''Saaya'' is a 2018 Pakistani horror drama television series directed by Syed Muhammad Khurram, produced by Babar Javed and written by Wajeeha Sahar. The drama stars Maham Amir, Sohail Sameer and Kiran Tabeer in lead roles, and premiered on

Geo Entertainment ''Geo Entertainment HD'' or Geo Drama is a Pakistani entertainment television channel owned by Geo Television Network was established in May 2002. Its test transmission started on 14 August 2002 on the PAS 10 digital satellite whereas on 1 Octob ...

. The theme of the series is karma. In 2021, serial was released on the network's sister channel

Geo Kahani Geo Kahani (Urdu: ) is an entertainment channel of Geo network, broadcasting in Urdu. Title song of channel is sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Some of the most popular dramas are '' Naagin'', '' Champa Aur Chambeli'' and '' Kiran''. Geo Kahani b ...

. Its second season titled " Saaya 2" premiered on 6 May 2022, on

. The second season stars Mashal Khan,

Momina Iqbal Momina Iqbal is a Pakistani television actress. She made her acting debut in 2018 with ''Parlour Wali Larki'' as female protagonist Maryam. She later on appeared in serials like '' Khuda Aur Muhabbat 3'', ''Ishq Mein Kaafir'', ''Ajnabi Lage Zind ...

and

Danial Afzal Khan Danial Afzal Khan is a Pakistani television and film actor. He played leading roles in many television shows including Kab Mere Kehlaoge, Mann Kay Dhagay, Zara Sambhal Kay, Thori Si Wafa, Umm-e-Haniya, Raaz-e-Ulfat, Ghisi Piti Muhabbat, Moh ...

Plot

The drama revolves around a girl named Sauleha who lives with her husband Rashid and their daughters, but is pressed by her mother-in-law to produce a son otherwise she will be thrown out of the house. Sauleha delivers a baby boy but the boy gets exchanged for a girl by Qayyum in the hospital who is desperate to have a son. Sauleha's mother-in-law does not accept the baby girl and in order to get away from her presence she performs black magic which disturbs the mind of Sauleha. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law murder her but pretend it is suicide. Rashid forcefully marries Saba but he doesn't accept her as a wife and this disturbs Saba. The family starts facing paranormal activities and the invisible presence kills a number of people. Meanwhile, the demon possesses Saba but Rashid thinks that she has a mental illness, and then Sauleha's spirit continues to haunt Qayyum's house and is on a mission to avenge her killers.

Series Overview

Cast

Main Cast

Maham Amir Maham Aamir is a Pakistani actress who appears in Urdu-language television series. She is known for her role as Sualeha (witch) in Saaya and Noshi in Ready Steady Go. Career Aamir started her career as a host on ''Salam Sindh'' on Sindh TV. She ...

as Sauleha *

Sohail Sameer Sohail Sameer is a Pakistani actor who appears in television series and films. He began his career as child actor on PTV. He got a lot of recognition for his role as Nazakat Ali in Hum TV's 2018 romantic comedy '' Suno Chanda''. Filmography T ...

as Rashid *

Kiran Tabeir Kataksha is 2019 Pakistani psychological horror film. The film features Saleem Meraj, Kiran Tabeir, Kasim Khan, Nimra Shahid and Mubeen Gabol. Kataksha is written and directed by Abu Aleeha. Synopsis Four colleagues encounter problems while o ...

as Saba *

Faizan Shaikh Faizan Sheikh is a Pakistani actor who appears in television series and films. He is known for appearances in numerous contrasting roles. He has played several genre roles including comical, romantic, antagonist and supporting roles. Currently, ...

as Sajid *

Mizna Waqas Mizna Waqas, also known as Mizna, is a Pakistani television and theatre actress known for her supporting roles in several acclaimed drama series. She has played the role of Billo in Hum TV's popular series '' Suno Chanda'' and its sequel '' Sun ...

as Raheela *

Ghana Ali Ghana Ali Raza ( ur, ) is a Pakistani television, film and theater actress. She is known for her work in Pakistani dramas. Ali earned commercial success with a lead role in the Geo TV drama serial ''Sangdil''. She made her film debut with the ...

as Maheen

Recurring Cast

Sumbul Shahid Sumbul Shahid (1954 – 6 May 2021) was a Pakistani actress, singer, and host. She was the daughter of Ahmad Bashir (Urdu: احمد بشیر; March 24, 1923 – December 25, 2004) a writer, journalist, intellectual, and film director from Pakista ...

as Ateeqa; Rashid, Sajid and Shela's mother * Hajra Khan as Shela; sister of Rashid and Sajid *Saleem Iqbal as Hamid; Rashid, Sajid and Shela's father *Saleem Mairaj as Shams; a spiritual scholar *Falaq Naz as Rafiqa; Saba's mother *Usman Patel as Ishaq; Saba's brother and Maheen's husband *Sana Pervaiz as Ghana; Saba's friend and Sajid's wife *Sana Humayun as Dr.Areesha *Wahaj Ahmed as Qayuum; Raheela's husband *Zulfikar Ali as Waseem; Shela's husband *Salma Qadir as Rifat; Shela's mother in law *Vasia Fatima

Child cast

*Khushi Maheen as Pinky(Rashid/Sauleha’ 2nd daughter *Bakhtawar Rasheed as Guriya(Rashid/Sauleha’s 1st daughter) *Anabia as Shafaq (Rashid/Sauleha’s 3rd daughter but actually this is Qayum/Raheela’s daughter *Sameer as Ahsan (Shela/Waseem’s son) * Sania Zehra as Laraib – (Qayum/Raheela’s 1st daughter) *Hoorain as Manahil (Qayum/Raheela’s 2nd daughter) *Alizay as Sidra (Qayum/Raheela’s 3rd daughter) *Akbar as Akbar (Qayum/Raheela’s 4th son who is actually Rashid/Sauleha’s son who the nurse swapped with their daughter)

Production

In September 2017, Syed Mohammad Khurram started shooting officially for his horror series "Jinn" which changed to "Saaya" afterwards. Faysal Manzoor headed the project whereas Wajiha Sehar written the script for the series. Shooting for the series started in September 2017 and it had to be launched in January 2018 but due to

nikah In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...

of two stars of the series

and

, shooting and editing was interrupted. Later it was launched in March 2018. It was slated to go off air after 55 episodes but due to positive reviews and feedbacks, it was extended with new storyline which was produced by Erfan Ghanchi of Blue Eye Entertainment who previously produced Naagin. Lollywood actress

joined the cast on extension. The serial was concluded on 21 November 2018 with a two hour long episode.

Release

The series was announced to premiere on 7 March 2018 but was delayed due to editing issues and premiered on 21 March on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. It airs thrice a week with the duration of one hour. The drama was previously titled as ‘Jin’ but changed afterward. During

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, the channel reduced its running time to half an hour from 9:15 P.M to 9:50 P.M. From 20 June it returned to Wednesday to Friday at 9:00 p.m. with one-hour episodes, but after extension the show aired on Wednesday 9:00P.M due to delay in shooting issues. The series was among the top horror shows of 2018.

Sequel

In December 2021, it was revealed that season 2 of Saaya is in production starring Wajiha Khan Durrani, Mizna Waqas, Inaya Khan, Naveed Raza, Zainab Qayyum as initial cast members of the show. Later, Momina Iqbal, Mashal Khan were revealed as female leads. Sohail Sameer, Maham Aamir and Saleem Mairaj reprise their roles from the first season. It was released on 6 May 2022 on

References

{{Reflist 2018 Pakistani television series debuts Horror drama television series Pakistani horror fiction television series