Tag: Pakistani dramas

  • Pakistani dramas going international: Three dramas to air on Turkish television

    Pakistani dramas going international: Three dramas to air on Turkish television

    Pakistani dramas have always been loved not just in Pakistan but worldwide. Their popularity is clear as they are now set to air on Turkish TV with Turkish dubbing. The international move shows its wide appeal, engaging diverse audiences with strong storytelling and rich cultural themes.

    Here are three favorite Pakistani dramas now airing on Turkish TV:

    1:Tere Bin

    Tere Bin, set in Hyderabad, tells the story of Murtasim Shahnawaz Khan (played by Wahaj Ali), the village head, and Meerab Waqas Ahmad (played by Yumna Zaidi), the ambitious daughter of a lawyer. Murtasim faces threats from rival Malik Mukhtar and his son Malik Zubair, which makes him assert his power. Meanwhile, Meerab dreams of becoming a lawyer but clashes with her family over traditional beliefs. The drama heats up as Murtasim and Meerab are forced into a marriage full of conflicts and power struggles, eventually forming a deep bond despite their differences.

    This drama about love, honor, and societal issues will soon be available to a wider audience as it airs on Turkish television Channel 7 under the new name ‘So Deep.’ The show, known for its rich story and cultural depth, has been dubbed in Turkish to connect with Turkish viewers. With its captivating plot and strong performances, ‘So Deep ’ is set to become a favorite among Turkish audiences.

    Watch the trailer here in the Turkish language!

    ‘Aulaad’ Starring Mohammed Ahmed, Marina Khan, And More!

    Aulaad is a drama about devoted parents who worked hard to give their children a good upbringing and education. When the children grow up and marry, they believe their success is all their own doing, forgetting their parents’ sacrifices. This story highlights the emotional and generational conflicts within the family.

    The drama became very popular because it realistically portrays societal issues and family dynamics. It struck a chord with viewers by showing how parents’ sacrifices are often overlooked and how children can be ungrateful, reflecting the darker sides of society.

    Now, ‘Aulaad’ will be shown on Turkish television Channel 7 with the new name ‘Evlat.’

    Hiba Bukhari & Danish Taimoor Starrer ‘Deewangi’

    ‘Deewangi’ tells the story of Nageen (Hiba Bukhari), who comes from a lower-middle-class background, and Sultan Durrani (Danish Taimoor), a wealthy businessman with political connections. Sultan, who his grandmother raised after losing his parents, meets Nageen, a bus hostess, on a journey. Attracted to her bravery, Sultan tries to win Nageen over, despite the class differences between them.

    Originally praised in Pakistan (2019) for its intense storyline and performances, ‘Deewangi’ will now air in Turkey as ‘My Divine Heart,’ expecting to resonate with its themes of love, revenge, and societal pressures.

    Watch the teaser:

  • Five Pakistani dramas that left viewers disappointed with their endings

    Five Pakistani dramas that left viewers disappointed with their endings

    Pakistani dramas have a huge fanbase at home and abroad, but lately, there’s been debate about the scripts. TV dramas still attract massive viewership, however, the endings can make or break the whole experience. Unfortunately, many recent dramas have left viewers disappointed with their conclusions, tarnishing their otherwise strong narratives.

    Here are some popular Pakistani dramas that aired recently but disappointed viewers with unsatisfying endings.

    Ishq Murshid

    ‘Ishq Murshid,’ a hugely successful drama, faced a similar fate with its ending. The storyline, centered around Shibra and Shahmeer, started off promising but ended in confusion. The rushed wedding and the addition of another cultural ceremony felt unnecessary. Shahmeer’s character, portrayed as a killer in the end, lacked development and failed to contribute positively. Meanwhile, Shibra’s naivety, despite knowing she was marrying a politician, seemed unrealistic. The drama, which initially had a strong plot, concluded poorly, leaving viewers puzzled. Despite this, the makers profited from cinema screenings.

    Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha

    ‘Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha’ starred Wahaj Ali from ‘Tere Bin’ and Hania Aamir from ‘Mere Humsafar.’ It aimed to be a love story featuring Kaifi Khalil’s famous song, ‘Kahani Suno.’ However, despite high hopes, the chemistry between the leads never clicked with the audience. The drama ended suddenly, with Hania accepting Wahaj’s love, while Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz found himself in another controversy caused by his cousin, leaving viewers puzzled.

    Namak Haaram

    The drama promised us a thrilling murder mystery and a tale of revenge, starring the popular duo Imran Ashraf and Sarah Khan. However, what unfolded was disappointing. By the fifth or sixth episode, the plot became predictable, with unnecessary characters hogging too much screen time. In the end, the hero was killed without achieving anything significant. The heroine, on the other hand, fell into a deep depression, living a life in servant quarters and raising her child alone. It was a letdown for the audience, wasting their time and energy.

    Mein

    ‘Mein’ was a highly anticipated drama, boasting a big budget and starring Ayeza Khan and Wahaj Ali. However, the outcome was disappointing. Despite having Ayeza and Wahaj as leads, the focus shifted to Asif Uncle’s character, overshadowing the hero. The ending was unsatisfactory, with no character finding happiness. Wahaj Ali’s character was portrayed as foolish and lacking control over life’s circumstances. It was a letdown for viewers who expected more from the drama.

    Tere Bin

    ‘Tere Bin’ was a huge hit among Pakistani dramas, thanks to the amazing chemistry between Yumna Zaidi and Wahaj Ali. However, the ending left much to be desired. The original story involved Meerab experiencing marital rape and leaving her husband, Murtasim, eventually giving birth to their daughter. However, due to public pressure, the makers changed this plot. Unfortunately, this decision left the story feeling disjointed, with Meerab’s actions seeming illogical. Despite its success, many viewers were unhappy with how the drama ended, feeling that the sensitive issue of marital rape was mishandled.

  • Are Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi getting married? Ahmed addresses rumours

    Are Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi getting married? Ahmed addresses rumours

    Ahmed Ali Akbar and Yumna Zaidi are one of the on-screen couples having a huge fanbase all over the world and like many other celebrity on-screen pairs audiences root for them to turn into real-life couples. It was Gauzarish which put the two on the map but their scintillating chemistry caught the attention of fans in Yeh Raha Dil as Zaki and Hayat and in Parizad where Ahmed was playing the titular character and Yumna was his ultimate love interest, Annie.

    Ahmed has been promoting his film Gunjal nowadays and in every other interview he is asked about his chemistry with the leading actress Zaidi. While giving an interview he expressed his desire to do a full-blown romantic drama with Yumna for the fans.

    On ARY Zindagi’s talk show, the actor was asked by the host Ayaz Samo with which colleague he would like the rumours to be spread, to which Ahmed instantly replied with Yumna. Later on, he elaborated that thanks to propaganda YouTubers, the rumours of their marriage were already circulating.

    He revealed that he received congratulatory calls from people who believed in the speculated marriage between him and Yumna. However, he promptly debunked the misinformation, asserting that the news of their alleged marriage was entirely false, crushing the hopes of fans who longed to witness their favourite on-screen couple tie the knot in real life.

    Despite refuting the marriage rumour, Ahmed Ali Akbar left room for playful speculations with Yumna Zaidi, hinting that he ‘wouldn’t mind’ such rumours circulating about them.

  • Saba Faisal has a strange tip for girls who want to marry rich

    Saba Faisal has a strange tip for girls who want to marry rich

    Veteran actress Saba Faisal was a guest on the Samaa show ‘Subh Ka Samaa Madehaa Kay Sath’ where she spoke about girls having unrealistic expectations from marriage, including immediately becoming the owner of a home after marrying a man. Her advise to these girls who wished to become financially secure was, not to look for better jobs, but to marry older man.

    “Today’s girls think they will immediately become owner’s of homes after getting married and have a lot of wealth. They don’t realise that young men are struggling with their jobs in these periods. If you’re looking for financial stability, then a better choice is that you marry a man who is between the ages of 40 or 50. Since he would be able to fulfil all of your needs.”

