I was nervous to look Hamza in the eye, says Maya Ali

December's almost gone, and the promised return of Hamza Ali Abbasi to our TV screens has yet to materialise.

His upcoming drama serial, Tera Gham Aur Hum helmed by Diyar-e-Dildirector Haseeb Hasan, pairs Hamza paired with Pakistani TV's new dream girl Maya Ali.

Maya has been one half of many recent hit couples on TV, from her turn inDiyar-e-Dil with Osman Khalid Butt to her on-again-off again relationship with Imran Abbas in Mera Naam Yousuf Hai

Also read: In conversation with Pakistan's new jori #1: Diyar-e-Dil's Osman Khalid Butt & Maya Ali

Will Tera Gham Aur Hum have the same kind of success?

"Obviously, I would really want it to be like that," says Maya in an exclusive conversation with Images. "Just like hashtags such as #Osmaya (Osman and Maya combined) and #Wafa (their characters Wali and Farah combined) are established, I now hear of #Sanu (Salauddhin and Manu) and #Haya (Hamza and Maya). That's a good sign, right?"

Tera Ghum Aur Hum is the story of Manahil aka Manu (Maya) and Salahuddin (Hamza), whose sister Aiman is best friends with Manahil. Salahuddin is a mature, serious lad, who is out of a job, so Manahil's father asks him to tutor his daughter. So begins Manu and Salahuddin's relationship, which will take a turn a few years down the road.

Maya's enjoyed great chemistry with her co-stars like Imran and Osman, with whom she's acted many times. Was she able to recreate the same magic with Hamza, we wonder?

"I'm trying to, obviously," she said with a giggle. "I know Osman will kill me for saying this, but Hamza is very comfortable to work with, so you automatically give a good performance. I was too nervous to look at him straight in the eye, but he always insisted that I do. I feel that people will like our performance together."

While she's enjoying a great phase in her career as the leading lady of choice these days, what Maya is secretly coveting is a villianous role:

"I really want to play a negative character, but I haven't gotten the chance yet. Our writers sometimes write [such a negative role] that you feel that people will abuse you."

The leap to films isn't too far for Maya. She intends to make her debut "very soon". "I definitely plan to be in films in 2016," she shared.

Cricketer’s reinduction

It may have been just another limited-overs game in the Bangladesh league, but it did feature an incident open to various interpretations in and about Pakistan.

It was Mohammad Hafeez versus Mohammad Amir — for many, it was the so-called professor standing up to one who had strayed early in life, the ‘moral custodian’ to someone who had served a prison sentence.

It raised some very basic questions about punishment and rehabilitation, a question which this country is repeatedly faced with.

‘Co-option’ and ‘rehabilitation’, in all spheres of life here, are key words in discussions about who is allowed by which powers to assert his presence at a particular time.

Likewise, maybe more than bound by any standards of fairness, the PCB is compelled by its own needs to try and fast-track Amir’s return to the national side.

Also read: Amir trumps Hafeez in BPL showdown

The national team has not been doing all that well. It is weak and vulnerable in the batting department; in the bowling section Amir is an exciting and promising option that the cricket board cannot quite afford to ignore at the moment.

Already, there are reports of how keen the PCB and the national coach are to include the fast bowler as an instant boost to the side and it is said that an effort is soon going to be undertaken to convince those who disagree, such as Mohammad Hafeez and others who have assigned sinister reasons to whatever the left-armer does.

There is little doubt that if they want him badly enough, the cricket bosses will succeed in having their man back.

The tricky part for some observers of the game is that this reinduction will also open the door for the return of Mohammad Asif, a swing bowler of some repute around the cricket grounds, and also batsman and the then-captain Salman Butt.

However, the PCB has taken a strong line on the two cricketers, due to their obstinacy in denying all charges. At the moment, the PCB is, rightly, not inclined to welcome them back.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2015