Haseena Moin (Urdu: حسینہ معیں ) (born 20 November 1941) is a notable Pakistani dramatist, playwright and writer for radio and television.
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A native of Kanpur, the most populous city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Hassena Moin received her early education in her ancestral region and, after the partition of India, 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 Mastered in History from Karachi University in 1963. Her radio and television plays have earned international repute.
Dramatist-born 1942 at Kanpur-India, Hasina Moin took her initial education at Rawalpindi, Lahore and finally Karachi where she did MA (History) from the University of Karachi. Her yearn for writing was visible right from the time she was in final years of her schooling...as from the days of her Class VII school activities---she got selected to write weekly column by the title of BHAI JAN for a local journal.
Her fame started laying its foundation when she regularly wrote some memorable plays for Radio Pakistan Karachi's all time popular "Studio Number NAU" (which, incidently, produced artiste' like Talat Hussain, Sajida Syed, Santosh Russell, Mughal Bashar, Mehmood Ali, Qazi Wajid, Talat Siddiqui, Rehana Siddiqui, Neelofer Aleem, Mahmood Khan Moodi, Jamshed Ansari...the list goes on....). Professionally...Hasina took up the educational pursuits and did teaching..and rose to the level of Principal.
It was in 1969 that Iftikhar Arif, Head-Script at PTV-Karachi Centre...called Hasina and offered her to write a play for the then, forthcoming EID. Initially Hasina was shocked and fell off the lid...but took courage to pen down a play...the cast of which was also decided by her with Kunwar Aftab Ahmed as the Director....hence came "EID KA JORRA" with Neelofer Aleem and Shakil in lead supported by Khalid Nizami and Ishrat Hashmi and thereafter it was no looking back for Hasina...as the Eid Al Azha saw "Happy Eid Mubarak" and then came the deluge----with serials and plays like; SHEHZORI, ZEIR ZABR PEISH, UNCLE URFI, UNKAHI, TANHAIYAAN, PARCHAIEYEN, BANDISH, DHUND, DHOOP KINAREY, AAHAT, KASAK, PAL DO PAL, TERE AJANE SE...while her play "GURYA" directed by Shirin Khan with cast; Manzoor Qureshi, Shahla Ahmad (Bina of Uncle Urfi), Azra Sherwani and Raju Jamil, won an award at the Global TV Plays festival at Tokyo..on best script and direction.....where Shirin traveled and participated on behalf of PTV-Karachi...in 1975.
Hasina is recipient of President of Pakistan's PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE award---though she deserved SITARA E IMTIAZ.
With her incomparable command of Urdu, she harvests the subtlety, flexibility and expressiveness of this colourful language to the full, dazzling her listeners. Haseena Moin is lucky, for what is there more satisfying than to have your creative efforts come to life on-screen and receive universal admiration.
While we were all still wondering in the mid-60s if that modern miracle, television, would ever come to Pakistan, suddenly, there it was. And in those now-forgotten days, a young woman called Haseena Moin and PTV both played a big role in each others success and rapid growth.
PTV thrived on the sophisticated and very funny serials, mostly of around 13 episodes, that Haseena Moin scripted, and she, too, had found the right medium for her talent. In the absence of a vibrant theatre tradition in the country, TV presented the budding playwright with the perfect opening she needed.
The black and white mini screen that signed off after a mere three hours in the evening, would instantly hum with life and vitality when a Haseena Moin play started. Of course, great credit also goes to the dedicated producers, directors and actors. But remember, its the script above all on which a plays success rests.
After decades of enjoying her plays, we all know who this lady is at least I like to think I do. But it does appear strange that with success following even greater success on the TV screen, Moin didn't branch out into other literary forms, for instance, the novel. Or even a few volumes of short stories which are such a popular genre among Urdu fiction writers. Then there is poetry, which every self-respecting lover of Urdu can recite non-stop at the drop of a hat.
Curiously, writing plays is perhaps a more highly complex specialty than the other literary genres, since it combines strong visual content with gripping dialogues tailored to specific characters. With her incomparable command of Urdu, she harvests the subtlety, flexibility and expressiveness of this colourful language to the full, dazzling her listeners. She's lucky, for what is more satisfying than to have your creative efforts come to life on-screen and receive universal admiration
Hasina Moin continues to pursue her talent--regardlessly---under the current commercial scenario which has gripped the Showbiz media on TV plays and serials where the farcical "writers" are making "hay" while the sun (of commercialism) shines! and Hasina..trying hard to be original instead of doing some cosmetics on the old and even new English, American and Indian movies--for transforming them into serials for PAK-SHOWBIZ on the tube!
Her dramas have been popular amongst every generation. Many of her plays are considered to be classics. All her plays highlight serious issues with a bit of humor. One can never get bored watching her plays. Almost all the legendary actors of Pakistani drama industry have starred in her plays. It was due to her plays that Pakistani dramas are being watched and appreciated all around the globe. She can be considered as one of the oldest and most famous writers of Pakistani dramas. Her classics like Dhoop Kinare have been adapted for Indian television. She had also written the dialogues for the Indian movie Henna and has also written a play for India called Tanha, which become widely popular during its run.She is considered to be a legend in Pakistani drama industry and many famous writers of today are following her footsteps.
Following are her various some popular drama serials: The dramas in bold are her all time hits and considered to be classics.