Mere Humsafar (TV series)

Mere Humsafar is a Romantic Pakistani drama television series produced by Humayun Saeed and Shehzad Naseeb under the banner Six Sigma Plus. Directed by Qasim Ali Mureed and written by Saira Raza, it aired from 30 December 2021 to 29 September 2022 on ARY Digital. It stars Farhan Saeed and Hania Aamir as leads along with Saba Hameed, Waseem Abbas, Samina Ahmad, Zoya Nasir and Omer Shahzad in supporting roles.

Mere Humsafar revolves around a girl, Hala, who is left by her father at her paternal house where she is mistreated, especially by her Tai Jan (paternal aunt). Later, her cousin Hamza, returns from abroad, marries her and gives her the respect she always needed. The series met with mixed reviews from the audience and is highly rated. It has gained popularity in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and UAE.

At the 22nd Lux Style Awards, the series received seven nominations, including Best TV Play and Best Ensemble Play, and won the Best TV Original Soundtrack.

Plot
Hala, a British-Pakistani girl, is left alone in Pakistan at a young age by her father, Nafees, because his new European wife did not want to raise his daughter from a previous marriage. Loved by her father but then abandoned, Hala is mistreated by her uncle Raees, aunt Shah Jahan, and aunt Sofia. She grows up to be an innocent teenager who is always scolded. The only solace she has in the family is her grandmother, Riffat, and uncle Jalees. Raees narrates her father false stories about her and never lets her talk to her father. She is in love with her best friend's (Shafaq) cousin, Khurram, who takes her on a few dates secretly. Shah Jahan discovers this and creates misunderstandings by narrating false narratives to Khurram. Khurram's mother falls severely ill on discovering her son had been deceiving the family and Hala, as he was engaged to Shafaq, but Khurram blames Hala instead of seeing his own fault. Raees plans on getting Hala married to his employee Naveed, who is mentally unstable.

Later, Hala's cousin, Hamza, breaks off her marriage. Later on, for a mistake committed by Hamza's younger sister, Rumi, that leads to Sameen being attacked by goons; Shah Jahan, in order to save her daughter, says everything has been done by Hala and throws her out of the house. Hamza finds Hala alone by the roads, so he brings her home. Raees opposes Hamza's actions and keeps a condition for Hala: to live at their home she needs to be a relative of the family and denies her entry as they say her own father has ended the relationship with her. While Hala is left with no choice, Hamza does the unthinkable and marries Hala at the mosque. The others are upset from the marriage, since it was decided at a young age that Hamza will be marrying Sameen when they grow up. Sameen is now heartbroken about Hamza marrying Hala. Shah Jahan's hatred towards Hala grows even more, and she accuses Hala that she brainwashed her son (Hamza).

Hala's life becomes harder living there as no one accepts her as Hamza's wife except for Riffat. While overcoming the hatred and hardships there, Hamza helps her find confidence in herself. They begin to fall for each other. While Khurram saves Sameen's life and both bump into each other multiple times, they grow a friendship with each other. One day Sameen takes Khurram to her house, where he realises that it is Hala's house as he had gone there before and sees her and Hamza together from behind the bushes and vows to take revenge on her.

It is soon revealed that Hala is pregnant and will not be able to travel to London. After knowing of Hala's pregnancy, Riffat and Hamza are over the moon, but the others are less than happy. Shah Jahan, seeing Hala's importance grow because of her unborn child, decides to make Hala miscarry her child. In order to do that, she gives her a pain medicine and Hala, thinking Shah Jahan has changed, takes the medicine. Afterwards, when the truth is revealed to Hala, she confronts Shah Jahan about it with Hamza, but Shah Jahan denies it. Instead, Shah Jahan blames Hala for trying to abort her own baby. After this, Hala and Hamza fight a lot and are upset with each other.

