Tanhaiyaan

Tanhaiyaan
The opening title screen for Tanhaiyaan
Genre	Family
Written by	Haseena Moin
Directed by	Shahzad Khalil
Starring	Shehnaz Sheikh Marina Khan Behroze Sabzwari Qazi Wajid Imtiaz Ahmed Asif Raza Mir Durdana Butt Yasmin Ismail Mohammad Yousuf Badar Khalil Jamshed Ansari Subhani Bayounus Sultana Zafar Azra Sherwani
Country of origin	Pakistan
Original language	Urdu
Production
Production company	Shalimar Recording Company (SRC)
Original release
Network	PTV

Tanhaiyaan is a 1985 Pakistani drama series which is now considered a cult classic. It is the story of two sisters who lose their parents and go to live with their aunt. In one of the sister's efforts to buy back her parents' house, she realizes what makes a house a home. Beautifully acted by Shahnaz Shiekh, this drama featured such legends of Pakistani drama acting as Qazi Wajid.

Plot

Two sisters Zara (Shehnaz Sheikh) and Sanya (Marina Khan) go to Karachi to visit their khala Aani (Badar Khalil) while their parents go abroad for a visit. Unfortunately their parents die in a car accident. After their death the girls find out that their father was heavily in debt and they have to sell all their assets including their house which their father had so lovingly built. All friends turn into enemies and they are taken in by their Aani.

In Karachi while Sanya tries to adjust herself to their new situation and surrounding, Zara gets obsessed with the idea to re-buy their house. She starts the pursuit to become rich. Here Saad Salman becomes her partner and together they start a garment factory. Sanya on the other hand soon befriends their landlord Faran (Qazi Wajid) and becomes a pain for his secretary Qutbutdin (Behroze Sabzwari) whom she calls Qabacha. Faran has a sister Apa Begum (Azra Sherwani) who lives in another house with her trusted servant Bukraat (Jamshed Ansari). It is at his sister's insistence that Faran decides to propose to Aani, as his sister wants him to get married to someone he totally dislikes.

Zain (Asif Raza Mir), their childhood friend, along with his fiancée Vida (Yasmeen Ismail), comes to visit them. Zara asks Vida to join in her factory as a designer and together the two start making brilliant designs which become very popular. However Zara’s quest for money takes her away from her family, especially from Sanya who feels very left out and alone. Saad Salman proposes to Zara and even though Sanya dislikes him, Zara accepts.

Finally Zara's dream comes true and she has enough money to buy back her house. She goes to Lahore and finalizes the deal. However, when she enters her house, she is haunted by memories of the past and all the love that she has lost. She tries to phone Karachi but no body can hear her over the phone as there is a loud party going on which all her family and friends are attending. In one flash she realizes that what she has achieved is a "house of four walls" but not the "home" she was yearning for. All alone she is suddenly terrified of the sounds of thunder and her perceived loneliness (Tanhaiyaan), runs out of the house and has an accident and goes into a coma.

She awakens to her family all around but doesn't speak and is not able to move. Initially it is explained that it might be due to spinal injuries. Later on doctors say that she has gone into shock and does not have the will to move and interact — there is nothing wrong physically with her. It is implied to the viewer that she has lost the will to struggle as she realizes that she has pushed everyone away from her in pursuit of what she thought was important and was all alone when what should have been her biggest triumph of buying the house finally. Her fiancé Saad becomes a little unsure after the accident as he is seen to be a little skeptical about Zara's recovery. He then proceeds to leave abroad, after Zara returns the ring. Zara's family try to reassure her regarding the love and affection they have for her. During this time Zain is shown to be very concerned for Zara's well being. The closeness between Zara and Zain disturbs Vida (his fiancée); Zain's father senses this and insists that Zain marries Vida as he had promised her parents a long time back. Zain agrees to his father's wishes. Zain then meets Zara and tells her that he has to leave Pakistan and go to Canada after marrying Vida, and he wants to see Zara up and about before that. Upon hearing this Zara takes hesitant steps and is able to walk. An overjoyed Zain recounts this to Vida, who comments that he must be the happiest man on earth. She tells him that she is happy for him and urges him to see clearly as he is madly in love with Zara. She tells him that she has explained the whole situation to Zain's father and would be flying off to Canada alone.

The last sequence shows Zara sitting alone in a party surrounded by friends and family as if waiting for somebody; suddenly the sounds and surroundings dim as Zain walks in. They have an unspoken conversation across the room when she tells that she had been waiting long for him and where he had gone all this time? He is shown expressing that he was and always will be with her. In a quick transition the music and surroundings come back into focus with every body crowding in a loud cheer around them. Zara finally fills the void of loneliness (Tanhaiyaan).

Cast

Zara

Zara is played by Shehnaz Sheikh. She starts off as the quiet type. She starts a business to buy her house back and drifts away from her family and friends. eventually she buys the house, gets lonely, gets run over by a car, goes into a coma, and wakes up paralyzed.

Sanya

Sanya is played by Marina Khan. She is loud and into materialistic things in the beginning. She plays a lot of pranks on others, mainly Qabacha.

Aani

Aani is played by Badar Khalil.

Faran

Faran is played by Qazi Wajid.

Zain

Zain is played by Asif Raza Mir.

Vida

Vida is played by Yasmeen Ismail.

Apa Begum

Apa Begum is played by Azra Sherwani.

Qutbutdin (Qabacha)

Qutbutdin (Qabacha) is played by Behroze Sabzwari. In the beginning he never smiles, and is the victim of most of Sanya's pranks. Eventually he falls in love with Sanya and instead of her annoying him, he starts annoying her by trying to make her fall in love with him. He takes advises from Bukraat and tries to follow them, but always messes up, eventually making Zara laugh for the first time after being paralyzed.

Bukraat

Bukraat is played by Jamshed Ansari. He is Apa Begam's trusted servant, and he gives Qabacha lots of ideas on how to make Sanya fall in love with him.

Music

Arshad Mahmoud

Awards and nominations

<to be updated>

References

• About Tanhaiyaan author Nasir M. Khan

External links

• Pakistani Drama

Released under licensed by shalimar recording and broad casting company , by FARHAN TRADING www.farhantrading.com