    Turns out this wasn’t the only housekeeping tip Miss Saba had to offer on the show. She also urged parents to pray for their son’s fortunes, rather than entirely focusing on their daughters because after all it is the son who is responsible for running the entire household. Women can’t become bread winners, Miss Saba? They are solely just burden on their parents because they have to eventually get married and become the responsibility of someone else?

    “Parent’s shouldn’t just pray that their daughters fortunes are good, but they should also pray that their sons are blessed in life. They are the ones who are responsible for handling an entire household, and when they get married they have to get a wife who would take care of the entire family. Men have an enormous responsibility.”

    Can celebrities please stick to solely acting projects and not churn out advice we never asked for?

  • ‘Not me, Imran Ashraf decided to end the marriage’: Kiran Ashfaque

    ‘Not me, Imran Ashraf decided to end the marriage’: Kiran Ashfaque

    Kiran Ashfaque announced her marriage to PPP official Hamza Asim Chaudhary on Sunday, attracting a lot of attention, some of it from trolls. This was the actress’s second marriage, after her first one was to actor and host Imran Ashraf ended after four years.

    Kiran has boldly stepped up to shut down trolls who bullied the actress for quickly marrying after her divorce, reminding them she didn’t need permission from anyone for moving on. A commentator underneath her wedding pictures bullied the social media influencer for moving on to a man who wasn’t as attractive as Imran, to which Kiran responded:

    “He was the one who decided to end the marriage, no me. But Allah led me to a much better man than him.”

    On Tuesday, the actress shut down another troll who mocked the actress for getting married within a year after her divorce, responding that she wouldn’t sit around crying about her circumstances.

    “You mean I should have kept residing at my parents and remained depressed about my life while my parents were worried about me?”

  • Why flaunt class by inviting privileged women on a live show to get pedicures?

    Why flaunt class by inviting privileged women on a live show to get pedicures?

    Once again, Pakistani television shows fail to understand how elitism in their content disconnects them from their audiences.

    Nida Yasir has time and time again been called out by the internet for using her show ‘Good Morning Pakistan’ to promote misogynist, sexist content and giving platforms to abusers, but her recent episode has sparked outrage for mocking salon workers. This morning’s episode featured the host along side five other public figures including television presenter Nadia Khan, who were invited for an hour-long pedicure while they all talked about completely random things.

    In the beginning of the episode, Nida Yasir said the purpose of this segment was to invite her friends, and in a way encourage every woman out there to take some time out for themselves. But through out the episode, we can see that it is only elite women who share Nina’s stature and can afford to find the time to get pampered and massaged, but working class women like salon workers are forced to work for long hours without any regard for their mental health. Because by the end of the day, it is these women who need to make a living and cannot afford to take time off from their jobs, even if it means being forced to sit in uncomfortable positions to massage the feet of elite women for an hour and a half.

    During this one hour and 30 minute painful watch, Nida Yasir and her friends gloat about their love for saris, their foreign trips, their beauty tips, while the women toiling away at their feet cannot afford such luxuries

    .We have to ask what was the purpose of this show? Is Nida Yasir aware that most women who are fans of her show aren’t able to afford luxuries like finding time to party with their friends, while ignoring all of their household responsibilities, considering most of them can relate to the struggles of the salon workers.

    Nida Yasir could have interviewed salon workers and asked them about finding time to pamper themselves, but instead she chose to mock them, and other working class women in such a demeaning manner.

    Twitter Tamkenat began the conversation by slamming the episode. Taking to her Twitter account, the content creator wrote:

    “Morning show on ARY digital right now, where elite privileged women are getting live pedicures on tv, while discussing how disgusted they were by their body hair as teenagers.”

    Soon this led to others to criticise the morning show host and ARY for thinking such content is acceptable.

  • Dhoop Kinare, Fairy Tale: dramas that are our favourite example of the ‘she fell first, he fell harder’ trope

    Dhoop Kinare, Fairy Tale: dramas that are our favourite example of the ‘she fell first, he fell harder’ trope

    Everyone who uses the internet knows about the beloved trope ‘she fell first, but he fell harder’, and how it keeps on winning the hearts of audiences. In this trope, it is the woman who falls first, but becomes a cynic after getting rejected. Later, the man learns from his mistake and falls even more in love with the woman than she does with him.

