Why is Mere Humsafar so popular?

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A classic fairytale story, a damsel in distress, an evil mother-in-law and a knight in shining armour...sounds like a typical Pakistani drama serial narrative right? Mere Humsafar has proven to be a guilty pleasure...we just keep coming back for more! Weekly trending episodes and viral tweets have led to this drama becoming a huge success...let's take a look at why Mere Humsafar has become a favourite to watch in every household...

A classic fairytale story

The story of Mere Humsafar can be compared to the classic fairytale Cinderella. 

The drama poster and OST alone suggest a fairytale-like magical love story between leading actors Hania Aamir & Farhan Saeed. The drama poster captures a beautiful moment of Farhan as a gentleman helping Hania with her shoe as she stares at him in admiration. Doesn't this somewhat replicate the same moments in Cinderella? The opening shots of the OST show Hania twirling in a very princess-like dress and Farhan in a suit walking up to her smiling just like a Prince Charming💖.

The "evil stepmother" role in Cinderella is played by Saba Hameed (known as Shahjahan) who is Hania Aamir's (known as Hala) aunt and now mother-in-law. Shahjahan has always done "zulm" on Hala- she's constantly in the kitchen from a young age and treated like a maid of the house. Hala isn't really felt to be included in the family- she's often forgotten about when it's time to eat and left with just bread & butter. 

Shahjahan's daughter Rumi (Hira Khan) has also proven to be a troublemaker in Hala's life (kind of like the evil stepsisters from Cinderella). Rumi does not miss an opportunity, like her mother, in blowing up a situation against Hala. Rumi likes to add fuel to the fire by emphasising something Hala has done unknowingly wrong. Rumi pretends to be Hala on the phone with their college bus driver and flirts with him. When he comes home one day all eyes are on Hala as he speaks about certain things that Rumi has told him that are relevant to Hala. So all the blame goes on Hala and Rumi stands and watches the "tamasha". Poor Hala- she doesn't even know the guy or how to use a phone 😥.

Hamza (Farhan Saeed) walks into Hala's life with all his attention towards her in a caring manner- he's there to look out for her as a member of the family, as his cousin he grew up with. Hamza is the Prince Charming that has entered Hala's life as a light of happiness. Upon seeing Hamza's concern for Hala, Shahjahan gets angry. Hamza cannot stand the injustices that happen in the house toward Hala and is always there to take a stand for her.

Hania Aamir/Hoorain Lyka Ali as Hala

The drama starts with the child star Hoorain Lyka Ali playing the role of Hala. She's been abandoned by her father to live amongst her grandmother, uncles, aunts and cousins who she's never met before. Hala's childhood has been shown to be bleak and isolated despite living with many people. We don't really see her playing with her cousins either and so her childhood seems very depressing as the girl grows up with no self-esteem.

The drama leaps forwards and we now see Hania Aamir in the role of Hala. The transition from the character of the younger Hala to the now-grown Hala was done very well by Hania Aamir. She does not step out of her shy and timid character. It is clear from her body language and expressions that she portrays on-screen that she is constantly fearful and lacks confidence. Hania accepts that she is quite the opposite of Hala's personality in real life so the character was challenging for her to perform. However, we do believe that the innocence and purity of the character come from Hania's youthful appearance. Her character is very soft and fragile in nature and Hania's small round face and dimples match the simple & cute younger Hala look.

In recent episodes, we've seen growth in Hala's character. Slowly but surely, she is now coming out of her shell and taking a stand for herself in front of Shahjahan. Hala is now pregnant and upon realising that Shahjahan gave her harmful pills her character bursts out loud. You could say motherhood gives women a new and powerful stance as they now carry responsibility for their unborn child. Hala's dialogue delivery and emotions intensify the scene and create a sense of sympathy towards her as we are reminded of the "zulm" she faced growing up by Shahjahan. Hala's outpour of emotions shows growth in the character- all her life she has remained quiet and now doesn't want to be stopped.

