Mann Mayal

Mann Mayal
Genre	Family Drama Serial drama Romantic drama
Created by	Momina Duraid
Written by	Samira Fazal
Directed by	Haseeb Hassan
Starring	Maya Ali Hamza Ali Abbasi Gohar Rasheed Ayesha Khan
Opening theme	"Tere Naal Mein laiyan" by QB
Composer	Shuja Hyder
Country of origin	Pakistan
Original language	Urdu
No. of episodes	4 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Momina Duraid Samina Humayun Saeed Sana Shahnawaz Tariq Shah
Production locations	Hyderabad, Sindh Karachi, Sindh
Cinematography	Zeb Rao
Herausgeber	Mahmood Ali
Camera setup	Multi-Camera
Running time	40 - 45 minutes
Production company	MD Productions
Original release
Network	Hum TV
Release	25 January 2016 (2016-01-25) – present

Mann Mayal (Urdu: من مائل ; lit: Heart Attracted ; previously entitled Tera Ghum Aur Hum and Dil-e-Jaanam) is a Pakistani television drama serial, that premiered on Hum TV on January 25, 2016. The story of serial is told in a heavily serialized manner and it follows the lives of Manahil - a college student and Salah-ul-Din - an ambitious person, who despite having a strong future career planning, falls in love with her but they unable to unite because of family disputes and fate barriers.

Mann Mayal was co-created and co-produced by creative head Momina Duraid with Sana Shahnawaz, Samina Humayun Saeed and Tariq Shah, and aired on Hum TV as a part of night programming all under Duraid's production company. It was written by Samira Fazal and directed by Haseeb Hassan.

Mann Mayal features an ensemble cast with Maya Ali as Manahil, Hamza Ali Abbasi as Salah-ul-Din, Gohar Rasheed as Mikaeel, Ayesha Khan as Jeena and Aiman Khan as Rabiya, with the supporting cast of Saba Hameed, Naeem Tahir, Shehryar Zaidi, Ismat Zaidi, Mehmood Aslam, Laila Zuberi and Talat Hussain The show is set in Hyderabad and Karachi, Sindh. Mann Mayal premiered in Pakistan, UK, USA and UAE with same premier date and timings.

Premise

Mann Mayal depicts the story of Manahil (Maya Ali) and Salahuddin (Hamza Ali Abbasi), who are neighbors and Salah-ul-Din's sister Rabia (Aiman Khan) is a friend of Manahil. Salahuddin is ambitious for studies but is however asked by Manahil's father to give tuition to Manahil because of her low grades. Both fell in love but Salah-ul-Din never gets a chance to marry Manahil as he went to Karachi for studies after facing rejection of Manahil's proposal from her parents and meets Jeena (Ayesha Khan). In Karachi, Salahuddin begins a new life and changes his personality.

Despite her family’s opposition, Manahil leaves her home and family for Salahu-ul-Din but is left empty handed, filled with regret and remorse. Series then takes the leap of eight-years with Salah-ul-Din returning back and finds everything changed. The latter half of the series shows the trials of Mannu and Salahuddin's fate of love. Other recurring roles include Manahil's fiancee Gohar Rasheed as Meekail, Talat Hussain as Rehman, Saba Hameed and Naeem Tahir as Manahil's parents and Ismat Zaidi and Shehryar Zaidi as Salah-ul-Din's parents who appears throughout the series.

Cast

Main cast

• Maya Ali as Manahil "Manu"
• Hamza Ali Abbasi as Salah-ul-Din
• Gohar Rasheed as Mikaeel
• Ayesha Khan as Jeena

Recurring cast

• Saba Hameed as Manahil's mother
• Naeem Tahir as Javed (Manahil's father)
• Shehryar Zaidi as Salahuddin's father
• Ismat Zaidi as Salahuddin's Mother
• Mehmood Aslam as Mikail's father
• Laila Zuberi as Mikail's mother
• Saleem Mairaj
• Arjumand Rahim
• Vasay Chaudhry
• Talat Hussain as Rehman
• Aiman Khan as Rabiya "Beya"
• Lubna Aslam as Saliha (Manahil's phuphu-aunt)
• Faizan Haque

