THIS refers to the airing of Turkish drama Dirili: Erturul (Ertugurul Gazi, titled in Urdu) on the Pakistan Television (PTV) to which objections have been raised by veteran actors like Shaan Shahid and Reema Khan.

Of late, the former expressed unhappiness with the state-sponsored PTV broadcasting foreign content, while the latter argued that old memorable PTV productions should have been re-broadcast instead.

According to the state broadcaster, the Urdu dubbed version of the Turkish series — depicting the glorious achievements of Muslims in the 13th century — is being aired on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Nonetheless, the masterpiece is being widely watched, with a large number of viewers having subscribed to the Urdu version on YouTube.

While one can hardly deny the old unforgettable PTV productions like Alif Noon (1971), Tanhaiyan (1985) Dhoop Kinarey (1987) etc., it is worth reminding the complaining icons that they have failed to create widely acclaimed and internationally watchable content in recent years.

Whether it is a play on the life of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, or movies on the Muslims’ historical marvels, or Mughal emperors, it has been the Indians who have taken the initiative.

In Pakistan, the viewers have to put up with inane prize-giving game shows in the name of entertainment, which is just pitiful. In almost all TV plays, we see nothing other than banal love-triangle stories, domineering mother-in-law and supportive father-in-law kind of dramas. The films that we produce are mostly an extension of Pakistani dramas which often leave cinema goers regret their decision to waste money.

It is good to be patriotic but it is equally good to be honest. We seriously need to improve our entertainment content for the Pakistani audience before being critical of others’ work.

Riaz Mahar

Sukkur

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IT is disappointing to see PTV being lambasted by some people for airing Turkish drama Dirili: Erturul just because they think Erturul fought only for Turks and he had no role in Pakistan’s history.

Islam teaches us that Muslims are brothers and whoever struggles for Islamic causes must be a hero to all Muslim nations. In the TV play, it is clear that Erturul fought not only for Turks, but also for Islam.

In addition, Pakistani actors, who are coercing TV channels into discontinuing airing Turkish dramas are doing no service. They should learn to improve their own work rather than cristicise the government for airing Turkish dramas and asking it to stop broadcasting them.

While this Turkish serial is a source of inspiration, Pakistani dramas, on the contrary, do not provide us anything but vulgarity, extra marital relationships or fights between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Disrespecting teachers, cheating in examinations and flirt — this is all ‘cool stuff’ on Pakistani TV channels. These plays are brainwashing our youth.

I would suggested to the TV drama producers and writers to make drama serials on history, international relations and business. This will be useful for our youth and will help them understand the complexities of life in a better way.

Hafsa Channa

Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2020