Why Mehwish Hayat became Dayan?

Mehwish Hayat has spoken in detail about playing the character of a Dayan in her latest drama, which has been receiving widespread appreciation and impressive viewership.

Appearing on Rabia Mughni’s YouTube show Gup Shup with FUCSHIA, Mehwish called the role an ‘experiment’ and stressed that she took on the role to push her limits and challenge herself.

In reply to a question about why she chose the project, she said: “I’ve been doing a lot of films, and I enjoy them because they offer unique stories.

“This drama had both commercial appeal and realism. It was edgy, experimental and most importantly, stories like this are rarely shown on television.”

Mehwish added: “I was travelling from the US and had a connecting flight from Dubai to Karachi. Abdullah Kadwani happened to be on the same flight. We got talking, and he asked if I was interested in doing television again.

"I told him I would, but only if the script felt cinematic and not clichéd. A while later, he texted me saying he had a good script. I met with Siraj and the team, and once they narrated the story, I knew I had to do it. It was so different.”

She continued: “The hardest part was figuring out how to pull it off because I was playing two completely different people in the same story, both with very distinct personalities.”

About the story, she said: “It was the strong female protagonist. The drama shows how a woman can stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ When she takes matters into her own hands, she becomes unstoppable.”

On filming the graveyard scene, Mehwish said:“I had a condition. I don't like using real graveyards for shoots out of respect. So we recreated the graveyard set. But even then, it was scary. The grave we used was real, and there were actual insects.”

She said the audience response has been amazing. “I’m getting great feedback from fans, and it means a lot.”