Malaal e Yaar () is a Pakistani television serial produced by Momina Duraid under MD Productions. Based on the feudal system, it explores the ritual of early settled marriages. The main theme revolves around two persons from opposite backgrounds who hate each other but eventually fall in love, bounded by a marriage only on paper. It stars Mirza Zain Baig, Azekah Daniel, Zainab Shabir, Hamza Firdous and Jahanzeb Gorchani in leading roles. It gained local and foreign viewership soon after its first episode went on air.
Plot
The story concerns a family of wealthy feudals whose head and heir are orthodox and follow century-old feudal mechanisms. The serial starts with parallel scenes of the protagonists; Balaj and Hooriya. Hooriya is a headstrong young girl living in the metropolitan city of Karachi and pursuing a quality education. She likes wearing Western clothes and rides a bike and is always ready to do any sort of social work. Balaj on the other hand is a feudal boy of a nearby village, where his taya Malik Shahbaz is the head of the district. Balaj's parents died when he was an infant and was raised by his aunt Surraya, Malik Shahbaz's wife. Being under his taya's supervision, Balaj has apparently turned out to be cruel and ill-mannered. He even gave up his studies as education was not valuable for him being the future head of his tribe. Not known to both Balaj and Hooriya is that they have been engaged since childhood, as Hooriya is the daughter of Malik Shahbaz's younger step-brother Malik Wajahat.
Wajahat fell in love with his college-mate Samreen and married her against the wishes of his family. His brother Malik Shahbaz has ever since blamed him for this act and does not give him the due recognition and respect which Wajahat deserves being part of the Malik family. In all matters of decision-making, Balaaj is above Wajahat. Succumbing to his family's pressure, Wajahat had got married for the second time to Saeeda, a girl chosen by his brothers, even when he was a father of two daughters with Samreen. It is told that Samreen had left the haveli of her in-laws when Malik Shahbaz got engaged her eldest daughter Hooriya to his nephew Balaaj when they were just five-year old kids. Not agreeing to this old tradition of early engagements and fearing that Balaj will be as orthodox as his uncle and her daughter will be just like other women of this family having no say and respect in their lives, Samreen left her husband and took her daughters to live a life of seclusion for their better future. Wajahat didn't bring them back for their own betterment but also was not strong enough to go against his brother's decisions. Unknown to his family, Wajahat secretly keeps vigilance of his wife and daughters and sends them financial assistance through his trusted slave Ghulam Din. Samreen has never told her daughters about Hooriya's engagement or about the whereabouts of their paternal family.
Hooriya is in love with her childhood friend Danish who runs a mobile shop. But Danish's mother does not like Hooriya for her boldness and extroversion. Samreen is also not in favor of Danish as she believes that if his mother does not approve of Hooriya then their marriage will not be successful.
One day, after Hooriya gives meal to an old street-seller, he is wounded by Balach's speeding vehicle, engaging him and Hooriya in a verbal brawl. Hooriya makes the wounded man to be put in Balach's car and taken to hospital. In hospital she makes Balach pay all expenses. Balach does this unwillingly and both him and Hooriya curse each other. Hence, from their very first meeting, Balach and Hooriya are at wits end.
Surraya, called Bi Jaan wants her daughter Amber (Maryam Noor) to be married to Balach. Bi Jaan loves Balach as her own son and considers him the best match for her daughter. Amber, unlike Balach is continuing her studies and is in love with her class-fellow Faiq (Faraz Farouqi). But she is hesitant to tell about him to her family as Faiq is from middle-class and she knows that her father will never approve his proposal.
Malik Shahbaz crowns Balach as the head of the panchayat (ignoring Wajahat) and also commits him to his daughter, thinking that Samreen and her daughters will never come back in their lives, so Balach and Hooriya's engagement doesn't exist anymore. Balach obediently agrees to this betrothment as his uncle's decision is the final order for him. Amber though very close to Balaaj as a cousin, is not happy about this engagement. She tells about Faiq to Bi Jaan, but as expected she rejects it knowing that Malik Shahbaz will never accept a son-in-law from a lesser background.