Episodes

No.	Titel	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	PAK viewers (thousands)	U.K. viewers (thousands)
1	"Episode 1"	Haseeb Hassan	Samira Fazal	January 25, 2016 (2016-01-25)	49.6	TBA
Manahil is anxious for her exam result and visits her best friend Rabiya "Beya" to pay respects on Hazrat Shah Molana Muhammad Ruknuddin Naqshbandi tomb for her results. Rabiyas brother Salah-ul-din who also tutor her, takes them to tomb. Rabiya passes the exam with ace grades, but Manahil fears to check her results. Salah-ul-Din ask Rabiya to check Manahil's results but she found out that she fails, meanwhile Manahil came to Rabiyas home to check her results only to found out that she has failed. Saddened by her results she furiously runs to home and lock herself. Her father consoles her and told her that he will ask Salah-ul-Din for tution to which she denies saying "he is strict." Later, Salah-ul-Din reluctantly agrees to teach Mannu despite his hectic schedule. Unbeknownst to Manahil a proposal came for her which she thinks is for her aunt's daughter Sarah and went to Rabiya's home asking her for a sweet dish. She gave her homework to Salah-ul-din, where he scolds her for doing the questions wrong.
2	"Episode 2"	Haseeb Hassan	Samira Fazal	February 1, 2016 (2016-02-01)	54.0	TBD
Manahil gets angry to know, that proposal came for her and fights with Salah-ul-Din for not telling her. Rabiya confront Salah-ul-Din that he "loves" Manahil to which he responds that they will never accept this relation due to their social class difference. Manahil parents refuse the Mikaeel's proposal. Salah-ul-Din tries to make Manahil understand that due to their social difference he cannot marry her and her parents will not accept their relation. Rabiya ask Salah-ul-Din to ask their parents for this proposal before anyone else gets to know about them. Unknown to Sarah, she teases Manahil about Salah-ul-Din for not calling him "Bhai". Later, Salah-ul-Din told his mother about Manahil and him, and ask her for their proposal, stunned to this confession she reluctantly agrees. Sarah confronts Manahil and warns her that their family will never accept her relation with Salah-ul-Din. Meanwhile, Salah-ul-Din father ask him to stop tutoring Manahil.
3	"Episode 3"	Haseeb Hassan	Samira Fazal	February 8, 2016 (2016-02-08)	43.7	TBD
Salah-ul-Din father's rejects the proposal and tells him that this is their infancy. Manahil parents finds out about them and whole family dispute over whether Salah-ul-Din is worthy of Manahil or not. Later, Manahil's father Javed and her uncle Ameen reluctantly agrees despite their reservations over Salah-ul-Din. However, Manahil's aunt Saliha and her mother persistently rejects this proposal as they don't think Salah-ul-Din would make a suitable life partner. Salah-ul-Din reassures his parents that Manahils will be happy with him and they went to Manahil's house. Upon reaching their they find everyone standing at the doorsills and without saying Sala-ul-Din and his parents returns as his father understands that her father wants to reject the proposal but couldn't due to their friendship. Devastated with the situation Manahil runs for Salah-ul-Din but her father stops her and tells her that she can go and "if they accept her", he will agree to this proposal, albeit to which he knew that they will not accept her.
4	"Episode 4"	Haseeb Hassan	Samira Fazal	February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15)	TBD	TBD
Manahil comes back to her house after facing rejection from Salah-ul-Din's house and tells her father that she will never forgive Salaha-ul-Din for not accepting her. Manahil's father accept Mikaeel's proposal, while Salah-ul-Din received a job letter from Karachi. Manahil agree to marry Mikaeel in exchange for Sarah to be sent home to her husband. Manahil ask Mikaeel for Salah-ul-Din consent for their marriage, and they went to his home. Heavy hearted he ask Mikaeel to take care of her. Later, Mikaeel ask her mother to refuse this proposal. Manahil's father meets Salah-ul-Din and tell him that he is "best" choice for Manahil but he want's better for her daughter and ask him to meet Mikaeel to inquire about him and his character.
5	"Episode 5"	Haseeb Hassan	Samira Fazal	February 22, 2016 (2016-02-22)	TBD	TBD

Production

Development

Man Mayal was originally conceived by Hum TV's senior producer and chairman Momina Duraid as Tera Ghum Aur Hum in late July 2015, with Duraid's hiring Haseeb Hassan for direction, who was the director of channel's then running serial Diyar-e-Dil that ended in October 2015. Haseeb returns to direct third year in a row since his first project for channel in 2013. The screenplay for the serial is written by Lux Style Award-winning writer Samira Fazal who, previously wrote the screenplays of channel's critically acclaimed serials such as Dastaan, Bari Aapa, Mera Naseeb and most recently Alvida, it also marked the writer's first collaboration with Hassan.

