A good story attracts. A gripping story grips. A great plot provokes. From Shakespeare to Hollywood the storytelling industry remains the prime public entertainment.
A hit play or movie is watched by millions. Its dialogues become quotations. Its scenes a matter of public discourse. America had realized the power of the story to influence public minds long ago.
Hollywood was not just entertainment, it was their prime sales channel to sell ideas they wanted to sow in the people’s mind. This in foreign policy was named as soft power.
The fact that US superpower was based on its wars and aggression strategy, yet as a country it is viewed as a land of opportunity has a lot to do with using its cinematic exports to present itself as the saviour of the world.
This “American Dream” that everybody wants to join is a dream well told and well sold through an established structure. It was 1947 when a formal Film Liaison Office was established at the Department of Defence and a similar Entertainment Liaison Office was set up at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1996.
According to some declassified files, more than 800 feature films and more than 1100 television titles received support from Department of Defence from 1911 to 2017.
Another country that has used the motion picture to move its image is India through Bollywood. It has one of the biggest film industries in the world which produces over 1,000 movies per year.
Most of them are action, comedy, romantic or family entertainment in genres. But in the past few decades, India has now started to use Bollywood as a means of propaganda and projection of its soft power. They have a two-tier objective of showcasing India as a modern progressive country and also to influence viewers on their narrative about Pakistan.
Several movies have been produced over time to create this perception such as Border (1997), LOC Kargil (2003), EkTha Tiger (2012), The Attacks of 26/11(2013), Phantom (2015), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), The Ghazi Attack (2017).
Pakistan lacked a film industry but now with streaming channels taking over, the opportunity to project itself in a positive manner is available. Let us look at the online digital revolution in the storytelling industry that has opened doors for the lesser players to compete:
1- The changing dynamics— The way films are made and seen has changed dramatically. Streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Freecast and Hulu have revolutionized the way we consume and buy media.
Rather than having to go to a physical location to rent or purchase a movie or TV show, we can now access a vast library of content online with the click of a button. This direct home delivery has been further augmented by YouTube availability of a lot of film material.
The mobile has now become a great gadget for binge watching. This has broken the monopoly of the big movie places like Hollywood and Bollywood. The mega studios like Warner Bros and Fox are no longer needed as production is now borderless and due to the digital revolution more dispersed.
The impact on film revenues and box office sales is complex. While streaming services have led to a decline in traditional revenue streams, such as theater ticket sales, they have also opened up new revenue streams such as subscription fees and advertising.
Additionally, streaming services have allowed for more diverse and niche content to be produced, which may have a smaller audience but can still be profitable.
2- Pakistani opportunity— The impact on the film industry’s ability to reach diverse audiences is also significant.
Streaming services have allowed for more diverse and niche content to be produced and distributed, which would have been difficult to achieve through traditional distribution channels. This has led to a wider range of voices and perspectives being represented in film and television and has made it easier for underrepresented groups to find content that reflects their experiences.
This has been duly exploited by countries like Turkey and South Korea who could not compete with giants like Hollywood and Bollywood but are now able to stream their content on Netflix and develop a global reach.
The global popularity of Turkish TV dramas or dizi in Turkish has thrust Turkey into the position of a leading exporter of television, greatly bolstering the nation’s international image and drawing millions of viewers and tourists worldwide to its historical and cultural sites which are backdrops to many of the shows.Korean TV has blossomed into one of the most popular types of programming on the planet.
The success of the Netflix Inc. series Squid Game, following on the heels of the hit film Parasite, has helped turn Seoul into one of the entertainment capitals of the world. It is also the largest producer of hit series globally for Netflix outside the US.
The company said more than 60% of its customers watched a Korean show last year.
Pakistan has an excellent opportunity to sell its soft image through these new platforms. Pakistan actors are now doing serials for Indian companies. Pakistani dramas on YouTube draw over a billion views. The recent hits that broke records include “Tere Bin” and “Ishq Murshid”. The background song and the behind the scenes bloopers of “Ishq Murshid” had over a billion views. The Indian market says Pakistani plays are top class. Pakistani actors have huge fan following in South Asia. On the industry front, Netflix is now facing competition from Prime, Amazon, etc.
It needs more variety. That is why the first Netflix series from Pakistan “Jo Bachay Hain Sungg Samait Lo” is under production. The show’s commission comes from Netflix’s Middle East and North Africa team, indicating the streaming giant’s commitment to diverse storytelling from the region.
As the viewership grows Pakistan needs to capitalize on its superb storytelling ability on the smaller screen. With so many streaming platforms available the larger Pakistani production houses should now have a vision of making serials for them. This is the best way to project the talent, tourism and real image of Pakistan. The major markets will be South Asia and Middle East.
However the popularity of South Korean and Turkish plays has paved the way for Pakistani plays. Many Pakistani movies like Joyland are already acclaimed in the west.
The first venture of Netflix with Pakistan is eagerly awaited. “Jo Bachay Hain Sungg Samait Lo” is all set to star Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed and Ahad Raza Mir in pivotal roles. This groundbreaking show will mark Netflix’s maiden venture into Pakistan-themed content, and its star-studded ensemble promises to captivate audiences worldwide.
The play has been shot in Italy and Pakistan. This is a great opportunity for Pakistan’s soft power to show the other soft, positive and bright side of the country. The time for the Pakistani story-telling to go global is now.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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