Farhan Saeed as Hamza

Farhan Saeed's much-awaited entry at the start of the drama has proven to be worthwhile. He plays the character of Hamza (Hala's cousin) that has just returned from studies abroad. And oh what an entry! He entered the drama and Hala's life as a Prince Charming. Hamza's character has been painted in such a beautiful way that there has been a social media hype created around his character being the ideal man every girl is looking for in the real world. It is nice to see for a change that there is a strong positive character being acknowledged and loved by an audience rather than a male toxic lead. Hamza stands for what's morally right and does not let any injustice happen in the house with Hala. He tries to communicate and interact with her in a casual manner to which she is confused-nobody has ever really shown concern towards her. Hamza is always there to do the right thing- whilst Hala's marriage has been fixed with someone mentally unstable he swoops in to break off the marriage. It is disappointing that nobody else could speak about this so Hamza only did what was right. Despite his mother's behaviour, Hamza has always been respectful towards her and tried to reason with her. Farhan has played the character to perfection with his dialogue delivery. 

In the latest episode, we see a slight change in Hamza's character and attitude towards Hala. This is because of the usual conflict that a man faces when he is married- does he support his wife or his mother? Hala continues to suffer at the hands of Shahjahan even after she's married her son and is now going to be the mother of her grandchild. Shahjahan begins to create misunderstandings and problems between Hamza and Hala's relationship. Unfortunately, this puts Hamza in a dilemma of where he stands in the situation. Hamza has always taken a stand for Hala without being disrespectful towards his mother. But in the latest episode, we see Hamza's frustration come out on Hala as he refuses to listen and accept his mother in the wrong. Hamza is emotionally blackmailed by his mother into believing everything she says. As a result, he begins to raise his voice at Hala and grab her firmly. Why is Hamza behaving like this after seeing Shahjahan's behaviour himself for the last few weeks? Hamza's denial of the situation and change in behaviour was somewhat expected but an audience was hoping for Hamza's positive character to be maintained throughout. This change in character has been a little disappointing because it now follows the narrative of every other typical drama relationship that we didn't want to see this time. 

Hala-Hamza chemistry

The Hala-Hamza pairing has redefined couple goals! The Hala-Hamza pairing portray a fresh image of a young newlyweds couple growing together. Hamza holds Hala's hand and guides her towards being a more independent and confident individual within herself. This couple emphasises the fact that it really is the little things in life that we admire and appreciate.

Shahjahan kicks out Hala from the house during the night after seeing Hamza's "humdardi" towards her. Shahjahan does not like the fact that Hala is getting attention from Hamza. The next morning, Hamza finds Hala out on the street and is shocked to see her in such a state. He holds her hand and brings her back home but Shahjahan stands her ground that Hala has no right to live in the house. Therefore, Hamza immediately decides to take Hala to the masjid and they have their Nikkah done. Hamza has witnessed the discriminative behaviour towards Hala in the house and hopes to see that now as his wife she will be treated with respect. It's the way Hamza has flown in to save Hala's position and self-respect in the house that we admire. A few episodes later we see Hala and Hamza sitting together talking about the moment when they fell for each other. Hala takes the scene here with the sparkle in her eyes as she looks at Hamza. Hala respected and appreciated the moment Hamza took her to the masjid and had their nikkah done in order to save her izzat. For Hala, this moment meant everything. 

All her life, Hala has been treated like a carpet amongst living with her own relatives so isn't used to Hamza's caring nature towards her. Hala's initial hesitancy in the relationship shows her character to be innocent and somewhat creates a sense of sympathy after the betrayal by Khurram (Omer Shehzad). Hala needs time to accept she is now a wife and has a stronger ground in the house. Hamza makes the relationship work by befriending Hala and gaining her trust. He supports her in becoming independent and confident around the house. Hamza buys Hala a phone and opens a bank account for her. Hamza and Hala re-arranged the setting of the home and this was so cute to see them doing this together!

