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Why Are All Our Female Leads in Their 20s? | EP 12 | Dear Body
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In this episode of Dear Body, let's unpacks a troubling pattern in Pakistani television: the endless cycle of baby-faced, fair-skinned female leads in their early 20s paired with male actors twice their age. From the diverse casting of the 2000s to today’s obsession with youth and “innocent” features, we explore how beauty standards, popularity politics, and colonial-era ideals continue to shape the stories we tell, and the women we put at the centre of them. Why are older male leads allowed to age on screen, while women are replaced by younger faces every few years? And what does this say to the next generation of girls watching at home? Tune in for a critical conversation on representation, ageism, and the future of inclusivity in our media.
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Transcript
Casting Trends in Pakistani Dramas
00:00:00
Speaker
Why is it that every time I start watching a new Pakistani drama, the female lead is a fair-skinned, petite, baby-faced girl while the male lead is someone I grew up watching and still maintains the same role only now in his 40s or 50s? If you were born in the late 90s, your preteens and teenage years looked like coming home to dramas with a diverse casting, not conforming to the standards that have now made both men and women insecure in their bodies.
00:00:31
Speaker
So who do we hold accountable? What caused this drastic change?
Beauty Standards in the 90s vs Today
00:00:40
Speaker
Hello everyone, my name is Sarosh and you are listening to Dear Body. In today's episode, we will be looking at the female archetypes commonly showcased on television, our obsession with female youth and the age gaps in casting. Let's rewind in time. If you were a 90s kid, your preteens and teenage years looked like sitting with your mother or family members in front of the television to watch the evening drama, hearing stars like Sanambar Loj, Sabah Kamal, Neelam Munir and Amina Sheikh.
00:01:12
Speaker
The fair-skinned girl was the beautiful one, the attractive one, while the dark-skinned or wheatish-skinned women were the sidelined ones, the ones who stayed in the background. I remember always sympathising with the roles Amina Sheik or Sanam Baloch got when she was the innocent, quiet girl who was the ideal sister, daughter, student, wife, mother, while the role of the forgotten female was offered to stars like Pansha Pasha, Nimra Butcha, who were presented as the women who never caught the attention of a man or made sacrifices for their siblings or family. This stereotype was carried forward when stars like Myra Khan and Sanam Said took over our television screens. Myra Khan was this fair-skinned Pakistani woman, so most of her roles were either the innocent girl or the girl who was confident of her looks.
00:02:02
Speaker
Both traits eventually got her the attention of the man. In Hamsafir, it led her husband to question her loyalty. In Shehrizat, it broke her obsession with her beauty and her obsessive nature, both being dangerous routes.
Typecasting and Global Appeal
00:02:16
Speaker
Fast forward to today. We have stars like Hania Amir, whose physical appeal has gone global, with dramas like Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum and her recent Punjabi movie alongside Diljeet Dosanj, Sardarji 3. You must be wondering what the purpose of this entire mapping over the years could possibly mean.
00:02:35
Speaker
It simply goes to show how young actresses have been hired over the years to fit the stereotype in dramas written for a largely female audience. The fair-skinned girl with an innocent-looking face is deemed attractive enough to catch the attention of a man. The dark-skinned girl is usually sidelined.
Age Disparity in Lead Roles
00:02:54
Speaker
But even if she manages to catch the attention of a handsome, young, fair-skinned man, she is seen undermining her body, her physical traits and her traumatic past comes into the picture as well. She is not pretty according to the Pakistani standards of beauty.
00:03:11
Speaker
So she is broken. Did you notice something else in this trajectory of females over the years? One replaced the other over the years. But we still see television stars like Fahad Mustafa, Danish Taimur, Faisal Qureshi, Humayu Said gracing our screens in their 40s and 50s. There is no harm, considering many of these male actors have given us memorable performances.
00:03:37
Speaker
The trouble arises when they are cast alongside females in their early 20s. I have recently gotten back to watching Pakistani dramas. I remember watching Tanman Neil O'Neil,
00:03:48
Speaker
with the female lead is a very young, fair-skinned girl with long hair and a thin frame. Her features and physical build looked rather similar to a very popular television actor, Sajal Ali, known for her roles in Yaqeen Ka Safar, Kuch Ankehi and the Hindi movie Mom alongside the late actor Shri Devi.
00:04:09
Speaker
Then I started watching Man Must Malang. I saw a new female face, Seher Hashmi, in her 20s, being cast alongside Danish Taimur, who is currently in his
Stereotypes in Female Characters
00:04:21
Speaker
40s. Not only was the storyline and direction problematic, which I discussed in one of the earlier episodes, but the age gap between these romantic leads was an unsettling experience.
