It has been difficult to sit down and write about the masterpiece that is ‘Tan Man Neelo Neel’, because words have failed me completely to explain how incredible the show creators were to take a risk and speak about a topic few would even dare to address.
‘Tan Man Neelo Neel’ is the third part of the trilogy series created by the trio Sultana Siddiqui, Mustafa Afridi and Saife Hassan, which addresses the dangers of mob violence. It starred Sehar Khan and Shuja Asad as two dreamers who help each other achieve their ambitions while living in a society that crushed them brutally. Rabi (played by Sehar Khan) is an ambitious, witty woman who aspired to become a content creator with a popular Youtube channel and Sonu (played by Shuja) was a shy dancer who was eager to follow his mother’s footsteps and lead a famous dance group.
Throughout the next ten episodes we were made to believe that this show would be a light-hearted romance that is all about a strong ambitious woman, and a shy and loving man who supports her dreams by standing alongside her. We saw how Rabi was a woman who loved deeply and helped those around her, like Moon by encouraging him to hold his rapist accountable, which was something he achieved in doing so. She helped him find his love for dancing again and makes him a partner in her event planning business venture. We saw how Sonu and Rabbi were incredibly close to their mothers, and saw them as icons to seek guidance from or vent their problems to, when the rest of their village had shunned them aside.
But what we saw in the last episode was brutal because the drama showed us the reality of mob violence: it spares no one and works quickly like a fire to burn every thing around them. It took a man’s fragile ego and the misuse of religious practices for a mob to quickly murder Sonu, Rabi and Moon. And the audience, as shown by the reactions below, is so spellbound because we had spent weeks knowing that these were people with nothing but good intentions who had helped those in need and were ordinary lives with dreams and ambitions. But the show brutally twists the knife by including a montage of the people who had been victims to mob violence, who were once ordinary people as well.
Just watched #tanmanneeloneel
And the most terrifying part is that nothing feels exaggerated—just a few voices, a single accusation, and a life is erased in moments. No proof, no hesitation, just blind fury taking over, while the world watches and moves on— r. (@RizLamist) February 16, 2025
It’s the bravest and most emotionally moving 10 minutes of television you’ll ever see in Pakistan. #tanmanneeloneel pic.twitter.com/xtc2cJv6u6
— AHI (@aamnaisani) February 16, 2025
Pakistani art at its finest, at its pinnacle, at its BRAVEST#TanManNeeloNeel is everything art is supposed to be. Everything magnificent pic.twitter.com/fHB0ShMwgy
— Pixiedust💫 (@Pixiedust941) February 15, 2025
Started this episode with a lump in my throat, ended with a hole in my heart.
Just incredibly brave storytelling. So much to unpack and discuss, but don’t have the words.#TanManNeeloNeel https://t.co/9ZwFOHeWhR— Osman Khalid Butt 🇵🇸 (@aClockworkObi) February 16, 2025
We implore audiences to not only watch this show, but engage with it on social media. Urge your family members and friends to watch it because few have done what ‘Tan Man Neelo Neel’ has executed in only ten episodes. We can only imagine the amount of bravery it must have taken the show runners to speak on such a topic, but we hope that this is only a start and more Pakistani television creators understand that art has a political purpose to educate others about the society they are living in.
Read more:
