Parveen Shakir, whose 69th birthday will be celebrated later this week on November 24, was a trailblazer in the field of gynocentric poetry, and is a name not unknown to Urdu language readers. A civil servant and a Fulbright scholar of English Literature, and one of the finest poetesses of Pakistan’s national language, Parveen Shakir has been an inspiration during and after her life; hence her verses:
Mar bhi jaun tou kahan log bhula hi dein ge
Lafz mere, mere hone ki gawaahi dein ge
When senior journalist and author Sheen Farrukh died this year in June, screenwriter Faseeh Bari Khan took to Facebook to tell how Farrukh, a few months before her death, had just finished working on a script based on the life of Parveen Shakir.
When asked to share the details, it was quite surprising to know that the script, despite having been penned in a poetic style, something different from what we get to see on screen these days, was warmly welcomed by the producers.
“The shoot of this drama serial had been planned with Iffat Umar chosen for the titular role. Unfortunately, the production house couldn’t meet the required finances back then and the script never got executed,” said Faseeh Bari Khan.
He further went on to say that the script now lies with Attiya Dawood, another notable name in the field of drama writing, with the Sanam Saeed starrer Deedan being her recent hit.
“I have asked Attiya Dawood to hand over that script to me, for I really wish to make something out of it for my YouTube channel, ‘Kabaar Khana’. Sheen Farrukh has been my mentor and I would love to work on a script that she wrote but couldn’t see being materialized. I remember reading that script. It was beautifully written, in a very poetic style, the apt way of penning a poet’s biography. A lot of Parveen Shakir’s verses in the form of monologues had also been incorporated by Sheen Farrukh. It’s sad that none of us had the right amount of money back then to work on the project,” he added.
The writer also expressed a wish that Attiya Dawood finds the script soon so that serious work on it can be resumed, ending the conversation by saying, “This serial definitely needs to go on the screen, for Parveen Shakir’s fans are spread all over the world and they would love to see a televised biography of hers.”
