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Actor Nimra Khan is set to star as the hijab-wearing lead in Umm-e-Ayesha, a new Geo Entertainment show directed by Saleem Ghanchi and produced by Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi.

In an exclusive comment to Images, Khan detailed that the show — which will be released in Ramazan — focuses on the struggles of a woman who wears the hijab, including issues such as “losing out on jobs because of her attire” and facing discrimination during the rishta process.

“Umm-e-Ayesha is about a girl who grew up in a mediocre [middle-class] family and was repeatedly told by her mother to cover her head [with a dupatta]. However, as she reads more about Islam she chooses to do the hijab because she believes it is better than covering oneself with a dupatta,” Khan said, adding that her character promised herself to never go before a “na mehram” [men who are not blood relatives] without her hijab.

She said that the lower middle-class family struggles as they cannot afford a car, prompting Ayesha to buy a scooter, and subsequently try to get a job so she can acquire her PhD.

“Even though people like her CV, she gets rejected from jobs because of her attire. Employers ask her to change her get-up but she refuses to,” Khan revealed to Images, adding that her character also refused to remove her hijab for marriage prospects.

She highlighted that the show is “all about faith, which never wavers through life’s trials and tribulations”.

When asked by Images why the showrunners did not hire an actor who was actually a hijabi, Khan questioned if there were any hijabi actors in the Pakistani drama industry at all.

“If a girl does the hijab, why would she act in TV dramas? For the drama about Qandeel Baloch, we didn’t get her to star in it. We take inspiration and convey it in our own way because we’re actors and we need to execute it in a better way,” she said, brushing off the question as “irrelevant”.

Commenting on the overall experience, Khan maintained that it was beyond her expectations as the cast was supportive, and there were “positive vibes”. She stated that it was a “challenging character” because she “had to wear a hijab and drive a scooty”, however, it sent a “good message” overall.

The Ehraam-e-Junoon actor maintained that it was also challenging because the “Islamic history” had to be portrayed and talked about “exactly and without errors”. She said, however, that there could be mistakes as those involved in the show were “only human”.

Khan hoped she was “convincing” in her role and that audiences would like the upcoming show.

The show also stars Omer Shahzad, Mehmood Akhtar, Nida Mumtaz, Tara Mahmood, Rehma Zaman, Eman, Asim Mehmood, Diya Rahman, Mohsin Gillani, Beena Chaudhry and Ayesha Rajpootand, and is written by Hina Huma Nafees.