The phenomenal viewership for the handful of Pakistani television serials that have been aired on Zee’s Zindagi channel since its launch on June 23 has cut across class and gender. From a grandmother watching it with her pre-teen granddaughter with the son catching one of the repeats and a colony beauty parlour running the channel through the day, the clientele is wide and hooked.
“The themes of these stories — which mainly focus on the problems of women — often remind one of the storylines of Hindi films of the 1960s and 70s. But it is the handling of the subjects, the refined language, which is a mix of Urdu and Punjabi but sounds so much like the language that was spoken in our households till about 30 years ago, that comes as a pleasant change,” says Aradhana Bhatnagar, who is in her seventies. “I am just glad that I get to see these serials with my granddaughter since it will help her pick up the language.”
Apart from the business gains and the footprint that Pakistani television industry has got in India, Zindagi has challenged some deep misconceptions Indians have about Pakistan.
