Armed with much-loved Pakistani shows, Zindagi channel to return 27 July on ZEE5

Zee had discontinued airing Pakistani serials after the 2016 Uri attack, and later, Zindagi shut down. Now, it returns with old favourites and new content.

A Zee5 logo seen displayed on a smartphone. | Photo Illustration: Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

Following the 2016 Uri attack, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (ZEEL) Zindagi, a TV channel whose Pakistani and Turkish dramas made it massively popular with Indian audiences, had decided to discontinue broadcasting Pakistani shows. Subsequently, Zee shut down its TV channel, and restricted its content to its digital platform, Ozee.

But now, almost four years later, the channel that had won many hearts because of its novel content is making a bigger and better comeback on Zee’s OTT streaming platform, ZEE5, with more than 1,000 hours of content for fans to binge on, including original and curated content, starting 27 July.

And this time, Pakistani shows haven’t been left on that side of the border. “We will see some of the most popular Pakistani shows such as Aunn Zara, Meri Jaan Hai Tu, Ishq Gumshuda and Shehr-e-Zaat among others on Zindagi,” Shailja Kejriwal, Chief Creative Officer, Special Projects at ZEEL, told ThePrint.

Familiar yet different, that was the appeal of Pakistani serials

Zindagi was a favourite among Indian TV viewers because it showed us a culture not far removed from us, yet refreshingly different, both in content and in craft. They provided a much-needed break from Indian soap operas that had become stale.

“Everyone I know was seduced by the lehza and nazaakat of Pakistani shows on Zindagi,” recalls an assistant professor at Bhagalpur College of Engineering in Bihar. “They were broadcast at a time when Simar was turning into a fly or a witch or something on Indian TV, so the kind of world they let us into was refreshing.”

She adds how there was always a curiosity about Pakistani and wider Muslim culture in her mind, which the Pakistani and Turkish shows satiated.

But times have changed. The amount of new, quality content on OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar has grown massively since Zindagi exited our TV screens, and there’s no longer a lack of good original Indian content for an audience that had evolved from the days of tired daily soaps.

Still, ZEEL’s Kejriwal feels most Indian shows on digital platforms are male-centric, which is where Zindagi seeks to stand out.

“Zindagi puts the woman at the centre. Real, relatable, strong, vulnerable, kind and fragile women whose stories are powerful and resonate. The language of the narrative as well as the spoken language is unique as is the music of these shows that carry the story forward.”

Should Pakistani shows be allowed?

In the wake of the Uri attack, many Pakistani actors were forced to leave the country following threats from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The country’s shows were banned around the same time, amid a growing jingoistic clamour for it.

It’s not the first time India and Pakistan have severed sporting and entertainment ties whenever tensions between the two countries spike. After the Pulwama attack of 2019, India cut off sporting ties with Pakistan, whose cricket team had anyway last toured India in 2012-13. Pakistan, on its part, banned Bollywood films, which are hugely popular in the country. The ban was extended to Indian soap operas and ads later by the Pakistan Supreme Court.

In this context, and with the added prevalent hyper-nationalism with regard to China, and audiences already riled up and particularly touchy about everything after the recent death of Sushant Singh Rajput, the Bihar-based assistant-professor thinks this may not be the best time for Pakistani shows to return to India.

“The trend of boycotting Chinese goods might get extended to Pakistani shows as well. The not-so-ceremonious exit of Pakistani stars from the country not too long ago is a testament to how nationalistic debates enter the discourse of popular culture,” she says.

Leaving hot-tempered nationalism aside, for Mumbai-based marketing consultant Shreya Brij Singh, Pakistani shows are the same regressive and sexist concoction that is served to us by Indian showmakers, just in better packaging.

“Pakistani shows, even though they are shot better and have a much better screenplay compared to Indian shows, are very regressive. The most popular shows starring Fawad (Khan) very explicitly say that ‘modern women’ who go to work and have ‘liberal thoughts’ are bad and don’t make good wives. We don’t need this.”

Then again, Delhi-based Veena, a homemaker in her 40s, is of the view that there’s a lot we don’t need on TV, but it’s there for the asking if someone wants to watch it, and the same should be extended to Pakistani shows. She, for one, is excited that her favourite serials will be back, and tells ThePrint that this couldn’t have come at a better time, given the Covid-19 pandemic and lack of social life for the foreseeable future.