In August 2015, Samina Humayun Saeed, Tariq Shah and fashion stylist Sana Shahnawaz came on board as a co-producers, both Samina and Tariq previously produced cult followed-drama serial Sadqay Tumhare that aired between 2014-2015 television season. while Sana marked her production debut with this serial, she explained, "I'm thrilled to get a chance to work with such an amazing team so early on in my career. I couldn’t have found a better project than Mann Mayal to kick-start this new phase in my creative journey. It’s always a blast working with a team who are not only talented artists but also very dear friends. I’m confident the audiences are going to love this serial." Writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar initially wrote the lyrics for series soundtrack and helped producer Sana coined then series name Tera Ghum Aur Hum.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt sends regards to Shahnawaz for her production venture. Series music and background score is composed by Hamza Jafri of MAD music, while title track composition and lyrics is written by Shuja Hyder and Momina hired Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch to performed the song making her second collaboration with Duraid since 2011, for drama series Humsafar.

Casting

Creative head and producers Momina Duraid, Sana Shahnawaz and writer Sameera Fazal mutually choose the cast, which includes Maya Ali, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Gohar Rasheed, Ayesha Khan to play the leading roles of Manahil, Salah-ul-Din, Meekail and Jeena respectively. None of the leading actors have appeared together on television except Hamza and Ayesha who worked together in a 2013 film Waar. Speaking about her character Khan said, "my role is the surprise element in the drama. She is the game changer of the play. I opted for this role because she is not a typical damsel in distress which I think I have done umpteen times; instead she is needy for love. She gives unconditional love to others and expects the same for herself,". This is Mayal Ali second consecutive collaboration with director having previously worked in Diyar-e-Dil. Stating about her character Ali said, "my character will create magic in this serial". Hamza who plays Afzal as his feature television debut in Piyaray Afzal in 2014, returns to play Salah-ul-Din on the request of Sana. Hamza described his character "is close to who I am." In an interview Hamza explained that, "I have done this serial after giving a hit film because I don’t want to leave television and it is my moral commitment to myself to do one serial a year. Other than this, the story is not a typical saazishi aurto wali kahani and has room for me to come out as a better actor." Gohar who have worked with Abbasi in theater and films said about his character, "Mikail is rich and a little bit spoiled; he has his own set of insecurities which he tries to overcome in his own way."

Veteran actors' Saba Hameed and Naeem Tahir plays the roles Manahil's parents while veteran actors Shehryar Zaidi and Ismat Zaidi's Salah-ul-Din parents, popular soap actress Aiman Khan (née Mubeen) plays the role of Rabiya as Salah-ul-Din younger sister and Manahil friend. Mehmood Aslam and Laila Zuberi plays Meekail parents and other roles with off-and-on screen appearances is played by Saleem Mairaj, Arjumand Rahim, Vasay Chaudhry and National award-winning actor Talat Hussain as Rehman.

Filming and locations

Principal photography commence on August 30, 2015 and finishes in mid December 2015 with a total of twenty-four episodes. Shooting was extensively done in remote areas of Hyderabad, Sindh and in Clifton in Karachi, Sindh. Several sets-locations were real including Salah-ul-Din home, which was a 'hundred-year' Haveli, director Hassan said, "The haveli we chose as Hamza’s house was almost 100 hundreds year old. I am glad we shot there because it has been demolished by government now,". Shooting locations were overseen by art director Zeeshan. In an interview Haseeb said, "The wonderful artwork you will notice in the drama has been done by Zeeshan. Whenever I take up any project I always have some period in mind; n this serial the props and accessories we have used would represent the old era and it has been done in a way that everything look relatable,". Cinematographer Zeb Rao and editor Mehmood Ali return as director of photography and chief editing respectively as both previously worked with Duraid's Diyar-e-Dil that earned them critical praise and acclaim.

Music

Untitled

The title song of Mann Mayal was composed by musician Shuja Hyder, who also penned down the lyrics while the background score for the series is done by Mad Music. The OST was performed by Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch '"QB". with Shuja Hyder as being in the chorous. It marks the return of QB to Hum TV, since she performed the channels hit drama series Humsafar's title song "Woh Humsafar Tha" in 2012.

First half of the soundtarck was released on 23 January 2016 as after the final title was revealed as Mann Mayal and next half was released on February 1, 2016. Soundtarck is produced along with series production by Momina Duraid, Samina Humayun Saeed, Sana Shahnawaz and Tariq Shah under Duraid's production company M.D Productions.

