Maemuna Sadaf
DRAMA depicts culture and values of a country. Usually, culture is promoted through the medium of drama and film etc. Most of the time, dramas and movies are used to promote national narrative and build public opinion. It has a massive impact on society. In Pakistan, foreign dramas and movies were allowed to be aired publically for the first time in the ’90s. Recently, Indian and Turkish dramas were used to air on private entertainment channels whereas a Chinese Drama was aired on State-owned entertainment channel Pakistan Television Network (PTV). Different characters of Chinese, Turkish and Indian dramas and films have remained famous in society. People admire heroes in films, even Indians, despite the fact that India is an arch-enemy.
The National Broadcaster, PTV, has started airing Chinese and Turkish dramas. Nowadays, it is screening the Turkish drama “Dirilis Ertugrul”. This drama serial is based on a part of Turkish history and traditions. Dirilis Ertugrul is considered as counter-narrative of “Islamophobia”. It was produced in Turkey after the September 2019 UN summit, where the term “Islamophobia” was used and the leaders of Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia felt the need to counter this narrative, thus Turkey took the lead and produced this drama, which is worth watching. This drama serial has broken all the records of viewership. Its YouTube views have crossed 2.4 million. Factually, an emotional attachment of the Pakistani people to the Caliphate and Ottoman Empire has also made this series popular. Though Pakistan’s drama industry has remained popular for years, yet it didn’t focus on Islamic issues.
In Pakistan, more than 39 entertainment channels are working. To attract viewership it requires good production, strong story and cast. The 1970s and 1980s are considered as golden days of Pakistani serials which left lasting impact on viewers. These serials were popular not only in Pakistan but also in the neighbouring countries. Unfortunately, for the last few years, the content quality of production has declined. To increase viewership, private entertainment channels air Urdu-dubbed foreign productions. PTV’s viewership has massively reduced after private entertainment channels have introduced foreign dubbed dramas in their transmission. However, airing of Dirilis Ertugrul on PTV, National Broadcaster, has gained its lost viewership to some extent.
Lastly, it is worthwhile to mention that Dirilis Ertugrul has brought Islamic thought back to Pakistani society as well as it has affected the local drama industry too. Companies have started selecting Turkish artistes as a replacement for local ones. On the other hand, Pakistan is enriched in heritage and culture. The different colours of culture can be found from the hills of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to the plains of Karachi. Unfortunately, Pakistani culture and values have never been promoted in true sense. Hence, anything from foreign countries attracts people more and more. Now the question is why Pakistani history and culture are not promoted in true sense. This question must be answered.
—The writer is freelance columnist, based in Rawalpindi.
