Riaz Manti, Director of Digital Turkish Radio and TV at TRT:

Riaz Manti, Director of Digital Turkish Radio and TV at TRT:

The world-famous Turkish drama Ertugrul is now being aired on Pakistani television with Urdu dubbing in Pakistan and social media trends show that it is proving to be extremely popular among Pakistani audiences.

The drama was originally produced by the Turkish state-owned media company TRT in collaboration with a private company, after which it was translated into various languages ​​and is available on Netflix in different languages.

Riaz Manti, director of TRT's Digital Turkish Radio and TV, heads the TRT team that assisted PTV in bringing the drama to Pakistani audiences.

Alia Nazki, host of the BBC Urdu program Serbian, spoke to Riaz Manti and tried to find out how difficult it was to adapt the drama to the audience in Pakistan and whether she was happy with its popularity. ۔

Riaz Manti says the show was already very successful in Turkey. After coming to Netflix with English and Arabic subtitles, it also became very popular internationally.

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Image captionHe said that the Urdu translation of this play was already included in his plans because he believed that this play would be very popular among Urdu speakers all over the world.

He said that there was an uproar all over the world like Ertugrul. The presidents posted selfies of Ertugrul, Stars began to come on set to meet the actors in the play, Ertugrul cafes began to open in countries such as Britain and South Africa, and people even came to Turkey only for Ertugrul historical tours.

' This play has had a very positive cultural impact '

Riaz Manti says that after the success of Netflix, his team decided to release it on YouTube in different languages.

"We started with dubbing in English and Arabic," he said. We have now released it in Spanish, Russian, and some of its installments in Kiswahili.

He said that the Urdu translation of this play was already included in his plans as he was sure that this play would be very popular among Urdu speakers all over the world.

"It simply came to our notice then. The two are public media companies, so it became a natural relationship.

He added that Turkish dramas are very popular all over the world anyway. Turkish drama is the second most watched drama in the world after English.

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Image caption'TRT always strives to create content that you can watch and enjoy with your family, and I think that's why this show is so popular in Pakistan'

"Ertugrul has added to this popularity and this wonderful story has made its place in the hearts of people all over the world."

"TRT always tries to create content that you can watch and enjoy with your family, and I think that's why the show is so popular in Pakistan," he said.

What is the reaction in Pakistan?

In response to this question, Riaz Manti says: 'So good that I can't describe. PTV has done a great job with dubbing and broadcasting.

He said that as far as TRT is concerned, Urdu is one of the fastest growing channels in our digital offer.

"Ertugral has gone viral in Pakistan and its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day."

Riaz explains that there are more than 30 million views and more than 600,000 subscribers so far and I am sure that by the time your readers read this article, the number will be much higher.

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Image caption'Ertugral has gone viral in Pakistan and its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day'

How successful was Ertugrul at the international level?

He says the show has been viewed 500 billion times globally. In the last one year, wherever our teams have gone around the world, we have seen moss flags in homes and shops, with Ertugrul hats on people's heads and Ertugrul rings on their fingers.

He said that all this is the result of the hard work of the writers and makers of this play.

"This drama has created a global tribe, a story in which people from all over the world see themselves."

Interestingly, in the last few months, the number of viewers of this drama has further increased due to the Corona virus lockdown.

Image copyrightFACEBOOK / DIRILISDIZISI

Image captionInterestingly, the corona virus lockdown has also increased the number of viewers of this drama in the last few months.

Riaz Manti explains that at a difficult time when people are locked in their homes and most companies have to pay for access to their content, TRT decided to upload some content on YouTube to help people. Could be

He said that we have also uploaded some of our other shows in different languages ​​on YouTube and very soon all these dramas will also be available in Urdu.

When Riaz was asked if he had received negative feedback on the show, he said, "We are surprised, but not at all."

He said that the show has a five star rating on Google and the statistics tell their own story.

'The only complaint people make is why we're late in sharing it!'