Every year on September 6, Pakistanis around the world remember the soldiers who defended the country in various wars and pay tribute to the men and women who have served in uniform. For television, Defence Day has also offered an opportunity to tell stories of courage, sacrifice, friendship, and duty.
Long before patriotic films like Waar, Yalghaar, and Sher Dil became a staple of Pakistani cinema, PTV had already established a tradition of bringing the lives of soldiers, pilots, and naval officers into homes.
Some productions were based on real heroes and historic missions, such as Nishan-e-Haider, while others, namely Sunehray Din, Alpha Bravo Charlie, Ehd-e-Wafa, and Sinf-e-Aahan, featured fictional characters so memorable that audiences began to identify them with the Armed Forces.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to revisit these classics and modern attempts, where the armed forces were paid tribute by the country’s actors, writers, and directors.
The heroes on PTV
Some of the earliest and most memorable military productions took the form of long plays about recipients of the coveted ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ medal. These projects not only highlighted the lives and times of those who received the country’s highest military gallantry award but also brought to light the circumstances in which they fought the enemy and why they were deemed worthy of the medal.
Produced in the early 1980s, Major Raja Sarwar Shaheed featured the late Saleem Nasir in one of his most memorable performances. The cast also included some of Pakistan’s finest actors, such as Usman Peerzada, Khalid Hafeez, Khalid Butt, Talat Hussain, and Shakeel, with Sakina Samo as the lead character’s wife. The long play drew inspiration from Hollywood war flicks and cast some of the most handsome and fit actors as soldiers.
Major Tufail Mohammad Shaheed took a different approach, using flashbacks and a fast-paced narrative. Zille Subhan’s physical resemblance to Major Tufail added authenticity, and his memorable confrontation with Asif Raza Mir, who played an Indian Army officer, remains a highlight of the production. In that iconic scene, the two fought on the battlefield, with the Indian soldier initially having the upper hand, but the injured Pakistani fauji dominated through sheer willpower.
Then, more than a decade later, came Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed, in which PTV presenter Nasir Sherazi took the title role. Although he was not an actor, his physical resemblance to the title character was so striking that many couldn’t recognize him, despite his fame as a TV personality. The production was particularly remembered for its emotional writing and for the scenes surrounding the martyr’s death and burial.
The Pakistan Air Force had its own memorable tribute in the form of Rashid Minhas Shaheed. Directed by Shehzad Khalil, it featured real PAF personnel in several roles and was filmed extensively on location. Its aerial sequences were ambitious for their time, while Tina Sani’s rendition of Ae Rah-e-Haq Ke Shaheedoadded to its emotional impact.
Sunehray Din changes the game
If the earlier PTV productions laid the foundation for what later became known as ISPR productions, Sunehray Din changed how Pakistanis viewed military drama.
Written by Shoaib Mansoor and co-directed by Mohsin Ali, the 1991 serial took viewers inside the life of a military cadet. Rather than focusing solely on battle and sacrifice, it explored friendship, discipline, humor, and ambition.
It also introduced a generation of actors, including Saleem Sheikh, Faraz Inam, Kiran Zaman, and Qasim Khan. Faraz Inam and Qasim Khan’s Faraz and Qasim became so popular that they reprised their roles in Alpha Bravo Charlie. Decades later, Faraz appeared as the promoted version of his character in Ehd-e-Wafa.
The Alpha Bravo Charlie phenomenon
Seven years after Sunehray Din aired, Shoaib Mansoor returned with Alpha Bravo Charlie, which arguably set the gold standard for Pakistani military television.
Following three friends—Faraz, Gulsher, and Kashif—as their careers took different paths, the drama blended humor, friendship, romance, and tragedy with the realities of military service.
Shot on location in Siachen and Bosnia, it had a scale rarely seen on Pakistani television. The helicopter sequence featuring Kashif became iconic, and Gulsher’s death remains among the most discussed television moments among Pakistani audiences.
More than two decades later, Alpha Bravo Charlie remains among Pakistan’s most celebrated television serials. Not only did its dialogues become popular, but many of its situations and scenes were also recreated by Indian directors such as Rajkumar Santoshi and Farhan Akhtar in their films Pukaar and Lakshya.
From Army to Navy and Air Force
Although they were late to the party, the Pakistan Navy also produced memorable stories in the 1990s, such as Ghazi Shaheed and Operation Dwarka.
Directed by Kazim Pasha and written by Asad Mohammad Khan, Ghazi Shaheed dramatized the story of the submarine PNS Ghazi. Starring Shabbir Jan, Adnan Jeelani, Sami Sani, Ghalib Kamal, and Humayun Saeed, the telefilm was particularly ambitious for attempting the first-ever underwater sequence shot in Pakistan.
