Iltija


Iltija is a Pakistani television physiological drama series produced by Sana Shahnawaz and Samina Humayun Saeed under banner Next Level Entertainment. It is written by Saji Gul and directed by Mazhar Moin. Iltija focuses on the struggle of families who bring up children with disabilities such as Down syndrome and Quadriplegia. It features a leading cast of Affan Waheed, Tooba Siddiqui, Rubina Ashraf, Imran Ashraf and child star Caitlyn Espinherio who is actually has Down syndrome.

Synopsis

The story revolves around Hina and Sameer who love each other and marry. After their marriage, the test of their relationship starts when Hina births a girl with Down syndrome. Due to the birth of a child who is not as normal as others, Sameer's mother does not like Hina and due to her interference she has to leave Sameer's house. Hina than starts living in her mother's house where she brings up her daughter Khushi, alone.

Cast

In October 2016, it reported that Tooba Siddiqui will make her television comeback with Saji Gul's script about Down's Syndrome. She shared to DAWN Images that "My character's a woman who has a child suffering from Down's sundrome. Different events in her life have strained her relationship with her family and friends." Director Mazhar Moin said in an interview that many of the actors rejected the serial due to it not being a mainstream media project.

Reception

Along with a few television series of the series, DAWN Images said it as a serial of the year with a different story from the others. Hira Hyder of The [Express Tribune] critiqued the series for its poor portrayal of Down syndrome, abandoning its chance to raise awareness and instead poorly portraying people with disabilities.
The series mostly had the ratings of 4–6TRPs.