    We know Pakistani dramas aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think about well-written male leads who aren’t misogynist man-children, but there have been rare occasions when we got to see what happens when romance dramas empower women, and actually don’t rely on depressing tropes to generate interest for the audience.

    Fairy Tale

    Starting with the drama that really proved how much Pakistani women needed to see a healthy romance where the male lead’s ego did not rely on taking away another woman’s independence and vivacious nature. Farjaad starts off as the typical saroo man with a strict schedule he refuses to break for any woman. When Umeed enters his life, he dismisses her off as too careless and irresponsible for him. But the way this man shifts positions, doing everything to prove his love for Umeed, made the internet sob oceans because can’t Pakistani men take a blueprint from Farjaad?

    Dude started the show as someone who is completely cold and aloof and after marriage, he began learning how to make tea just because he promised Umeed? He was the strict one whom no one could ever think of displeasing, but is now purchasing a shop to help Umeed fulfil her dream of owning a chai business? Kudos to Sarah Majeed for spoiling us with this show. There’s no way we’re setting our standards low after Farjaad.

    Ankahi

    Every one remembers the cult classic show with a brilliant performance by Shehnaz Sheikh as the hilarious Sana, but few people talk about the love story between her and Taimur, the sariyal boss who grows to fall in love with her. Taimur starts off as a cold and brutal boss who makes Sana miserable as his secretary, but soon her lovable nature and warmth makes him fall for her. His unfamiliarity with love holds him back when he realises how good of a match Faraz is for Sana. In the last moments of the show, the audience realises how much Taimur has fallen for Sana and wants to find happiness with her, but knows she would be happier with Faraz so lets her go.

    Dhoop Kinare

    Haseena Moin, you were the absolute best. Even today, your dramas continue to inspire viewers with portrayals of complex and empowered women. Dhoop Kinare was startlingly unique, with three dimensional interesting characters, and an endearing love story between the two leads. Dr Ahmer Ansari originally clashes with Dr Zoya Ali Khan, a new intern at the hospital where he is the most respected doctor. He calls her careless, while continuing being cold and aloof, while Zoya’s carefree and warm nature continues to win hearts at the hospital, eventually winning him over too.

  • ‘Dangerous and irresponsible’: Ushna Shah calls out Maria B for misusing Palestine activism

    ‘Dangerous and irresponsible’: Ushna Shah calls out Maria B for misusing Palestine activism

    Actress Ushna Shah took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to call out controversial fashion designer Maria B for misusing her tweets and photos from the Palestine march in Karachi to malign the transgender movement.

    “Maria B’s collaboration with questionable low grade bloggers and use of my tweets and photos from the Palestine March — where I was incidentally standing with a transgender rights activist — for her agenda is dangerous and irresponsible. She’s misusing edited content to stir controversy, exploiting trending topics like Palestine in a way that’s beneath even her.”

    “I am not aligned with her extreme right-wing or any extreme left-wing views,” continued the ‘Habs’ actress. “I have a diverse social circle, like most actresses working in showbiz, and I don’t subscribe to any political agenda. I value all life, from minorities to even animals. I urge Maria to realize the harm and potential risks to my safety her actions cause. In layman’s terms: please keep my name out of your mouth & don’t drag me in a war that has nothing to do with me.”

    “I am not pushing any agenda except the liberation of Palestine, do not use me to push yours.” Ushna wrote. “I’m sorry I rejected coming to your march, but this was a sick retaliation which has endangered me. Me not wanting to associate with Maria and her march doesn’t make me an LGBTQ activist. It has nothing to do with that. She has made me uncomfortable since her stunt with the covid patient working in her home, I see her as an irresponsible person who weaponises religion to push her brand & her recent stunt proves just that. Using the photo from a *Palestine* march in which an activist Shahzadi came next to me for a while & posing it as an LGBTQ March is again highly irresponsible of her, not to mention spreading lies online to endanger someone is illegal.”