The collaboration between PTV and the Pakistan Navy, Operation Dwarka, revisited one of the Navy’s celebrated missions. Featuring veterans such as Talat Hussain, Shakeel, Talat Iqbal, and Qazi Wajid, it successfully blended history with television drama.
The military genre evolved further with Shahpar and Sher Dil, both centered on the Pakistan Air Force. Written by Mustansar Hussain Tarar and featuring Faisal Rehman on his return to acting, Shahpar blended aviation, family, and military life, while Sher Dil explored the lives of cadets and officers and the effects of their prolonged absences on their families. Every actor who should have passed for an aviator in another life played one in this serial, penned by Amjad Islam Amjad and directed by Haseeb Hasan.
A new generation of heroes
After a period when patriotic television productions became less frequent, Ehd-e-Wafa brought the genre back to mainstream television in 2019.
Starring Ahad Raza Mir, Osman Khalid Butt, Ahmad Ali Akbar, and Wahaj Ali, the serial began as the story of four friends—one of whom came from an armed forces background—before evolving into a tale of maturity, responsibility, and service.
Written by Mustafa Afridi and directed by Saife Hasan, it succeeded because patriotism was not its sole subject. Humor, romance, family conflict, and friendship were given as much importance as the military storyline.
Faraz Inam’s return as Major General Faraz also created a direct link to Sunehray Din and Alpha Bravo Charlie. In one of the many scenes shared by the father-son duo of Faraz Inam and Ahad Raza Mir, Faraz Inam spoke about friendship while looking directly at a picture taken during the shooting of Sunehray Din, connecting three generations of Pakistani television.
ARY Digital’s Sinf-e-Aahan took the idea further by centering the story on female soldiers. Featuring Sajal Aly, Kubra Khan, Ramsha Khan, Syra Yousuf, and Dananeer Mobeen, the Umera Ahmed drama won a strong following for its relatively realistic treatment and its tribute to women serving in the Armed Forces.
Remembering Marium
Television’s patriotic storytelling also began highlighting women through real-life narratives, and Sarmad Khoosat’s directorial Ek Thi Marium was the first project to do so. Written by Umera Ahmed, the telefilm tells the story of Marium Mukhtiar, a PAF pilot who lost her life in the line of duty.
Sanam Baloch played Marium, with Hina Khawaja Bayat, Behroze Sabzwari, and others completing the cast. The telefilm focused not only on her sacrifice but also on her determination to join the PAF and her family’s initial concerns. It was an important reminder that stories of courage in uniform are not exclusively for men.
The Navy returns with Laal and Hangor S.131
Another telefilm, Laal, written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Haseeb Hasan, brought the Pakistan Navy back to television in 2019. Starring Bilal Abbas Khan, Kubra Khan, Saleem Meraj, and Gohar Rasheed, the telefilm follows a young man who overcomes his circumstances to join the Navy and become a hero forever.
Hangor S.131 later revisited one of the Pakistan Navy’s most celebrated wartime episodes, dramatizing the actions of the submarine PNS Hangor in the 1971 war.
Written by Saji Gul and directed by Saqib Khan, the telefilm featured a star-studded cast of Zahid Ahmed, Saba Qamar, Shehzad Sheikh, and Durrefishan Saleem, bringing the submarine’s story and its crew to a new generation of viewers.
Remembering Captain Asfandyar Shaheed
The tradition continues with Geo TV’s Captain Asfandyar Shaheed, which dramatizes the true story of a young Pakistan Army officer who displayed exceptional courage during operations against Fitna Al-Khawarij and died in the line of duty.
Written by Abid Hassan Abbasi and directed by Haseeb Hassan, the drama stars Ali Ammar as Captain Asfandyar Shaheed. It highlights the young officer’s courage, military skill, and tactical expertise as he confronts the enemy and ultimately embraces martyrdom in service to his country.
More than just uniforms
The strongest Pakistani military dramas have grasped one key point: audiences connect with people before they connect with institutions.
That is why Sunehray Din remains beloved for its friendships, Alpha Bravo Charlie for its characters, and Ehd-e-Wafa for its blend of humor, emotion, and service. Productions such as Ek Thi Marium and Sinf-e-Aahan also broadened the conversation by bringing women’s experiences to the fore.
Patriotic television can easily become reliant on speeches and slogans, but the most enduring dramas have let their characters laugh, fall in love, make mistakes, feel fear, and face loss.
As Pakistan observes Defence Day once again, these productions are more than entertainment. They preserve stories of courage, introduce younger generations to the people behind the uniforms, and remind audiences that television can turn history into something they can see, feel, and remember.
