Sammi (2017 TV series)

Sammi is a Pakistani television drama serial about Social cause that airs on Hum TV from January 28, 2017. It is written by Noor-ul-Huda Shah and directed by Saife Hassan.^[1] The series centers social issues on the rural society revolving around the concept of Vanni, the series shows moral lessons against common issues such as gender discrimination. Depicting the Vanni concept storyline revolves around the journey of Sammi, a young girl who was sold off by her family to the Chaudhry family where her brother had killed her fiancé. Simultaneously it revolves around reality based issues with different characters within the same plot.

The Series Stars its leading roles with Mawra Hocane as Sammi, Adnan Siddiqui as Rashid Chand, Rehan Sheikh as Chaudhry Rab Nawaz, Sania Saeed as Chandni, Bilal Khan as Aaliyan, Ahad Raza Mir as Salar, Saman Ansari as Salima, Madiha Rizvi as Zulekha Chaudhry and Nadia Afghan as Naheed.^[2]

It was co-created and co-produced by the creative head Momina Duraid with Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs. The show was first aired on Hum TV, as a part of night programming all under Duraid's production company.^[3] It premiered in Pakistan, UK, USA and UAE with same premier date and timings.

Synopsis

Sammi is the story of a girl, who defies our male dominant society and its norms. Doing so, she challenges false traditions and customs. Sammi has been marked as “Vani,” as a compensation for a murder done by his brother. Sammi’s dreams shatters, but her will to survive makes her strong. She escapes with the help of Chaudhrani, who does not want her son to be corrupted by his father’s ill mentality. What will happen to Sammi is a story every girl should watch.

Plot

Series opens in the village Rahimyar Khan with the story of a young educated girl Sammi Jutt who was getting married to Pervaiz Chaudhry, on the day of her Nikkah her brother Waqas demanded extra payment for their Mahr Payment (a promised amount of money paid by groom) from Pervaiz which led a physical dispute between them after which Waqas killed Pervaiz in anger. After the cancellation of marriage Pervaiz's father Chaudhry Fazal assisted his elder brother Chaudhry Rab Nawaz (a politically higher positioned leader of Rahim-yar Khan) for justice who orders to kill Waqas for justice. However Sammi's parents begged Rab Nawaz for their Son's life and offered their daughter as a Vanni - particularly selling her off for honour killing for the sake of their Son. Rab Nawaz accepts to their offer and announces Sammi as a Vanni in the entire village. However to save Sammi's future, Fazal denies to accept her as Vanni which leads to chaos between villager against Rab Nawaz who decides to wed Sammi off to his twelve-year-old son in order to gain highest reputation in the village . Since the village had never seek police or law for justice, everyone assisted Rab Nawaz, looking to this a nerveless Fazal remains silent while Sammi is kept as a captive in Chaudhry's Haveli.

