Humsafar
Humsafar () is a 2011 Pakistani drama telenovela based on the novel of the same name by Farhat Ishtiaq (who also wrote the screenplay) and directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat. It stars Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Naveen Waqar in lead roles and Atiqa Odho, Hina Khawaja Bayat, Behroze Sabzwari and Noor Hassan Rizvi in supporting roles. Humsafar became the most successful program on the channel till date, earning it widespread acclaim and international recognition. Due to its success, critics referred to this era of Pakistani television as a "Golden Age". It was claimed as the highest-rated serial of its time in Pakistan, with the TRPs of 9.71, peaking at 11.9 TRPs. Plot
Khirad Ahsaan belongs to a small lower-middle-class community in Hyderabad and lives with her widowed mother, Maimoona, in a small apartment. As the series opens, she has recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree and (as her late father was a math teacher) is very strong in mathematics. Maimoona's brother, Baseerat Hussain, is a self-made millionaire, who lives in Karachi. He is married to Farida, a social worker who runs a human rights NGO. They have one son, Ashar, who received his MBA from Yale University and runs the family's high-powered firm with his father. After Maimoona receives a cancer diagnosis, Baseerat brings her and Khirad to his large home in Karachi for treatment. When she realizes there is no cure, Maimoona asks Baseerat to arrange a marriage for Khirad. Feeling guilty for not taking better care of Maimoona, Baseerat compensates by promising that Ashar will marry Khirad, unbeknownst to Farida, Khirad, or Ashar. Farida opposes the match until Baseerat threatens to throw her out of the house if she does not accept it. While initially opposed, Ashar is emotionally manipulated by his father for the marriage, as is Khirad by her mother. Sara (Ashar's maternal cousin who is in love with him) attempts suicide after both learning about the match and hearing from Ashar that he only sees her as a friend. After he rescues her, she promises to move on. Despite being against the idea, Ashar and Khirad get married in a home ceremony. Within a short period, Maimoona dies, and Farida appears to have had a change of heart, treating Khirad as a daughter. After an initial period of complications, Ashar and Khirad eventually find themselves deeply in love with each other. After Baseerat's sudden death, and encouraged by Ashar to follow her dreams, Khirad enrols in a master's program in applied mathematics. Shortly after joining the program, she discovers that one of her classmates (Khizer) is Sara's paternal first cousin. Ashar becomes secretly jealous their friendship. Khirad's involvement in college and her achievements also bothers him. She and Farida also learn that Khirad is pregnant but decide to keep it as a surprise for Ashar. However, Khirad never has the opportunity to tell him the news because she has been framed by Khizer, Farida, and Zarina (Sara's mom). Khirad learns that the love and attention from Farida, Zarina, and Khizar was a facade that hid a complex conspiracy. Farida feels that because Khirad had a lower-class upbringing, she is beneath Ashar. Zarina hopes that Sara will stop obsessing over Ashar's marriage to Khirad. Farida made a deal with Khizar to pay for his graduate studies in the United States and a marriage to Sara, unbeknownst to Sara and Zarina. With Baseerat gone, Farida (who never forgave him for threatening to throw her out) convinces Ashar that Khirad and Khizar had an affair, despite her pleas of innocence. Unable to bear the idea and unwilling to hear Khirad's side of the story, Ashar gets away to a beach. Farida uses his absence to further fabricate and throw Khirad out of the house (as an act of revenge against Baseerat) in the middle of the night. Khirad quickly writes a note to Ashar proclaiming her innocence and leaves it with one of the house helpers. She is then taken to Hyderabad by a good samaritan and finds a home with her former neighbour, Batool Bano. As Farida told Ashar that Khirad had run away with Khizar, Ashar refused Khirad's multiple calls. Thus, she realises that she will never be able to convince him of her innocence and gives up on their marriage. She gives birth alone to a premature baby and decides she would raise Hareem herself, working as a math teacher. Four years later, driven by Hareem's need for open heart surgery, Khirad confronts Ashar. Her youthful innocence and fear of the world have now been both replaced by a firm and courageous persona that allows her to stand up to Ashar. She has also learned how to protect herself with documentation, evidence that forces Ashar to accept the reality that Hareem (whom he did not know existed) is his daughter. He brings them back home during the medical procedures. Khirad is then forced to confront both Sara and Farida, but the strength, independence, and confidence born of her hardships prevent them from bullying her. Sara confesses her love to Ashar again, but he informs her that he cannot love anyone and that she should stop pursuing him. Khizar returns from America and starts to blackmail Farida by threatening to reveal Khirad's innocence to Ashar if Sara does not marry him. Under pressure, Farida visits Sara and urges her to marry Khizar, but Sara and her mother refuse. Distraught, Sara attempts suicide again, and this time she succeeds. After Hareem's successful operation, Khirad secretly returns to Hyderabad and leaves Hareem with Ashar (telling him through a letter that he has full custody because she is not financially capable of taking care of her). However, the period with Khirad rekindled Asher's feelings for her. While looking through a box of albums, Ashar finds Khirad's letter from four years earlier and finally reads it for the first time. The truth of the letter overwhelms him as he realizes he committed a terrible mistake in believing the scene from four years before. He then overhears a phone call between Farida and Khizar, which confirms that what he saw was a fabrication and that Farida deliberately threw Khirad out to disavow the unborn child. Horrified by the reality of his unintentional complicity with the conspiracy against Khirad, he flees to Hyderabad to beg her forgiveness. He manages to convince Khirad to return home, where they face Farida. In his absence, Farida had found the letter, and thus upon seeing them both, begins to repeat her series of lies. However, Ashar stands up to her, perhaps for the first time. He rejects Farida's narrative, proclaims Khirad's innocence, and states that she belongs in this home with his daughter (whom Farida also attempted to disavow). Farida becomes so frightened by Ashar's decision to support Khirad that she has a nervous breakdown and loses all connection with reality. Ashar takes full responsibility for all the events and begs Khirad to stay with him. Khirad is hesitant, stating that she is a different person now and that she isn't certain she can love him as she used to. She also wonders how Ashar could have imagined she was capable of the narrative fabricated about her and how he could have abandoned her if he genuinely loved her. Deeply ashamed, Ashar agrees and states that it was entirely his fault and that he has no right to expect she can ever forgive him. However, he hopes she will stay so they can raise Hareem together. Khirad reluctantly consents to the arrangement, and a few months later, the three are a real family unit. 