The Hala-Hamza relationship shows that respect is enough to earn someone's love and trust is needed to maintain this relationship. Their relationship has made today's youth re-evaluate our expectations in a relationship and whether we set the bar too high? But then again, you don't really find simple pure-hearted people in the real world like Hamza and Hala now do you?

Saba Hameed as Shahjahan

Saba Hameed as Shahjahan is doing a fantastic job...we really do hate her character! Throughout the drama, Shahjahan's character becomes more and more problematic. Shahjahan's character is realistic in everyday life- nobody really wants to take responsibility for a child whose own parents abandon them at a young age. Shahjahan hated Hala's guts as a child- almost so like she felt inferior to her because the child wasn't afraid to speak the truth against her wrongdoings. Hala's truthful nature became a problem for Shahjahan and she was not happy with this! 

As the drama continues, Shahjahan proves to be a self-destructive individual due to her ego, suggesting psychological issues? Shahjahan's life purely works around plotting against Hala. It's a shame to see though that Shahjahan, as Hala's phupo has no love for the child. She can't stand the fact that such a girl has married her "shehzada-like" son. It's come to a point now where Shahjahan's hatred for Hala is becoming unreasonable and dangerous. Why can't she be happy in her son's happiness?

Criticism & looking forward

Doesn't part of the OST sound like Farhan Saeed himself singing? As much as we love the drama OST we are surprised that the main lead's vocals weren't utilised for the OST of his own drama. Farhan's vocals perfectly match the tone of the OST- and could be said to be stronger than those singers that were used. Nevertheless, we do still love the OST but we do believe Farhan Saeed's vocals could've been stronger and created an overall magical feeling as he did with his drama Suno Chanda.

One thing we fail to understand is that Hala as a child spoke English very well and was very sassy. As the drama leaps forward a few years, Hala isn't a chirpy English-speaking well educated girl as we may have expected. So she forgot how to speak English...? Ofcourse due to Shahjahan's cold behaviour growing up and the lack of a parent figure mentally affected Hala which gradually knocked her confidence down.

We're unsure as to whether we should ever expect to see Hala's father Nafees (Alyy Khan) in the drama as a plot twist. Hala has never forgotten about her father and yearns for his love. It seems like Nafees doesn't care at all about his daughter who he has not seen in many years. Will he come to see his grandchild at least when he/she is born? Hala & Hamza were supposed to go to London to reunite with Nafees but were unable to. We would've definitely loved to see some scenes shot in London!

Sameen's (Zoya Nasir) character has been drawn to show that she is an independent, confident and sensible girl who is keen to study further. However, in recent episodes, Khurram has been seen to be consistently around her and Sameen's parents are interested in forming this relationship. It's a shame to see an educated girl's success is always associated with marriage. We feel Sameen's parents are rushing the proposal stages for Sameen and neglecting her priorities. Sameen was obsessed with Hamza and due to this relationship not forming her parents have been consistently worried for her future. Sameen, in comparison to the other girls in the house and Khurram, is very capable to succeed in her education. It is also evident that Sameen isn't really interested in Khurram and is only accepting the proposal because her parents want her to. We would have rather liked to have seen Sameen as an independent woman pursuing further studies and in a successful job. Why is marriage always pushed around as a necessity? Sameen could later then marry someone she meets at work and is just as educated and successful in work as she is. We feel Khurram's proposal is a misfit for her-Khurram is basically a "lafanga" and Sameen's parents seem to glorify him as the last man on earth for her to marry. 

Moving forward, we'd like to see Hala as a strong individual in the end happy with her child and not having any issues e.g an accident leading to her losing the baby. Ideally, we'd like to perhaps see Hala living in her own home with Hamza where she is free to do things how she likes. 

Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below your thoughts on drama serial Mere Humsafar....is it overhyped?