Furthermore, the series also depicts Rashid Chand's family. He happens to be Chaudhry Rab Nawaz's respected servant since his mother Zarina remained his Milk kinship. Zarina and Rashid consider themselves as Rab Nawaz's slaves over generations. Salima (Rashid's wife) received criticism from Zarina since Rashid has always desired for a son and fails all his attempts resulting to his five daughters, parodying the illiteracy of the village series spots gender discrimination where woman are blamed to give birth to a daughter. Story took turn when Zulekha Chaudhry (Rab Nawaz's wife) fears for the future of her son and asks Rashid to escape Sammi from the Village. Looking to this, Rashid helps Sammi to escape from Rahimyar Khan and sends her in Karachi to live with Chandni who once remained Rashid's ex-fiancé. In order to let Sammi stay in her house, Chandni tells her to work in her beauty saloon. Overtime Sammi gain's respect in Chandni's Saloon and Salar (Chandni's Son) begins to develop feelings for her. On the other hand, Salima loses her un-borned child and befriends Naheed (her nurse) who is also the victom of gender discrimination in the society since her brother and sister-in-law took over over all the property after their parent's death and forces her to work taking her salary as an advantage. With Salima's monthly checkups Zarina decides to take Rashid's proposal to Naheed's brother. The story also introduces the character of Aaliyan (Naheed's nephew) who happens to be Salar's best friend. It is further revealed that Naheed holds a relationship with Ghulam Rasool, who received criticism from the entire society since he was an illegal child of the parents had committed suicide after his birth. When he brings Naheed's marriage proposal, he is insulted and sent back. Looking to this Naheed decides to secretly marry him. Story takes another turn when Aaliyan is approached to tuition Rab Nawaz's son and Naheed finally marries Ghulam Rasool secretly, she decides return home and reveal the truth after few weeks, after reaching home she finds out that her marriage has been fixed with Rashid Chand. On the other hand, Salar decides to marry Sammi for her protection to which Sammi rejects his offer for marriage, the entire conversation is heard by Chandni who throws Sammi out from her house the next day. Sammi decides to return to Rahimyar Khan but is stopped by Salar who then gives her shelter in a separate house and begins his Nikkah ceremony to which denies. Where as on the other side, Rab Nawaz finds out about Sammi's escape through Waqas and punished Rashid, where as Zarina is forced to remain silent by Zulekha since she is the only one who knows about her involvement. Salar lies to his mother that he has married Sammi to which she furiously contacts Waqas and reveals him about Sammi's whereabouts. Waqas comes to the house she is in and takes Sammi. Salad tries to find her but dies in a car accident. Waqas tries to burn Sam I in front of the village But Rab Nawaz brings Sammi back to his haveli. He declares that he will marry Sammi. Chandni learns to know of Salar's death and comes to Ramiyar Khan. Sammi also finds out that Salar is dead by Aaliyan (whom Chandni told). In the last episode, the highest Chaudhry (and most sensible one) decides to give Waqas to the government police and Sammi to no longer be a Vanni. Chandni marries Sammi to Aaliyan and as Rashid takes her to a station Chandni dies. The drama ends with Sammi smiling at Aaliyan.

Cast

Main cast

• Mawra Hocane as Sammi Jutt
• Sania Saeed as Chandi(dead)
• Adnan Siddiqui as Rashid
• Rehan Sheikh as Chaudhry Rab Nawaz Raja
• Saman Ansari as Salima(dead)
• Bilal Khan as Aaliyan
• Nadia Afgan as Naheed
• Ahad Raza Mir as Salar(dead)
• Seemi Raheel as Zarina
• Madiha Rizvi as Zulekha Chaudhry

Recurring characters

• Haris Waheed as Waqas Jutt
• Irfan Khoosat as Riaz Jutt
• Humera Ali as Nargis Jutt
• Noor-ul-Hassan as Fazal-ud-din Jamaluddin (Ba Fazal)
• Kinza Malik as Bilquis
• Beena Chaudhry as Naheed's sister-in-law
• Malik Raza as Naheed's brother
• Mirza Zain Baig as Pervaiz (Dead)

Production

Development

Sammi was developed by Hum TV's senior producer Momina Duraid of MD Productions, and the CEO of the channel Sultana Siddiqui. In late 2016, the channel announced that it will be bringing a TV series similar to Udaari which would be made on noble cause. The senior developer Sultana Siddiqui announced that Sammi was made to address social issues, commenting on its storyline Siddiqui states It showed the dark but real side of our society ...... Staying away from glamour we have tried to present a story that needs our attention^[4] commenting on the same topic, Duraid comments Entertainment with a purpose is what we need to educate the masses.^[5] The channel hired the award-winning director Saife Hassan to direct the series.The Story of the series was Written by Noor-ul-Huda Shah ^[3] Story of serial is written by Noor-ul-Huda Shah,^[1] speaking about her screenplay Shah says It’s an inspiration from my initial works such as Jungle and Marvi.^[5] Further More on the series press conference, she states that My message is for those brothers who consider their sisters as their property and deprived them of their basic rights.^[4]

Song composition is done by Sahir Ali Bagga who previously composed Sajna ve Sajna for channel's 2016 series Udaari.^[6][7] while background music is given by MAD Music. Zaheer Abbas and Award-winning vocalist Zeb Bangash was finalised to perform the OST, it marks her return to Hum TV after she performed the award-winning OST Yar-e-Maan of channel's 2015 series Diyar-e-Dil.^[8] The series was given the Udaari time slot of Sundays 8:00pm where it succeeded Duraid's Bin Roye.

