PTV awards show plagued by problems

ISLAMABAD: The live broadcast of the Pakistan Television national awards show on Sunday night filled television screens throughout the country with some of the channel’s best performers and producers.

Approximately 33 awards were distributed during the awards show with Sohail Asghar getting best actor, Sadia Imam getting best actress, Qazi Wajid getting best supporting actor and Mumtaz Kanwal and Seemi Rahil sharing the best supporting actress title.

However, not everything went perfectly, according to reports. The show appeared to be plagued by the management’s mistakes and manipulations. Many observers said that the award distribution ceremony was poorly organised and the honours were not awarded rationally.

PTV management awarded the best newscaster award for 2002 to a newscaster who did not appear in major PTV news bulletins in the year for which she was declared the best. Similarly, the best news camera coverage award was for coverage of the prime minster’s activities, but management apparently failed to consider that there was no prime minister in the country for 11 months of the year 2002.

In another blunder, PTV Islamabad centre not only nominated a Karachi-based Qari and Naat Khawn, they also announced awards for them despite the fact that they did not perform more than twice from the Islamabad station during the year 2002.

The famous light singer Gulbahar Bano was also ignored for an award, and relatively new singer Shahida Mini, who has not sung much during the last few years, was given the award.

The show’s overall management was also poor. There was no match among the cultural dances of the four provinces. Award recipients was not properly informed about their awards and special award winners for Qawali Mehr Ali and Sher Ali came on stage to receive their award almost after five minutes after a PTV staffer had collected their award in their absence.

The presenters once forgot to announce the name of Semi Rahil, who was joint award winner with Mumtaz Kanwal for the category of supporting actress. The presenters later apologized for the mistake and called the artist to receive her award.

However, the night’s biggest mistake occurred when the programme’s producers Director of Programmes for PTV Muneeza Hashmi and General Manager for PTV Islamabad centre allowed the show to finish earlier than scheduled.

Jawad Ahmed came to sing a song and all other artists also joined him on the stage. They called the VIPs on stage and finished the song.

Most of the spectators left because they thought the show was over, but after a few minutes Ms Hashmi herself came on stage and asked the audience to stay in the hall until the show was complete. Then, two more items were presented and the event concluded.

Moreover, the seating arrangement was also unsatisfactory for the spectators and many felt uncomfortable watching the show in the convention centre’s hall, despite the fact that it was built for such shows and was designed very well. The media was forced to sit in inside galleries, from where they could not hear and see the proceedings very well.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbul, Sindh Governor Ishrat-ul-Ibad, NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Federal Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Information Minister Shiekh Rashid Ahmed, Federal Petroleum Minister Noraiz Shakur, Federal Communications Minister Ahmed Ali, Secretary of Information Syed Anwar Mehmood, Sharif-ud-Din Pirzada, Member of National Assembly Mehnaz Rafi, former senator Fasih Iqbal, Akhter Wiqar Azim, Ashfaq Ahmed, Faisal Chaudhary, Zia Jalandhary, Nayar Ali Dada, Mohsin Ehsan, Bano Qudsia, and Chief of Staff to the President Lt General Hamid Javed distributed the awards. —Khurram Shahzad

Awards winners

Qari: Qari Najam Mustafa
Naat Khawan: Fashi-ud-Din Sehrwardi
Producer Children Program: Iqbal Ahmed
Producer Sports: Manshanat
Producer Current Affairs: Zafar Iqbal Bungash
Producer Magazine show: Shahid Masud
Producer Shows: Ayub Khawar
Producer Music: Arif Rana
Producer Drama Serial: Ali Rizvi
Producer Drama Series (Independent): Kazam Pasha
Producer Religious Programme: Iqbal Haider
Composer: Mujahid Hussain
Lyricist: Sabir Zafar
Studio Cameraman: Nasim Ahmed Khan
Cameraman Outdoor: Wajid Qazi
Cameraman News: Muhammad Younis Khan
Audio Excellence: Abrar Ahmed
Video Editing: Shoeb Salim
Best Engineer: Abid Ali
Compere: Shamoon Hashmi
Designer: Afraz Ali Syed
Make Up Artist: Rana Zaheer
Newscaster (Urdu): Samina Waqar
Newscaster (English): Aisha Qaiser
News Reporter: Arshad Salim
Best Actor: Sohail Asghar
Best Actress: Sadia Imam
Supporting Actor: Qazi Wajid
Supporting Actress: Mumtaz Kanwal and Seemi Rahil
Playwright Series: Zakia Akbar
Playwright Serial: Taj Haider
Light singer: Shahida Mini
Producer News: Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah

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