While the world has moved forward from the days of using black face in place of actual Black representation, we see Pakistan regress back to this practice in the drama Parizaad that aired in 2021. Not only is this an outright disrespect, we see that this is done purposefully to create a character that can be deemed as not being handsome due to his darker complexion. The character Parizaad is portrayed in a light where despite the goodness of his character he is dismissed by multiple females not on the basis of anything substantial rather it is implicitly implied that it is due to his darker complexion. While the story may serve the purpose of holding a mirror to society to remind them of the standards they hold when it comes to skin color, it is a pity that in a country rife with talent, the industry saw fit to cast a fairer actor and dark face them to serve the purpose instead of finding someone who fulfilled the criteria and giving a chance to new faces of differing complexions. This drama sets the precedent for other channels to do the same with characters they want to portray in a different light. This show really does create an impression that prevalent society still believes in regressive ideologies and are unwilling to have discourse to challenge these ideologies especially when it comes to the entertainment industry.
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