Casting

Actress Mawra Hocane makes her television comeback to portray Sammi

Casting of the series began during the filming of TV series Udaari, Producer Momina Duraid, director Saife Hasan and writer Noor-ul-Huda Shah mutually chose the cast which includes Mawra Hocane, Adnan Siddiqui, Rehan Sheikh, Sania Saeed, Bilal Khan, Ahad Raza Mir, Saman Ansari, Madiha Rizvi Nadia Afghan to portray the leading roles.^{[9][1][2][10]} Mawra Hocane made her television comeback after 2014 and her Bollywood debut film Sanam Teri Kasam, previously she was finalised to portray the role of Nida Nafees alongside Adnan Malik in channel's series Gypsy, but in mid 2016 its title was changed to Dil Banjaara and it was finalised that actress Sanam Saeed will replace Hocane in Dil Banjaara^[11] since Hocane was finalised for Sammi.^{[9][12][13][14]} Talking about her role Hocane states, While studying at good colleges and travelling abroad we often forget about girls suffering in the villages, if Sammi gives only one percent hope to girls then I am ready to do ten more shows like it to fix this problem.^[5] The actress made her second appearance together with Adnan Siddiqui who was finalised to portray the role of Rashid Chand for the series ^[10][12][15] after his success in Karb, Meray Qatil Meray Dildar, and Aahista Aahista. He joined the series after completing his 2016 series Pakeeza for the same channel. The actor receives appraisal for his role of depicting the culture of rural region.^[15] Alongside Siddiqui, actress Saman Ansari was finalised to portray the role of Salima, Rashid Chand's wife ^[16][17] who depicted the role of a helpless woman surviving in illiterate society. Director Safe Hassan finalised veteran actress Sania Saeed to portray the role of Chandni after judging her in his 2016 series Sang-e-Mar Mar which became a commercial success for the channel.^[18]

Veteran Actors such as Rehan Sheikh, Seemi Raheel, Irfan Khoosat and Malik Raza were also casted. Actor Rehan Sheikh when casted in Udaari was finalised by director Saife Hasan and producer Duraid for the role of Chaudhry Rab Nawaz .^[9] The Actor portrayed a similar role to that of Udaari had a negative character. Veteran actress Seemi Raheel, best known for Mannchalay was finaled to portray the role of Zarina where she portrayed a Punjabi villager. It was her comeback to Hum TV after her 2013 series Durr-e-Shahwar. Veteran Actor and producer Irfan Khoosat previously working in Sadqay Tumhare, Preet Na Kariyo Koi and Aunn Zara was finalised to play the role of Riaz Jutt, alongside him Haris Waheed was finalised to portray Waqar Jutt. PTV famed actor Malik Riaz was also casted in the series where he portrayed the role of Aaliyan's father.

Veteran Actor Asif Raza Mir's son Ahad Raza Mir and Pakistani singer Bilal Khan made their television debut where Ahad Raza Mir portrayed the role of Salar and Bilal Khan portrayed Aaliyan.^{[19][12][15][20]} Commenting about his experience as Salar, Ahad Raza Mir states It’s such a small and open industry where people welcome you with open arms but there’s an intimidation factor since I am new here. I am obviously panicking while doing a scene with Sania Saeed. But then I say to myself, ‘there’s a reason you are here.^[21] Actress Nadia Afghan was finalised for the role of Naheed, the actress was given a leading role and was introduced in the fourth episode of the series. Similarly Actress Madiha Rizvi previously casted in Dil Banjaara was selected for Zulekha Chaudhry, Rab Nawaz's wife.

Music

Sammi OST
Soundtrack album by Zeb Bangash and Zaheer Abbas
Released	27 January 2017 (2017-01-27)
Recorded	2016
Genre	Television soundtrack
Length	01 Minutes 42 Seconds (1:42)
Language	Punjabi
Label	M.D Productions
Producer	Momina Duraid
Music video
"Sammil" OST on YouTube

The title song of Sammi was composed by musician Sahir Ali Baaga, lyrics for the song were given by Major Imran Raza, background score for the series is done by Mad Music. The OST was performed by Zeb Bangash with Zaheer Abbas being in the chorus. It marks her Return, since she performed the channels hit drama series Diyar-e-Dil's title song "Yar-e-Man" in 2015. The first half of the soundtrack was released on 27 January 2017. The soundtrack was produced along with series production by Momina Duraid

Track listing

All lyrics written by Major Imran Raza; all music composed by Sahir Ali Bagga.

