A review on Pakistani drama Long Play, Half Plate (1991). This PTV Long Play is directed by Syed Mohsin Ali and written by the great Anwar Maqsood. This play was a series of projects starring the most beloved collaboration of Talents between Anwar Maqsood as the writer and Moin Akhtar as the Lead Actor. Half Plate is a Long Play produced as part of PTV’s famous ‘Tele Theater’ series and was aired on Pakistan Television in 1991.
+ Crew
- Directed by Syed Mohsin Ali
- Written by Anwar Maqsood
- Produced by Pakistan Television
+ Note
The Term Half Plate in South Asia, is referred to a ‘light meal’ as the 70 minute Long Play entails a short, satirical comedy sketch between an aging married couple.
+ Main Cast
- Moin Akhtar
- Khalida Riasat
- Badar Khalil
- Jamshed Ansari
- Latif Kapadia
- Arshad Mehmood
- Afzal Syed
- Jaffar Hussain
- Meraj Habib
+ Plot
Half Plate is a Kammerspiel theatrical play where an aged failed Urdu poet (played by Moin Akhtar) lives with his wife (played by Khalida Riasat) who are now far away from the twilight years of their lives.
+ High Points
i – Half Plate is considered a legendary and memorable Longplay featuring the duo of Maqsood/ Akhtar and it is quite evident why it is fondly remembered even decades later. Although the plot is pretty elementary, what keeps the Longplay interesting is the writing of Anwar Maqsood and the banter between Moin Akhtar and Khalida Riasat. As clearly evident from their performances, they had great chemistry together and even with minimal plot progression, they knew how to keep the viewer engaged till the very end.
ii – There are certain moments in this Longplay where Half Plate shines the brightest, namely the sequence with Badar Khalil where her flitatious ways are not enough to swing Moin Akhtar’s aged poet away from his principles. The combination between Akhtar’s over the top antics and Khalil’s subtle charm churns out a great scene between the two.
iii – Despite the fact that Half Plate has an extraordinary set of characters, the one that stood out for me was Jamshed Ansari as the naïve son of a failed Urdu poet. His dialogue delivery and verbal slapstick mishaps brought the best comedic moments of this Longplay.
iv – I have to be honest, I do miss this era of PTV dramas where Longplays dominated fictional television shows. A self-contained story, 70 or so minutes long, each one more memorable than the last, displaying talents of such legends like Moin Akhtar… it is a real shame that we can never go back to this format of entertainment because of obvious commercial reasons.
v – In one of his interviews, Anwar Maqsood revealed that he wrote this long play solely for the actress Khalida Riyasat because she was suffering (at the time) from a life threatening disease and would not live for long. While the inception of the script springs from tragedy, Khalida Riyasat gave her most celebrated performance.
+ Low Points
i – As far as PTV “Tele Theater” Longplays go, this is not one of the best. In fact, it’s a very timid effort from the legendary duo of Maqsood and Akthar. The writing is not as sharp and witty as one would expect from the two. There is an entire plot point devoted to “kebabs” which I found utterly unfunny, stretched out and although they tried to tie it in at the end with a sombre ending, it still does not justify its place in the script.
ii – Unfortunately this is also not one of Moin Akhtar’s best work. Its really one of the few times where he just went too nonsensical and implausible with his portrayal. if I’m being truly honest. His mannerism of an old, jaded Urdu poet are truly exaggerated to a point of farce. This type of performance might suit well on a theatre stage but not in front of a camera.
iii – The “sappy” ending comes out of nowhere and it feels very abrupt and unearned. The plot progression of the wife’s critique towards her husband’s passion work is always played for laughs but in the last 5 minutes of the Longplay, writer Maqsood wanted to end it on a more “thoughtful” note which unfortunately does not work.
+ Overall
Half Plate is truly a mixed plate of delicious kebabs and wet/ soggy Biryani. With names such as Moin Akhtar and Khalida Riasat attached to it, you would naturally expect more.
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