    In the next tweet Ushna wrote: “To the fundamentalists threatening me: I’ve written this in Urdu. Simple words “meri dosti SAB ACTRESSES ki tarah SAB sey hei, meinay Palestine ke ilawa koi agenda push nahi kiya, Jo sawal mujhse karney hein woh sab actresses sey karein. LogoN ko mazhab Matt istemal karney dein sales banaaney ke liye. Mere Falasteen make stance ke baad haath sey endorsements jaa rahi hein, matlab high paying multinational waqfay, Jo ke aap sab ko patah hei mujhe bohot miliey thee alhamdulilah, Aur yeh logue Falasteen ko Aur mujhe istemaal kar rahey hein ratings ke liye”. I am at Umrah, let me get back to it without fearing propaganda. Jo masla mera hei hee nahi uss mein mujhe mutt ghaseetein. Aur meri avaaz falasteen ke haq mein Jo uthee hei ussey chup Matt karwayein.”

    Ushna Shah ended the thread by writing: “Maria, I am not new to cheap made up controversies by bloggers but a woman in your position should know better than to use me and to use this genocide. You are old enough to be my mother. Since you decided to address me online and open me up to threats, even though you have my number, I’ve decided to do the same. What you have done is dangerous, irresponsible & illegal, and if I had time to visit FIR offices, I would.”

    Maria B has yet to comment on Ushna Shah’s statement.

  • In anticipation of Gunjal, we recommend you watch these three dramas starring Ahmed Ali Akbar

    In anticipation of Gunjal, we recommend you watch these three dramas starring Ahmed Ali Akbar

    The thriller mystery film ‘Gunjal’ is set to release in a few weeks and Ahmed Ali Akbar is about to take on a challenging role that will completely change the way the entertainment industry has seen him. The actor is will essay the role of journalist Shahbaz Bhatti who investigates the events surrounding the death of prominent child labor activist Iqbal Masih.

    If you, like the rest of us, are anxiously waiting for the arrival of the movie, we recommend you watch some amazing projects he did in the past. We’re listing down some dramas that definitely show the range and seductiveness of Ahmed.

    1 Yehe Raha Dil (2017)

    Yes, we know the first drama that comes to your mind is ‘Parizaad’ but please don’t pay dismiss this series. Ahmed proves his chemistry with Yumna is superior to any other we’ve seen, and deserves more coverage. Even years past its release, fans are not over the amazing chemistry between the two and are still hoping that there’s a chance we might get another drama with the two of them and yes, we’re absolutely standing with this.

    2 Idiot (2023)

    Mansha Pasha and Ahmed were terrifyingly good in the thriller ‘Lal Kabootar’. They once more left audiences in awe with their roles in ‘Idiot’. Ahmed’s character questions the traditions and values of society, for which he is regarded as an ‘idiot’, saying things other people are too afraid to say.

    3 Parizaad (2021)

    Now coming to the drama that turned everyone into an Ahmed Ali Akbar fan. He stars as Parizaad, a man who sets out on a journey to understand the meaning of life, while coming across different people on his path. Since its release two years ago, the message of the drama and how brilliantly Ahmed carried the drama are still on point.

  • Aiman Khan, Saboor Aly, shower love on Zara Noor Abbas as she announces pregnancy

    Aiman Khan, Saboor Aly, shower love on Zara Noor Abbas as she announces pregnancy

    Zara Noor Abbas could win the cutest pregnancy announcement award if there ever was one, with a hilarious picture she posted holding a desert with a simple caption: “Round 2- – InshaAllah ‍ ‍ ”.

    The actress married Asad Siddiqui in 2017, becoming pregnant in 2021. But sadly, the actress announced she had suffered a miscarriage and lost her son. We’re praying for her health and hope a miracle lies ahead.

    It was also wonderful to witness celebrities showering love and prayers upon Zara and her husband. A-listers Saboor Aly, Mawra Hocane and other actors sent warm congratulations in the comments.

    Among the celebratory notes was actress Merub Ali, who expressed her joy at becoming a khala.