Digest Writer

Digest Writer

Digest Writer
Title Montage of Digest Writer
Genre	Drama
Written by	Madiha Shahid
Directed by	Ahmed Kamran
Creative director(s)	Larachi Entertainment
Starring	Saba Qamar Gohar Rasheed Maheen Khalid Rizvi
Theme music composer	Raheel Fayyaz
Opening theme	Raba Mere Haal Da Mehram Tu
Country of origin	Pakistan
Original language(s)	Urdu
No. of episodes	24
Production
Producer(s)	Larachi Entertainment
Location(s)	Karachi, Pakistan
Running time	36–40 minutes approx. (20–25 mins commercial ad breaks – depending on area where one lives)
Broadcast
Original channel	Hum TV
Original run	5 October 2014 – 14 March 2015
Chronology
Preceded by	Aahista Aahista

Digest Writer is a Pakistani Family Drama that aired on Hum TV.^[1] It began airing from 5 October 2014, every Sunday at 8pm-9:10pm (PST). From Saturday 13 December, the timing got changed of Digest Writer to Saturdays at 8pm-9:10pm (PST) due to Firaaq's last few episodes being 2 hour specials and the Sunday evening time slot of 9:10pm–10:20pm being used by Firaaq from 8pm-10:20pm. According to exclusive data obtained by BizAsia, ‘Digest Writer’, which airs Saturday nights at 20:00 was the slot leader in the UK with 87,500 viewers – peaking at 122,800 viewers.^[2] The show aired its last episode on 14 March 2015 and was one of the hit shows of the year and the channel. It was even nominated for the 'Best Drama Serial' for the '3rd Servis HUM AWARDS' in 2015.

Plot

Digest Writer is a drama based on the life of Farida, a girl belonging to a lower-middle-class family and, studying in college she is often looked down upon her parents which concentrate on the education of their son who they wish to become a doctor. Farida is also a very talented girl who is determined to do well in life. She is a reserved outcast in her family who is always dreaming of her future success and firmly believes in the saying "whatever your destined to get you will get" (translated into English) she is always the one who is simply firm in believing that one day she will succeed in her ultimate goal. Farida’s family is going through financially difficult times, and she aspires to become a digest writer under the pen name of “Rashk-i-Hina” she is very determined in becoming one going through sleepless nights in order to accomplish her dream in becoming a digest writer. Her family is critical of her writing especially her father who constantly scolds her for using electricity in the night to write but does not effect her in her aspirations and she continues it regardless. Her main priority first is to earn enough money to fund her family in their financial crisis her parents then start to like her and open up to her more as she is helping her family. She later on befriends a banker, Shehrayar Ahmed who admires her skills, but several problems arise in their relationship. Farida’s parents wish to wed her to her cousin Shaukat who is acting like a peaceful and a good lover of Farida. Farida's father forces her to marry Shaukat and late on finds out that he made a terrible mistake and destroyed his daughter's life as his sister and her son are taunting Farida on daily bases as she was a digest writer. Shaukat restricts Farida from even touching pen and pencil where on the other hand Farida receives a call from the channel to inform her about the great success of her drama and propose their wish to get 2 more dramas signed from Farida but Farida refuses due to her family issues. Days go by and Farida finds out she is having a baby. When the baby is born, her aunt is in awe. She wanted a boy and ended up knowing she had a girl. Her aunt wants to name the baby after her mom, Surraiya. Later on, a big trouble hits the family. Shaukat's father has an accident. The family is short on money so they ask Farida to start writing again. But, they want to keep all the money to themselves. Farida, on the other hand, wants to give some money to them and some to her mom. Shaukat finds out she is giving some money and as usual, her aunt starts becoming mad at her. One night something shocking happens. Farida finds something on the floor and it was a women's earring. The next morning, Shaukat admits to being in love with someone else. He says he hates how she smells everyday and never is romantic with him. Farida then plans to go back home. Time shift to 8 years later, and we find out Farhan is a doctor and their family is wealthy.Farida now has a son called Fahad as well. Farida has become a well-known Drama writer. One day, she goes to the mall and finds Shahriyar is there. They both talk and Farida admits to her not marrying him because she was forced to marry Shaukat. They secretly meet with each other and then comes one night where Farida asks Shaukat for a divorce. She has to make a difficult decision to stay with Shaukat and her kids who like to stay with Shaukat or marry Shahriyar. She decides to stay with Shaukat since she found out that her children would prefer to stay with their birth parents instead of living with some other person. The story ends here :).

Cast

• Saba Qamar as Fareeda/Rashk-e-Hina
• Gohar Rasheed as Shaukat
• Maheen Khalid Rizvi as Jameela
• Khalid Ahmed as Mazhar Hayat
• Zhalay Sarhadi as Rida Anmol
• Farhan Ali Agha as Sikandar
• Aiman Khan as Shakeela
• Kashif Mehmood as Ayaan Junaid
• Agha Ali as Sheheryar
• Mehmood Akhtar as Anwar
• Sajida Syed as Zareena
• Parveen Akbar as Sajida
• Sarah Umair as Mahroosh
• Saife Hassan as Rehaan Khan
• Ghazala Javed as Bint e Hawa

Reception

Umera Ahmed is a renowned author of the time and her name is big enough to attract a large audience; she has written the screenplay of this drama. The drama is receiving generally positive reviews and is maintaining its position in the top ten Pakistani serials from the beginning. Its first episode received a TRP of 4.1, and in its fourth episode, it gained 5 TRPs. In its fifth episode however, the rating dropped to 3.9, nonetheless, this is still a high TRP and stable position The ratings picked up again and gained more positive reviews as viewers were tuning in. The show managed to come first in the top ten shows one time. The team was praised for their wonderful acting, directing and story-writing. The show was immensely popular due to a strong cast and relatable story-line. The show's first episode ratings were an exceptional achievement, but the show just lagged behind by a bit of viewers as one week later, rival show Sadqay Tumhare on the same channel, but different day and timeslot (Friday 8pm), opened with a phenomenal TRP of 6.0. However, Sadqay Tumhare's TRP later dropped drastically but Digest Writer managed to keep theirs consistent. Overall the drama was a mega hit released by Hum TV in 2014-2015.

Accolades

References