Yasir Hussain has opinions on Ertugrul and honestly they kinda make sense tbh
Turkish Dramas are wildly popular in Pakistan ever since the trend started when ‘Ishq-e-Mamnu‘ became a record-breaking hit in Pakistan, back in 2012. Every channel tried to have its own Urdu dubbed Turkish content since then. Fast forward to 2020, when PTV announced the airing of Urdu-dubbed Turkish series ‘Drilis: Ertugrul’. And the rest, my friend, is history.
Yasir Hussain recently spoke out against PTV airing Ertugrul and other foreign shows
He was not cool with the national TV channel not utilizing the local resources to produce something worthwhile and historic within Pakistan and instead spending money to import a show where all the revenue ended up going to foreign reserves.
He highlighted the fact that the national television channel is supposed to create jobs for locals and not import foreign content
Yasir Hussain also cleared out that he is not working for PTV, so this issue is just not about him
Other celebrities have echoed similar sentiments like Yasir
Shaan Shahid urged PTV to produce historical classics on our own heroes like Muhammad Bin Qasim and Jinnah.
Reema Khan also backed up Shaan on the grounds that local artists are paying all the taxes and still not getting enough recognition
Even Mansha Pasha spoke in support of Yasir recently
Those lambasting Yasir Hussain and calling the work in Pakistan "sub-par" seem to have forgotten what it takes to make content here. Even without any subsidy from the govt, even if u manage to gather ur own funds, ur projects can still bet banned or pulled off after clearance
— Mansha Pasha (@manshapasha) May 17, 2020
People trolled Yasir Hussain over his stance on Turkish content
But if we take a moment to think about Yasir’s reasoning, he might be making a lot of sense right now
Pakistan has a struggling economy so instead of producing new jobs and utilizing the local manpower, the national television channel is promoting a foreign show. This is only helping PTV to grab more eyeballs, and YouTube revenue. With locally produced shows, the money that was spent on importing the show would be used to pay salaries for all the jobs created for Pakistanis. The already poor economic conditions, coupled with the Turkish drama’s airing is not helping the employees of PTV in a lot of ways tbh. Prime Minister Khan kept saying he will bring money back to Pakistan but instead of actually doing that, we are spending millions on importing a Turkish TV show.
No offense to Diliris: Ertugrul which might be a good show, but PTV needs to step forward and produce something solid to create jobs for Pakistanis and bring money back here. It should spend its limited budget on creating new jobs. That is what Yasir Hussain has been suggesting all along.
So what are your views on this multi-faceted debate? Is Yasir Hussain right? Let us know in the comments.
Fans Are Calling For Hamza Ali Abbasi & Naimal Khawar To Play Ertugrul & Halime Sultan In The Pakistani Version Of The Show
Cover image via @yasir.hussain131/ Instagram