Sameen's parents are thinking of marrying Khurram and Sameen, and for that purpose they call Khurram to their house to finalize the proposal. Shah Jahan sees Khurram and recognizes him. She blurts out about Khurram and Hala's past, which shocks everyone. Khurram refuses to recognise Hala. Hala, feeling under pressure, lies that she also doesn't know him. Shah Jahan is denounced as a liar and everyone accuses her of being insane. Hala is deeply traumatized by this because she told a lie for the first time.

Hala finally decides to tell Hamza about her past, but Shah Jahan doesn't let that happen. A day before Khurram's engagement, he recalls his mother's words and decides to give up on revenge. Shah Jahan asks Khurram to back off from engagement, but he does not. And he also tells Shah Jahan that he won't take any revenge. Shah Jahan gets angry and comes up with an evil plan. She manipulates Hala and takes her to Khurram's house and asks her to request him to go away from Sameen's life. While Hala is talking to Khurram, Shah Jahan makes Hamza listen their conversation in a sneaky way. Hamza misunderstands the situation and Hala's words, and gets brokehearted. Everyone in the family discover that Hala knew Khurram much earlier. Meanwhile, Nafees (Hala's father) comes back with his other daughter, Maryam. Riffat dies while narrating Hala's painful experiences in life. The engagement of Sameen and Khurram is broken off after knowing the truth. Nafees and Maryam support Hala and make her regain her self-confidence.

One day, Khurram goes to Sameen and apologizes to her for his mistakes. However, Sameen tells him to ask for Hala's forgiveness first. When Khurram comes to apologize to Hala, Hamza sees them together and becomes doubtful. Meanwhile, Rumi also marries her boyfriend secretly, as Shah Jahan had refused to talk about her marriage with Raees. Later on, Shah Jahan lies to Hala that Hamza will expel her from his life after taking her child. Hala believes Shah Jahan's words, causing her to doubt Hamza. Hala and Hamza have a fight as they both feel betrayed by each other. They decide they don't want to live together anymore. However, when Hamza goes to Khurram's house to tell him about their split, Khurram makes Hamza realize his love for Hala. On the day of Hala's doctor's appointment, Rumi is being engaged to someone else. Hala discovers Rumi crying on the streets and helps her and Hamza in resolving Rumi's secret marriage issue. On the other hand, Sameen plans to go study abroad, and Jalees decides to sell his share of the house to fund Sameen's education.

Hamza tries to get back with Hala. However, Hala learns that Hamza had been trying to reunite her with Khurram. Hala falls unconscious from the shock, and at the same time delivers a baby girl. On returning home, Rumi exposes Shah Jahan. After learning the truth about his mom, Hamza decides to go to Australia with Hala and their daughter for a fresh start. Shah Jahan finally asks for forgiveness from both of them and requests them to stay. Hala forgives Shah Jahan and convinces Hamza to remain in Pakistan to look after their child and the family. Rumi also gets officially married to her boyfriend, Waqas. Khurram says he will wait for Sameen until she comes back from abroad. Finally, Hala and Hamza confesses their love to each other over a cup of tea.

Main

 * Farhan Saeed as Hamza Raees Ahmed - Raees and Shah Jahan's elder son; Rifat's grandson; Roomi's elder brother; Hala's husband
 * Hania Amir as Hala Hamza Ahmed (née Nafees Ahmed) - Nafees's daughter; Rifat's granddaughter; Maryam's elder half-sister; Hamza's wife
 * Hoorain Lyka Ali as Young Hala Nafees Ahmed

