New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Hindi serial 'Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon" is a favourite prime time watch in Turkey and has been running successfully for the past four years with no dip in its approval ratings as Turkish viewers get absorbed in the twists and turns of the love saga.
The show, dubbed in Turkish and rechristened as 'Bir Garip Ask', has been delighting viewers of Turkish channel Kanal 17, says the channel's Deputy Manager Yesim.
Not just "Iss Pyar...", other serials are doing well in Turkey too, like "Ek Baar Phir", "Uttaran", "Balika Vadhu", "Saraswatichandra", Yesim told IANS.
Yesim is a part of a large team of Turkish media persons that is visiting India as part of New Delhi's outreach to Istanbul.
Surprisingly, Hindi serials are more popular in Turkey than Bollywood movies. The Hindi movies that are popular are Aamir Khan starrer "Dangal", Salman Khan's "Bajrangi Bhaijan", Shah Rukh Khan's "Chennai Express" and even the Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya starrer "Jodhaa Akbar".
"Iss Pyar.." was first aired in November 2015, and placed in the non-prime time slot of 4 p.m. But seeing the huge enthusiasm and the TRPs, the channel decided to put it on the prime time slot of 9 p.m. in March 2016, and it has been running successfully since then.
"Since the past four years, there has been no dip in the approval ratings for the serial," Yesim told IANS, adding that if the approval ratings dip, they will move it to a lower slot.
Once people stop watching a serial, the channel takes it away from the airing list.
Other serials Kanal 17 is in talks to showcase include "Thapki Pyar Ki", a love story revolving a girl who has a stutter, and "Saath Nibhana Saathiya".
"We prefer family dramas that are female oriented. Turkish viewers love them. They identify with the family values, the close knit family, with love," she said.
Barun Sobti, the hero of "Iss Pyar.." visited Istanbul in 2016 to celebrate the show's success. The actor received an enthusiastic welcome from fans of the show. Avinash Sachdev of "Ek Baar Phir" has also visited Turkey, as well as Sanaya Irani of "Iss Pyar...".
"Our audiences get emotionally engaged with the drama in the Hindi serials, because they are easily able to identify with the story, the characters, the conflict in the story," said Yesim.
"Our perception of family life, of love, are so close to that of each other's (India-Turkey), that is why the serials are so successful," she added.
Asked how the Turkish audience identified with "Balika Vadhu" on child marriage, which is banned in India, she said that child marriage was a problem in Turkey earlier and has been banned in her country. "The people identify with the serial and it is a concept from the older times, which they know about," she added.
The show is titled "Ikimizin Yerine" in Turkey.
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz