With the growth of the Pakistani television industry, there have been certain changes in the way the dramas are made and for how long they stay on the air. While the increase in the number of channels and production houses has given people more dramas to be entertained with, the downside is that there is more competition as well. There was a time when Indian dramas were notorious because they were usually on air for a long period of time and Pakistani dramas were loved by even the viewers from across the border because they ended before reaching the 20 episodes mark. All that changed when the producers in Pakistan realized that they can also earn more money by stretching and dragging the dramas, especially those which have a massive fan following. These dramas were not soap operas therefore the viewers were expecting them to end on time. Most of the viewers prefer watching serials instead of soaps therefore when these serials actually turned into soaps, the viewers were not pleased with the situation.
Nowadays, even the best Pakistani dramas are dragged therefore if a drama ends without dragging; it comes as a pleasant surprise to the viewers. So, although, dragging the dramas is a norm, some drama makers managed to drag dramas without losing track altogether. There were many other dramas that started off as entertaining and engaging but they completely went off track and were ruined due to dragging. The plot clearly did not have enough going for it and most of these dramas were dragged by making use of the OST, using flashback scenes, and even introducing new tracks when the drama should have actually ended at that point. One of the biggest reasons why these entertaining Pakistani dramas were ruined due to dragging was that these dramas were getting the TRPs and people were hooked to them. Once they were dragged most of the viewers who loved these shows, started criticizing them and were no longer interested in watching them.
Here is the list of those interesting Pakistani dramas of 2020 which were ruined due to dragging:
Nand
Writer: Sameena Aijaz
Director: Zeeshan Ali Zaidi
Producer: Big Bang Entertainment
Channel: ARY Digital
Main Cast: Aijaz Aslam, Shahroz Sabzwari, Minal Khan, Faiza Hasan, Sumbul Ansari, Ayaz Samoo, and Maha Hassan.
Nand was one of those dramas this year that aired four times a week and even though the characters were black and white, the fast pace of the drama and the performances kept the interest of the viewers alive. Nand was also one of those few dramas with a negative character that ruined everyone’s life that actually had many important messages. In an intelligent manner, the writer highlighted the different approaches towards relationships and showed why marriages fail and how important it is for men to have faith in their wives.
Nand had enough potential and substance to be on air for more than 30 weeks. But the producers decided to prolong it a lot more and as a result of that, it exceeded 70 episodes. In order to stretch the story, the producers added new tracks at a time when the story of the central characters had ended. Nand started going downhill when Gohar decided to go back to her husband, from there on it turned into a repetitive disaster that was difficult to sit through. Now after all these weeks, even those viewers who were completely invested in the drama lost all interest in it. Nand is the perfect example of a drama that goes from being a must-watch to being a tedious drama to sit through because of all the unnecessary dragging. It was dragged solely because it was getting the highest TRPs at the time. It is highly likely that it would have an abrupt ending.
Ye Dil Mera
Writer: Farhat Ishtiyaq
Director: Aehsun Talish
Producer: MD Productions
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir, Mira Sethi, Zarnish Khan, Adnan Siddique, Paras Masroor, and others.
It won’t be wrong to say that this was probably one of the most highly anticipated drama serials of this year. The fact that Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly were once again working together on a project made their fans super excited and gave everyone high hopes because it’s a fact that both Sajal and Ahad pick substantial scripts and projects for themselves. The fact that Farhat Ishtiyaq was the writer also added a lot more to the hype and the viewers were absolutely certain that this was the next megahit serial of this year. There’s no denying the fact that drama serial Ye Dil Mera started off on a strong note, it seemed promising and the brilliant performances of both Ahad and Sajal made people super excited, however, as the drama progressed, the executional flaws took over and it became harder and harder to ignore the silly and petty mistakes made by the director.
Ye Dil Mera was a perfect case of brilliant actors and a great writer unable to save the ship because the director failed to do justice to the vision the writer had in her mind. Editing mistakes, continuity issues, needless dragging, unnecessary coverage given to supporting actors, poor and repetitive dialogues made this drama a failure and although the die-hard fans of Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly continued to keep this drama hyped up, however, the truth is, it was nothing but a failure. It is unfortunate that the drama which was pretty much on the right track exploring the serious condition such as PTSD was given such a problematic treatment that it literally took away from the gravity of the subject.
In the last two episodes, Sajal Aly was the saving grace of the drama but it is once again unfortunate that the character of Meer Farooq Zaman, played by Adnan Siddique did not actually pay for the crimes he had committed. It was disappointing to see him choosing an exit that too on his own terms whereas he deserved much worse for all that he had done all these years. Zarnish Khan was another actor who gave an outstanding performance in this drama and Mira Sethi was also super impressive. It goes to show that the actors wanted to do their best but the overall execution wasn’t up to the mark. This year, Ye Dil Mera was probably one such drama that could’ve become memorable but it failed to do so. As if this drama did not make the viewers suffer enough that the sad and incomplete ending also ended up rubbing salt into the wounds of the viewers!
