Haseena Moin

Haseena Moin (20 November 1941 – 26 March 2021) was a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter.

She wrote several plays for stage, radio, and television.

She was the recipient of the Pride of Performance award for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan.

Moin was born in Kanpur on November 20, 1941.

She received her early education in her ancestral region and, after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, migrated with her family to Pakistan.

She lived for a number of years in Rawalpindi, then moved to Lahore and, in the 1950s, settled in Karachi, where she graduated from the Government College for Women in 1960 and earned her Master of Arts in History from Karachi University in 1963.

Her yearning for writing was visible right from the time she was in the final years of her schooling, as from 7th standard, beside other school activities she got selected to write a weekly column by the title of BHAI JAN for a local journal.

She wrote plays for Radio Pakistan Karachi's "Studio Number 9."

Professionally, she took up the educational pursuits and started teaching.

She rose to the level of Principal.

It was in 1969 that Iftikhar Arif, Head of the Script Dept. at PTV-Karachi Centre, called Moin and offered her the chance to write a play for the then-forthcoming EID.

Initially, Moin was nervous but took courage to pen down a play.

The cast was also decided by her with Kunwar Aftab Ahmed as the director.

Hence came Eid Ka Jorra with Neelofer Aleem and Talat Hussain in the lead, supported by Khalid Nizami and Ishrat Hashmi.

Most of the plays of PTV like Shehzori, Zair, Zabar, Pesh, Uncle Urfi, Ankahi, Tanhaiyaan, Parchaieyen, Bandish, Dhund, Dhoop Kinarey, Aahat, Kasak, Pal Do Pal and Tere Ajane Se were written by her.

Her play Gurya which was directed by Shirin Khan with cast members Manzoor Qureshi, Shahla Ahmad Bina of Uncle Urfi, Azra Sherwani and Raju Jamil, won an award at the Global TV Plays Festival in Tokyo for best script and direction.

She was the writer of the first coloured drama of Pakistan, aired on PTV called Parchaiyan, which was directed by Mohsin Ali.

She wrote Pakistan Television's first original script Kiran Kahani aired in the early-1970s.

Before this, PTV relied on novel-based scripts for dramas.

She was considered to be the best playwright and dramatist in Urdu Pakistan has ever witnessed.

Some of the dramas she wrote include Ankahi, Tanhaiyaan, Kiran Kahani, Dhoop Kinaray, Aahat, Uncle Urfi, Shehzori, Kohar, Des Pardes, Pal Do Pal, Aansoo, Kasak, Parchaiyan and Parosi.

Other works include Mere Dard ko Jo Zuban Milay, Kaisa Yeh Junoon, Dhundle Raste, Shayad ke Bahar Aaye, Mohim Joo, Tum Se Mil Kar, Bandish and Zair, Zabar, Pesh.

She also wrote Pakistan's first original script 'Kiran Kahani' aired in the early-1970s.

Before this, PTV used to rely on novel-based scripts.

Most of the people at that time were not confident with the experiment but it was Mohsin Ali who encouraged her to write it.

It starred Roohi Bano in the lead with Manzoor Qureshi, Begum Khursheed Mirza, Qazi Wajid and many more.

Moin wrote the script for the 1978 film Yahan Se Wahan Tak, starring Waheed Murad.

The film was produced and directed by Syed Kamal.

She also wrote the dialogues for the 1986 film Nazdekiyan which was directed by Usman Peerzada, starring Samina Peerzada and Usman Peerzada.

The film was acclaimed and won prestigious national awards.

Her drama serial Dhoop Kinare aired in 1987.

In 1998, Moin wrote Kahin Pyar Na Ho Jaye.

The film was directed by Javed Sheikh and the cast included Resham, Shaan and Saleem Sheikh.

Before release, the film was heavily hyped and was expected to be a success but eventually could not perform well at the box office.

A loosely based remake of the series was later made in India by the name of Kuch Toh Log Kahenge and it aired from 2011 to 2013.

It was re-written by popular Indian writer Kamlesh Pandey, who stated that by remaking this play he had paid tribute to Haseena Moin.

Even Tanhaiyan was quite popular.

These shows are still remembered amongst the Indian masses.

She wrote a play for India called Tanha, which became widely popular during its run.

She also wrote a play for Doordarshan called Kash-m-kash, Arshad Mahmood composed and Tina Sani sang the title song of the play.