Shaan Shahid wants govt to celebrate local heroes instead of airing 'Dirilis: Ertugrul'

Actor criticised the govt for using 'borrowed, foreign' content instead of investing in local stories and TV shows

Renowned actor Shaan Shahid is one to talk whenever any debate around patriotism or national narratives starts on social media. This time around the actor is unhappy with the airing of  Turkish period drama Dirilis: Ertugrul on Pakistan Television (PTV).

The Waar actor took to social media and shared his thoughts on how the emphasis should be on producing and broadcasting local content instead of international re-runs. Shaan was responding to a tweet by Faisal Javed Khan, who shared how the Dirilis: Ertugrul is now available on YouTube.

"For those who have been asking for Ertugrul Urdu on Youtube - PTV (Pakistan) and TRT (Turkey) has come up with a joint Youtube channel - Here is the link to watch Ertugrul in Urdu," The PTI leader wrote on Twitter.

For those who have been asking for Ertugrul Urdu on Youtube - PTV (Pakistan) and TRT (Turkey) has come up with a joint Youtube channel - Here is the link to watch Ertugrul in Urdu #ErtugrulUrduPTV_TRT https://t.co/qDC5ZANXrA TRT Ertugrul by PTV

— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) April 28, 2020

To this, the Operation 021 actor responded, "Try to find our own history and its heroes."

Try to find our own history and it’s hero’s ..

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) April 28, 2020

When a user said how Turkish history is part of Islamic history, which essentially makes it Pakistan's history, Shaan replied, which loosely translated to, "If Islamic history is the same for everyone, then this show should have been dubbed in Arabic and aired in Saudi Arabia."

Agar tamam musalmanoo ki tarikh hamaree tareekh hai to phir yeh series Arabic main dub ho ker saudi Arabia main bhi dekhani chaheyay .. Arab and Turk.... read history bhai

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) April 28, 2020

Another user shared that the subcontinent's history is filled with 'philanderous Mughal kings", and a lot of content has already been produced about the Partition. The user further added how it was important for the youth to learn Islamic history.

Shaan asserted," That's a good thing but for how long would we keep on working with borrowed content? PTV should produce epics like these. Where is the funding?"

Bohat achee baat hai ... magar hum kab tak maangay howay lafzoon sai apni khudi ki dewaar mazboot karain gai... Ptv should produce epics like this ... where is the funding ... no tamasha phir bhi paisa hazam ♥️🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) April 28, 2020

One more user went on to question the actor and wrote, "Islamic history is our history. As for OUR dramas and movies. It is very disappointing to see none of our actors taking a stand against the vulgar, crappy, classless plays and movies they agree to do. Is it only Imran Khan's responsibility to take a stand and demand better? What about you all?

Shaan had an answer to this query as well, "Well without the support of a govt policy we can’t create an infrastructure and without the infrastructure, the Pakistani film and TV producers will keep on making whatever gets them ratings."

Well without the support of the govt policy we can’t create an infrastructure and without the infrastructure the Pakistani film and tv producers will keep on making whatever gets them ratings ..

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) April 28, 2020

The actor went on to respond to a few more users before he started sharing profiles of legendary Pakistani artists. The actor had shared the same profiles last year under the hashtag #LetsBringOurPrideBack.

Shaan posted about the likes of Qavi Khan, Rahat Kazmi, Shehnaz Sheikh, Marina Khan, Uzma Gillani, Firdous Jamal, and others.

"These are the heroes of our nation, their stories must be told. And there are so many more that our history has not forgotten but the people have. We need to transfer our pride to our children our stories our successes," he said.

#100%madeinPakistan these are the hero’s of our nation their stories must be told .. and there are so many more that our history has not forgotten.. but the people have .we need to transfer our pride to our children our stories our successes #pride🇵🇰♥️

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) May 3, 2020

The actor then shared a 2017 report by The Express Tribune on how the state-run channel had been suffering losses.

"No new plays, no new content, only huge losses this is a report from 2017 but nothing has changed it is in ruins, what a great legacy it had and what a dark present and future it holds. You can’t be successful in other's success."

#ptv . @ImranKhanPTI no new plays ,no new content ,only huge losses this is a report from 2017 but nothing has changed it is in ruins ,what a great legacy it had and what a dark present and future it holds .you can’t be successful on others success . #ptv #makeusproud again🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/afYEbj9ZQx

— Shaan Shahid (@mshaanshahid) May 3, 2020

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