SPOTLIGHT: WHERE THE STREET KNOWS YOUR NAME

Deep within one of the congested neighb­ourhoods of old Karachi, an unremarkable gate opens into a tranquil street, surrounded by small, time-worn and old-world houses shaded by neem and peepal trees.

This unassuming little street, with plants scattered in front of gates that have rust creeping across their hinges, is the star of one of the most watched dramas on Pakistani TV right now: Sharpasand.

There is a prodigious line-up of stars acting in Sharpasand: Naumaan Ijaz, Nadia Afgan, Hira Mani, Affan Waheed, Hareem Farooq and Seemi Pasha, as well as a coterie of very talented young actors, including Ahsan Afzal Khan, Hassam Irfan, Zuni Sheikh, Saba Bukhari, Sabahat Sheikh and Sarah Aijaz Khan.

And then, of course, there is the aforementioned street — offering a whiff of Karachi’s old residential areas, where houses stand squashed shoulder-to-shoulder, allowing neighbours to snoop on each other conveniently, with ancient trees standing guard along boundary walls. Neighbours gather outside their homes every day, indulging in a bit of gossip, make sanctimonious declarations as they judge their neighbours, and make their way to the mosque for namaz.

Presiding over this neighbourhood is Ijaz’s Farasat Ali, the titular sharpasand — someone who likes to spread mischief.

One of the most avidly watched dramas on television these days, Sharpasand has many things going for it — a strong script, an exceptional cast, astute direction and production, and a neighbourhood that is a holdover from bygone Karachi. Icon goes behind the scenes to take a peek at this wholesome street with an underlying dark side

Sitting under one of the shaded trees, with gaffers and grips milling around us as they decorate one of the homes with fairy lights, the drama’s director Aehsun Talish waves his hand towards the street as he tells Icon, “I had two conditions before I decided to take on this drama: that the title cha