Yunhi (Urdu: یونہی, lit. 'Just so') is a 2023 Pakistani family drama television series, directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin, written by Sarwat Nazir, and produced by Momina Duraid under the banner MD Productions.[1] It features Maya Ali and Bilal Ashraf in leading roles. The first episode of the series originally aired on Hum TV on 5 February 2023.[2] The story of Yunhi revolves around a typical urban Pakistani family whose norms and outdated traditions are questioned by a USA returnee relative.[3]
| Yunhi | |
|---|---|
 Title Card | |
| Urdu | یونہی |
| Genre | Drama Romance |
| Written by | Sarwat Nazir |
| Directed by | Mohammed Ehteshamuddin |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "Yunhi" by Sami Khan & Shae Gill |
| Country of origin | Pakistan |
| Original language | Urdu |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Momina Duraid |
| Producer | Momina Duraid |
| Cinematography | Khizer Gul |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | approx. 40 min |
| Production company | MD Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Hum TV |
| Release | 5 February – 1 October 2023 |
Plot
editHaji Karamat is the patriarch of the house where he lives with the family of his son Basharat and a divorced daughter Iqbal. His other child, Firdous lives with her family near the house. Khursheed, another daughter, died years ago due to tuberculosis after her cousin Naveed had denied marrying her. Naveed, who has now become a surgeon in the USA, returns to Pakistan to marry his daughter Kim who wanted to marry there with a non-Muslim boy.
Naveed returns to Karamat, his uncle, and asks for forgiveness. Her daughter Kaneez Fatima a.k.a. Kim experiences unfamiliar situations there such as Daniyal's concern for Suraiya's purdah and not for hers and certain other hypocritical actions. However, she gets intrigued by Basharat's elder son Dawood's getup who is a pious man and a doctor by profession. His introduction to Kim creates a rift between them. On Naveed's wish, Dawood's grandfather decides on his marriage with Kim. But he conditions that after his return he will marry Iqbal. Naveed agrees to it and Kim also agrees to marry him, taking it as an experiment. Daniyal gets sad about his brother's marriage as he wants to marry her to get American nationality. But, not only his this wish remain incomplete but his ex-beloved Husna, Fridous's daughter also starts to ignore him completely.
After marriage, Kim is attracted to Dawood who keeps trying to fulfill this relationship with his heart. But, she constantly keeps going to meet with his father's friend Zulfi, who later becomes her friend as well, knowing that the Grandfather doesn't like him. She comes to know that her father has taken all of her documents including the passport with him in the USA so that she couldn't return. In the USA, he gets cardiac arrest.
Kim deals with Dawood that she will not leave him if she is influenced by him. Dawood agrees with it and comes to know about her horrific past and how her teacher had abused her in her childhood. After days, she takes a stand for Suraiya when her elders decide to marry her with Firdous and Mudassir's son, Hamid without her consent. Kim comes to know about the Suraiya's fellow Owais with whom she wants to marry, and fully supports her. She denies marrying Hamid and everyone in the house blames Kim for it. On a dark night before the day of her forced nikkah, Suraiya tries to elope from the house but Daniyal catches her.
Suraiya accuses Kim of advising her to elope, in front of everyone. Everyone blames Kim but Dawood supports her. He confirms it by unintentionally hearing Suraiya's discussion with Iqbal. She complains that marriage by choice is the basic right of every girl. After offering his Fajr prayer, Dawood is astonished to see Kim who starts offering her prayer. Suraiya realises her mistake and apologizes to her. Kim appreciates and morally supports her and makes it realize to Dawood that it is not justified at all to marry her without her consent. She and Dawood go to Owais' house where they realise that he is not a good match for her as his family members don't respect them at all. Suraiya also decides to not marry him. Dawood and Kim convince the grandfather to call off her nikkah with Hamid.
