KARACHI: In normal times, citizens hungry for entertainment during the fasting month of Ramzan would avidly watch television game shows as contestants, urged on by rowdy studio audiences, compete for lavish prizes. “It is not as if we’re going to stop the Ramzan ritual of entertaining you,” said Mustafa. The cooking shows and religious programmes that vie with the game shows for audience share are also having to adjust to the restrictions, as authorities try to head off a full-blown epidemic, as the number of cases in Pakistan topped 13,000 this week, including 281 deaths. Prizes offered by game shows have been downsized too, partly due to lack of money and partly out of respect for the more sombre national mood. “You just won’t see the kind of rambunctious shows you saw before,” said Nadeem Raza, a producer at Such Television.

Source: Pakistan Today April 29, 2020 18:00 UTC