00:04:32
Speaker
Ironically, her features, her fair skin, expressive brown eyes, soft facial structure are typical physical traits of female leads alongside Danish Taimur. In Theri Chhaon mein, he starred alongside Laiba Khurm, someone who's also in her 20s. This female lead follows the same characteristics as Ria in Manmast Malang, her round eyes and lack of dialogues meant to exhibit her shy personality. Not only are her looks similar to Sahar, but the storyline begins in the same manner, with the man falling in love at first sight. What markers are set before hiring a female lead today? Does the girl have to be in her 20s, have an innocent-looking face, preferably baby features, and minimal dialogues in the drama?
00:05:20
Speaker
to affirm her place as the victim, the helpless
Industry Changes and Social Media Influence
00:05:23
Speaker
girl. Another female television actor that piqued my curiosity was Dhananir Mubhin, who rose to fame when one of her videos went viral while she was vacationing. Dhananir used her popularity to establish her space in the drama industry. Her performances have been applauded by actors like Marina Khan and the general audience has accepted her on-screen presence due to her promising performance in dramas like Sinfai Ahan and Meem Se Mohabbat. What became a moment of worry was her role in Meem Se Mohabbat.
00:05:54
Speaker
With her childlike mannerisms in the course of the drama alongside Ahad Razzamir's character Talha, Mubeen's innocent features coupled with her baby voice, it became a topic of debate as to how we present women as these naive individuals who have childlike mannerisms and look rather young in comparison to the male individual who, on the other hand, is mature, dominant and controls the narrative. The dramas I grew up watching had different parameters.
00:06:23
Speaker
for who gets to occupy a role or maintain a character. We live in the age of social media today, where the online popularity of actors drives the popularity of the show.
00:06:34
Speaker
Back then, television and CDs were the commonly used mediums for television and music. Stars like Savera Nadeem, Sanya Said, Sabreen Hisbani and others would often grace our screens. The male television actors alongside them included Oman Ajaz, Faisal Qureshi and back in 2010, that felt acceptable.
00:06:56
Speaker
Why? Because male and female actors did not have a questionable age gap. Female actors in their 30s occupied leading roles. They had natural-looking skin, versatility in their performances and were not always stuck in the trope of either being the villain or the helpless wife. Today, when we see actors like Samya Mumtaz and Savera Nadeem taking up the role of mothers or mother-in-law, There isn't just the element of nostalgia that draws us towards them. More so, it is their unmatched performance, their attention to the storyline, and their responsibility in bringing a character to life, which is seemingly absent in many actors today hired for popularity purposes.
00:07:41
Speaker
Moreover, the tide is changing. When we move from one generation to the next, it serves as a serious blow to the previous one. Hiring is now done based on how popular a young female actor is amongst the youth, ignoring the fact that the largest percentage of viewers to this day remains our domesticated female audience.
Advocating for Diversity and Representation
00:08:01
Speaker
But there's also the possibility of influencing the younger generation through Pakistani dramas. And if that's the case, what example are we setting for young girls today? In this day and age, there is still a huge gap between the industry and inclusivity in terms of what an ideal female looks like. An ideal female can be fat or thin.
00:08:22
Speaker
She can have curly hair or long, silky, smooth hair. She can be fair-skinned or have wheatish complexion. She doesn't have to be a victim. to justify the challenges in her life.
00:08:33
Speaker
Her character trope doesn't necessarily have to revolve around misery or hardship. She doesn't need a man to drive her out of her toxic familial system. Our Pakistani drama industry has introduced us to unique artists whose craft gave us memorable characters like Marina Khan's Sana from Tanhain, Bano from Daastan, Kashif from Zindagi Gulzar Hai and Sabha Kamar as Kandeel Baloch and Baaghi and many more. These characters were complex and the women who played them had distinct physical traits.
00:09:08
Speaker
That's the beauty of South Asia, where diversity isn't just limited to culture but beauty as well. So why aren't we celebrating it in our media? Why are we hesitant to showcase beauty in all its forms?
00:09:23
Speaker
Is it the media reinforcing the same narrative of the young, innocent-looking, fair lady who waits for her prince charming to change her life? Or is it the audience demanding such stories? Today, I'm leaving you with a lot of questions about the standards we're setting for women in terms of physique and looks.
00:09:44
Speaker
Are we still stuck in the colonial mindset of Gora Rang? Or is there room for actual progress when it comes to inclusivity and representation? Do you think we can improve the stories we tell?
00:09:59
Speaker
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. You can follow me on Instagram at Sarosh Ibrahim and share them. Change or progress starts when we start having open conversations together.