Now a days, things are like if you open any Pakistani drama channel, it is highly likely that you will bump into any drama that constitutes taalaq, halaha, extra-marital affair, beti nai beta, ameer larka, ghareeb larki, annoying saas and nand, adhuri muhabbat ,etc as the major themes. And frankly enough, we all know how much we are tired of watching these type of shows. Its high time that they should focus on producing show which appeals to a larger audience and also refresh our minds by these old-themed tiring dramas. So, in short the entertainment channels should me a mix of different things that have some substance in it. This is only way how they can attract not only ladies sitting at home, but also kids, teenagers(both boys and girls),gents, etc because naturally the dramas are not according to their taste so they find solace in the programmes offered by the channels of different countries. Now the list that I have presented below takes into handle not just the entertainment of the masses but it is also sure to bring a lot of TRPs to the channels and we are witness of it. Here it goes..
1) Travel Shows:- Like travelling to different countries. These type of shows are broadcasted all over the world and even in Pakistan, PTV tried to venture on such shows which was a good effort. These programmes are very and informative plus we get know about different cultures, religions, way of living, languages, food, architecture, history, landmarks famous personalities, etc. Most of our people cannot afford to visit foreign countries. Hence these shows provide a good chance of knowing the world around you sitting on your arm chair.
Examples: Musafir Hun Yaaron, Street Food around the World, Walking The World, etc.
2) Detective Shows:- We have many examples of such shows form India and America. The good thing about them is that they are of single-episode and provide thrill and suspense to the viewers. Story is not the regular one others so it refreshes our mind. We really need to have these kind of shows. They may also help to protect out good image of the institutions of Pakistan.
Examples: Bones, Castle, CID, Dexter, etc.
3) Quiz / Game Shows:- Now this genre is not entirely new for our channels. Many of them tried to produce such shows but unfortunately none of them could actually run for enough period of time. The reason may be their standard. As our viewers have already watched many quality shows of such other countries. They are really fun to watch and give us a great deal of knowledge as well.
Examples: The price is Right, KBC , Takeshi’s castle, The Challenge, Jeopardy Deal ya No Deal, etc.
4) Arts ‘n’ Crafts Shows:- Again many channels broadcasted these type of shows but they do not gain prominence because they were shown on less-known channels. Art is a skill that attracts many people especially the young-ones and make their time constructive which tells the importance of these shows.
Examples: M.A.D, The Joy of Painting, etc.
5) Teaching Programmes:- Now might not have come across such shows as they are quite rare. Basically in these, there are professional and highly-qualified teachers and professors who actually give lectures on televisions encompassing the wide range of subjects like physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and etc. We can’t deny the fact that quality education is getting expensive with each passing day which further raises the importance of these programmes. Also being in the national language, they will benefit a lot of people, and best thing is that this education will be free of cost. This will no doubt be very effective.
I would like to give special mention here to “Health TV” which was launched in October, 2010. It is one of its kind channel in Pakistan and going great. It has covered just soo many aspects related to health and education. In my view, it is the most informative channels among all Pakistani channels.
Apart from this, I have also come across some literature shows on different channels like Urdu Adab, Shayri, etc. So that is also a very good initiative by those channels. Our Urdu language has such a rich heritage, it definitely deserves its own shows rather than just being preserved in libraries.
That’s about it. Do you agree with me??? These are only a few examples which I gave. Rest I leave it to you. Add any other genre which you want to see on-screen from Pakistan…
Samar Sajid