Urwa Hocane: Pakistani dramas don't need Netflix, and 'Netflix-quality' praise is 'lame'

Urwa Hocane says Pakistani dramas do not need Netflix, and that calling a good local serial "Netflix-quality" sells the industry short. The actor, who plays Beena in the hit drama Aap Ki Izzat, made the remarks on Maliha Rehman's show Gloss Etc, Dawn Images reported on Tuesday 20 October. Her comments were among the most searched entertainment topics in Pakistan on Tuesday.

What Urwa said

Asked about reviewers who praise a well-made Pakistani project by comparing it to Netflix, Urwa said the people using the phrase mean well, but she finds it dismissive: "I find that so lame." Pakistani drama, she argued, is "doing better than that", and the comparison only took hold because one streaming app grabbed attention for a few years.

She went further on the platform itself, saying she does not think Netflix knows what it is doing anymore. "We don't need no Netflix and why are we comparing ourselves to that anyway?" she said.

Her case rests on how Pakistani dramas are made. Story comes first, she said, calling it "the soul" of a project, and glamour comes second. "We're really narrating stories and then we're like let's commercialise it. That's a cherry on top." She pointed to Aap Ki Izzat as proof that a serial can pull in viewers without big-budget spectacle.

Why the debate is live

Urwa is the latest voice in an argument that has run through the industry for months: whether Pakistani content can, or should, compete on the global streaming platforms. Dawn Images noted that Faysal Quraishi, Shamoon Abbasi and Usama Khan have all weighed in. In July, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government was in talks with Netflix and other global streaming companies about the regional framework, which would decide how much Pakistani content they carry and how.

For viewers here, the question is practical. Most Pakistani dramas are watched free on TV and on the channels' YouTube pages, while a Netflix subscription is paid in dollars through a bank card, so its price in rupees moves with the exchange rate. You can see the dollar's latest rate on our dollar to rupee page.

Aap Ki Izzat

Aap Ki Izzat has drawn wide praise for Urwa's performance as Beena, and Dawn Images reported separately that director Saife Hasan said Saba Qamar and Mahira Khan had also been approached for the lead. Urwa has also spoken about a call from writer Umera Ahmed after the drama aired, Minute Mirror reported.

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