Release

Broadcast

Sammi was released on January 27, 2017 on Hum TV, with its release it was given the Sundays 8:00pm slot which was maintained by their similar series Udaari and bout a higher viewership to the channel, Sammi replaced Bin Roye which had replaced Udaari in October 2016 but received below average ratings which had its time slot dominated to rival channels. The channel aired a weekly episode for approximately 30–45 minutes (without commercials).. It was aired on Hum Europe in UK,^[22] on Hum TV USA in USA^[22] and Hum TV Mena on UAE,^[22] with same timings and 3 February 2017 being the premier date. All International broadcasting aired the series in accordance with their standard times.

Reception

Critical appreciation

After the series premier, the pilot episode was lauded and prised by several critics, writing for HIP in Pakistan Saira Khan praised the director and the writer for producing a screenplay with heavy storyline and poignant cast by stating ...Having waited in anticipation to view the first episode, we can now safely say that it lived up to our expectations in every sense of the word; from story to the cast selection and from acting to direction, this is a drama which will keep the audiences engrossed till the end for sure!^[23] Khan praises Hocane and Sidiqui's characters and compares the series with 2016 serial Udaari, she concluded her issue praising its casting and story line by saying Mawra Hocane made us fall in love with her portrayal of Sammi and we're glad that she chose to be a part of this drama. Adnan Siddiqui is a seasoned actor who we are sure will add value to Sammi and make it an unforgettable watch. Also, considering the fact that Noor ul Huda Shah has written the play, we can safely say Sammi will be this year’s Udaari for sure. Similarly, Ghazala Suleiman writing for Brandsynario praises the series premier episode by saying ...the latest serial in town rightly raised all the hype and hoopla with its promos and finally the drama’s debut, aired yesterday, lived up to all the expectations...With a brilliant cast, a winning script penned by Noor ul Huda Shah and direction of Saife Hassan, Sammi is bound to be the ultimate rating magnet this season!^[24] Fatima Awan writing for Review It moderately reviewed the premier by saying It was definitely the kind of episode which gives you a reason to look forward to more.^[25] The premier episode was also praised by Mariam Shafique who writes for Express Tribune, in her editorial Shafique praised the bold issues being highlighted in the series and the way writer penned down several events within an episode, Shafique discusses several realities of society and compares it with several shows depicting it, she states In Pakistan, there has always been a social stigma attached to discussing taboo social issues such as sexual abuse, child marriage, and marital rape. These are topics that we do not discuss, but are well-aware of its prevalence in the society. People just sweep these topics under the rug and refuse to come out of their bubble and face the reality. The media has now taken the initiative to highlight these issues openly despite the opposition from some segments of the audience. Sammi, the new offering by Hum TV, addresses another social issue called ‘vani’ which many of us are not aware of .... This is not the first time a social issue has been addressed through the television drama medium. A similar offering by the same channel, Udaari, created waves last year when it addressed the bold social issue of child abuse. It faced a lot of controversies initially because of its content, but was eventually, highly applauded for its fearless stance moreover talking about its storyline Shafique says Sammi is depicted in a similar setting of a village where people follow old customs and traditions, and women are still treated as men’s property to be used for their benefit. The drama serial brilliantly portrays the hideous act of vani. Apart from vani, Sammi also highlights karo-kari or honour killing, which is again a prevalent evil in our society ^[26] Furthermore she praised all the characters and their parody of rural citizens by saying The performance of all the actors has been good so far, and all of them fit into their role well. Some of them have adopted the punjabi accent well while others still require a lot of tweaking. ^[27] Moreover Writing for Dawn News, Sadaf Haider moderately reviewed the series saying Not only will Sammi shed light on social customs like vani (or exchange brides) but also on how women are forced to continuously bear children till they produce a son.^[28] Furthermore on her same issue, Haider praises Sammi's characters by stating What might be this serial's strongest recommendations are the solid performances by the actors. Though a little filmi in parts, both Mawra Hocane and Noor ul Hassan give the audience convincing portrayals of the shock and misery suffered by their characters, especially in episode two. She concluded that Overall, Sammi has gotten off to a good start, capturing the audience’s interest from the first episode and not wasting time on a winding build-up to the pivotal events. This serial has all the potential of being an entertaining and compelling watch for viewers if it can achieve the nuance and layered storytelling that makes social commentary such a popular genre among Pakistani drama audiences.^[28]

