Beauty is not the only criterion for being successful in showbiz, but against the general assumption, the profession requires brains equally. Naila Ali is amongst those actresses who have made a place for themselves through their intelligence and high skills.

With the passage of time, she got herself accredited as amply talented and unique actress. She has a number of plays to her credit, which will always be a source of good viewing for art lovers till time immemorial.

Naila has now stepped into direction and production of quality plays for television. A few days back, an exchange of views took place, which ultimately turned into an interview for 'Tview'. Follows the excerpts:

What are you doing these days?
I am preparing a play for the chain of stories entitled 'Love Stories' by Geo. Prior to this, I produced two long plays for a local channel; both of these have already been aired. 'Zindagi' and 'Palkon Pe Ruki Raat' were made in just three months time, whereas 'Manoos Ajnabi' is the play, I am currently working on.

Alongside, I have produced a docu-drama for Pak Army and with its reference I am the first female to do it. For a big project, that it is, very influential people and channels tried to obtain it. But due to my father, serving in the Army I got the project. The story revolves around the traitors of the country.

Is acting also going on?
Yes of course! I am doing commercials and other radio programmes. I am not deeply involved, but do bits of everything that comes my way.

After achieving acclaim in acting, what was the reason for jumping over to production?
The stimulus for this decision came from the fact that in our part of the world artists do not enjoy the same value and respect available to professionals elsewhere.

Here, people undermine every other soul especially women. I was really perturbed by the general notion and that is why I thought to try hands on direction instead of acting. I joined Ghazanfar Ali's studio and learnt this art. To me direction is a respectable department and now direction is bemusing me.

Are you satisfied with your artifact as a director?
I am not satisfied with any job and thus see so much of discrepancies all around. But to be sure, I belong to that category of directors who do not believe in superficial things and try to expose the facts hidden under the carpet.

What are your feelings while you are acting?
Be it acting or directing, all what we do is for self-satisfaction. As an actor you transform yourself in a variety of characters to have a feel of society and to present it to the world. Acting is a job, which takes you away from your own life character. Similarly, in direction too you see the society clearly.

Does the commercials studded drama attracts more viewers?
It is wrong to assume that more commercials render a drama good. Commercials only mean financial help to producer, which may develop the quality of the product, but not the editorial content.

Talking about drama means to identify he social problems and later find solutions to them. To me a good drama is one, which provide food for thought to its viewers and has an effect of character on their very lives.

What is the difference between 'past' and 'present' drama?
The basic difference is commercialisation. The chase for money has changed drama upside down. Writers, actors, producers and directors are equally inclusive in the race. They try to get more opportunities while making a compromise on quality. Resultantly, their performance becomes ineffective.

That is the reason I am almost through with acting. The actor does not know, while recording a scene, has no sense what he has done before and what he is supposed to do in future.

I will never be part of such category of artists who receive their script when the scene is on and they just narrate their dialogues. Even amongst the directors, many of them ask as 'what is the scene about when they reach the set. What kind of direction can be expected from these directors?

Is direction that easy as almost everyone wants to do it?
It is a very difficult question. Anyway, if a good actor were asked, his answers would have been that it is an impossibility to come to direction department without being trained and skilled forthwith.

As an academy of training does not exist, I would suggest that people should have observed a lot of direction already and he/she should be amply educated. A good director should have in depth sight of our society, besides being technically strong.

Would you name as good directors?
Personally, I like Rubina Ashraf's work, which reveals her skill and finesse. Mehreen Jabbar also has no match in her own way. Ehsan Ali Zaidi is also doing well, besides many others...

What are your comments on today's viewers?
Our social attitudes have changed as compared to old days in addition to the fact that more channels provide a variety of options to viewers. Our old social set up was different from that of today.

Time has changed, few people have hardly any time to watch TV, whereas, housewives are impressed by Indian channels and enjoy the plays showing mother-in-laws versus daughter-in-law disputes. People in serious professions like BBC, CNN or FOX and various other international channels.

A generation of viewers has appeared, which takes interest in reality and watch E-channel, Discovery and National Geographic to quench their thirst. Now, these TV channels have that arresting effect on people,

which was not there earlier. I consider it a positive change seeing people going for facts and leaving behind fiction. By this reference I consider today's generation a sensible one.

Private production is blamed for deteriorating the quality of drama. Your Comments...
It is good to say that old drama was nice. Such dramas appeared at a time when neither mobile phone nor computer existed. That period is gone and this is the age of globalisation. It is worthwhile to keep old as gold and must perceive the astronomical change.

When you sit to watch TV, you have a choice of 50 channels at your disposal. Such vast is the choice at hand. The downward trend of Pakistani drama can be attributed to the fact that it has just taken the start.

The industry is in its growth phase yet. New people are registering their entries. The quality of drama therefore is at a lower percentage. This is a common thing to happen.

Better results require time. A change in society has such experiences to digest. I guess a positive change will arrive in 20-25 years. I am always optimistic and have positive views about future.

What are your comments about drama writer?
Writer is not any different from others in the showbiz profession. None of them likes to be an avid reader. They never saw any work of writers at home.

I suggest one should dig out treasures of one's own soil, and read the works of big playwrights of our country. This will definitely shine their work.