Mohsin Abbas Haider, Nazish Jahangir are coming together for a drama

Producer Adnan Siddiqui thinks Haider should be given a second chance

In a recent turn of events, actor, singer and writer Mohsin Abbas Haider announced his return to the small screen with a television serial starring opposite Nazish Jahangir.

He shared the news on his Instagram story yesterday with a picture from the set of the upcoming show. The picture was originally shared by the serial’s director Sohail Javed on Facebook, featuring both Haider and Jahangir in the same frame.

Titled Ghamandi, the show is produced by Adnan Siddiqui and is a ‘family drama’ according to the director. “We can’t reveal much about it right now but the teaser is going to be out soon. It is a family drama starring Mohsin and Nazish, so we’re all pretty excited,” Javed told The Express Tribune.

The Meray Paas Tum Ho actor and serial’s producer, Siddiqui, on the contrary, commented on Haider’s return to the small screen with respect to the backlash he had received when he announced his musical and big screen comeback earlier.

“First of all, I don’t think what Mohsin did should’ve been in the papers,” reserved the MOM actor. “That’s a debate I don’t want to get into but I feel that people just enjoy the gossip and take pleasure from other people’s miseries. Nobody wants to help anyone,” he expressed.

Siddiqui then explained why he believes that irrespective of whatever a person has done, they should be given a second chance. “Hypothetically speaking, if you do not give a chance to someone who deserves it – just because of their personal affairs – aren’t you making them a patient of repression?”

“You’ve punished him enough! He also lost his show. But we are no one to stop anyone from earning. When we are not the providers of livelihood why should we be the ones taking it away?” questioned the CEO of Cereal entertainment.

It is pertinent to mention here that Haider was fired from TV show Mazaaq Raat after the Police registered an FIR against him in July 2019 for physically assaulting his wife, Fatema Sohail. A copy of the FIR is also present with The Express Tribune. According to a statement released by the management of the show, the actor was relieved of his duties until proven innocent in the court of law.

The decision was made keeping the public sentiment and support for victims of domestic abuse in mind.

In Februrary 2020, Haider maintained that he was ‘jobless’ and did not have enough money to support his son. However, the celebrity had re-launched his career with a song in November 2019 over a month after the dissolution of his marriage. He then signed a film titled Once Upon A Time in Karachi with Abu Aleeha, which is yet to be released.

Nevertheless, Siddiqui further reiterated why he believes art should be separated from the artist. “I read Bilal Ashraf’s statement earlier whereby he said that ‘Art has no boundaries’. My brother, art has no boundaries but artists do,” he concluded.

In August 2019, Haider was found guilty by a lower court in Lahore of threatening his wife Sohail. "The incidents the accuser has narrated are false and nothing but the lies," Haider's counsel, Adnan Tariq, claimed in a video uploaded on the actor's Facebook account.

Initially when Sohail uploaded pictures of her bruises on social media to validate her claim, Haider said, “She is trying to play the woman card. It is true I had anger issues in the past but I’m a changed man.”

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