Pakistani TV has a giant audience of global superfans. The Hum Awards came to Hamilton to meet them

As the striking Arsalan Butt makes his way over to hysterically screaming fans outside the First Ontario Centre in Hamilton on a balmy Saturday evening, Eshaal Ali barrels through a tiny opening among the sea of people and stands cheek to cheek with her favourite soap actor. "Mil gayi amma!" she yells ("I got it, Mom!"). The Brampton resident is referring, of course, to a much coveted selfie with one of the hottest young stars in Pakistan — Butt won the best actor award — all while balancing her one-year-old on her hip. Ali's mother-in-law isn't impressed. "Bache ko chot lag jaani hai," she says ("The baby will get hurt!"), deadpanning while also quickly looking to see who's set to arrive next on the red carpet at the sixth annual Hum Awards.

The award show, which has ventured out of Pakistan for the first time, gives out accolades for excellence in television programming by the Karachi-based Hum Network Limited. It also hosts some of Pakistan's most popular soaps on its television network. Soaps like Humsafar (Companion) and Zindagi Gulzaar Hai (Life is Blossoming) and their actors, Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, have legions of fans across South Asia, the Middle East, parts of Europe and North America. These fans follow their every tweet, post and Instagram Story, desperately "shipping" their favourite stars.

Raneem Qadri made the trek to Hamilton from New York with her friends, a motley crew of Indian and Malaysian-American soap fans, to attend the awards. "I hope Asfandyar and Zubiya win tonight!" she says of Ahad Raza Mir and Sajjal Ali's characters in the hit drama Yakeen Ka Safar (A journey of trust). "They are the sweetest couple and the way he looks at her, I could just die!"

"I started watching these dramas because of my wife," says Shakir Shaikh, a Mississauga-based businessman who clamoured after actors on the red carpet to pose with his wife. "I watched Humsafar and was surprised by how mature and realistic the content was, unlike Hindi soaps in India, which are so over-the-top. And the language (a mix of Urdu, Pashto and Punjabi) is just so poetic and elegant."

Faria Khan, another fan, says she's watching everything on Hum TV at the moment, because, she emphasized, "Western dramas like Quantico have stopped making sense!." She continues: "We came out here to support this event because they are our people and they are a part of our daily lives. We follow them on television, we love the stories and hands down our actors are better looking and more talented than Bollywood stars in India. The songs, the dance, the costumes...what's not to love!"

I was blown away by how far Pakistani dramas have come over the years...There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of this cultural phenomenon.- Ahad Raza Mir, actor

Toronto-based lifestyle blogger Sidra Syed covered the awards for her blog, and her Instagram became flooded with comments from fans. Syed reminisced about how, while growing up, her parents used Pakistani dramas as a tool to teach the kids Urdu. "I think watching Humsafar on YouTube was the turning point for us. We all got interested again in dramas after a brief lull. Now, dramas have a wide-ranging effect on the audience here and it's across generations. You will see youngsters emulating the fashion and language. The storylines have changed dramatically too — issues like child abuse, domestic abuse are being talked about, so it's very current, very real."

Also mobbed on the red carpet was Ahad Raza Mir, who grew up in Calgary but moved to Pakistan to pursue a career in acting. Mir attests to the human connection these dramas emphasize for their audience. "I was blown away by how far Pakistani dramas have come over the years," he says. "I used to think they were too cheesy but I was clearly ill-informed. When I actually saw some of the work, I was stunned. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of this cultural phenomenon. There's a magic in the story, the music and I feel all that comes together beautifully to create an atmosphere of heightened fantasy mixed with reality, which clicks."

Mir belongs to Pakistani film royalty: his father, Asif Raza Mir is an acclaimed actor who had a successful run in the late '80s, while his grandfather Raza Mir is considered a pioneer of the Pakistani film industry — he was the cinematographer of the country's first ever film, 1948's Teri Yaad (Your Memory). Mir won both the popular and Best New Sensation award on Saturday for his role as a young doctor in Yakeen Ka Safar.

Mir is also set to make an appearance as a Pakistani Air Force pilot in a new film Parwaaz Hai Junoon (Soaring Passion) alongside another acting heavyweight, Hamza Abbasi. Abbasi — known for his outspoken views on Pakistan's political shenanigans and his support for the new establishment — mirrored the popular sentiment of enthusiastic audience members running up and down the aisles during the show waving the Pakistani flag. General elections just concluded in Pakistan with a new incoming prime minister: Imran Khan, a former cricket player turned politician. "Please send me a video of this gentleman with the flag — I want to send it to our prime minister," he asked the audience.

Politics gave way to high octane dance and music routines, including one particularly heart-stopping moment when a worried Mir and two dancers were left stranded in a trapeze ring suspended from the ceiling for almost seven minutes.

Mir gets nostalgic when talking about his fans. "There is a lot of love for us. In Pakistan, fans are possessive about us. In Canada, they are proud of the fact that Pakistani actors are so loved around the world and their craft is appreciated across age-groups, communities and countries. It's a huge responsibility because expectations are riding high now more than ever because the global nature of content."

"The world is watching us and nothing's more exciting than that."