Mujhay Jeenay Do

Mujhay Jeenay Do (transl. Let Me Live) is a 2017 Pakistani television series that aired on Urdu 1. Written by Shahid Nizami, the series has an ensemble cast including Hania Aamir, Gohar Rasheed, Mehreen Raheel, Nadia Jamil, Salman Shahid and Iffat Rahim.^[1]

The show revolves around considerable social and economic issues, highlighting deep-rooted problems in the villages of the less developed countries like Pakistan. The drama touches upon sensitive topics like:

• Child marriages, its consequences and how women are generally treated in the villages where people are less educated and follow their beliefs/traditions sidelining the dreams and ambitions of women
  
• Maternal mortality because of orthodox practices where people don't seek medical help/facilities during child birth
  
• Lack of family planning
  
• Domestic violence
  
• Marital rape and other family pressures
  
• Polygyny - men having more than one wife simultaneously
  
• The patriarchy/ misogyny existing in the society/villages of less developed countries.
  
• Lack of education linked to close mindedness of the people
  
• Resistance to change leading to the decisions like honour killing
  
• Divorce or 'Khula' is still considered a taboo and hence women have to bear the consequences, especially where their families and partners dominate
  
• Child labour
  
  

The drama highlights the importance of education for everyone to improve the society and empowering women to break the existing social taboos and live their lives freely.^[2]

Saira, a ten-year-old girl in a Pakistani village, is asked to marry Naseeb after her sister, Bushra, dies in childbirth, leaving behind a newborn. Yasmeen - Iftihar's wife, is an educated lady, who has dedicated her life to the betterment of women based in the village, while her husband lives in a city to earn a living. Yasmeen is the only woman in the village who cares for education and granting equal rights to women. She opposes Saira's wedding with Naseeb, as Saira is a child of a similar age as her son, Shahab; but Saira's family forcefully has her marry Naseeb to look after the baby as she is attached to him. Saira struggles in the marriage, especially as Naseeb grows abusive and controlling. Her childhood friend Shahab moves to the city but remains connected to her.^[3]

Shahina is Yasmeen's sister who is mistreated and abused by her husband Mehmood. He continuously asks her to get money from her sister after selling their maternal home. She is the mother of a daughter and during her second pregnancy she was physically abused by her husband because she couldn't fulfill her husband's demand of getting money from her sister, leading to miscarriage. Yasmeen takes care of Shahina, who seeks divorce from her abusive husband Mehmood.

Naseeb later marries Shahina, who mistreats Saira out of jealousy. Despite this, Saira grows up and secretly reconnects with Shahab, when he returns to the village during the holidays to enrol in college. When Saira suffers a miscarriage, Naseeb becomes suspicious of her bond with Shahab. Yasmeen tries to help Saira by proposing an alternative where Naseeb can divorce Saira and she will accept her as her daughter-in-law. This proposal enrages Naseeb and Saira's brother, Murad, who kills Yasmeen. Shahina eventually helps Saira escape, and she seeks freedom through khula (divorce).

• Gohar Rasheed as Naseeb: Saira and Shahina's husband
• Sabeena Syed as Bushra: Naseeb's first wife and Saira's elder sister (dead)
• Hania Aamir as Saira: Naseeb's second wife and Shahab's love interest
  • Emaan Sher as younger Saira (child star)
• Mehreen Raheel as Shahina: Naseeb's third wife and Mehmood's ex-wife
• Sarmad Khoosat as Mehmood Alam: Shahina's ex-husband; Murad's friend
• Minsa Malik as Sitara: Mehmood and Shahina's daughter
• Nadia Jamil as Yasmeen: Shahab's mother; Shahina's sister; Iftikhar's first wife
• Raeed Muhammad Alam as Shahab (Shaboo): Saira's love interest
• Omair Rana as Iftikhar: Shahab's father
• Iffat Rahim as Saeeda: Shahab's stepmother; Iftikhar's second wife
• Salman Shahid as Khuda Baksh: Murad and Saira's father (dead)
• Ali Tahir as Murad: Saira's brother; Khairi's husband; Mehmood's friend
• Farah Tufail as Khairi: Murad's wife
• Hassan Mir as Kashif: Murad and Khairi's son
• Khalid Butt as the village's Molvi sahab
• Usama Khan as Dawood: Shahab's best friend and Sarpanch sahab's grandson
• Rashid Mehmood as village Sarpanch and politician

The serial is directed and produced by Angeline Malik of Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain fame under her banner Angelic Films, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs.^[4]

Nadia Jamil made her acting comeback after survival from cancer and her last appearance in Behadd (2013).^[5] Mehreen Raheel made a comeback to television after her last appearance in the 2015 series Tum Mere Kya Ho.

• Official website