DOTW: Escapism & Realism

Since we are trying to get the forum more active, I am making the first DOTW on escapism versus realism. Firstly, I'm really not up to date with Pakistani dramas so of course my views are not representative of all the shows. However, whatever little I have seen recently has made me believe that Pakistani dramas are more about realism than escapism. I'm not saying that they're a 100% accurate description of the real world but I think the USP is that they try to depict the reality of Pakistan. Of course this isn't true of all Pakistani dramas as we probably do have some that are well escapism at its best but in recent times, I haven't come across any such works.
Recently I've seen Malal, Dastaan and Daam and I think all three of them are very good for many reasons but one of the most common positive factors is that they are realistic. Sure most of these dramas have somewhat of a sad ending but is real life all happiness and running around trees? Moreover, it's not like they are some depressive sagas...rather all of them are showing some part of our culture, history, and/or nation. Nonetheless that is not to say that escapism is bad...I mean come on, we all watch tv to escape from our real lives but I think a good amount of realism is also important. I've basically seen more realism than escapism in Pakistani dramas but as I said before, I'm new to them so I may be wrong....
I'd love to hear what others have to say about this. Also do you guys that maybe we should get a bit more escapism and a little less realism?

P.S. If anyone wishes to make the next DOTW then please do so (and tell me about it as well).

first of all thanx fr opening this discussion thread..
about the topic.. i agree with you...the credit goes to the private channels of Pak i-e geo, ary & humtv.. not only for their creativity but also for promotions.. they promote the serial so well that u actually want to watch it..
though there are few serials i have come across wch air on same channels.. and they are ditto copy of never ending indian saas bahu sagas like samdhan, maasi aur malka, tere pehlu mein & many more... with super artificial faces & saree clad women etc..

also i prefer serials wch do not go on and on and on.. plus here serials are made on all topics..not only one...

like malaal was the story of moden girl & her compatibility problems..
vasl.. a girl torn between her two families (her ex- and present)
MZZB had a religious touch in it..also showed wen extreme love and jealousy make people blind
teri ik nazar.. a love story of two sisters.. wch was depicted beautifully.. though there was nothing new in this one but the picturization was such that it made people glued to their tv...
similarly another serial wch was based on issue of 'halaala' i forgot the name of that serial..
also uraan and qaid e tanhai are two current top serials.. and very different from the above mentioned.. there are many more and i can go on and on.. but i leave something for the other people to write...😆

Reserve!!!!!!!

(Will come in a bit to edit this)

(I think I have some topics in mind for other DOTWs as well, but lets juice this one out first.)

😍 Thanks for the DOTW, Seert, ur a star!! 😃

Love u!

& now, i totally agree wid u, the Pakistani pvt. channels have been doing a great job in everything from production to promotion...

i totally agree on this point too, that Pakistani serials show reality... most of them are based on reality... if u take only majority in hand and talk about the, You can easily say, that ALL Pakistani serials are reality based, except for the sitcoms! Thats how i'd put it!

Thats the ONLY and MAJOR mistakes, dramas from India & Hollywood do... they arent totally based on reality & so people might defo enjoy watching them, but never relate to them!

Thanks for the VERY AWESOME DOTW, seert, ur a rockstar! ❤️ ⭐️

Originally posted by: Usman.

first of all thanx fr opening this discussion thread..
about the topic.. i agree with you...the credit goes to the private channels of Pak i-e geo, ary & humtv.. not only for their creativity but also for promotions.. they promote the serial so well that u actually want to watch it..
though there are few serials i have come across wch air on same channels.. and they are ditto copy of never ending indian saas bahu sagas like samdhan, maasi aur malka, tere pehlu mein & many more... with super artificial faces & saree clad women etc..

also i prefer serials wch do not go on and on and on.. plus here serials are made on all topics..not only one...

like malaal was the story of moden girl & her compatibility problems..
vasl.. a girl torn between her two families (her ex- and present)
MZZB had a religious touch in it..also showed wen extreme love and jealousy make people blind
teri ik nazar.. a love story of two sisters.. wch was depicted beautifully.. though there was nothing new in this one but the picturization was such that it made people glued to their tv...
similarly another serial wch was based on issue of 'halaala' i forgot the name of that serial..
also uraan and qaid e tanhai are two current top serials.. and very different from the above mentioned.. there are many more and i can go on and on.. but i leave something for the other people to write...😆

Your welcome Usman :)
Interesting, I didn't know about the whole channel bit since I don't get those but how is Ptv? I mean for a long time now that was Pakistan's main channel and they've shown some very good stuff. Has it gone all bad now though?

