After breaking the world record for the most new subscribers on YouTube, the Turkish drama Resurrection: Ertugrul has become a major hit in Pakistan and its producer is ready to take steps for a co-production.
Mehmet Bozdag, who is also the screenwriter of the drama, said Muslims should not only work together in politics and trade but also in culture and the arts, reported Anadolu Agency.
“I am surprised that we did not make any collaborations till this day because we call each other brother countries,” said Bozdag, referring to Turkey and Pakistan. “However, we have never signed a deal in the field of culture and arts. So then where is the fellowship?”
Bozdag said there should be joint projects where producers and actors come together.
“When one of us is in trouble, both countries are mobilized. But we should also do this act on better days and organize days of culture not only in the cinema but also in the field of cuisine, museums and history.
“We shall share our experiences with Pakistan and they should share theirs with us, and together we will sign world-shaking deals,” he said.
Bozdag said he expected the series to attract attention in Pakistan, but he never thought it would be such a success in such a short time. “Even if Turkey and Pakistan have separate borders, the souls are of one nation,” he said.
After receiving a degree in history, Bozdag said he came up with the idea of a drama on how the Ottoman Empire was established, earned its success throughout the world and became an important Islamic state.”With these steps, we came up with a story of five seasons, and it will continue as Kurulus: Osman,” he said.
Bozdag said today, the Islamic world misses the spirit of the religion, its purity, humanity and justice, which is why everyone is longing for the period.
The series, when first featured, took first place in the rankings in Turkey and Bozdag emphasized that after it was released abroad, many people converted to Islam. For a year, the team of the drama had worked to bring the project to the screen and the actors trained for over nine months for their characters, according to Bozdag.
“When we started this project, we were not able to find trained horses that ran at the same time, tents were not produced and what people ate during the 13th century was a dilemma. When writing the story, I was 30 years old, the company was new and nobody believed in the project. After I wrote down the story, we invited a painter from Mongolia, and he depicted the story, and so the actors saw the project and had faith in it,” Bozdag said.
Bozdag stressed that there were gaps in historic data about the time, and in these cases, they came up with ideas using their imagination.
“While imagining, we never forgot about the reality of the period and the spirit of Islam. All of the historical dramas around the world do the same thing. We are not the first ones to come up with this method,” he said.