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Actor and model Saheefa Jabbar Khattak has taken to Instagram to pen a sobering note on the state of Pakistani drama content, and the broken systems behind the glamour.

In a carousel post, she peeled back the layers of what really happens behind the scenes, calling out production houses for exploiting actors, ignoring social issues, and prioritising saleability over sincerity.

Jabbar, who has acted in only five TV dramas, revealed why she consciously stayed away from most acting gigs. “I always had work, more than enough, actually. But I didn’t say yes to everything. There were projects I simply didn’t believe in,” she wrote. Despite the industry’s tendency to sugarcoat content on morning shows, she admitted to only genuinely standing by two of her drama projects — Beti and Bhool — for their messages or potential.

But her criticism didn’t end with what’s seen on the screen. Highlighting the lack of care and seriousness in the production process itself, she added, “It’s rare that a drama is taken seriously during production. Most scripts aren’t treated with the depth they deserve… As long as we’re making dramas just to sell, we will keep losing our purpose, our integrity and the real stories that need to be told.”

Calling for a shift toward realism, she also criticised the excessive glamorisation of characters through makeup and costumes that defy logic or class context. “Hire professional stylists and artists who actually understand how to dress a character according to the story, class and culture. We need realism, not fantasy.”

Jabbar also questioned why we’re not making dramas about the stories that surround us, including “Balochistan, the Zainab case, and Noor Mukadam.” She suggested, “Why not turn to documentaries? We have endless stories around us, just take a walk outside Data Darbar and see the heroin addicts no one talks about, or the child abuse ring in Kasur. These are the stories we need to show, stories that wake us up instead of numbing us.”

Her most scathing remarks were directed at the working conditions actors face off-camera, from late payments and a lack of basic amenities to a toxic culture that punishes professionalism. “Let’s talk about how production houses delay payments for months… There is no structure, no contracts that are honoured, no sense of responsibility,” she wrote.

She pointed out that actors are often manipulated into working 12 to 14-hour days in what she described as “far from okay” conditions. “There are sets where we don’t have clean bathrooms…Most of the time, there’s one shared room for the entire cast, where everyone is eating, changing, doing makeup, trying to sleep, all in one place, with no consideration for gender or personal space.”

She also called out the culture of dismissing those who remain focused and disciplined. “If you show up on time, stay in your zone, and focus on your work, you’re ‘difficult’. But if you throw tantrums, come late, act like a diva, you’re seen as ‘worth it’.”

Jabbar’s post follows a wave of actors recently speaking up about exploitative practices in the entertainment industry. Recently, veteran actors such as Marina Khan and Syed Mohammed Ahmed, as well as newer artists such as Alizeh Shah, Ramsha Khan, and Khushhal Khan, and many others, voiced their frustrations over delayed payments and lack of transparency in financial dealings.

In referencing real-life tragedies such as the killing of a couple in Balochistan in the name of ‘honour’, Jabbar asked a pointed question, “Why aren’t we talking about what matters?”