Cast
edit- Manzoor Qureshi[2][4] as Haji Karamat
- Behroze Sabzwari as Basharat Ali
- Tahira Imam as Razia
- Bilal Ashraf[5] as Dr. Dawood Basharat a.k.a. 'David'
- Maya Ali as Kaneez Fatima a.k.a. 'Kim'
- Maha Hasan as Suraiya Basharat
- Khaqan Shahnawaz as Daniyal Basharat a.k.a. 'Dani'
- Deepak Parwani as Dr. Naveed Ali
- Tazeen Hussain as Iqbal Karamat a.k.a. 'Bali'
- Uzma Beg as Firdous
- Saad Zameer Fareedi[4] as Mudassir
- Laiba Khurram[4] as Husna
- Kulsoom Aftab as Azra
- Ali Rizvi as Sajjad
- Majida Hameed as Naseema
- Kausar Siddiqui as Uzma
- Shazia Qaiser as Uzma's mother
Soundtrack
editThe original soundtrack was composed by Sami Khan, and sung by Sami Khan and Shae Gill (of Pasoori fame).
| "Yunhi" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Shae Gill and Sami Khan | |||||
| Language | Urdu | ||||
| Released | 24 January 2023 | ||||
| Length | 4:11 | ||||
| Label | Hum | ||||
| Producer(s) | MD Production | ||||
| |||||
Production
editOn 28 August 2022, Hum TV announced that the network's upcoming series Yunhi will star Bilal Ashraf in his television series debut, opposite Maya Ali who will return to the channel after six years, since Sanam (2016).[6][7][8] The principal photography wrapped on 10 June 2022.[9]
Reception
editTelevision rating
edit| Ep# | Date | TRP(s) | Rank# | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 February 2023 | 8 | 1 | [10] |
| 2 | 12 February 2023 | 6.6 | 1 | |
| 3 | 19 February 2023 | 6.0 | 1 | |
| 4 | 26 February 2023 | 4.2 | 1 | |
| 5 | 5 March 2023 | 5 | 1 | |
| 6 | 12 March 2023 | 5.5 | 1 | |
| 12 | 30 April 2023 | 5.9 | 1 | |
| 13 | 7 May 2023 | 6.6 | 1 | |
| 15 | 21 May 2023 | 8.6 | 1 | |
| 20 | 25 June 2023 | 7.2 | 1 | |
| 21 | 2 July 2023 | 7.2 | 1 | |
| 22 | 9 July 2023 | 7.6 | 1 |
Critical reception
editA reviewer from The News International stated that the series started off on a promising note but found the climax as "little too unbelievable".[11]
References
edit- ^ "Drama Review: Yunhi". Youlin Magazine.
- ^ a b "6 Reasons Yunhi Is An Artistic Journey to Look Forward To". Diva Magazine. 4 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023.
- ^ Foha Raza (11 September 2023). "Pakistani drama serials to binge on in September". Hum News. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b c "Bilal Ashraf make his TV debut in HUM TV's Yunhi opposite talented Maya Ali". The AZB. 3 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023.
- ^ "Bilal Ashraf to mark television debut with 'Yunhi' opposite Maya". Daily Times. 23 February 2023.
- ^ "Stay tuned for more updates!! | #HUMTV #MayaAli #BilalAshraf". 28 August 2022. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022 – via Instagram.
- ^ "Maya Ali and Bilal Ashraf are all set to star in Hum TV's upcoming drama". Bol News. 28 August 2022.
- ^ Irfan Ul Haq (30 August 2022). "Bilal Ashraf to make TV debut with Maya Ali in a drama directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin". Dawn Images. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ^ DAWN Images (10 June 2023). "It's a wrap for drama Yunhi. Khaqan Shahnawaz shares an "all smiles" picture from the last day of the shoot. (via @khaqanshahnawaz)". Archived from the original on 10 June 2023 – via Instagram.
- ^
- For Episode 1, "A Majestic Start". 6 February 2023.
- For Episode 2, "Flying High!". 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023 – via Instagram.
- For Episode 3, "Continuously Winning Hearts". Archived from the original on 22 May 2023.
- For Episode 4, "Flying High!". 28 February 2023 – via Instagram.
- For Episode 5, "Remains Number 1!". 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023.
- For Episode 6, "#Yunhi | Slot Leader 🙌🏻🤩". 13 March 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023 – via instagram.
- For Episode 12, "#Yunhi | An Ultimate Hit! 😍". 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023 – via instagram.
- For Episode 13, "#Yunhi | A Treat To Watch For All! 🤩". 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023 – via instagram.
- For Episode 15, "Leading The Slot!". 22 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023 – via Instagram.
- For Episode 20, "Remains The Best!". 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
- For Episode 21, "Remains The Best!". Instagram. 4 July 2023. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
- For Episode 22, "Ruling The Hearts!". Instagram. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
- ^ Gaitee Ara Siddiqui (31 December 2023). "Entertainment Galore". The News International. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023.