Romanticizing Abuse in Pakistani Dramas

Unsurprisingly, we all probably have come across a scene in Pakistani drama or movie where a female protagonist is, for some reason, slapped by the main lead, and it is shown from the perspective of the male lead being a dominant personality who has control over women.

One of the scenes that really disturbed me when I was a kid was in Diyar-e-Dil, where Osman Khalid Butt (our main lead) told the female character over a minor dispute, 'Agar tum meri hoti toh mein tumhen thapar marta.' If a woman belongs to a man, do they have the right to hit them? This dialogue wasn't the only problematic thing in the show, but there were several scenes where he can be seen literally dragging Maya out of her house, kidnapping her, and taking her to secluded places, just because he is in Nikkah with her and so he can do anything to her without her consent. In the end, we see them ending up together.

In another drama, Mein Bushra, the main character, slapped the woman lead because she thought that he had entered her room with ill intentions. And to portray how our society has been conformed into thinking that abuse is justified in some situations, I have attached the review for that scene from a very famous Pakistani blog, 'Review it.'

It says, "I do feel that Bushra kind of needed that slap for the re-awakening of her conscience and sanity. This ‘slap’ also served as a reality check that Shayan harbors feelings and can run out of patience because he’s a human being."

Not only this, but after this slap scene, we suddenly see that the female lead is now in love with the male lead, who slapped her just because she finally understands him. I mean, how messed up can a scene be?