'Meray Paas Tum Ho' book set to release in December

A twisted story of love, romance, patriarchy, infidelity and misogynistic punchlines will soon be up for grabs! The highly popular, record-breaking drama serial Meray Paas Tum Ho is now being converted into a book and will be available for purchase by the end of this year.

On Wednesday, renowned writer and controversial figure, Khalilur Rehman Qamar shared an image of what seemed to be the book cover or the first draft of it on Twitter. “Meray Paas Tum Ho is getting published. InshaAllah it will be available in markets by December. Get your copy booked by contacting the publisher Mr Fawad at 03004827500,” he wrote.

Published by Aks Publications, the cover features a combined photo of the lead actors of the drama, Humayun Saeed, Ayeza Khan and Adnan Siddiqui. Just a little above the title was a one-liner sub-title that read, “When God favours a woman, you feel glad, but when another man does the same, you don’t.”

While some fans of the drama were elated to read an elongated book version of the drama, others wished Qamar would “one day” switch to writing about topics that are more relevant to the country’s state. Social media users also expressed discomfort with how the author portrayed women in the drama. They want empowered women to serve as role models instead of reading tales about “poor men.”

A user, complimenting Qamar’s writing, especially his “powerful dialogue”, suggested that the writer pay more attention to women. “I wish you’d write a story where a woman gets the respect she deserves and has a lead role. All of your stories are from the perspective of an innocent, troubled man,” read the tweet.

Meray Paas Tum Ho grew popular amongst the masses for a myriad of reasons when it first aired in 2019. Highlighting a story about a woman being unfaithful to her husband, it garnered a lot of negative attention because of its misogynistic portrayal of women.

So much so, there was even a legal attempt to stop the show’s final episodes from airing in January 2020 because the female petitioner deemed its offensive language and plot too disrespectful towards women. However, the Lahore Civil Court judge was quick to dismiss the petition.

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