Pakistan’s Entertainment Industry - Looking for New Avenues
On 2nd February 2019, a Pakistani rock singer, Junaid Khan of the popular band Call, collaborated with an Indian rock band, Spunk, which was known for doing Bollywood covers. There was a level of excitement, particularly among rock aficionados in both nations, about how the collaboration would come into play. This was Spunk’s debut original. Within the same month, an incident occurred that would once again cause friction between Islamabad and New Delhi.
A vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a convoy of vehicles in the Pulwama district carrying Indian security personnel, resulting in the deaths of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, India’s largest central paramilitary force. The perpetrator, Adil Ahmed Dar, also died in the attack. The terrorist group Jaish-E-Mohammed took responsibility for the attack. New Delhi pointed fingers at Islamabad, which the latter denied. India responded with an airstrike in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region that New Delhi claimed targeted a Jaish-E-Mohammed training camp. However, Pakistan denied the claim and said no major targets were hit, and they were able to scramble enemy jets. The next day, an Indian Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was caught in Pakistani territory after Pakistan shot down his fighter plane. Varthaman was later freed and in India is celebrated as a hero, whereas in Pakistan, he has become the target of memes in Pakistani popular culture, including in its television serials.
3 years before the Pulwama incident, tragedy struck in Uri when the same Jaish-e-Mohammed targeted Indian soldiers, resulting in 19 deaths. This, too, was blamed on Islamabad. The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) decided to ban all Pakistani actors, actresses, and technicians working in India until the situation became stable (It never did). Indian television channel Zindagi decided to halt transmission of all Pakistani television programs. An Indian film released around the same time which featured several Pakistani artists also faced protests at its screenings. Pakistan also responded with the same gesture by banning Indian content, including Indian films, at Pakistani cinemas.
In August 2024, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule came to an end after she resigned and fled the country. Hasina was known for her pro-Indian stance. Her position left a vacuum that caused a headache for New Delhi and an opportunity for Pakistan. Later that year, Pakistani rock band Jal performed in the country’s capital, Dhaka, to a positive audience reception. Jal returned to the country after 14 years, and for Pakistan-Bangladesh relations, including culturally, it was the start of a new era.
Following Jal’s performance, many other Pakistani artists performed in Bangladesh, including established acts like Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and Kaavish and popular Gen Z icons such as Abdul Hannan and Bayaan. Love for Pakistani popular culture is not limited to music, however. There is a Facebook page dedicated to Pakistani television serial lovers in Bangladesh that has more than 230,400 members.
2025 was another year for an India-Pakistan collaboration, which featured Pakistani actor and singer Fawad Khan and Indian actress Vaani Kapoor. The film titled Abeer Gulaal was released in international markets but ironically, it did not get released in India or Pakistan. This was due to the Pahalgam Attack, which killed 26 civilians. This was another point of friction between New Delhi and Islamabad and resulted in relations so tense that it sparked a dangerous escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. It led to an albeit fragile ceasefire.
For years, Pakistan’s entertainment industry has primarily focused on India as its major and at times its only market. Tensions between India and Pakistan, which are often quite unpredictable, prove that this market can be closed at any time. With the advent of streaming, Bangladesh has proven to be a new and stable market for the Pakistani entertainment industry. Comparing India and Bangladesh is unfair, as the former is a much larger market; however, Pakistan should see this as an opportunity. Bangladesh should be seen as a starting point.
Pakistan should look at other culturally similar markets where Pakistani entertainment can gain prominence. Other South Asian markets like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives, as well as Middle East and North African nations, are good examples of this. According to an article from The Kathmandu Post, “Nepali television could draw inspiration from the Pakistani industry by producing shorter, high-quality drama series centred around compelling narratives instead of excessive melodrama."
Pakistan’s entertainment industry's biggest mistake is that it has often looked at New Delhi as its only source of clout and revenue, when other markets would be more stable and welcoming. It can even take a page out of the playbook of Turkish dramas’ popularity in Pakistan and use it as a case study to promote Pakistani content elsewhere. Moreover, Islamabad should not treat these markets as one-sided. It can also promote collaborations with these regions in order to promote a healthy cultural environment for itself as well as its collaborators.