Punjabi Dramas are semi-improvised

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

stage plays popular in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

region of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The plays are scripted but actors and performers are given enough freedom to add humor along the way while staying within boundaries. Punjabi dramas are characterized by taunts which are almost entirely of an adult nature, although this is at many times done through word play which implies something else. Later on actors of Faisalabad became famous in the scene and choreographed dances on Punjabi film songs were also introduced which increased the popularity of these stage shows considerably. Sometimes the plays also carry a moral.

Audience and popularity

Punjabi dramas are popular with the lower and middle class and were made famous through distribution on CD's in the mid and late 1990s. Recently, due availability of these dramas on

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, they have also become increasingly popular in

region of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Genre of comedy

Punjabi dramas are semi-improvisational. Mostly actors keep going on for several minutes, taunting each other. Women in the stage shows are shown normally of ill repute and this is made very clear through the taunts they get from male actors. Famous people such as

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players, Pakistani and Indian film stars and even celebrities from Western culture such as

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, Colonel Sanders of

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are used in humor.

Venues and tours

Stage shows are mostly concentrated in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Faisalabad,

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

and other Punjab cities and also go on tours abroad to the

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, where stage shows are distributed through

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References

{{Reflist Punjabi culture Theatre in India