Pakistani drama industry
Mom comes quickly the new episode of the series is on, yes those were the days when we were excited about the Pakistani TV series. The content channels and especially PTV aired some of the best content that had to offer, from the episodes of thriller Dhuwan and Game to the slice of life and comedies like Alif Noon 50/50 and ABC.
Pakistani drama industry was the pillar of our entertainment in the 80s or 90s since it replaced the cinema industry which collapsed due to some reason. People enjoyed the series because of the content that the Pakistani drama industry has been churning out for over a decade or 2, the content was way ahead of its proverbial time that gave us important writers and filmmakers like that Anwar Maqsood and Shoaib Mansoor.
The quality of the Pakistani drama industry was beginning to crumble, like the Roman Empire, the industry is in danger of not only losing its value but also its fan base. Let’s further examine on what happened to the Pakistani drama industry.
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Golden era to the 2000s:
As I said earlier that the early 80/90s were the golden era of the Pakistani drama industry where PTV was solely leading the charge to the entertainment industry. They produced classics as I mentioned earlier which were way ahead of their time, not only men but women were strong and independent and were not relegated to the weak helplessness of toxic relationships that have become the new norm here.
After the success of PTV new private companies like that GEO, HUM, ARY, etc. channels were introduced which did give competition to the latter. The 2000s era of Pakistani drama industry really skyrocketed the content on a whole new level, these soaps were not enjoyed by people of our nation but also across the world and yes including our arch rivals India.
The new era of drama was really artistic giving us the Iranian and Turkish drama vibes as their aesthetics were pleasing. The new era of the 2000s gave us classics Like ALIF, Humsafar, Zindagi Gulzaar hai, and Meri Zaat Zarra-e- Benishan just to name a few.
Also, they gave us future filmmakers like Sarmad Khoosat and actors like Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed and Fawad Khan Etc. After the success of the 2000 era what really happened?
Decline in quantity
So where did it all go wrong was it greed, invasion of foreign series, or streaming services, here are the following points that caused the dominos to fall.
- Indian influence:
After the success of Indian soap operas, our PEMRA organization meet the demands of what if we aired foreign soaps to the already stacked where Ekta Kapoor’s produced serials last long more than life itself, the new soap really made audience, especially our female demographics want to watch the genre, our audience was in love with Bollywood so what they wanted to watch!
Our producers gave into the greed and decided to make the series similar to the aforementioned style, which alienated a lot of people to the point they abandoned them. And the typical Saas Bahu formula got made and it made billions of rupees to the executives which are not going to stop anytime soon.
- One location and weak female characters
Coming back to the typical Saas Bahu formula that has been bestowed by the Pakistani drama industry to the audience, which underestimates our audience greatly. The weak female characters were born and were submissive in order to tell the story conveyed to the audience. The wrong message has been portrayed that women should be weak and can’t make up their minds on their own. The bonkers affair subplots and slap that male characters do in order to get dominant over their female counterpart is just too much stupidity come on guys do something new.
There was another problem that dramas must be shot in the home one location, I mean we do have sitcoms genre that uses this troupe looking at you Bulbulay, but there is a reason that foreign media uses the location to wow the audience and even their sitcoms use the location to light up the mood, Looking at you Friends, Fresh prince, and Big bang theory. The old era used the location to attract the tourism.
- Streaming Service:
- One of the banes of Pakistani film industry channels are facing right now is the advent of streaming services and the invasion of foreign content. The content is king and how the new generation is inspired by these streaming services serials from Sacred Games, Squid Game, Ertrugul, and Kingdom.
- These streaming services are offering them a new medium of storytelling that an average Joe never experienced which is a good thing that they found alternatives. The ugly side is that they are not adapting they are out of touch and will not learn from their mistakes.
Conclusion:
The Pakistani film industry has seen a lot of up and down from era to era, one can hope for a better tomorrow. There is a fresh batch of filmmakers coming to the nation of Pakistan that can change the very essence of the medium, I am not saying to make it like sacred games which have more profanity, but make it a complex of life and science to educate and to give awareness to the audience.
And one day not only Pakistani drama industry is going to rise from its ashes but also the other form of entertainment industry.
