Can Pakistani celebrities act ?

Do we have any real actors in Pakistan? Do they have any acting chops?  Have any of them made or supported any quality film or television ? 

All I see is actors from shitty melodramatic TV soaps lording over their celebrity status in shitty TV ads for hair removal cream, toilet cleaners, mattress foam, biscuits and other desi products. 

I particularly can't stand Mahira Khan, the most overrated and untalented celebrity in Pakistan. Her face is everywhere, endorsing all kinds of consumerist crap : from bottled water to hair removal cream to cars to ice cream. Just look at her choice of ads, most of them sexist. Either she is telling you that one can only be an empowered woman after removing body hair or telling her Phuppo not to mind putting on weight by eating delicious ice-cream. Most recently she is making bank from Veet Hair Removal Cream by reminding you to go get a breast scan early. Oh she is also going on about how a beautiful and healthy life is possibly by taking zinc supplements. 

By the way, Kavita and I made a parody of the Veet Commercial. See here: Bhooth is ready anytime with silky smooth skin. 

One of the frequent days the Wi-Fi goes off , I am forced to surf through local channels, taking a break from my constantly streaming Al Jazeera news or a series or film on Netflix, I glimpse the terrible awful Pakistani TV dramas. I believe Mahira Khan is on TV for a new play but one whiff of it is enough to show that it is another typical tale of family politics, drawing rooms, angry stares, limp dialogues, good versus bad woman and shitty men. One look at her face will tell you she can't act, nor does she have range. But somehow she is a big deal. Her acting chops consisted of draping a dupatta on her head in Hamsafar and, now her acting involves her wearing glasses for this new play. What progress. 

I believe same goes for any other celebrity whose face is plastered on billboards or the most banal anal TV commercials. You gotta love today's ads: they are a hideous blend of English and Urdu which I believe is how most Pakistanis now speak. 

Or, the best: getting your dumb generic Tweets quoted in Dawn Images. Yes, not only can you not act but also dwell in liberal pretence. 

It seems Pakistani celebrities aren't exactly great because they make great stuff but because they appear in ads or Tweet. And, everyone is sickeningly a nationalist. There is no artistic integrity in this group of stars. 

Both the quality of TV , film and commercials shows how poor the cultural landscape is in Pakistan. We aren't making political movies. We aren't making TV showing interesting stories about the city, working in the city, making it, the struggles of people or important events. Nothing on TV or in the cinema will give you a clue where we are in our moment in history. All we see is a woman shouting or abusing another woman for the sake of a man. 

And, the thopra of every celebrity is eager to cash in on this glorified misery fest. And, I throw particular contempt at Mahira Khan, the essence of Pakistani celebrity: can't act, can't think and, isn't original.