Released in early 1980’s, Sona Chandi is a hilarious drama serial produced by PTV. It is written by the legendary Pakistani drama writer Munno Bhai and directed by Rashid Dar who brings the best out of the characters in this classical drama.
The story revolves around a couple which moves from the village to the city in search for a better standard of life and better pay. Thus starts the comic yet inspiring story in which this poor couple is employed in various houses and ingenuously helps a lot of people and solve their problems.
The humorous nature of this drama as well as its philosophy and the morality it teaches its viewers, instantly caused it to be instilled in the hearts and minds of its viewers as a favorite and hence this production caused quite a sensation.
The writer Munno Bhai has mentioned in many interviews that his characters are inspired by a real couple, Sona (male) and Chandi (female) from his hometown Kallur Kot, a city of District Bhakkar. The writer has also had the honour of meeting with the real life Sona on one of his subsequent visits to the region.
The lead role of Sona is played by Hamid Rana and that of Chandi is played by Sheba Arshad. Ghayyur Akhtar, Munir Zareef, Ayub Khan and Tashkeen were also part of this classical drama. Hamid Rana has also appeared in Lollywood movies.
Both the lead artists showed great chemistry on screen and made this drama serial unforgettable. The bar set by Sheba Arshad in Sona Chandi was so high that she herself was unable to produce another act like this and it is considered as her finest work to date.
Another actor worth mentioning was Munir Zareef. Unable to attain success in Lollywood, he shifted to the drama industry and acted in hits after hits. However his part in Sona Chandi was played so brilliantly, that by and large because of this drama serial he began to be considered as one of the best actors in the country.
Unfortunately, he never acted again after this serial. Ghayyur Akhtar was also a very influential actor in this drama series. He was famous for his comic roles and his part as a jailer in the movie ‘Direct Hawaldar’ made him very popular. He was also a part of the cast of Sitara, which is another PTV classic.
