It’s true that Pakistani dramas have been criticized for showing women as miserable creatures who aren’t capable of doing anything but tolerating the misogynist attitude and staying in abusive relationships.
But thankfully this year turned out good for our soaps.
If you look at the positive side of Pakistani dramas 2020, you’ll find some strong content that was hidden under the patriarchal stories.
These stories aren’t Saas-Bahu tales, infidelity scripts, or love triangles but a realistic side of our society which is quite rarely shown.
I took this opportunity of revealing these best Pakistani dramas 2019-2020 as an intention to appreciate them.
So, without further ado, let’s call out their names.
Best Pakistani Dramas 2020
- Alif
- Damsa
- Ehd e Wafa
- Sabaat
- Ishq Zahe Naseeb
- Pyar k Sadqay
- Kashf
- Mushk
- Prem Gali
- Yeh Dil Mera
1. Alif (2019-2020)
Genre: Spirituality
What’s success? A luxurious life? Lots of money? Fame? People dying to meet you?
The character Momin (Hamza Ali Abbasi) in the drama Alif has all these things but he sometimes feels his life is dark and none of these things can overcome this darkness. His father and grandfather both were great artists who paint the Quranic verses and names of Allah and find peace in it. But he chooses to be an actor and then one day when he started exploring his mother Husn e Jahan (Kubra Khan) who was also a dancer, he started questioning things from his grandfather. And from there, his life takes a swift shift.
Sajal Ali plays the lead role in the drama and as usual, her character attracted all the eyeballs because of her charisma on-screen. This drama is based on Umera Ahmed’s novel, Alif. When you start watching this drama, you’ll also ponder on your connection with the Almighty. After having everything do you have peace in your life? The acting of Manzer Sehbai, Hamza Abbasi, Kubra Khan, and Sajal Ali has added to the success of the drama.
I, personally, love the role of Hamza’s grandfather Abdul Alaa (Manzer Sehbai). The dialogues are so thought-provoking in this drama that you end up crying in the last episodes. It’s a must-watch romantic-spiritual serial and one of the best Pakistani dramas of all time.
2. Damsa (2019-2020)
Genre: Children Abuse, Child Begging
When you step out on roads, how many street beggars come across your way to beg for money? I’m sure many! But the irony is that these beggars run a whole network for which they use the children. They kidnap children, cut off their body parts, abuse them, rape or injured them to make them look miserable, and turn them into street beggars. The same happens with Areeja (Nadia Jamil), her daughter was kidnapped while coming back from school. And when she started interrogating her child’s kidnapping case, her world turns upside down.
The details that unfold at every step of her child kidnapping shooked her and she felt helpless. The role of her husband is played by Shahood Alvi as Musa who loved his wife. Later, they parted their ways due to some misunderstandings, but Areeja stood adamant and approached all possibilities with the hopes to get her child back. It’s an eye-opener Pakistani serial and also a harsh reality that has been neglected for years.
3. Ehd e Wafa (2019-2020)
Genre: Friendship
Ehd e Wafa is an ISPR production which is a story of 4 college friends Saad, Shahzain, Shariq, and Shehryar who are known as SSG (Special ‘S’ Gang). They eat together, pray and study together but never miss a moment to pull each other’s leg and kept being friends forever. But when they stepped into their practical lives they start suspecting each other’s trust and their bond becomes weaker.
Saad (Ahad Raza Mir) choose to be an army officer, Shahzain (Osman Khalid Butt) a politician, (Shariq Wahaj Ali) a journalist while Shehryar (Ahmed Ali Akbar) became a government officer. Saad and Shahazin parted ways when they choose the same girl to marry. Meanwhile, Shariq and Shehryar make a consistent effort to keep the SSG group united. The story is a pure depiction of high-spirited friends who want to be with each other till the last breath while life unfolds some harsh events when they stepped out of their happy days.
4. Sabaat (2020)
Genre: Life Lessons
Sabaat is a story of a nutsy girl who’s rich, beautiful, and successful and don’t want to share her relationships with anyone. She’s proud of her lifestyle, her beauty and wants to control everything even her one and only brother’s life. She’s such a self-centered person that she asked her husband to quit his profession because she doesn’t feel right about it. In her self-obsession, she hurt her grandmother with her prideful attitude, destroy his brother’s life, and even her husbands’ life too. But don’t realize that in between controlling everything, she is creating trouble for herself.
The lead role is shared by Mawra Hocane, and Sara Khan, and both have done a splendid job to justify their roles. However, you’ll also see a new artist Ameer Gilani in the role of Hassan doing his best to add to the success of the drama. Other than that, you’ll also see Miral running her family business which is quite rare in our Pakistani dramas as women are only shown at homes or in kitchen.
5. Ishq Zahe Naseeb (2019-2020)
Genre: Mental Health
Have you ever heard about split personality disorder? It’s a condition where a person experiences two or more personality states taking control of the person. This leads to mental health issues and the person who suffered from this isn’t able to live a stable life. The lead role of this drama is essayed by Zahid Ahmed who played his both characters so well that hooks the audience till the end. The story takes a twist when this narcissist character gets married to her mother’s assistant Gohar (Sonya Hussain) and she found the ugly truth of the businessman.
