Pakistani dramas

Pakistani dramas, or Pakistani serials, are televised serials produced in Pakistan. Although most of the serials are produced in Urdu, an increasing number of them are produced in other Pakistani languages such as Sindhi, Pashto, Punjabi and Balochi. One of Pakistan's oldest television dramas is the Urdu serial Khuda Ki Basti, which aired in 1969.^[1] Pakistani dramas, like serials elsewhere, reflect the country's culture. According to critics, the decades of 1970s and 1980s are considered to be the golden age of Pakistani serials.^[2]

In 2016, Dawn News senior subeditor Maleeha Hamid Siddiqui and journalist Shahrezad Samiuddin estimated that the five major entertainment channels alone, put together, produce around 80 dramas every year, with an average of 16 dramas per channel.^[3]

They have helped to attract viewers nationwide to television.^[4] The serials are watched in India and are popular in other South Asian countries, including Afghanistan,^[5] Bangladesh^[6] and Nepal.^[7]