Nijaat

Nijaat
200px The opening title screen for Nijaat
Genre	Drama, Family
Written by	Asghar Nadeem Syed
Directed by	Sahira Kazmi
Starring	Atiqa Odho Huma Nawab Latif Kapadia Marina Khan Noman Ijaz Sajid Hasan
Country of origin	Pakistan
Original language(s)	Urdu
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	Sahira Kazmi
Production location(s)	Sindh, Pakistan
Editor(s)	Naeem Siddiqui
Release
Original network	PTV
Original release	1993 (1993)

Nijaat (Urdu: نجات‎, English: Liberation) is a thirteen-episode Pakistani television drama serial produced by Pakistan Television Corporation. The drama shows the different roles of women in Pakistan. It compares the women in the village to the urban women. It emphasizes on family planning, child labor and community health reforms.

Plot

This drama is based on the interwinding stories of three families in a village in Sindh, Pakistan: Zareena, a health worker, and her family; Sajida and Huzoor Bakhsh, who have so many children that Sajida has very poor health; and Ali Asad, a local government worker (Assistant Commissioner), and his wife Tania. The drama follows their hopes and frustrations as they strive for a better future while trying not to sacrifice the past.

Cast and Characters

Character	Played by	Notes
Huzoor Bakhsh	Noman Ijaz	Hunter and later tries to establish a shop.
Sajida	Atiqa Odho	House wife facing maternity and other domestic issues. She helps Tania in her Handicrafts (embroidery) institute.
Zareena	Huma Nawab	Nurse at the local clinic.
Ali Asad	Sajid Hasan	Assistant Commissioner (AC) of the Tehsil. Before coming to the village he was a medical doctor.
Tania	Marina Khan	Wife of AC. Previously, she was a model.
Makhdoom	Latif Kapadia	Father of three, including Zareena. Seen as a character with no consideration of his family. He tried to marry young Kulsoom, in exchange of his daughter Razia for Qadir Baksh.
Qadir Bakhsh	Yousuf Ali	Brother of Huzoor Bakhsh. He came from Dubai. He helps set up a shop of his brother. He was involved in criminal smuggling including child smuggling. Typical village man who likes to boast and share his good times with his people.
Masi Taqdeera		Village match maker.
Ustad ji	Malik Anokha	Owner of the local hotel.
Zehra Khatoon		Religious preacher.
Kashi		Son of Huzoor Bakhsh. He tries to flee the village for the city. He is kidnapped by a criminal mafia in the city, who trains him to pick pockets. Later, he ends up on the Qadir Bakhsh's boat with many other children, who are being smuggled to Middle East.
Tari		Son of Huzoor Bakhsh.
Kulsoom		Sister of Huzoor Bakhsh.
Razia		Daughter of Makhdoom.
Master ji		Teacher at the village school.
Rasheed		Compounder at the clinic.

Music

The background score is composed by Arhad Mehmood. The drama features following songs:

Track listing
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mera dard naghma-e-bay-sada"	Nayyara Noor
2.	"Zard mitti ki aghosh mein"	Tina Sani
3.	"Dekhte hi dekhte hamein pyar hua"	Alamgir
4.	"Phool barsein pyar ki rahon mein"	Alamgir

Social Impact

A study was undertaken to evaluate the social impact of this drama on contract to Johns Hopkins University/Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) by Aftab Associates (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore, Pakistan. The support for this study was provided by International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada. The usefulness of findings from qualitative evaluations of Nijaat (and Alang-Alang in Indonesia) has led to further collaborations between JHU/PCS and filmmakers.