In March 2017 Sammi received positive reviews from several news articles. Saira Khan praised the series and its storyline in her Hip issue, she even praises Saife Hassan's direction skills and casting by considering Sammi's each episode a gripping one, she stated Sammi proves to be gripping thanks to its interesting story penned down by Noor ul Huda Shah. The writer beautifully highlights the VANI system and the gender discrimination in our country keeping the audience intensely engaged. Sammi deals with such a serious topic and there has not been a single dull moment in the drama so far; now that's an achievement! in her same issue she reviewed all previous episodes of Sammi and concluded that with declaring it as a muct watch, saying Wonderful story, ace direction and brilliant set of actors on board Sammi is one play which no one should miss out on.^[29] In the same month the series introduced its lead protagonists where HIP praised Bilal Khan and Ahad Raza Mir's entry by stating sammi not only caught our attention for its thought-provoking storyline but also because of the star-studded cast. Apart from Mawra Hocane, who made her television comeback with this drama, it was Ahad Raza Mir and Bilal Khan's debut that had us excited too! The sixth episode finally introduced us to the handsome boys and their characters, and we'll have to say, we're very impressed^[30] Series plot was discussed the most and it was added that with each episode characters engage more and more audience, once again the screen play also received appraisal, for this Khan states Despite dealing with a serious issue, Sammi has all the right ingredients to keep the audience engaged. Writer Noor ul Huda Shah's script is only getting stronger and more interesting with each passing episode with the actors proving that they're made for their respective roles .... With the story moving at a steady pace, it was wonderful to finally see Ahad Raza Mir make his entry as Salaar who happens to be the son of the beauty parlour owner. The episode also marked the entry of Bilal Khan who essays the role of Aalyan (Naheed's nephew). Moreover on the same review Khan praised Ahad Raza Mir and Bilal Khan's approach to their role by saying The one person who blew us away was Ahad Raza Mir! He made his presence felt as soon as he graced the screen, which came as a surprise since this is his first drama ever. Well, like father like son! Talent runs in his blood and we cannot wait to watch more of him ... Bilal Khan is new to acting but his first attempt was not bad either! We are hopeful that with each passing episode, he too will impress!^[30] Apart from the male leads Nadia Afghan was also lauded for her potrayal of Naheed, Khan praises her role and skills and saying While the drama has been focusing on the Vani system and having daughters, right there, it also talked about how judgemental we are of people or rather children who don’t come from sound backgrounds or whose parents disown them after birth. But with Naheed not worried about his background, she urges him to ask her brother for her hand .... Nadia Afgan is a talented actress and it's great to see her be part of a play like this while Sania Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui are always a treat to watch.^[30]

The Character of Rashid (portrayed by Adnan Siddiqui) received critical appraisal from critics.^{[31][32][29][23][26]} In an interview he says I had no idea this character would become so popular,You’d be surprised to know that my character – Rashid – was actually written as a villain but when the director realised that the public was loving the character, his portrayal was changed. He changed the character to positive. Rashid won the people’s sympathy, ^[33] HIP Pakistan praised Siddiqui's portrayal of Rashid in one of their issues by stating If we talk about acting then it was Adnan Siddiqui as Rashid besides Rehan Sheikh who was mind blowing simply because his ability to show two sides of his character so beautifully. That sternness on his face when he is with Rab Nawaz and the softness when he is with his wife makes us quite intrigued by Rashid and we are sure as the play progresses we will get to see more shades in his personality. ^[31]Simultaneously the character of Salima opposite to Siddiqui (portrayed by Saman Ansari) also received appraisal from the critics, commenting on her onscreen pairing with Siddiqui, HIP writes The scenes between Rashid and Salima were played to perfection and shot beautifully, their chemistry was amazing especially when she is seen complaining to him about how he has turned her into a baby producing machine while he goes out and lives his life the way he wants to . ^[34] In several issues and articles Mawra Hocane, Ahad Raza Mir, and Bilal Khan also received public attention and appraisal from the critics.^{[35][30][29][36][28]} In all of its reviews, the series was constantly being praised for its storyline, direction and cinematography.^[28][37][38]

See also

• List of programs broadcast by Hum TV
• 2016 in Pakistani television

References

External links

• Hum TV Website