“This was my life-long passion project."
Pakistani musician Bilal Maqsood has launched an online puppet show titled Pakkay Dost, exclusively for children.
The puppet show is an educational show that uses humour as an engaging mechanism for small children.
Bilal, who is better known as a member of the famous band Strings, said that the idea of producing a children’s show was something he had been thinking about for a while.
Bilal took to Instagram to share the news and he was inundated with many positive messages from fans, who applauded him for taking this step in children’s entertainment.
One netizen wrote: “Forget the kids, I think I’m going to binge-watch this show.”
Another said: “Brilliant. I’m so glad that quality Urdu entertainment is back for kids.”
One person commented: “This is super cool! I love it. I will be watching it with my kids, they need to learn Urdu, this will help a lot.”
At the Pakkay Dost launch event, Bilal revealed he decided to create the show because there is a lack of children’s songs in Urdu.
He explained: “This was my life-long passion project. When Mikael, my first son, was born, I used to wonder why we don’t have songs for children in Urdu.
“We grew up listening to Sohail Rana’s music. Even today when we hear his songs, it takes us back to our childhood.
“These songs keep us connected to our values and our culture, but when my kids were growing up, there wasn’t any such thing.
“They listened to Sesame Street and Mary Poppins.”
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Pakkay Dost consists of four episodes, lasting 15 minutes each, and will look at topics such as alphabets, days of the week and life lessons.
Speaking of his project, Bilal said that the show was a mixture of humour and valuable life lessons that would make learning an enjoyable experience.
Bilal Maqsood went on to say that he and his team were already working on a second series.
Sarwat Gilani attended the launch event and she was full of praise for the puppet show.
Sarwat said: “As a mother, it is very tough for me to teach the Urdu alphabet to kids.
“But teaching Urdu alphabets through this in the form of a rhyme, mothers will thank Bilal for this.”
“When great minds work hard, with perseverance and dedication, something spectacular is created. Such is the story of Pakkay Dost.
“A first of its kind, Urdu Edutainment content for children, where they can learn values that define us, sheds light on Urdu as a language, covering years of gap in the area of educational entertainment.”
Sarwar also encouraged every parent to allow their children to watch Pakkay Dost and to express gratitude for the team and their innovative ideas.
Pakistan’s most famous puppet show was in the 1970s when the popular puppet Uncle Sargam was introduced on the iconic children’s show Kaliyan.
To date, Uncle Sargam and his sidekick Maasi Museebatay are thought to be the most iconic puppet duo on Pakistani television.
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