Do Pakistani dramas give away too much of their story in their OSTs?

One of the most entertaining things about Pakistani dramas, apart from the dramas themselves, is their Original Sound Tracks (OSTs). Take Do Bol for example. The drama was appreciated for a lot of things including the phenomenal performances by the lead pair and the writing, but what made the drama even more popular was its OST. ‘Ja Tujhe Maaf Kiya’ was on everyone’s lips when it came out. People were either making videos on Tik Tok with the OST in the background or were covering the song in varied ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAWJ_6KdkV0

While there is no denying the fact that the producers have learned the art of producing excellent OSTs for their dramas, one thing they still need to work on are the videos for those OSTs. Most of the times, the said videos are nothing but scenes from the dramas, which, as you can imagine, show major twists from the same. Whether it is the death of a major character or the fact that the female lead of the show gets married to another person, they just casually end up showing all kinds of scenes, without giving due consideration to the consequences. 

A few examples

There was a time when people used to listen to OSTs while watching the videos. But now, as more and more people have become familiar with the word ‘spoilers’, they have stopped watching the videos. They’d rather hear the MP3 version online than have their dramas spoiled for them. 

A few months ago, a drama named Balaa went on air, on ARY Digital. The serial was quite popular due to Bilal Abbas Khan and Ushnah Shah’s pairing and for its twisted storyline. But people who saw the video of the OST were rather disappointed with it for it not only showed how certain characters were going to change their behavior, it also showed the death of one of the side characters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtZNiufki0

Unfortunately, it looks like this practice isn’t ending anytime soon. Take Meer Abru, airing on HUM TV these days, as an example. The drama has Noor Hassan and Sanam Chaudhry in the lead roles, those watching the drama don’t know what’s going to happen to the latter but guess what the OST has other plans. Sanam Chaudhry gets married to another character in the drama and as of last week, everything was going normal between them. The OST, however, gives away the fact that nothing will remain normal in the coming days. 

Amidst all of this, perhaps the best example of this would be Mata e Jaan. It was a drama that went on air on HUM TV back in 2012. It featured one of the most shocking deaths in the history of Pakistani dramas; something that took the viewers completely by surprise. Those who saw the OST of the drama, however, were in for that surprise because it was already spoiled in the OST.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS_mPLYIhXA

A final word

Pakistani drama makers need to realize that they don’t need to give away the major twists of their storylines in their OSTs. There have been a few dramas, such as Naulakha and Dil E Bereham, that have shot proper videos for their OSTs which is actually commendable considering they show nothing from the story. It’s actually fun watching those videos while listening to the melodious OSTs. Here’s to hoping that more and more producers start making proper videos for the OSTs of their dramas so they aren’t spoiled for us before they even go on air. 

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