There are quite a few Pakistani dramas that address stories on mental health but when it comes to top Pakistani dramas list on this topic, Ishq Zah e Naseeb will always take the lead. After the interval, you might find the story moving at turtle’s speed but the last episodes will cover it all.
6. Pyar k Sadqay (2020)
Genre: Comedy
Mahjabeen is funny, silly but a beautiful little girl who doesn’t want to study but to marry. Day and night, she fascinates her marriage and imagines how she’ll look like a bride. Her mother is also hopeless about her becoming a successful person, so she started finding a match for her teenage girl. But whoever agrees to marry, asked for a long list of dowry or reject her because of her foolish questions.
Bilal Khan is Mahjabeen’s teacher and tutors him for Maths as she is dull in counting 2+2 but the story starts when the dumb tutor becomes her husband and the dumb couple entered into their practical life. The story becomes a bit harsh when Mahjabeen’s father in law fall attracted to her beauty and become evil to destroy his step son’s life to win the innocent girl from him.
7. Kashf (2020)
Genre: Nightmares and Prophecy
Kashf is a spiritual person. She got dreams about herself and her loved ones which turns out to be true. When her father came to know about her ability to foresee future events, he decided to turn it into a business. He convinced her and open a local shop where people come to her to consult her dreams and she’d give the solutions. But she isn’t satisfied with doing this all as she knows it will wreak havoc in the hereafter.
Her beloved Wijdan (Junaid Khan) is madly in love with Kashf and is willing to go to any extent to save Kashf from her father’s nefarious intention. The story is quite different and flawlessly essayed by Hira Mani and Junaid Khan but what’s surprising are the nightmares of Kashf that turn out to be a reality the next day.
8. Mushk (2020)
Genre: Mysterious Love Story
Mushk is a story of a girl from a conventional family who went abroad to study and fall in love which later turned into a marriage. She bore a baby out of her marriage but her husband Shayan (Osama Tahir) went to Pakistan leaving no information about him. Mehek (Momal Sheikh) then returned to her village with another young woman Guddi (Urwa Hocane) and pretend that the child belongs to Guddi. Little did she knew about her secret admirer Adam (Imran Ashraf) who loves her but never got the courage to share his feelings with her.
On the other hand, Mehek’s aunt is suspicious about the strange woman Guddi and her child and tries everything to solve the mystery. The drama is directed by Aehsun Talish who is also applauded for his super-commendable drama Alif, Allah or Insan. And this time again, he left no stone unturned to make this drama successful and unique from all the other local content.
Also Read: Best Hum TV Dramas
9. Prem Gali (2020)
Genre: Romantic-Comedy
The Motorcycle girl Sohai Ali Abro makes her comeback with the drama Prem Gali. It’s a modern-day story of two lovers who met in Prem Gali. The male actor Hamza (Farhan Saeed) fall for Joya (Sohai) when he saw her the first time. Joya belongs to a woman empowered family of 4; herself, her grandmother, mother, and aunt. From her grandmother, Rahat (Shamim Hilaly), mother Shireen (Saba Hamid) to her maternal aunt Musarrat (Uzma Hasan) all are divorcees but quite capable of shutting down talks against them.
They have next-door neighbors who are also a family of bachelors Hamza being one of them. The story revolves around Hamza’s and Joya’s family who entwined with each other when the duo falls in love. The story is a romantic comedy written by Faiza Iftikhar and quite closely depicts the culture of Pakistan. Plus, all the characters are so vibrant that you’ll always look forward to the next events. This tale is a quite deserving slot in the unique Pakistani drama list because of its tasteful humor and amusing side.
10. Yeh Dil Mera (2019-2020)
Genre: Thriller
When it comes to new Pakistani dramas 2019-2020, you’d hardly find a few thrilling series that are worth watching, Yeh Dil Mera is one of them. It’s a story of a girl Noor-ul-Ain (Sajal Ali) who’s haunted by her nightmares from the past. She loves her father Mir Farukh Zaman (Adnan Siddiqui) so much that she can’t even imagine any sinister side of him. Her father is a murderer who killed Aman’s (Ahad Raza Mir) family when he was only 11.
Also Read: Best GEO TV Dramas
Devastated by the mental trauma of the past, Aman decides to revenge his family’s murder by marrying Noor-ul-Ain. While Noor remains unaware of his father’s past, she falls for Aman but still quite disturbed by her dreams and wants to solve this mystery. The story is a depiction of how past trauma and abuse affect your mental health and take the peace out of your life. One of the best stories of love, revenge, anger, and mystery put together. Plus, the chemistry between Sajal and Ahad will make you fall in love with the couple.
To Wrap It Up
This sums up the list of Pakistani dramas online 2020.
These are also the dramas which aren’t typical and quite different from what we always see on television. However, after this list, there should be more space for a women-empowering role.
I’d love to see dramas on workplace harassment in Pakistan and what a woman went through when she decides to chase her dreams. It’s high time to stop dehumanizing women and give them respectable roles so we can change the perspective of our society.
It’s important because Pakistani dramas are highly watched, adopted, and play a crucial role in educating people. So, the more good content we produce, the higher will be the chances of bringing a positive change in people.
Anyway, do you like the list? Which one is your favorite drama among these? Let’s talk!
Next: Best Pakistani Dramas 2021
I prefer books and diaries more than phones and Facebook. Soulfully connected to Pakistan. And I passionately believe that I can change the world through blogging.
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