PUBLISHED
August 31, 2025
KARACHI:
As soon as upon a time, Pakistan Tv was our Harvard, our poetry membership, our ethical compass, and our neighborhood gossip hub, all wrapped in a single black-and-white broadcast. Within the evenings, life got here to a well mannered halt. We sat watching Baseerat within the night, a non secular starter, then watched child’s programmes, then Sindhi reveals adopted by Prime Time drama. That ended and the principle information bulletin, khabarnama boomed via the home as fathers tried to soak up every phrase spoken by the newsreaders. Within the later years, moms instructed youngsters to complete homework earlier than Ankahi began. Fathers adjusted the antenna prefer it was a matter of nationwide safety. Even the road canines barked much less throughout Dhoop Kinare. We didn’t have 200 channels, 4K decision, or high-speed web. What we had was rarer; class, depth, and tales that really made sense.
Again then, Ashfaq Ahmed might shake your soul with one quiet dialogue. Haseena Moin might make you snicker, cry, and rethink your life with out displaying a single flying slipper or infinite shouting match. Our dramas taught us endurance, respect, and the artwork of holding a relationship — collectively. They made you are feeling smarter, not dumb.
Now? Welcome to the period of screaming contests in designer drawing rooms, the place each household is plotting one another’s destruction between tea breaks. Immediately’s writers don’t analysis life; they analysis rankings. Plots are recycled greater than plastic bottles, and subtlety has been deported from the nation. An episode is 80 p.c flashbacks, 15 p.c glares, and 5 p.c is a tea cup falling and spilling tea in sluggish movement whereas climactic music performs.
And but, the golden period refuses to die in our hearts. Why? As a result of the TV of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s didn’t simply entertain us; it branded us. We nonetheless keep in mind dialogues, faces, and moments as a result of these dramas had been carved into our cultural reminiscence.
Tv has lengthy held the facility to reflect society, form opinions, and join hearts. In Pakistan, the medium of tv advanced from a easy black-and-white display within the Nineteen Sixties into a strong cultural establishment by the Nineteen Nineties. This golden period gave rise to a era of viewers who not solely watched tv however they lived via it. From dramas that echoed nationwide id to writers who served because the ethical compass of a altering society, Pakistani TV was as soon as a supply of satisfaction, reflection, and unity.
However immediately, those self same viewers now watch TV with disappointment, even disbelief. What was as soon as a platform for cultural nourishment has, of their eyes, develop into a parade of glitz, battle, and blatant commercialism.
When tv was a mirror
Earlier, in its golden period, tv might have been restricted in amount however was wealthy in high quality. Broadcasts had been nationalised, programming was curated, and most significantly, content material was rooted within the cultural soil of Pakistan.
Writers like Ashfaq Ahmed (Zaviya), Bano Qudsia (Aadhi Baat), Fatima Surayya Bajia (Aroosa), and Haseena Moin (Dhoop Kinare, Tanhaiyan) weren’t simply dramatists; they had been social philosophers. Their tales taught us run a family with endurance, navigate relationships with dignity, and confront societal points with knowledge.
The performances of Talat Hussain (Des Pardes), Khalida Riyasat (Bandish), Shakeel (Uncle Urfi, Parchaiyan), Zeba Bakhtiar (Anarkali), and Rahat Kazmi (Dehleez, Dhoop Kinare) weren’t simply appearing; they had been artwork that left everlasting imprints on the nation’s coronary heart.
Dramas like Tanhaiyan confirmed that damaged relationships might be mended with understanding. Waris taught the results of feudal energy struggles. Dehleez explored justice and ethical braveness. Bandish revealed the facility of forgiveness and the fragility of belief. Alpha Bravo Charlie glorified patriotism, self-discipline, and repair to the nation. Aangan Terha used satire to replicate on society’s contradictions.
Pakistani cinema on this golden interval additionally contributed to nationwide storytelling. Movies like Armaan, Aina, Bandish, and Humraz stood out not only for their leisure worth, however for his or her emotional depth. These weren’t simply tales; they had been ethical school rooms, entertaining but binding the collective conscience of Pakistan.
