Mahnoor Baloch speaks up on lack of diversity in Pakistani media industry

The actor Mahnoor Baloch has finally broken her silence on why she has taken an indefinite hiatus from screens. Baloch spoke out against the lack of diversity in the Pakistani media industry, stating that the industry still has a long way to go in terms of creating roles for women of different age groups and backgrounds. Baloch, who appeared on an Eid special on a local TV channel, expressed her dissatisfaction with the roles written for and offered to women her age.

Baloch criticized the Pakistani media industry’s focus on love stories and the double standards for what qualifies as a hero and heroine in such stories. She stressed that while the hero is allowed to be 55 years old and not look old, women her age would only get roles as the hero’s mother. She called for the industry to start adapting to this new outlook and focus on producing stories on different subjects and people of various ages.

Baloch is not the only actor to have raised concerns about the lack of diversity in the industry. Bushra Ansari and Behroze Sabzwari have also criticized the problematic storylines and lack of reality in Pakistani dramas. Ansari disagreed with scenes and storylines fueled by domestic abuse and slaps being delivered to female characters, while Sabzwari called for more realistic portrayals of joint families.