Ishq Zahe Naseeb
Writer: Hashim Nadeem
Director: Farooq Rind
Producer: MD Productions
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Zahid Ahmed, Sonya Hussyn, Zarnish Khan, Sami Khan, Ismat Zaidi, Yumna Zaidi, and others.
Ishq Zahe Naseeb was another drama from which the viewers had high hopes because of the ensemble star cast and the completely unique and new storyline that the writer Hashim Nadeem decided to bring to our TV screens. This drama was new and exciting, this is why it immediately caught a lot of attention. It was the first time probably that a character suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder or even Identity crisis was shown on TV.
In the beginning, it was pretty obvious that the drama makers were scared of turning Sameer, played by Zahid Ahmed into a hero but the acceptance the audience showed towards his character gave the drama makers enough confidence to explore his journey more. As much as his journey remained interesting and intriguing, this drama too suffered from the disease of dragging which absolutely took away the charm it had. The viewers did appreciate this drama for what it was but the drama makers made it very very hard to ignore all the mistakes that started sticking out like a sore thumb as the episodes progressed.
All the actors especially Zahid Ahmed, Yumna Zaidi, Sonya Hussyn and Sami Khan also played their part extremely well and gave memorable performances, however, the fact that the writer compromised on exploring their tracks in detail also was a wrong move. The last 10 to 15 episodes of Ishq Zahe Naseeb were based upon flashbacks and a few unsolved riddles which continued to remain unsolved even when it ended that too after 30 episodes. Ishq Zahe Naseeb is another perfect example of how an interesting drama was ruined due to dragging.
Uraan
Writer: Jahanzeb Qamar
Director: Shaqielle Khan
Producer: 7th Sky Entertainment
Channel: Geo Entertainment
Main Cast: Kinza Hashmi, Adeel Chaudhry, Aijaz Aslam, Farhan Malhi, Rubina Ashraf, Zainab Qayyum(Z.Q), Nida Mumtaz, Lubna Aslam, and Khalid Anum.
Uraan was another drama this year that had a rather clichéd storyline but it had the viewers hooked for many weeks. Ironically one of the main reasons why the viewers liked this drama was its fast pace. It had different tracks and all of these stories were interlinked. After the 25th episode, just like all the other dramas on this list, the characters and the story took a few turns which were unconvincing and forced. In an attempt to prolong the drama, the writer introduced some of the most bizarre twists.
Since this was another drama that was dragged so that it would be on air for longer than was anticipated by the writer, the story went completely haywire. The writer extended a few tracks to reach the 40 plus episodes which were required from him and ended up ending the drama so badly that those viewers who had invested so much time in watching the drama were extremely disappointed.
Mera Dil Mera Dushman
Writer: Mirza Asim Baig & Humera Safdar
Director: Syed Ali Raza Usama
Producer: Next Level Entertainment & Six Sigma Plus
Channel: ARY Digital
Main Cast: Yasir Nawaz, Alizey Shah, Noman Sami, Laiba Khan, Amna Malik, Salman Saeed, Shazia Gohar, Anam Tanveer, Naveed Raza, Akbar Islam, Gul-e-Rana and Fatima Sohail.
Mera Dil Mera Dushman was a drama that was engaging and entertaining for the longest time even though the story itself was never extraordinary. Many of the viewers looked forward to watching the drama and they liked how the story moved forward swiftly with different twists and turns. This drama had all the ingredients for becoming a commercial hit which is why it got the ratings as well.
Like all the other dramas that were dragged and ruined as a result, Mera Dil Mera Dushman was also on air for more than 60 weeks. The viewers got sick and tired of watching the same scenarios repeatedly and as a consequence many of them stopped watching the drama altogether.
Dulhan
Writer: Adeel Razzaq
Director: Adeel Siddique
Producer: MD Productions
Channel: Hum TV
Cast: Sumbul Iqbal, Sami Khan, Faizan Khwaja, Mashal Khan, and others.
Although drama serial Dulhan is still pretty much in the initial stages, it has started to show the germs of dragging already. When Dulhan began, the initial few episodes were quite gripping as the story promised such twists and turns that no one saw coming. Turns out that the writer only had those few twists and turns in the bag and he spilled the beans quite early because of which he is now struggling to make the story interesting.
The story of Dulhan showed how a girl is tricked into marriage because two best friends and cousins decide to put her fate to their bet. The factor that is taking away the charm of the drama is that the situations not only seem half-baked but quite abrupt too and the emotional growth of all the characters has not been explored properly. This is yet another drama that seemed quite interesting in the beginning but will continue to drag and now the scenarios have become quite amusing, to say the least.
Now, whenever the viewers are truly hooked to a drama and love watching it, they are always fearful that the producers will stretch the story and drag the drama when it should actually be ending. The producers really need to stop focusing on making money and they should instead focus on ending these dramas when they are still interesting. What do you think? Can you think of any other good dramas that were ruined due to dragging? Share your views.
