5 Reasons Why Indians are loving Pakistani dramas

Pakistani dramas are “selling like coffee” in India. Here’s why:

On 23rd June 2014, Zee Entertainment Enterprises launched it’s new entertainment TV channel called Zindagi, which started airing Pakistani shows to the indian viewers, it has made audiences and celebrities passionate after them. Because of the authenticity and distinctive made stories by Pakistani producers, these shows has paved the way for Pakistani culture’s diffusion into the neighbouring country. Let’s jump onto 5 possible reasons why Indians are loving Pakistani shows?

The Plot : 

Pakistani writers and directors focus on transmitting sociocultural messages, by integrating them into the storyline, also in which characters and their roles are well-defined. In Indian serials, on the other hand, there is no arrangement of events. A Pakistani drama has a strong foundation focusing on wider audiences across the country. Moreover, previously taboo themes such as divorce, sexual abuse, and racism are now beginning to appear. It does not repeat annoying issues like Mother in law and Daughter in law fights or delusion of love.

Relatable and Realistic Stories: 

Pakistani drama stories are presented to the audience in a realistic way in which they can relate to them, especially the common people. The way they portray the problems, situations and hardship are authentic and the way these problems are handled by the actors is believable and simple for the audiences. On the other hand, Indian serials have very less of it which connects them to daily life. They show absurd events like people coming alive after death (almost every other drama), having multiple births (reborn), and going under the knife to have a complete new face after accidents.

Practical Progression of Characters:

Pakistani drama show a character growth under on-going state of affair in one’s life. Such as ups and downs and events are constructed in the drama which frames the character according to the bearings. For example in Zindagi Gulzar Hai, the main actress Kashaf’s behaviour of ungratefulness toward Allah changed to gratification and comfort upon mastering the life she yearned for.

Being Relatively Short: 

Desirous stories are narrated and Pakistani serial ends within a short period of time. It usually ends within a few weeks or 1-2 months. If compared with Hindi TV serials, their longer span makes the story meaningless which frustrates the viewer. But Pakistani serials manages to show the entire series beautifully with a definite end. Even bollywood actor Madhavan said in an instagram post praising Pakistani dramas: “Pakistani dramas are phenomenal. They have caught on really well and the people are relating to them. There’s so much that’s common in both the countries”

Elegant and Realistic appearance:

The most obvious difference which is noticeable between Pakistani and Indian actresses is that of appearance. Pakistani actresses sleep in actual nightwear, while Indian TV actresses sleep with their sarees, suits and jewellery on. Their focus was more on make-over, styles and costumes of the actors rather than the storyline but Pakistani dramas were based on stories and sets are designed accordingly. Also the costumes chosen for the actors was in relevance to the storyline of the drama. This was totally a new concept for the Indian viewers.

First picture: Pakistani Serials, Second picture: Indian drama “Geet Hui Sabse Pyari”

 

References:

Ammarah Khalid, S. (2017). The Impact of Indian Dramas on Language and Dressing of Females.

Anon, (2017). Analytical Study of Television Drama Narratives.

HIP. (2017). Indian actor Madhavan is all praises for Pakistani dramas. [online] Available at: https://www.hipinpakistan.com/news/1148864 [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].

Roy, D. (2017). Portrayal of Women Characters in Selected Contemporary Pakistani Television Drama. [online] Imperialjournals.com. Available at: http://www.imperialjournals.com/index.php/IJIR/article/view/598 [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].

Research.omicsgroup.org. (2017). Pakistani dramas | Open Access articles | Open Access journals | Conference Proceedings | Editors | Authors | Reviewers | scientific events. [online] Available at: http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Pakistani_dramas [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].

YouTube. (2017). BAAGHI – OST | Urdu1ᴴᴰ | Saba Qamar, Osman Khalid Butt, Sarmad Khoosat, Ali Kazmi. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJlnSVMSKDU [Accessed 23 Sep. 2017].

Signing off,

Khan Sultana Nazish