And yep I like how Pak dramas are all very realistic but they all depict a different thread of Pakistan. As you yourself gave examples, all those shows are made on different subjects whoever realism is the main theme. And I think it's pretty much the main theme in all (good) Pak dramas. I remember the old ones like the ones by Haseena Moin or some others in the 80s and 90s...they were all so entertaining and yet realistic. I don't think one needs to compromise on entertainment while showing realism.

P.S. I heard Haseena Moin has gone all cuckoo now and she writes those never ending saas bahu sagas? It's a shame.

Originally posted by: zainab25

Reserve!!!!!!!

(Will come in a bit to edit this)

(I think I have some topics in mind for other DOTWs as well, but lets juice this one out first.)

Edit your reserve NOW! ;p

And ya please do make some DOTWs later if you want to.

Originally posted by: -_AfridiMalik_-

😍 Thanks for the DOTW, Seert, ur a star!! 😃

Love u!

& now, i totally agree wid u, the Pakistani pvt. channels have been doing a great job in everything from production to promotion...

i totally agree on this point too, that Pakistani serials show reality... most of them are based on reality... if u take only majority in hand and talk about the, You can easily say, that ALL Pakistani serials are reality based, except for the sitcoms! Thats how i'd put it!

Thats the ONLY and MAJOR mistakes, dramas from India & Hollywood do... they arent totally based on reality & so people might defo enjoy watching them, but never relate to them!

Thanks for the VERY AWESOME DOTW, seert, ur a rockstar! ❤️ ⭐️

You're a sweetheart Arena...thanks for all the appreciation hun =)
Love you too!

Hmm again you mentioned the private channels so then ones like Ptv (which aren't private, right?) don't show good dramas anymore? Because that's quite sad then considering the type of shows they used to telecast before.

And yes people can relate to them since they are based on the reality we see in our own country, culture and community. Sure we get entertainment but along with that, we also get tid bits of what we see around us. I mean one of the reasons why I like Daam a lot is that it shows the poor man's struggles. Malal was good because it showed the stupid biases people have for women in the West. And of course there are many other examples.

Originally posted by: seert

Your welcome Usman :)
Interesting, I didn't know about the whole channel bit since I don't get those but how is Ptv? I mean for a long time now that was Pakistan's main channel and they've shown some very good stuff. Has it gone all bad now though?

ok about ptv.. it got monotonous after one point..and there used to be lots of ads between the show.. i mean the timing of ads was more thn the show..so it got irritating.. uper se private channels came into scenario.. and they channed the whole look of tv.. they glamorized our tv industry.. and people who were already looking for a change switched to those... but now i have heard ptv has undergone a some great changes.. it has modernized itself.. and they are showing some good serials..though i have not seen them but i keep hearing them from different people..😛

btw, i also have couple of topics for next dotw.. we can mutually decide what topic to discuss..:)

Originally posted by: seert

And yes people can relate to them since they are based on the reality we see in our own country, culture and community. Sure we get entertainment but along with that, we also get tid bits of what we see around us. I mean one of the reasons why I like Daam a lot is that it shows the poor man's struggles. Malal was good because it showed the stupid biases people have for women in the West. And of course there are many other examples.

agree.. and i would also give credit to our dialogue writers.. they dont heavy duty dialogues jo ser k uper se guzerte hon.. they write dialogues wch v use in our day 2 day life.. like in malaal & vasl.. in the beginning of both the shows.. there are few funny moments nt bcos of funny incidents but purely bcos of casual dialogues used there..so thumbs up to our dialogue writes..👍🏼