Iconic Pakistani Dramas Of All Time — Dramas with the most interesting storylines

Pakistani drama industry has always produced phenomenal dramas. From Tanhayian to Ankahi, Dhoop Kinaray to Dhuwan, Zindagi Gulzar ha to Daam, every drama has its aura. We can’t list all the great Pakistani dramas, because that list can be very long, So here are some very very all-time popular dramas.

1. Aanch

Director: Tariq Jameel

Writer: Naheed Sultana Akhter

Cast: Shagufta Ejaz, Shafi Muhammad, Kanwar Nafees, Farheen Nafees, Talat Huma, Ayesha Khan, Talal Bin Tahir.

Starring Shagufta Ejaz and Shafi Muhammad in lead roles, this drama cast a spell on its viewers when it was first aired on PTV in the 90s decade. This drama depicts the story of a stepmother who tries to win the hearts of her stepchildren(a story very close to reality). At first, she hates them and tries to get rid of the children and their father also but soon she realizes her mistake and tries to make up for it. The children on the other hand are also very stubborn and never miss any chance to tease her but with time, they also start loving her. This drama is still remembered today for its storyline, dialogues, emotions, and mesmerizing performances of its cast.

2. Tanhayian

Director: Shahzad Khalid

Writer: Haseena Moeen

Cast: Mareena Khan, Shahnaz Sheikh, Asif Raza Mir, Behroz Subzwari, Durdaana Butt, Bader Khalil, Qazi Wajid

Tanhayian was such a masterpiece that it earned huge respect and applause from many countries outside Pakistan. It is a story of two sisters, whose parents die in a car accident and they lose their house as well to pay the debt of their parents. The girls have strong feelings attached to their house as it was the dream house of their parents. They move to their aunt’s house and their lives and their relationship with each other change after that incident. The most interesting thing is they never stop loving and caring for each other despite the elder of them getting busy establishing a business. The elder of them also gets paralyzed later due to a car accident and she realizes that in the race to get money and the house back, she has neglected her younger sister and loved ones a lot. The chemistry that Mareena and Shahnaz showed onscreen, is still matchless. This drama is played in drama academies of South Asian countries to teach students about acting, dialogue delivery, and expressions.

3. Dhoop Kinaray

Director: Sahira Kazmi

Writer: Haseena Moeen

Cast: Rahat Kazmi, Mareena Khan, Bader Khalil, Qazi Wajid, Sajjad Hassan

This drama was first aired in 1987. This drama beautifully presents the lives of doctors, their challenges, and their personal lives. The story revolves around a young doctor( doctor Zoya ) who was quite irresponsible at first as she didn’t want to become a doctor but she keeps trying to do better. She was insulted many times by her boss(Doctor Ahmer). Her boss loves her and he wants to bring the best out of her. There arose a rivalry between the two which unfolds later over a house that belonged to Zoya’s grandfather. Dr. Ahmer was the adopted son of Zoya’s grandfather and the two didn’t know about that. Along with an interesting and mysterious storyline, this drama also contains comedy and romance. All the characters of the drama had their humor.

4. Alpha Bravo Charlie (ABC)

Director: Shoaib Mansoor

Cast: Faraz Inaam, Shahnaz Khwaja, Captain Qasim Khan, Captain Abdullah Meh mood

This drama was produced by Inter-Services Public Relations( ISPR). It was a story of friends who are in the Pakistan Army. After their training, they are posted in different areas far away from each other. Coincidentally, the two of them had a crush on the same girl. This drama was a sequel to the drama “Sunehrey Din” in which the training time of the friends was shown. In ABC, their lives after training are shown. This drama touched on some serious military conflicts like Bosnian War, Siachen Conflict along with comedy, suspense, and romance. Surely, the era of the s incomplete without ABC.

5. Dhuwan

Director: Sajjad Ahmed

Writer: Aashir Azeem

Cast: Aashir Azeem, Azra Aftab, Nabeel, Asad Din Khan, Zubair Khan, Wajid Ali Shah, Nayyer Ejaz.

Dhawan was a story of five happy-go-lucky friends who have a strong vision of fighting against terrorists and drug dealers. One of them was a police officer and the remaining were doctors, journalists, businessmen, and ammunition experts. The police officer brings cases that he was not allowed to solve because of corruption or telephone call from higher authority to his friends and they collectively solved those cases hiding their true identity. A girl who belonged to an intelligence agency was tasked to spy on them because of their suspicious activities. Later this girl also joins them.

