As Streaming Giants Race to Capture Diverse Audiences, Pakistan Finds Itself at a Crossroads
Netflix’s first Pakistani original series promised to put the country on the global entertainment map, but production delays have raised questions about whether Pakistan is truly ready for this moment.
Netflix’s much-talked-about series *Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo* has become a double-edged sword for the country’s television industry. Billed as the streamer’s first Pakistan-themed original, this adaptation brings together stars including Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Ahad Raza Mir, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Hania Aamir, Maya Ali, Bilal Ashraf, and Iqra Aziz.
Ever since word first got out in 2023, expectations have remained unusually high. By Pakistani standards, this project is seriously ambitious. Filming has taken place across multiple countries and has mixed established stars with fresh faces. Netflix has called it their most significant Pakistani production yet. That scope alone makes it feel like a turning point — a chance for Pakistani drama to step out of the regional curiosity box and onto the global stage.
However, after missing its original premiere month of June 2025, questions remain unanswered. Local media is now talking about a window later in the year as production and post-production continue to drag on. The delay might frustrate fans, but it also highlights something bigger: creating a project that ticks Netflix’s technical and editorial boxes, while keeping its Pakistani soul intact, is incredibly challenging.
The real question is whether Pakistan is ready for this moment.
Other countries have already learned how to use Netflix to amplify their storytelling voices. India’s *Sacred Games* and *Delhi Crime* helped establish what prestige local originals could look like. South Korea’s *Squid Game* changed the game for global television. Australia and the UK have entered Netflix with their own domestic stories.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is showing up late to a party where audiences are already overwhelmed by international content. Being late doesn’t lower the stakes — it raises them.
A star-studded cast is no guarantee for success. Hits don’t just happen because you throw money and famous faces at something. If Pakistan’s first Netflix original feels watered down — more English and less Urdu, more generic South Asia and less distinctly Pakistani — then what story is it actually telling? And if the technical elements like editing, sound, and visual effects don’t meet Netflix standards, viewers will just click away.
A stumble could reinforce the idea that Pakistan can’t deliver at an international scale.
At the same time, it seems unfair that one show has to carry so much symbolic weight. No single production should prove an industry’s worth. But delays have a way of intensifying that pressure. The longer *Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo* is delayed, the more it becomes the test of whether Pakistan can compete with its neighbours and peers on streaming platforms.
If the series succeeds, it could open doors for everyone who comes afterwards. If it doesn’t, there will still be lessons about infrastructure, creative decisions, and the trade-offs that come with working alongside global platforms.
Either way, Pakistan can’t keep sitting on the sidelines while others shape what it means to be global in entertainment.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1345082-netflixs-first-pakistani-original-faces-delay