Having to currently undergo a commendable transitional phase, the local film industry continues to thrive after a significant revival.
On the contrary, the country's drama industry has always flourished tremendously after carving a distinct niche from the start. Be it classics like 'Tanhaiyan', 'Dhuwan' or 'Hawaein' from the glorious PTV eras, or the more recently produced 'Humsafar' and 'Pyarey Afzal', Pakistani dramas have with time shown considerable growth and prominence by projecting quality content with an embedded message.
While the more recent ones seem to tackle social issues and stigmas attached to societal ills, the cult classics produced in the yesteryear were considered as a complete family entertainer.
Such dramas went on to break unfathomable records of popularity and fame, while raking in staggering ratings simultaneously, primarily because of their gripping story, exceptional production and spell-bounding projection of real-life characters by immensely talented actors and their stellar performances.
While most of these dramas are note-worthy deserving enormous praise, there are some which top the list, of all times.
Following is a list of Pakistani dramas that have smashed records owing to their astounding popularity.
1. Dhoop Kinarey
Aired on PTV network, ‘Dhoop Kinarey is a story that revolves around a team of doctors and their routines in a hospital in Karachi. A classical love story, the drama starred Rahat Kazmi and Marina Khan in lead roles, and was directed by Sahira Kazmi and written by Haseena Moin. Rahat and Marina were the favourite onscreen couple back then. The serial enjoyed immense success for two further decades after it finished airing.
2. Alpha Bravo Charlie
Directed by Shoaib Mansoor, the action and thriller drama become so popular among Pakistani people that it set a new rating for Television Rating Points (TRPS) in Pakistan. The story and the humour of this drama are amazingly mesmerizing making you want to watch it over and over again. It conveys a very strong message with the script involving four main characters: three male army officers and one female who is an educator in a public school.
3. Dhuwan
Dhuwan is an action-packed story of five friends that join to form a crack team of police commandos tackling criminal activities as vigilantes in Quetta, Pakistan. The epic drama serial starred Ashir Azeem, Nabeel and Nazli Nasr.
4. Tanhaiyan
Tanhaiyan is a 1985 Pakistani drama serial which is now considered a cult classic. It was directed by one of the greatest directors of Pakistan drama industry Shahzad Khalid and was scripted by another famous writer of Pakistan Haseena Moin. The drama revolves around two sisters, who learnt the true meaning of a home when they bought back their parents’ house after their death. It has re-run several times on PTV and other TV channels, owing to its popularity.
5. Khuda Ki Basti
The epic drama orbits the life of a poor, respectable family which has fallen on hard times. Jobless, and without any real hope of a better life, the family members find themselves in the clutches of unprincipled evil people who exploit them.
6. Waris
The drama was written by Amjad Islam Amjad, directed by Ghazanfer Ali and Nusrat Thakur and was aired on PTV. Waris represents all the unique distinctions of a Pakistani drama. A Pakistani feudal village lord or, Chaudhry Hashmat, with his son and two nephews, struggle to keep hold on his power and land which is under threat of compulsory purchase for a new dam.
7. Andhera Ujala
Andhera Ujala is a popular Pakistani crime investigation television series aired on PTV during the 1984-85. It was written by Younis Javed and directed by Rashid Dar. It also had occasional touch of comic moments mainly centred upon the character of a police officer "havaldar Karam Dad".
The leading cast of the series included Irfan Khoosat, Jamil Fakhri, Qavi Khan and Abid Butt (sub-inspector mehmood). The main theme of this TV series was to show a police team fighting crime in their locality in humorous situations.
8. Ainak Wala Jin
This drama ran for two times on television in Pakistan. It was popular, especially among children for its humor and fictional story-line. The story starts when a genie was sent by the king of genies to earth for the treatment of his eyesight problems. When he lands, he happens to meet a daring young boy who loves fantasy and starts living with his family.
9. Ankahi
The story revolves around a young ambitious girl Sana Murad (Shehnaz Sheikh). Due to her father's early death, her family is not so well-off and she dreams of being rich and prosperous like her friend Sara (Misbah Khalid).
10. Parchaiyan
An adaption of the book Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, Parchaiyan is Haseena Moin’s magic translation and script adaption, the drama is famous even today for its dialogues. Moreover, this was the very first colored drama series to be aired on Pakistani TV!