6. Daam

Director: Mehreen Jabar

Writer: Umera Ahmed

Cast: Sanam Baloch, Sanam Saeed, Aamina Sheikh, Adeel Hussain, Nimra Bucha.

Daam is a story of two close friends with different social backgrounds and how their class difference ruined their relationship. The Brother of the girl of higher status wanted to marry her sister’s friend but this brings jealousy and hatred in his sister. The fact that her brother and friend were hiding their affair from her makes her furious. She breaks the relationship by paying “daam”(price) for the necklace that her brother has gifted to her friend as her friend borrows money from her that she desperately needed. Later in their lives, they met again and she tries to make up for her mistake. This drama made the viewers burst into tears. It was also aired in India.

7. Jackson Heights

Director: Mehreen Jabbar

Writer: Vasay Chaudhary

Cast: Adeel Hussain, Aamina Sheikh, Noman Ejaz, Marina Khan, Ali Kazmi, Adnan Jaffer, Meher Jeffery

Jackson Heights is a story of overseas Pakistanis and Indians living in New York City. It’s a simultaneous story of different people. Salma(Aamina Sheikh) — works day and night in her parlor to fulfill the expenses of her house and her stepdaughter. Her husband, a gambler always tortures and physically abuses her. Jamshed (Adeel Hussain) — goes to the US to make his life better on a visit visa. He flirts with a woman of older age to get a permanent visa and immigration. Michelle ( Marina Khan ) — a middle-aged, divorced woman, running a hotel in Jackson heights and was not ready for any relationship again but falls in love with Jamshed. His cheating made her heartbroken once more. Bhatti Saab(Noman Ejaz) — a cab driver who tries to fulfill the expenses and responsibilities of his family in Pakistan and his wife and step-children in the US. Along with these characters, many other interesting characters and their stories have been touched. Along with its powerful storyline and performances, its melodious OST “Laayian Laayian” by Saad Sultan increased its popularity even more

8. Daastan

Writer: Sameera Fazal

Director: Haissam Hussain

Cast: Fawad Khan, Saba Qamer, Ahsan Khan, Sanam Baloch, Sameena Peerzada, Mehreen Raheel, Saba Hameed, Asma Abbas

Daastan is based on a novel written by Razia Butt. It depicts how the bloody partition of British India ruined the lives of so many people. The main characters Hassan and Bano who loved each other were separated by the partition. Due to the stubbornness of Bano’s brother, her family didn’t migrate to Pakistan. Eventually, her entire family was slaughtered in the riots, and only she was able to survive. She was harassed by many people and eventually a Sikh man forcefully married her. Hassan, however, has gone for a job in an area that became a part of Pakistan. He came to know from some sources that Bano and her entire family has been slaughtered. He went into deep grief for many years. After many years, when he managed to come out of this state of mind and decided to marry her cousin, Bano somehow came to Pakistan with his son whom she used to ill-treat as she regarded her son as a sin. This part of the drama is the most emotional and interesting one, which you must watch by yourself.

9. Diyar e Dil

Director: Haseeb Hassan

Writer: Farhat Ishtiaq

Cast: Sanam Saeed, Meekal Zulfiqar, Abid Ali, Maya Ali, Ali Rehman, Osman Khalid Butt, Behroz Sabzwari, Hareem Farooq

Diyar e Dil is a story of love, respect, emotions, and relations. It revolves around two brothers(Behroz and Sohaib) and how one of them sacrificed his love and emotions for his dad’s respect and love for his sibling. Behroz(the elder one) leaves his family for good to marry the girl he loves and Sohaib is forced to marry the childhood fiancee of Behroz who loves Behroz a lot. She hates Sohaib initially but fell in love with him when she gets to know him and lives with him. Their father breaks all his relations with his elder son but Sohaib always tries to end up these differences. Neither his father nor his brother fulfills his wish and ultimately he dies. After his death, his brother and father set aside their egos and meet each other. Meanwhile, Behroz also dies. Before his death, he marries his daughter to Sohaib’s son as it was the last wish of Sohaib. Behroze’s wife and daughter never accept this relationship and hate Behroz’s family. But there come such circumstances that they realize how much Behroze’s family loves them.