However someplace alongside the highway, the mirror cracked. The nice and cozy, golden glow of considerate tv started to dim. The scripts grew to become shorter in endurance and longer in industrial breaks. The household sitting collectively to look at TV was changed by people scrolling alone. The period of tv as a cultural instructor was quietly buried and changed by a stressed chase for rankings.
“Previous dramas taught us run relationships until the very finish with endurance, understanding, and sacrifice,” says Umme Salma, a 50-year-old instructor, who’s dissatisfied with the present-day TV performs. “They confirmed us save and heal, not break and escape like they do now. There was at all times an answer, at all times a message of hope.”
She pointed to Tanhaiyan as a superb instance of how dramas as soon as offered instruments for reconciliation. “One drama used to deal with one core difficulty. Immediately’s dramas pile up negativity however again then, even troublesome points had been proven with dignity, and we had been taught to belief our elders, to worth choices made by forefathers.”
Salma was notably essential of the fashionable writing trade: “Previous writers labored onerous. Their phrases felt actual, their tales had been soaked in tradition. Immediately’s writers simply copy each other to realize views to not add worth. They glorify betrayal, divorce, and disconnection. However previous writers wished to maintain households collectively, not break them. Dramas are chargeable for a lot of the harm in society immediately. These dramas left a mark on our hearts and minds. We nonetheless keep in mind the way in which Talat Hussain delivered a line, how Marina Khan smiled, how Qazi Wajid walked right into a scene. We all know them not simply by identify — we all know their work due to which we are able to’t overlook them. That was the facility of true appearing and storytelling.”
“Our TV performs up to now had been so literary, pure and poetic,” says Naima Bibi, 60, who has taught literature for 35 years. “Youngsters realized manners simply by watching these dramas. They imbibed tradition, vocabulary, and civility with out anybody lecturing them.”
Even humour carried knowledge. Anwar Maqsood’s satire in Aangan Terha resonates even immediately. In his phrases, “Aaj ka TV, kal ka Pakistan hota hai.” [today’ TV is the Pakistan of tomorrow] Ashfaq Ahmed, Zia Mohyeddin, and Mufti Sahab, they weren’t simply writers; they had been intellectuals who centered on society constructing.”
My grandfather, Abdul Hai, served as a secretary at PTV Karachi. “Zia Mohyeddin wasn’t only a host; he was a grasp of phrases,” he says, sharing a uncommon insider perspective on the golden period as somebody who noticed how tv influenced society, particularly the youth. When he spoke, it felt like Faiz, Ghalib, or Iqbal had been talking via him. However what made PTV actually particular was the impact it had on our youth. “Youngsters and younger adults didn’t simply watch TV for enjoyable; they absorbed values, manners, and a way of accountability. Dramas taught endurance, empathy, and respect for household and society.”
He emphasised that younger folks of that period grew up studying via tales understanding sacrifice in Humraz, resilience in Khuda Ki Basti, and honesty and integrity in Alpha Bravo Charlie.
“The youth then had been guided by tv as a lot as by their colleges and houses,” he added. “They had been impressed to respect elders, honor relationships, and interact with society thoughtfully. In addition they realized historic and cultural values the struggles of our nation, our heritage, and the significance of id. Immediately, these historic values are utterly lacking from what the youth watch and study.”
“Writing isn’t just a career; it’s a accountability,” says Samina Gul, who has authored books on Islam and societal values. “Each phrase carries energy, the facility to coach, to information, and to form minds. Once I write, I would like my readers to replicate on themselves and their society. Whether or not it’s a guide or a drama script, the intention ought to at all times be to encourage goodness, foster understanding, and promote justice. Writing that glorifies negativity, betrayal, or superficiality does extra hurt than good. Haseena Moin, Bajiya and Bano Qudsia didn’t simply create tales; they constructed society. They understood the facility of phrases and their impact on households, youth, and nationwide tradition. Immediately, many writers focus solely on rankings or reputation, forgetting that storytelling has the facility to form character and morality.”
From thought to thrill
When non-public TV channels began within the early 2000s, it introduced extra reveals and decisions, but in addition a giant downside: every little thing needed to promote. Viewers had been not simply watching; they had been prospects, and TV needed to preserve them glued with drama, not that means.
