How bad could it get? America’s ugly election

The economy shrinks by a quarter as

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Covid-19 in India

Double whammy

“N

ot all

heroes wear capes,” de-

clares the trailer for a new Paki-

stani television series. Some wear bur-

kas. The stars of “Churails”—which

means “Witches” in Urdu—are a gang of

female avengers who wield fists and

hockey sticks in anger. They dispense

rough justice to abusive and philander-

ing men.

Sara is a lawyer who gives up her

career for her husband before discov-

ering that the rotter has sent explicit

messages to scores of women. Jugnu

plans weddings for rich couples, and

happens to be an alcoholic. Batool served

20 years in prison for murdering her

husband, who was a paedophile. Zubaida

has long suffered under a domineering

and violent father.

Thrown together by chance, the quar-

tet run a secret agency that aims to help

wronged women exact revenge. They use

a clothes shop in Karachi as a front for

their activities. The heroines drink,

swear and take drugs. There are lesbian

characters and a trans one.

Female characters in Pakistan’s televi-

sion dramas are often depicted as help-

less damsels. Their conflicts are usually

with children, mothers-in-law or rivals

in romance. Lately 

tv 

producers have

sought to introduce more challenging

themes, such as rape and child abuse, but

advertisers and channel bosses are not

keen. “The most refreshing thing about

‘Churails’ was that it was completely

uncensored,” says Aamna Haider Isani, a

journalist who covers entertainment for

The News

, a Pakistani daily. One enthusi-

astic reviewer called it a “feminist mas-

terpiece”. Another hailed “a monumental

moment for representation”.

Asim Abbasi, the show’s creator and

director, who lives in Britain, explains

that he “wanted to tell a story that was

authentic to women I know and to the

society I know”. He is able to do so be-

cause “Churails” is airing over a web-

streaming service, instead of a television

channel. It was created for the Urdu-

language unit of Zee5, an Indian video-

on-demand service. Going digital “allows

us to take risks”, says Mr Abbasi.

Pakistan has no domestic streaming

services, but Zee5, Netflix and Amazon

are all gaining users. Lockdowns im-

posed to fend off covid-19 have helped to

boost subscriptions. Ms Isani says her

children no longer watch conventional

television channels. “They say, ‘Why are

you watching the same woman cry day

after day?’” That 

tv

-streaming young-

sters are now watching completely dif-

ferent things to channel-hopping elders

may explain why “Churails” has not

provoked more of a backlash. Many

conservative Pakistanis have yet to 

discover it.