Samina Ahmed thinks people are too quick to dismiss Pakistani dramas with plots revolving around domestic issues – especially the usual saas-bahu storylines. Speaking on the BeyGhum Begums podcast, the actress said she finds such dramas to be a tool for women to empower themselves in the media and in real life.

Ahmed said these domestic stories were our stories too, “stories of our women, in our homes,” and they deserved to be told. Saying there’s a bit of fact in all fiction, she told the host that when dramas show abuse towards women, it’s a reflection of society, and they also show women standing up for themselves.

The two agreed that television was a medium for education, with the actress adding that taboo subjects have been brought into scripts to raise awareness and spark conversations. “When we first made dramas about these subjects, there was much hue and cry, but now they are discussed in the media, our society has evolved to be able to discuss these things,” she told Ansari.