Recurring

 * Samina Ahmad as Riffat Aara Ahmed - Raees, Nafees and Jalees' mother; Shah Jahan and Sofia's aunt and mother-in-law; Hamza, Hala, Maryam, Roomi and Sameen's grandmother (Deceased)
 * Saba Hameed as Shah Jahan Raees Ahmed - Raees's wife; Riffat's niece and daughter-in-law: Hamza and Roomi's mother
 * Waseem Abbas as Raees Ahmad - Riffat's eldest son; Shah Jahan's husband; Nafees and Jalees' elder brother; Hamza and Roomi's father
 * Tara Mahmood as Sofia Jalees Ahmed - Jalees' wife; Riffat's niece and daughter-in-law; Sameen's mother
 * Aamir Qureshi as Jalees Ahmed - Riffat's youngest son; Raees and Nafees's younger brother; Sofia's husband; Sameen's father
 * Alyy Khan as Nafees Ahmed - Riffat's second son; Raees younger and Jalees's elder brother; Hala and Maryam's father
 * Zoya Nasir as Sameen Jalees Ahmad - Sofia and Jalees' daughter; Riffat's granddaughter; Khurram's former fiancée
 * Hira Khan as Roomi Waqas (née Raees Ahmed) - Raees and Shah Jahan' younger daughter; Riffat's granddaughter; Hamza's younger sister; Waqas's wife
 * Hira Umer as Maryam Nafees Ahmed - Nafees's daughter; Riffat's granddaughter; Hala's younger half-sister; Musa and Abraham's elder sister
 * Omer Shahzad as Khurram - Shafaq's cousin and former fiancée; Sameen's former fiancée; Hala’s ex-boyfriend
 * Syeda Iman Zaid as Shafaq - Hala's best friend; Khurram's cousin and former fiancée
 * Farah Nadeem as Khurram's mother and Shafaq's aunt (Deceased)

Development
The project was first announced in August 2021 with the working title of Jhooti. Director Qasim Ali Mureed told Dawn Images that it's a family story with a love story in the middle of it. He further added that the story touches upon contemporary issues and it's all quite relatable.

Casting
Hania Aamir was approached to portray Hala. While, she first refused the show because she felt Hala was not the kind of role she would accept immediately. She later agreed to do it because of co-actor Farhan Saeed and director Qasim Ali Mureed. Farhan Saeed was cast to portray Hamza, although he was not the first choice for the role. Writer Saira Raza revealed that she was apprehensive to cast him because of his portrayal of an immature and mischievous person in Suno Chanda, a complete opposite of Hamza.

Release
The first look and the teaser of the series was unveiled on 21 December 2021. The first episode aired on 30 December 2021 on ARY Digital and subsequent episodes were released every Thursday.

Soundtrack
The Mere Humsafar title song is sung by Amanat Ali, Yashal Shahid and Zaheer Abbas, composed by Naveed Nashad with lyrics by Qamar Nashad.

Critical reception
The series met with mostly positive reviews. The performances of the star cast received positive response with special praises directed towards Farhan Saeed and Hania Aamir's characters.

A reviewer from The Friday Times praised the character of Hamza but criticised the series to glorify the violence.

The Brown Identity stated, "'Mere Humsafar' will always be remembered for Hamza and Hala as a hit pair. But, the real winner of the show is Sameen's character. The show was good enough – but it could have been great." Galaxy Lollywood noted, "The dreamy love story, the chemistry and the soundtrack makes Mere Humsafar so popular." Indian newspaper Navbharat Times termed "Hala and Hamza's chemistry" as the biggest reason for the success of the show. India TV noted, "Hala and Hamza's performance, chemistry and the title track has hooked the Indian audience."

Television ratings
Apart from critical acclaim, Mere Humsafar was one of the most popular dramas of 2022. The series achieved its highest rating of 11.2 in its 38th and 40th episodes.

Controversy
The series was often called out for being similar to the 2011 series Humsafar. It also landed in controversy after its showcased Hindu religion. During the death sequence, the cast was dressed in white, a customary of the Hindus.

Impact
Mere Humsafar was ranked by the Pakistani media as one of the best and most watched drama of 2022. Farhan Saeed and Hania Aamir received positive feedback for their portrayal of Hamza and Hala, and for breaking various stereotype. Saeed and Aamir's pair was termed as one of the most loved on-screen couple of 2022. The series received high praises and popularity across the globe, mainly in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and UAE. It has often trended on Twitter and is one of the most watched Pakistani drama series on YouTube with over a billion views.