continues to make mistakes and is incapable of making any rational decisions. He listens to Nisha like she is the one in charge and takes notes while he is at it. He does exactly what he is told because obviously like all the other losers, he lacks basic common sense.
Shahaan (Mohabbat Tujhe Alvida)
Bechara Shahaan, was forced to get married to a beautiful and polished young woman and now he has to face the difficult task of balancing between his two wives! The way the writer has highlighted Shahaan’s majbooris is laughable, to say the least. This loser let his wife talk him into a second marriage and now he is often seen sitting with his first wife justifying why he should be spending time with the second one. When he is with his second wife he is seen narrating stories about how much he misses Ulfat and the way she used to be. This man who is enjoying the best of both the worlds is often shown ‘balancing’ between his two wives in the most disgusting manner. If Shahaan had the courage to put his foot down and make the right decisions at the right time, he wouldn’t have been on this list.
Even now, Shahaan is confused as to what he should do. He is in love with two women who happen to be his wives. What makes his character completely loserish is how the writer has insisted on showing him as someone who enjoys the simple things in life. Although that aspect of any character’s personality can be appealing, the way he tells Ulfat off for wanting more is ridiculous. Watching him sit with Shafaq and mourn over his loss while Ulfat is more than keen to be with him adds to the loserpan of this character. He is another one of those men who hit their wife for another woman, irrespective of the circumstances. He usually turns to Shafaq for advice instead of making his decisions himself. Although he has two wives in the house, he often ends up sleeping on the sofa all alone! Forever clueless and majboor, this list would be incomplete without Shahaan.
Wajdan (Kashf)
Wajdan’s character is proof that even the best of male characters can conveniently be turned into the most unlikable losers within a week. Wajdan used to be a loyal and loving man who was willing to do everything to be near the love of his life but he turned into an insecure and needy loser all of a sudden the second he got married to Kashf. There is a world of difference between the pre-wedding and post-wedding Wajdan, so much so that it is sad that a perfectly etched-out character has been transformed into another insecure and selfish husband. Wajdan’s change of personality has been the most unpleasant development in the drama. Instead of truly supporting Kashf, he is now another one of those many relatives who constantly expect from Kashf and are not willing to do enough for her.
Wajdan basically did everything which he promised he would not. He vowed that he will give Kashf a happy and peaceful life yet he has completely failed to deliver. Had Kashf known what a big loser Wajdan would turn out to be, she would have stayed single. Once again through this character, our writers have reaffirmed the belief held by them that men are incapable of being supportive and loving husbands. Once they get married, they instantly turn into losers and when that happens they also lose their common sense. The heartwarming side of their personality goes out the window and the loserish side takes over completely.
Who do you think is the biggest loser on this list? We know the competition is tough! Share your views.
Zahra Mirza & Fatima Awan