The household tales we cherished, stuffed with respect and love, had been changed with betrayal, affairs, and infinite saas-bahu fights. Keep in mind the candy mother-daughter bond in Shehzori or Zeenat? Now it’s principally arguing, shouting, and tears!
Briefly, TV went from displaying actual life and classes to stunning folks for rankings and generally the one factor we study now’s who can scream the loudest on display.
Writers then and now
Writers corresponding to Noor-ul-Huda Shah, and Amjad Islam Amjad weren’t simply creating TV reveals they had been constructing mindsets, shaping values, and leaving legacies. Their scripts had literary finesse, creativeness, and psychological depth. Every story felt like a rigorously polished gem, wealthy with perception, emotion, and social commentary. Quick ahead to immediately, and it’s a TRP treadmill. Fashionable days writers typically churn out 50-episode marathons with the identical recycled plotlines; betrayal, love triangles, secret siblings, rinse, repeat. Character growth? Social message? Ethical reflection? Overlook it. Immediately’s scripts make us roll our eyes, scroll on social media, and pray for a industrial break.
International content material and the forgotten Pakistani story
The place are we headed? Apparently, straight into the arms of Turkish and Korean drama obsession. Immediately, Pakistani audiences can’t get sufficient of Diriliş: Ertuğrul, Salahuddin Ayubi, Kosem Sultan, or Sultan Abdul Hamid. They cheer for Ottoman sultans, cry for Turkish queens, and dream of sporting necklaces that value greater than a month’s wage, all whereas forgetting that Pakistan has its personal epic tales begging to be instructed. Sure, these reveals glorify Muslim historical past — kudos to that — however let’s be trustworthy: they aren’t about us, our struggles, or the nation we name dwelling.
The obsession has gone to this point that many Pakistani women now insist on Turkish-style jewellery and robes for his or her weddings. It’s effective to understand Muslim heritage, however when did we begin complicated Ottoman queens for Pakistani id? Who’s going to remind us of Quaid-e-Azam’s imaginative and prescient or Allama Iqbal’s dream? Our Nineteen Sixties and 70s era grew up with a way of satisfaction and id, formed by homegrown literature, PTV dramas, and actual nationwide heroes. The approaching era? They’re extra prone to know the wardrobe of a sultan than the braveness of Fatima Jinnah.
The place are the dramas about our founding fathers, scientists, poets, and troopers? Quaid-e-Azam’s political struggles? Allama Iqbal’s philosophy? Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s genius? Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s revolutionary poetry? .
As soon as, reveals like Tabeer and Dastan linked viewers to the emotional value of Pakistan’s independence, reminding us of sacrifice, battle, and resilience. We’ve traded historical past for heartbreak, legacy for love triangles, and nationwide satisfaction for Turkish and Korean bling.
All isn’t misplaced
It could be unfair to say that trendy Pakistani tv is totally hopeless. Exhibits like Udaari, Dar Si Jati Hai Sila, Parizaad, and Raqeeb Se show that high quality storytelling nonetheless exists like discovering a diamond in a pile of glittering cleaning soap. Daring new voices corresponding to Bee Gul, Zanjabeel Asim Shah, and Amna Mufti remind us that significant TV can nonetheless thrive, although sadly, these gems are uncommon and infrequently buried underneath mountains of melodrama.
In the meantime, international viewers watch genres and narratives that educate, encourage, and entertain, however we’re caught with the identical drained plots that appear to be leftovers from final week’s drama buffet.
“When Ashfaq Ahmed spoke, silence fell within the room. Now when TV speaks, we wish to mute it,” says Abdul Hai, 73, with a touch of nostalgia and disappointment.
Sure, immediately’s high-definition, social-media-hyped productions dazzle the eyes however typically depart the soul starved. Revival is feasible. All it takes is braveness, conviction, and a return to writing with goal; tales that educate, encourage, and replicate our society, not simply entertain it.
The display holds energy: the facility to divide or unite, to promote or encourage, to make us snicker or make us assume. As we replicate on the altering dimensions of Pakistani TV, we should ask ourselves with all of the sarcasm and drama apart: What do we would like our subsequent era to look at, and extra importantly, who do we would like them to develop into?
Rabia Khan is a author who covers social points, literature, and cultural values of Pakistan. She may be reached at rabiayousufzai26@gmail.com.
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