Posted:
Harbans Singh Virdi
Tribune News Service
Though Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had recently announced that Pakistan would not allow airing of programmes that went against Islamic values, meaning Indian programmes and films, some private channels in Pakistan are openly flouting government guidelines by airing such programmes these days. In the cosy comforts of a five-star hotel last week, this correspondent saw STAR Plus, STAR Gold, Sony and Punjab Today (Punjabi) being aired openly. Under the strict guidelines of the Pakistan Government spelt out by Mr Aziz, no Indian channel can be aired in Pakistan. Besides the airing of Indian channels, some Pak channels have even been Indianised. The channels in question are Geo TV and Filmazia, the latter entirely devoted to films and film-based programmes. But the cable industry in Pakistan is guided by the popular interest shown by its audience. Talking to The Tribune at Lahore, Nawaz Butt, who runs the National Computer Academy, said Indian serials were very popular among his family members. Mir Ali from Lahore, too, was all praise for the Indian programmes. However, top on the popularity chart is Mirza Ghalib, featuring Naseeruddin Shah, which is shown on Friday night on Geo channel. The other TV serial which is making waves in Pakistan is "Jassi Jaissa Koi Nahin" after having mesmerised the audiences in India. The serial is arousing great interest across the border though it is a different matter that in India "Jassi" has lost the rating that once it used to be associated with. Another programme is "Kuchh Gup Hai Kuchh Such Hai" hosted by Deepshikha. Recently, Amitabh Bachchan featuring in the programme said kidnapping was a big business, much larger than drugs these days the world over. Another programme is "Shaka Laka Boom Boom". The buck does not stop here. A number of commercials keep appearing on Geo channel featuring Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. The second Pak channel Filmazia is wholly devoted to films and events related to film industry, both Bollywood and Lollywood. Indian film directors Mahesh Bhatt and Ram Dayal have prominently featured on Filmazia, discussing various joint film ventures.
Recently, the Sangeet Awards function was telecast on Geo channel. A few days ago, the same channel beamed the Sony-Stardust Award function. Earlier, another Pak channel devoted to music, ARY Musik, aired Indian songs from various albums. It remains to be seen how long private channels in Pakistan manage to evade the Islamic noose.
Hindi TV Shows
