There’s a world of unforgettable Pakistani stories waiting to be read, not just watched
This is the sad age of anti- creativity. The world hasn’t invented anything more exciting than the iPhone, and that genius happened in 2007. This coming from an android user is praise indeed. But nevertheless, this is the age of sequels and rereleases. And audiences are falling in, even Tom Cruise regurgitates his Mission Impossible and Top Gun afterthoughts to packed cinemas. So much so that we have stopped asking for original stories. Perhaps our fear of failure in this generation is larger than the hunger for success? The past has given us such prolific and genius storytelling that nothing will quite match up, yeah? And in order to protect ourselves from failure, we end up not risking what could be. But playing safe with creativity never really worked, the formula guarantees mediocrity though, a skill we’re getting pretty good at mastering.
But there are exceptions… so don’t lose hope and read on as I tell all.
Despite the mediocrity in many scripts that Pakistani drama creators are blamed for (and perhaps rightly so?), there are some stars that need telling and retelling. These stories stand out in a crowd of have-beens, sparking conversations, turning heads, pausing the mind mid-watch to rethink its perspective on life, and often stay with viewers long after the final episode is screened.
These dramas are not your ordinary stories promising a juicy saas-bahu showdown or extra-marital affair ala StarPlus mode. These stories have originated from minds who dare to push the envelope, take on conversations that linger on a subconscious level in our society, or even nudge themes and social issues that have been buried deep under a pile of tradition—marginalized by their very nature of being too woke, too tricky, or perhaps even not sensational enough to gain viral views.
But the writer who has a story sitting inside him will write, and where the pen proves mightier than the need for click-worthy content, the soul has won. Dramas such as Dil Na Umeed Toh Nahi, Raqeeb Se, Zard Patton Ka Bunn, Tan Man Neelo Neel, Mann Jogi, Nadaan, Kabli Pulao, Parizaad of recent, and many more in the past, deserve such accolades.
But hold on.
Despite a resounding message, Pakistani dramas—regardless of how loved they are—are also limited in their messaging due to the fact that they are communicated in one language alone. A dubbed version in Turkish or Arabic (has been tried before) is, of course, not a bad idea, but there’s more than that to the message that can reach across continents to relate stories spun magically by storytellers from another planet. That is how it is if you introduce Raqeeb Se or Mann Jogi, penned in English, to a reader in Australia or the USA who browses an online bookstore—say, Amazon—for a good read.
The stories that these dramas narrate are not your ordinary story, and having come to the end of their product life cycle (as we say in business terms) in their own market, they need to gain traction in lands and markets where they just might get the read they didn’t in Pakistan. And also, reach so many more minds, shifting awareness of our culture and norms, creating an appreciation of the arts and entertainment in a sphere where contemporary Pakistani literature is an alien world to the many who deserve to step into the world of Meenu and Dr. Nofil from Zard Patton Ka Bunn, or feel the plight and triumph of girls like Allah Rakhi in DNUTN, or the endearing love story (and tragic, yet alarmingly real) end of Rabi and Sonu in Tan Man Neelo Neel.
Audiences Love Untold and Unexplored Stories
Remember when Joyland made it to Cannes? Foreign audiences love hearing stories from places they might never visit—know little about, but are curious to explore. Stories—authentic, Pakistani sagas—touching upon characters who are as fleshed out and real as the places they come from, is how the world will familiarize itself with the culture, the place, and the people from our world.
Now close your eyes and imagine reading about Barbeena and Haji Mushtaq’s story in Kabli Pulao—sometimes, words do justice to a journey as they open up the mind to multiple interpretations. And in a landscape where Afghanistan and Pakistan both have their demons to fight, imagine dropping a Kabli Pulao in written fiction form for the world to read and absorb—every emotion penned to evoke multiple emotions, weaving a magic spell on the reader through the pages, just like its characters cast on those who watched their journey unfold.
After all, don’t we always say, we need to tell our own stories? And now that we’re telling them, (and pretty good ones too), perhaps tell them in all the languages that are spoken by all the people who live in a different world than us, so that they may know us better, understand us better, and perhaps, love us better? That is how we learn to create a space; of empathy, understanding and an irreplaceable bond with a character. Could Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice find a place in our hearts had we not tread their journey through every dialogue, felt every emotion and vicariously lived the conversations that made us root for Elizabeth (and eventually, Darcy)? Would Parizaad’s quotes not move a reader into turning the page and finding about more about this mysterious, deeply complexed, yet intensely real character?
An English-speaking audience thrives on the written word. Book reading is still a thing in many cultures and continents (unfortunately, not so much in ours—where dramas take precedence, but maybe that’s a good thing?). Books and the narratives that lie between their pages are a way of introducing novel ideas, endearing characters, and game-changing stories to a world that is only aware of Pakistan as a country that, sadly, resides in gun culture, fundamentalism, and unsafe living conditions.
Stories make us human.
Now imagine if Tan Man Neel O Neel could be penned as a novel in English and released through Penguin publishers, in bookstores in the UK and USA. Books have been translated into multiple languages to reach wider audiences, so why not Pakistani dramas too? Why not allow the iconic Pakistani drama heroine to create a place and reside in the minds of people from another continent, culture, religion and way of life? Why not tell people about ourselves through our characters, their stories, their anguish, their triumphs and the beauty of their relationships.
Yes, books can do all that.
Mob violence and what motivates a group of people to take innocent lives is a universal theme, so is a young girl who’s looking to save and serve her village by obtaining a medical degree over choosing marriage or motherhood – the first in her village in the year 2025, a middle aged couple that is about to discover the meaning of love, a young female doctor fighting religious fundamentalism and drug addiction in her community – these stories need telling in multiple languages.
To recap, did you know the works of William Shakespeare have been translated in over 100 languages? Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind is available in 27 languages and distributed in 37 countries. Roald Dahl, the author whose children’s books are loved dearly all over the world, has been translated in over 50 languages with Charlie and The Chocolate Factory alone available in 55 different languages.
Then what’s stopping Pakistani storytellers from spreading the word? If Jo Bache Hain Sang Samait Lo is about to be released on Netflix, we don’t have to wait for the next big Pakistani Netflix release to tell our stories. Let’s not follow the crowd, but forge our own path. If we truly believe in our stories, the power of storytelling will win and one day, a young girl sitting in a park on a warm summer’s day in Sweden, will be dreaming about Rabi from Tan Man Neelo Neel, making her dream come true in real life, even it was only met halfway in reel.
Please note: The list of dramas mentioned above is not exhaustive. There are many more stories that the Pakistani drama industry has gifted us and that must be told to a wider audience. Udaari, Aahat, Kashf and Kuch Ankahi are just some of the many more that must feature in this list.
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