It’s very hard to make a drama about social issues, especially a courtroom drama, and get it to become a smash, viral hit. 

Case No.9 became just that, not only because of the storyline but also because of the supreme acting by everyone in the drama. A huge shoutout to Saba Qamar, Faysal Quraishi and Gohar Rasheed who embodied their characters so well, it was like watching the case in real life. Chilling performances with emotional return. 

The last few episodes of the drama focused more on a media trial rather than the court. And with a lot of cases, that is what happens. Real-life cases of Zainab, the little girl who was raped and murdered, Noor Mukkadam and others first played out on the media, generated pressure and then came to their favourable ends. One question is that would Noor Mukkadam’s killer still be in jail had it not been for constant media pressure? It’s sad that the question arises but unfortunately it does.

We have heard actual police officials tell people in meetings that Case No. 9 is a drama that everyone should watch because of how the law and police proceedings are covered in the drama. It’s fact and anchor Shahzeb Khanzada shows it as much in the finale of the drama.

But the blurring of real life and a drama was a bit too pronounced at the end of Case No. 9. Perhaps, it might have been better that a ‘drama anchor’ had done the media trial because the shift between the real show and the one in the drama was a bit disconcerting. The ending as well, it might have been better if an actor from the drama (read Saba Qamar) had read off the stats on rape cases in Pakistan. The uneasy feeling lingered near the end of the drama but then perhaps that’s what the writer was going for. To make you feel uneasy that real life and drama, in this particular case, are very comparable. 

Whether you agree with the drama or not, it is true that media trials, in a lot of cases trump actual courtroom proceedings. We have seen it many times and we will continue seeing it, and it's a global phenomenon, perhaps more pronounced in Pakistan. 

Case No.9 became a drama that will remain in the list of the best social issue dramas in Pakistan and hopefully, we sincerely hope, that the positive effect it had and presented lasts for a very long time. Will a rape victim watch it and feel hopeful and fight for justice? We hope so. Will society watch it and think that should a woman be judged if she comes out and says a crime has been committed against her? We hope not. Would this play a big role in women empowerment? It better.