ISLAMABAD: In a major cultural initiative, Pakistan has approved a Rs1 billion allocation to produce a high-quality historical drama series on the lives of Pakistan’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and national poet-philosopher, Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
The series, inspired by the narrative style of the globally popular Turkish drama Diriliş: Ertuğrul, aims to bring the stories of these national heroes to a new generation.
The decision was disclosed during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Heritage and Culture, chaired by MNA Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar.
The Secretary of National Heritage informed the committee that the funding was approved on the Prime Minister’s directives to develop content highlighting the lives, struggles, and ideas of key national figures.
The Director of the Iqbal Academy reported that interviews with Allama Iqbal’s grandsons have begun and will be completed by the end of February, with plans for the committee to meet with Iqbal’s family as part of the project’s research phase.
The committee was told the series would emulate the approach of Ertugrul, which captivated Pakistani audiences and played a significant role in popularising historical and Islamic narratives through dramatisation.
Ertuğrul Ghazi has been propelled from a footnote in history books to a household name in Pakistan, thanks entirely to the blockbuster Turkish television series Diriliş: Ertuğrul.
The man behind the phenomenon was a 13th-century Uch Bey (marcher-lord), recognised in Ottoman tradition as the father of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire.