Soundtrack was praised for its lyrics and composition and vocals, QB and co-singer Shuja Hyder received much appraisal for their singing as well as enthusiastic reviews for Hyder composing, particularly Hyder being praised for "his vocals add depth and variety to the proceedings." Popularity of "Tere Naal Mein laiyan" led an online competition where on February 9 Hum Network announced on its facebook page to "record the soundtrack and inbox to series official page, to win a title of Voice of Art and gifts hampers."

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Shuja Hyder; all music is composed by Shuja Hyder and Mad Music

No.	Titel	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Tere Naal Mein laiyan"	Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch and Shuja Hyder	3:45

Release

Broadcast

Mann Mayal was originally scheduled to air in late December 2015, however due to post-production delays, Hum TV re-scheduled the series for January 2016. It was initially titled Tera Ghum Aur Hum in an early press releases but then it was changed to Dil-e-Jaanam and then to Mann Mayal, with no official reason given by Hum Network management to these changes. Mann Mayal aired a weekly episode on every Monday succeeding Maan who was shifted on Friday after the finale of Tumhare Siwa, starting from its premiere date, with time slot of 8:00 pm. It was announced that series will be premiered on January 22, 2016 after Tumhare Siwa but then moved to Monday with the premier date of January 25. The show approximately airs weekly episode for 35–40 minutes (without commercials). The series was ordered and comprised 24 episodes. It was aired on Hum Europe in UK, on Hum TV USA in USA and Hum TV Mena on UAE, with same timings and premiered date. All International broadcasting aired the series in accordance with their standard times.

Reception

Television ratings

Number of Episodes	Premiere			Finale			TV Season	Rank	Overall viewership
	Date	PAK Viewers (thousands)	UK Viewers (thousands)	Date	PAK Viewers (thousands)	UK Viewers (thousands)
1	January 25, 2016 (2016-01-25)	49.6	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	2016	TBA	TBA

Mann Mayal premiered with 49.6 thousands viewers in Pakistan. While on January 29, 2016, Hum TV announced that pilot episode received 4.9 TRPs for channel. Second week in a row channel earned the highest TRPs with 5.7 for series second episode.

Critical reception

Before the premiere of series, Mann Mayal was listed as one of the most anticipated serials of 2016. Writing for Dawn News, Sadaf Haider moderately reviewed the series saying, "Hum TV back to more family-oriented viewing. The recent fervor at Hum TV to make dramas like Sangat and Gul-e-Rana which glamourise rapists may thankfully have abated." She concluded that, "This is a well-made drama worth watching. Anyone who sees the first episode can not wait to see the next. If Mann Mayal can steer clear of obvious clichés, it has the potential to not only be a blockbuster, or a 'must watch', but something iconic. All the ingredients are there."

However, Sheeba Khan of HIP lauded the series positively praising it script, Haseebs's direction, Shuja's background score, and acting - particularly of Hamza and Aiman Khan, she also praised for family orientation script saying, "that old, traditional feel is hard to find in dramas these days...Diyar-e-Dil was the last family drama on air so it is grateful for Mann Mayal and how it was presented!". Writing for same publication Khan heavily praised the screenplay, direction and acting for third episode particularly raising Maya Ali's character saying, "Maya Ali delivered a performance that has now pit her against the best of the best in the industry." And said, "A flawlessly written episode, with flawless acting and direction!."

In a less enthusiastic review for The Express Tribune Kanza Riaz said that, "Mann Mayal is teaching our society some horrendously wrong things." She heavily criticized the serial saying, "the director and producer chose to tell a story of a weak woman who falls in love with her neighbour/friend's brother for no apparent reason. She then employs every cheap trick in the book to attract him and convinces him to ask her parents for her hand in marriage." She further evaluate the role of women in society being "powerful" not "weak" and condemn "love marriage" concept in Pakistani culture. She praised the previous women oriented dramas such as Daam, Durr-e-Shehwar, Zindagi Gulzar Hai and Alpha Bravo Charlie. She concluded by saying "our entertainment media has become extremely commercialised and rating-oriented." However, Ayesha Siddique of The Nation opposes the idea of spreading "wrong message" to the nation and said, "Mann Mayal is attempting to make girls more expressive and bolder," and explained that, "If a girl likes someone she should express her feelings. It is not against the dignity of a woman. It is not against anyone’s dignity at all. The taboo over a woman proposing to a man should be revisited."

See also

• 2016 in Pakistani television
• List of programs broadcast by Hum TV

External links

• Official website
• Mann Mayal at IMDb
• Mann Mayal on Facebook