Pakistani true crime podcast Notes on a Scandal examines the mysterious death of poet Mustafa Zaidi 50 years later, #Pakistani #true #crime #podcast #Notes #Scandal #explores #mysterious #death #poet #Mustafa #Zaidi #years Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
The upcoming second season of journalists Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood’s podcast will re-examine the trial of Shahnaz Gul.
As the podcast wave finally catches on in Pakistan and content creators start to warm up, we’re finding that politics, entertainment, the economy and lifestyle seem to be everyone’s favorite things to talk about. But what about one of the most popular podcast topics online: real crime? Enter Notes on a scandala Pakistani podcast investigating the mysterious death of a man named Mustafa Zaidi more than half a century after he was found dead in his apartment in Karachi.
Zaidi died in 1970 and his death remains a mystery to this day. For three years, journalists Tooba Masood and Saba Imtiaz have been studying the case and now they are sharing their findings, the very beginning of Zaidi’s career and his extramarital affair with socialite Shahnaz Gul in their podcast Notes on a scandal.
Who was Mustafa Zaidi?
Zaidi was a well-known poet and a talented civil servant who… Found dead on October 12, 1970, in his rented room in Karachi. He was 40 years old. Next to him, Gul was found unconscious, the subject of several of his poems.
There are two schools of thought about Zaidi’s dead. The first is that he was poisoned by Gul and the second is that he committed suicide. While there is evidence to support both claims, the mystery surrounding his death still exists.
The poet and officer was married to Vera Zaidi, a German woman with whom he had a son and a daughter.
Notes on a scandal
In an interview with Pictures, the podcast hosts revealed that they heard about Zaidi’s story years ago, but never got a chance to work on it until three years ago, they sat down, talked about the matter and discovered a “long mutual obsession” about Zaidi’s mysterious death.
When asked why they chose the murder mystery genre for their podcast, Imtiaz . told Pictures that Zaidi’s story came first than the medium, as true crime lends itself well to podcasts because “there is a way to combine storytelling, research, poetry, popular culture and conversation”.
She said true crime is a hugely popular genre for podcasts around the world. For Masood, Notes on a scandal became a way to spread their story that they plan to share through a book. She’s loved true crime podcasts for a while now and feels like this was the “natural route” for her and Imtiaz.
“The idea behind the podcast was simple: the life and death of Mustafa Zaidi. This included the life of the late poet, Shahnaz Gul, Karachi and Pakistani society in the 1970s, the representation of women – everything,” explains Masood.
Unraveling the case 52 years later
Masood and Imitiaz believe Zaidi’s tragic yet mysterious death is something that will intrigue people today as it did then, even if the case is about 52 years old.
“There was a really established narrative surrounding the death of Mustafa Zaidi that pigeonholed the main characters of the story. Like many important matters in Pakistan, there was a consensus somehow that there was more to it or that there was a conspiracy, but it never really felt clear what that was,” Imtiaz revealed.
But for a case like this, one season with only eight episodes isn’t enough. The second season of Notes on a scandaltitled The State vs Shahnaz Guliwill talk about “Gul’s trial, who was indicted for Zaidi’s death, as well as the media frenzy surrounding the case.”
The State vs Shahnaz Guli
But why are we talking about Mustafa Zaidi?
The hosts believe that since Zaidi was both a prominent poet and a civil servant, it made him a well-known figure to the public and therefore the circumstances of his death are important to discuss. “There was a very strong sense of an organized conspiracy or cover-up behind his death, and it even led the Sindh High Court to take note. It really appealed on every level – even people who have a disdain for scandals were invested in this case,” Imtiaz explained.
She said the case gave people a chance to talk about the elite — from their social lives to their political and personal influence and potential to be involved in crime — and read about it in the newspapers.
The case of Zaidi and Gul was the very first * scandal in Pakistan and according to Masood it was fascinating enough to get people talking and having an opinion about it. The media coverage shocked her and she believes there is a “market for podcasts” in Pakistan, especially true crime or unsolved cases. “After working in the editorial office and browsing archives, I think there are several stories that can be revisited,” she said.
Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood while researching for the podcast and their book in Gujranwala
For now, Notes on a scandal focuses on Zaidi’s case. The upcoming second season will also investigate Gul’s case and subsequent trial. Both seasons draw heavily from the book Masood and Imtiaz are writing, titled society girl. The podcast itself is in the form of a conversation between Masood and Imtiaz.
society girl “examines Mustafa Zaidi’s life and looks at his death in the context of a pivotal time in Pakistan’s history, with a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh [then] East Pakistan, the nationwide general election and the brutal crackdown in [then] East Pakistan in 1971.”
Summarizing the first season and two trailers the sequel are available on most podcast streaming platforms and the second season of Notes on a scandal goes live in August. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts, Cloudy, Amazon Music and Stitcher.