Ever since his political party came into power, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has often urged local television channels to promote content that celebrates Muslim conquerors in history.
He would especially mention ‘Dirili: Ertuğrul’, Turkish TV’s mega serial, which is a fictionalised account of Oghuz Turks in the 13th century. Its central character is Ertuğrul, the father of Osman I, the founder of the great Ottoman Empire.
Now PTV, the country’s state-owned television network, had bought the rights of the soap opera, and began work on dubbing it in Urdu language. On the first day of Ramadan, PTV aired the opening episode of season one. Reportedly, the TV channel will relay a new episode every night.
Turkish drama serials are hugely popular in Pakistan. Dubbed versions of soaps like ‘Ask-i Memnu’, ‘Fatimagul’ and ‘Muhteşem Yuzyıl’ found great appreciation in recent years. It should be interesting to see how ‘Dirili: Ertuğrul’ fares. Originally broadcast on TRT, the serial is one of Turkey’s longest running shows, with seven seasons. It has been compared to HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ in terms of its lavish budgets and scale. It is also available for streaming on Netflix, titled ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul’.