10. Zindagi Gulzar Ha

Director: Sultana Siddique

Writer: Umera Ahmed

Cast: Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Sameena Peerzada, Javed Sheikh, Hina Bayat, Ayesha Umer, Mehreen Raheel, Shehryar Munawar

The story spins around two university fellows Kashaf and Zaroon who are quite opposite in thoughts and financial status. Kashaf is a strict, sober, opinionated, and intelligent girl who comes from a middle-class family. As her father has left her mother and her sisters for a son and married another woman, she hates her father and considers herself the most unfortunate girl in the world, and hates her life. Aaron on the other hand belongs to a wealthy family and he is very happy with his life. He is a flirt and has some differences from his family because his mother and sister are working ladies and he has been neglected by his mother due to her social activities. He wants a girl in his life who should be family-oriented and a working lady as well and he finds these characteristics only in Kashaf. Despite, he has clashes and differences with Kashaf and they both hate each other initially, he gets impressed by the values of Kashaf and then marries her later when they meet years after their education in practical life. Their marriage goes through some turmoils but they live a happy life and fall in love with each other.

11. Baaghi

Director: Farooq Rind

Writer: Shazia Khan

Cast: Saba Qamer, Osman Khalid Butt, Sarmad Khoosat, Ali Kazmi, Saba Faisal, Nimra Khan

Baaghi was a biographical drama based on a controversial Pakistani figure Qandeel Baloch who was murdered by his brother in the name of honor. Saba Qamer played the role of this rebel. The lead girl belongs to a village and gets married to the person he loves but his husband cheats on her. Her family also doesn’t understand her. Therefore, after getting divorced, she goes to a city and tries to make her career in the showbiz industry. As she neither had any family background in showbiz nor she was educated, people exploit her. Meanwhile, she starts making controversial videos and uploading them on social media which earns her great notoriety. When her family in the village came to know about her, they accept her again for her money. The performance of the entire cast was up to the mark. It is the most hyped TV serial ever produced in Pakistan.

12. Shehr e Zaat

Director: Sarmad Sultan Khoosat

Writer: Umera Ahmed

Cast: Mahira Khan, Meekal Zulfiqar,Mohib Mirza, Sameena Peerzada, Hina Bayat, Mansha Pasha

It is a spiritual romantic drama based on a young and beautiful fine arts student(Falak) who falls in love with a man resembling his sculptor. She loves this person(Salman) to the extent of worshipping him but he never loves her the way he should. Falak breaks the hearts and feelings of many people due to her arrogance, self-obsession, and her love for Suleman. Later after their marriage, Suleman falls in love with a very ordinary woman and becomes mad at her the way Falak was mad at him. After facing these harsh realities of life, Falak understands the meaning of divine and true love and adopts the true spirit of Islam.

13. Durr e Shehwar

Director: Haissam Hussain

Writer: Umera Ahmed

Cast: Sanam Baloch, Meekal Zulfiqar, Maya Ali, Noman Ejaz,Nadia Jameel, Qavi Khan,Sameena Peerzada

This drama is based on the complexities of married life and the importance of patience and compromises to strengthen relationships. It’s a story of a girl who has a very strong bonding with her family, especially with her father. But then she gets married and moves to another city. She finds many difficulties in her married life and with her in-laws. At times, she tries to leave but the letters her father sends to her give her new energy. At last, she manages to get what she wants from her married life, and later when her daughter gets married, she also faces some problems(but not so big), and when she tells her daughter about her story, her daughter understands that her issues are so trivial as compared to her mother.

14. Hum safar

Director: Sarmad Khoosat

Writer: Farhat Ishtiaq

Cast: Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Naveen Waqar,Hina Bayat,Attiqa Odho

Humsafar is a captivating story of two cousins — who don’t know about each other and have no strong relationship but are pressured into a marriage. Their marriage passes through many difficult phases but finally, they fall in love with each other when they get to know each other. Due to the huge success of this drama, critics refer to this era (2010–13) of the Pakistani television industry as the “GOLDEN AGE”.

Among other very notable dramas are:

• Mata e Jaan ha tu
• Muhabbat Subh ka sittara
• Digest Writer
• And Zara
• Kanker
• Akbari Asghari
• Khaas
• Khudparast
• Ruswai