Warning: spoilers ahead for those who haven’t watched the drama
It has been a while since ‘Dayan’ begna airing on our screens, which stars Mehwish Hayat, Ahsan Khan and Hira Mani in main roles. The show is Hayat’s comeback to the television screens, where she plays a woman who takes revenge on a feudal family for wronging her.
There have been several debates going on about whether the show is worth the watch or not because while some have enjoyed how the show is all about the poor holding the rich accountable, others have critiques about the pacing or casting choices. Let’s break it all down over here.
The good:
- The show’s main crux revolving around a poor girl who has to pay for her father’s crime: Nihaal is a small town girl whose life changes when her alcoholic father accidentally murders a man, who happens to be the son of a feudal family. When her father is arrested, the feudal lord’s wife Shabab (played by Mani) offers a solution to save the family: Nihaal must marry her husband to give him a child, as the couple couldn’t have children. While Nihaal is extremely against this, she is pressured into the decision by her mother in order to save her father.
2. Good girl gone bad: Nihaal is treated terribly her entire life and after becoming Zawar’s wife, his relatives treat her in a humiliating manner by forcing her to act as a maid and even accuse her of petty thievery. But Nihaal later gets a chance so that she is able to take revenge against the entire family, especially for stealing her baby.
3. Double character: Nihaal gets a second chance at life after she is tragically murdered by Zawar’s entire family, but the gynaecologist saves her by bringing her back to life. She renames herself as Mishi, and enters back into the feudal home under the guise of working as a nanny for the baby. Through this way, she is able to keep a close eye on the family and take revenge against those who wronged her.
The bad:
Many have pointed out several flaws in the drama such as the slow pacing that makes ‘Dayan’ a put down, as this user called out the poor direction.
Dayan ep 28: Poor direction. This director prefers slow motion walking. Another stupidity is he makes Mehwish Hayat look at the camera a lot. Why? May be he wants us to know this is the great actress of the past, and her eyes will do the job.
— Asrar Masud (@9D1Liberty) May 27, 2025
Mehwish Hayat continues her artificial acting. Hira Mani wants her medical report. Mehwish retrieves it and gives it to her. Then Mehwish does her mastered slow walk towards the door. She stops there. Doesn’t look back at Hira, but looks straight into the camera.
(Dayan ep 34)— Asrar Masud (@9D1Liberty) June 17, 2025
Such as in episode 33, users in the Youtube comment section were questioning the logic that if Mishi could see Zakiya mixing poison in Shabab’s tea, why didn’t see immediately stop the crime but instead started making a video?
Others have even suggested that Mehwish Hayat should have had a better drama for her comeback because the poor script has put everyone off.
i’m sure mehwish hayat has been offered significantly better scripts so why did she decide to come back to tv in dayan… why did anyone in that show say yes.
— noor (@meenukeennu) April 29, 2025
Others have said that several storylines of ‘Dayan’ were extremely off-putting such as Shabab wanting another woman to marry her husband and give birth…we’re also thinking this is bonkers.
My moms watching this drama called dayan where Hira Mani basically pimps out her husband Ahsan Khan to Mehwish Hayat because she wants a child who can be their(Hira and Ahsan’s) heir ??
Yehi daikhne ke liye itna patriotic hue thay hum pichlay dinon?💀— azz (@noturlocalhoe) May 15, 2025
While others have said that the styling choices and makeup looks of actors in the show did not live up to the expectations that the show had promised.
People who need to consult a stylist asap
Mehwish Hayat
Your acting is so good why let strange makeup, filters etc become a distraction? On top of that some strange filters in #Dayan are not helpful— Sadaf Haider صدف حیدر (@tomtomatoe) February 26, 2025
So after giving you both the good and bad side of Dayan, what is your verdict? Let us know in the comments!