Shanakht

Shanakht
Title Screen of Shanakht
Genre	Drama Social Romantic
Developed by	Ahtesham Ahmad Khan
Written by	Amna Nawaz Khan
Directed by	Amna Nawaz Khan
Starring	Maya Ali Noor Hassan Rizvi Fahad Mirza Kanza Wayn
Theme music composer	Mad Music
Opening theme	"Shanakht" by Midhat
Country of origin	Pakistan
Original language(s)	Urdu
No. of episodes	18
Production
Executive producer(s)	Irfan Momin
Producer(s)	Momina Duraid
Location(s)	Karachi, Pakistan
Cinematography	Sajid Kashmiri
Editor(s)	Hussain Masoor Imtiaz Ali
Running time	Tuesday 8:00pm (40 Minutes of airing without commercials)
Production company(s)	A N K Production
Release
Original network	Hum TV
Original release	5 August (2014-08-05) – 16 December 2014 (2014-12-16)
Chronology
Preceded by	Iztiraab
Followed by	Zid

Shanakht(Urdu: شناخت‎)(English Translation: Identity) is a Pakistani television social drama series that debuted on Hum TV on 5 August 2014. It is written and directed by Amna Nawaz Khan and is Produced by Momina Duraid. It is produced by Momina Duraid and is a A N K Production project. The show stars Maya Ali, Fahad Mirza and Noor Hassan Rizvi in pivotal roles. The show aired Tuesdays at 8:00 pm.

The drama serial premiered on 5 August 2014 in Pakistan, with the prime slot of 8:00 pm every Friday on the channel Hum TV, the serial aired its final episode on 16 December 2014, and was extremely praised. The final episode of serial left an unforgettable effect on audience. Shanakht received widespread critical acclaim and is widely regarded to be one of the greatest television series of all time. Due to the Islamic serial trend and minimum cult philosophy cliche dialogues, the serial was a major hit and was praised heavily. It is also among the top series of Pakistan.

Shanakht mainly deals with the subject of social life in upper-class Pakistan. The story revolves around a young girl named Qurratulain (nicknamed Annie), a devout and practising Muslim. She is shown to often cover her head using a Hijaab as prescribed by her faith. She usually faces strong criticism and objections from her family members over her obsession about being a dutiful Muslim, especially from her liberal-thinking mother. As time progresses, Annie begins to develop feelings for her first cousin Hashim (Noor Hassan). Hashim, though fond of Annie, resents her for religious, and hence out-dated, outlook on life. In a twisted turn of events Hashim sends a wedding proposal for Kashaf, Annie's younger sister, rather than Annie who has always been deemed more compatible with him. Kahshaf outright rejects the proposal. With a broken heart Hashim leaves for England for higher studies where he befriends Rohaan (Fahad Mirza). Rohaan has a pleasant, fun loving personality, but despite this he also believes in adhering to religious teachings in life. Rohaan's friendship gradually changes Hashim, his attitude towards life and religion.