Ainak Wala Jin First Episode

[Darios Uclaray]

AinakWala Jin (Urdu: عینک والا جن, English: Spectacled Genie) is a Pakistani children's television series produced and broadcast by PTV Lahore from 1993 to 1996 and again from 2005 to 2008.[1][2] This drama was rebroadcast two times on television in Pakistan due to public demand. It was widely popular among children for its humour and fictional storyline.[2] The first episode of this drama was aired on April 25,1993. The first season consists of 152 episodes. The first season ended on July 4,1996. While Ainak Wala Jin 2 went on air on March 27,2005. It consisted of 90 episodes, and the last episode went on air on july 29, 2008.

The theme was conceived by Hafeez thair. He starts living with humans, and the interesting interaction starts. He meets magicians, witches, other genies, space people, and real-life characters. These interactions gave birth to a very interesting story line that entailed comedy, magic, morals, and learning for children and adults.

Note: It should be mentioned here that four famous female singers of Pakistan started their career as actresses with this TV serial. They are Shabnam Majeed, Fariha Pervez, and Humera Arshad. While Hina Nasrullah also acted in Ainak Wala Jin 2.

The serial was written by the late Abdul Hameed, who is popularly known as A Hameed.[3] He has written about two hundred books, innumerable columns, memoirs, novels, fiction for children, and many serials for Pakistani television. His TV serials included Dachi, Alif Liala (many episodes), Ambar Naag Maria, and AINAK WALA JIN. The last one surpassed his other works in popularity.[3][2]

This TV serial was directed by Hafeez Tahir, a versatile director of Pakistan Television. He was given the producer of the decade award for this production by PTV. Having two master's degrees from the University of Punjab, he was trained in television production and direction at MMTC Indonesia and PTV Academy. He is a poet, short story writer, newspaper columnist and still photographer. He has three publications to his credit: "Aathwan Rang," "Zere Zamin", and his latest to date, "Manzil Manzil"

In the absence of computer graphics facilities, the director of the show, Hafeez Tahir, managed to create many special effects with the simple chroma key technique. Some ingenious techniques were invented to make those effects with the help of able lighting cameramen and their technical crew. Many layers were created and matted to create imaginative video effects.

This play has been immensely popular among children and adults at the same time. The children, their parents, and their elders enjoyed it together. The characters became household names, and some of the dialogues were transformed into political connotations. The team of the play had been invited by many educational institutions and dignitaries, like the Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Khalid Maqbool, to request a live performance for them.

The team was also invited by Imran Khan, the legendary cricketer turned politician, to raise funds his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and, in this connection, the entire play team, along with the play director Hafeez Tahir, had the honour of performing before Princess Diana, Princess of Wales and Imran Khan.[4] The team, including Hamoon Jadugar, Zakoota Jin, Bill Batori, Hafeez Tahir, and some other actors, visited 2005 Kashmir earthquake-affected areas with the President of Pakistan to bring back smiles on the faces of mentally stressed children. The team visited the areas on a special helicopter. The play team also performed a magical comedy skit on the Eid Night live transmission from there.

The story of Ainak Wala Jin was conceived by Hafeez Tahir. He wanted to create a TV show that combined realist fiction with science fiction, magic, and fantasy. The story, however, was distinctive, to say the least. As shown in the pilot episode, a genie, Nastoor, has eyesight problems. The emperor of the genies sends Nastoor to Earth so his eyesight problems can be rectified. Imran, a young kid, accidentally meets Nastoor while he is in a park. Imran is a courageous and kind-hearted boy. He decides to help Nastoor. Imran convinces his father that Nastoor can be trusted. Imran carves out a story about Nastoor so he can live with his family. This creates a bond between Nastoor and Imran. Storylines evolved and expanded during the four-year run of the series. Nastoor met with strange creatures and beings from various realms that could levitate, fly, disappear, and perform magic. All these storylines and subplots had two factors in common. First, they were entertaining especially for kids. Second, they shared a message to uplift the moral values, principles, and add values to our culture and ideologies.

Ainak Wala Jin should have been a recurring series; however, there was no spin-off or a sequel to the series. Although Nastoor Jin ki Wapsi was aired in 2019 as the second part for the original series, it did not gather a massive following akin to its preceding series

One wonders why such programs are no longer aired on our television screens. Maybe the viewers do not want to watch such programs. Or it could be that sensationalism and controversies are a better product to sell than producing such a meaningful program as Ainak Wala Jin. It is also unfortunate for us to see how the actors of Ainak Wala Jin lived their life in the paucity of resources once the series came to an end. Shehzad Qaiser, who played Nastoor, never appeared on television. Nusrat Ara could not afford a treatment before she passed away in October 2017.During the early and mid-1990s when Ainak Wala Jin was first aired and went through its growth, social media was non-existent. Even the availability of the Internet was not possible in Pakistan. Ainak Wala Jin gaining popularity among children and teenagers was proof that good content finds its viewers and becomes disseminated among the people. Furthermore, the 90s era was a time when quality content was produced and aired on channels. Television channels were inclined towards producing such content that shares meaning and purpose. Moreover, the dialogues of Ainak Wala Jin were simple yet effective. The set design and wardrobes were not produced extravagantly nor were gaudy in any way. One could see the straightforwardness and minimalism that was a major part of how the series was produced.

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