Actor Usama Khan doesn't believe Pakistan is ready to compete with the world on streaming platforms
After the government announced plans to get Pakistani content onto international streaming platforms like Netflix, actor Usama Khan has said the country isn’t ready to step out onto the world stage just yet.
In a story posted to his Instagram account on Monday, he said the world didn’t revolve around family-centric content like Pakistan’s media ecosystem did and that international streaming networks will want something more.
“While they will undoubtedly highlight the positive, culturally rich aspects of Pakistan, their business model thrives on unfiltered realism. They will demand stories rooted in true events — gripping true-crime, political thrillers and deep dives into the complexities of our institutional systems,” the actor pointed out.
He said this raised an important question, “In a society where the government consistently enforces a ‘ban culture’, are we truly ready to welcome global OTT platforms?”
Khan said Pakistani creators had been boxed in when it came to what they can and can not make, facing “severe censorship whenever they attempt to touch upon politics, crime, or history”.
“Until we dismantle this ban culture and allow artists to show reality, we are simply not ready for the open landscape of streaming.”
Khan’s statement comes after Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal announced on Sunday that the government was in talks to get Pakistani films and dramas on Netflix.
The minister said Pakistani films and dramas were “second to none, commanding immense demand and heartfelt appreciation across the globe”.
He also announced Pakistan was working on its own OTT platform to increase media exports. Iqbal said both were steps taken to counter “regional politics” which denied Pakistan its due share of global audiences.
Earlier, filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar had raised the same concerns as the minister about a “neighbouring country” using its political influence to sideline Pakistani content on OTT platforms.
She said she was hopeful things would change in the future, especially with Pakistan’s first Netflix show, which she said “will come out in the next year or so”.
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