''Chandni Raatein'' (also spelled ''Chaandni Raatain'') is a Pakistani drama centered on certain

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

n cultural backgrounds, and issues such as

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

motherhood A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case ...

and the distanced mother and daughter-in-law bond. The show aired on

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcasting, broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information & Broadc ...

in 2002, and repeat-telecasted from the same channel in 2008.

Plot

Head of her family, Bee Jan ( Safia Khairi) has her own strict set of rules and cultural values, which she enforces in her home with zeal and zest. The all-mighty but too traditional mother has two sons, Aamir (

Javed Sheikh Jawed Sheikh (also spelled Javaid and Javed; born 8 October 1954) is a Pakistani actor, film director and producer who works in Lollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for working in the Hindi films ''Om Shanti Om'', '' My Name Is Anthony G ...

), who is married to Abginey (

Faryal Gohar Faryal Gohar (born 18 December 1959) is a Pakistani actress, television writer and human rights activist. She is known for her roles in dramas '' Uraan'', '' Chaandni Raatain'', ''Chand Grehan'', ''Wisal'' and '' Mohini Mansion Ki Cinderellayai ...

); and Aasim (

Humayun Saeed Humayun Saeed (born 27 July 1971) is a Pakistani actor and producer. Describing himself as a method actor, Saeed is primarily known for his work on Pakistani television and cinema and is the recipient of several accolades, including Lux Styl ...

), who is unmarried. Aamir and Abginey are childless, despite eight years of happy marriage. Seeing how Abginey can not bear a child, Bee Jan decides to marry her elder son off to a younger, prettier girl. A submissive son with an almost scary mother, Aamir can not stand up and fight for Abginey. The result is his marriage to Maha (

Mahnoor Baloch Mahnoor Baloch (; born 15 February 1970) is an American-born Canadian Pakistani actress, film director and former model. Baloch made her television debut in 1993 with the drama serial '' Marvi,'' which aired on PTV. She is often praised by cr ...

). Maha is a rude, unorthodox girl, who lives life the way she wants, and clearly refuses to follow Bee Jan's rules. Bee Jan is angry but, when Maha becomes pregnant, all of her fury vanishes. Abginey is still childless, and her position in the house continues to deteriorate as Maha treats her like filth. It is during these circumstances that Abginey's London-residing family - her parents (

Badar Khalil Badar Khalil (), also known as 'Baddo Aapa', is a Pakistani television actress. She gained popularity for her role in the TV play ''Bi Jamalo'' portraying herself as Bi Jamalo. She has appeared in TV serials on PTV since 1968. She also appeare ...

and

Shehryar Zaidi Shehryar Zaidi is a veteran Pakistani television actor. He is known for his acting for PTV Home and other networks tv dramas. Career He has appeared in a variety of television dramas and musical shows. He has worked with some big names of Paki ...

) and her younger sister, Zarmeeney (Aaminah Haq) - pay a surprise visit to Abginey. They are shocked to learn of Aamir's second marriage, which Abginey had not told them of. They try hard to take Abginey back to London with them, but she refuses outright. Maha, meanwhile, wants Aamir's younger brother, Asim, to marry her cousin, Iraj. Defying Bee Jan and Aamir, Asim declares his love for Zarmeeney. Bee Jan is afraid that Zarmeeney might, like sister Abginey, be infertile, but Asim refuses to listen. They marry and, despite a lot of problems, come together as a happy couple in the end. A subplot also reveals how Maha had been married previously, and has a son from that marriage.

Reception

"The role of a woman towards/against/supporting nother woman has been called the 'essence of the drama." In 2008, ''Chandni Ratein'' was repeatedly telecasted on PTV Home. The drama was aired from Monday to Friday for thirty minutes each day during the Matinee Time show, which re-telecasts quality television serials to provide home, family entertainment.

Cast

as Abginey Aamir (Abi) - Aamir's first wife (Badi Dulhan) *

as Maha Aamir - Aamir's second wife (Choti Dulhan) *

as Asim *

as Aamir * Aminah Haq as Zarminay - Abginey younger sister married to Asim * Safia Khairi Aamir's mother *

Zaheen Tahira Zaheen Tahira (1931 – 9 July 2019) was a Pakistani film and television actress, producer and director. She also worked for Radio Pakistan and on stage. Early life She was born in 1931 in Lucknow, British India (according to some sources, s ...

as Bee Jee *

as Abiney's mother * Latif Kapadia * Kulsoon Sultan * Tamanna as Bubbo * Jahanzeb Khan as Jalal

Awards

The series won two awards at

2nd Lux Style Awards The 2003 Lux Style Awards, officially known as the 2nd Lux Style Awards ceremony, presented by the Lux Style Awards honours the best films of 2002 and took place 22–24 February 2003. This year, the city of Pakistan played host to the Pakist ...

ceremony, * Best TV Play-Afreen Baig-Won * Best TV Actor-

-Won * Best TV Actress-

-Nominated

References

Pakistani drama television series Urdu-language television shows Pakistan Television Corporation original programming 2002 Pakistani television series debuts {{Pakistan-tv-stub