Daily Times

Pakistani vlogger Mustafa Hanif, better known as the “Pakistani Ertugrul”, has shared that if an acting gig in an Islamic series was ever offered to him, he would accept it.

Hanif, who looks like the lead actor Engin Altan Duzyatan aka Ertugrul from the popular Turkish series Dirilis: Ertugrul or Ertugrul Ghazi told Geo Pakistan that if there was ever an Islamic series made and if he was offered a role in it, then he would accept it.

Talking about his sudden rise to fame, the YouTuber revealed how a friend of his told him he looked like Ertugrul in 2018.

“In 2018 a friend of mine told me that I looked like this character but it wasn’t until the drama began airing in Pakistan when people starting telling me even more than I looked like him,” Hanif said.

He added, “That is also when people told me I should work on this and make some videos.”

When asked if the sudden stardom had changed him, Hanif said that one of the benefits of all the media appearances had been that a lot of brands were now very interested in working and collaborating with him.

Hanif, who works in a private company, said that since his video got viral he has been getting a lot more opportunities and would try to derive benefit from them.

“I will try to take this along with my work and try to get as much benefit as I can with the opportunities that are coming my way,” he said.

‘In 2018 a friend of mine told me that I looked like this character but it wasn’t until the drama began airing in Pakistan when people starting telling me even more than I looked like him,’ Hanif said

Responding to his video where he could be seen riding a white horse dressed like Ertugrul from head to toe, Hanif shared that he had been planning to shoot it for a while.

“There was a lot of work behind this idea. I had been planning for a while now and then I finally decided to shoot it. This was shot in Ramazan and I arranged everything, the horse, the costume and everything and then called the cameraman to shoot it after Fajr,” he said.

When asked if there was a Halime Sultan in his life, Hanif said she came into his life four years ago.

He added that he was planning to travel to Turkey soon and would try to meet the cast of the drama.

Pakistani broadcaster PTV began airing Urdu-dubbed episodes of the show during Ramazan and since then, it has become one of the most-watched programmes.

According to PTV Managing Director Aamer Manzoor, no television show has been able to stir Pakistan the way Ertugrul Ghazi has. “People feel that it is the Turkish play of Game of Thrones,” he told Reuters.

The show also got a ringing endorsement from Prime Minister Imran Khan, who said it would help combat “vulgarity” from Hollywood and Bollywood and promote family culture.