Veena is a Pakistani television series starring Fahad Mustafa in the title role as a eunuch, who struggles for the welfare of their community. Danish Taimoor features as the normal lead. The supporting cast includes Abid Ali, Beenish Chohan, Javeria Abbasi, Shabbir Jan and Nauman Masood. It was directed by Syed Atif Hussain and first broadcast on ARY Digital in 2009.
Mustafa's performance in the series was met with critical acclaim, and is marked as his first breakthrough. The series received two nominations at the 9th Lux Style Awards, including Best TV Actor for Mustafa and Best TV Writer.
Plot summary The plot focuses on society's attitude towards the queer people and revolves around the struggle of Veena, a eunuch who wants to get due rights of their community as human beings.
Cast Fahad Mustafa as Veena / Murad Danish Taimoor as Najam Abid Ali as Munna Beenish Chohan as Fazi Javeria Abbasi as Shazi Hina Dilpazir as Shamsa Shagufta Ejaz as Sajida Hassan Ahmed as Wahaj Tamanna as Munna's mother Tehreem Zuberi as Erum Badar Khalil as Mehar Sadaf Nauman Masood as Qasim Mehmood Aslam as Guru Shabbir Jan Nadia Hussain Zara Farooq
Production Veena was conceived by Atif Hussain, with Danish Taimoor in lead role and Fahad Mustafa in a guest appearance that eventually developed into the title role. . It was then chose to limit Mustafa's appearances to 45 scenes in 20 episodes, so that it would make his character more digestible to the audience and prevent overwhelming them with his presence.
The principal photography for the series took place in the Interior Sindh.
Accolades
Year Award Category Recipient(s)/ nominee(s) Result 2010 Lux Style AwardsBest Television Actor - SatelliteFahad MustafaBest Television WriterFizzah Jaffri
References