“Lights, sound, cue (action) cut”, after a hard day of filming (recording) the words “its a rap for today” seems like pleasurable music to the ears after a day of continuous recordings.
To start off with, there are 100 plus episodes for an average soap production, and this is mostly location based, therefore if all the episodes to be recorded in the ‘house’ location, then regardless of the episodes, they will be recorded in one go. Therefore, episode 1 scene 5 and episode 16 scene 11 could be recorded on the same day along with many other scenes scheduled for that day in that particular location.
These fast paced soaps do put a strain on an actor as they have to remember many lines, moods, future situations, and past situations and all on a day to day basis, along with a large wardrobe of clothing that has to be included.
For many years, I was warned by certain concerned media houses who stated that they had ‘my’ best interests at heart and that I should not work in ‘soaps’, the reasons given to me by them were, bad quality productions, fast work with time restraints, soaps are not taken seriously, nor will the actor be taken seriously, and that it could be a bad career move. The strange thing is, these soaps were still broadcast on TV channels.
I kept the above in mind until one fateful day my TV producer friend Hasan Soomro who is also a director, actor and RJ, working in the business for 25 years (but still looks like a teenager) told me that these thoughts against soaps are doing me a disservice, I asked ‘why’, Hasan replied, that soaps have come a long way in Pakistan, they keep the audience interested and entertained, different episodes are broadcast in one week, the actor can budget as the disbursement of actors fee is quick, and that a good soap does have an important part to play in the Pakistani entertainment industry.
I thought about these points for a while and realized that Dallas, Crossroads, EastEnders and Coronation Street were/are all soaps, western soaps, but still soaps.
So, I have taken the small step which is a giant leap for me in my own mind to actually work in two soaps that I have been recently offered. It is somewhat of a challenge, but, isn’t that what life is all about?
I will keep you informed on the outcome, let’s hope that it’s a pleasurable one. In the meantime…..
Blessings to you.