KUALA LUMPUR: Disappointed with the direction of today’s TV drama productions, award-winning actor Nasir Bilal Khan declined some 20 acting offers in recent times.
He refused to accept the roles as both scripts and storylines fell short on quality.
“Frankly speaking, when I was told of the drama titles, I felt disgusted, it’s nauseating even. But again, what can you expect when most productions today are all about sappy romance,” he said in a news report yesterday.
The 59-year-old artiste who was a panellist at the Kongres Sangga Artis Veteran held at the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) in Hulu Klang recently, said that drama productions should educate the society so that they become informed citizens and help form a better nation.
“It is our job to teach viewers to have good moral values. We have a responsibility, and as artistes, we should be able to see things beyond that.
“Drama productions that we churn out should be more forward thinking and not what we see flooding the TV channels right now,” he said.
Nasir had at one time thought of retiring from the industry, but he was then persuaded to star in a drama series Tanah Kubur. His role as Tok Adi became his most memorable work to date, and the drama became a hit among viewers.
Nasir also suggested that should TV stations still insist in putting out “rubbish” dramas, those in production should stand together to go against such ideology.
On another matter, he said there was a need to introduce more categories for senior artistes at awards events so that they would feel a sense of belonging in the industry.
Nasir suggested that experienced artistes be given the chance to not only get involved in programmes organised by the government, but also be conferred awards that also included special allowances.
“Right now, some veteran artistes with the title ‘Datuk’ depend on charity to survive in their twilight years,” he added.
