A Pakistani horror genre drama leans on heightened melodramatic, religious, and romantic elements to create fear and terror. This genre has managed to survive on screens over the years despite limited finances and complicated limitations on content. The anatomy of a horror drama on Pakistani television comprises of melodramatic/romantic plots and gothic settings, specific aesthetics of clothes, eerie music, and religious/cultural mythologies. The human and what I call the extra-human is clearly marked in these dramas. The extra-humans include the djinn (genie), the bhoot (ghost), the asyeib/saya (shadow), and the chalawa (errant spirit).
How it started and how it’s going
The first horror drama that gained popularity in the country was the 1993 comedy horror series for children titled Ainak Wala Jinn (The Jinn Who Wore Spectacles), which aired on state television. In it, a jinn named Nastur was thrown out of the Caucasus Mountains because he was visually challenged and could not perform his assigned duties.
