Muhabbat K Jugnu by Ana Ilyas

About this novel

Muhabbat K Jugnu (Urdu: محبت کے جگنو) by Ana Ilyas is a romantic Urdu novel that begins in a dark cinema hall with a very honest review. A plain-spoken girl tears apart a film without knowing that its proud young director is sitting close enough to hear every word.

Nashwa and Mizni have been best friends from matric to university, and now they work together too. On a Saturday night Mizni drags Nashwa to the six-to-nine show of a film she has been waiting a week to see. Nashwa is bored within minutes. It’s the same worn-out script, she says: a boy, a girl and a cruel samaj standing between their love. Mizni sighs over the “perfect romantic couple”; Nashwa rolls her eyes. When she asks who directed this nonsense, Mizni says dreamily that it’s her all-time favourite: Jazlan Shah. At that name Nashwa gives her honest opinion of him, loudly.

جس نے آج تک صرف تعریف سنی ہو، وہ تنقید کیسے برداشت کرے؟

In the dark, a man’s hand holding a cigar goes still. Jazlan Shah has a habit of watching one show of every new release among ordinary people, and for ten minutes he has been listening to these two girls argue. He has only ever heard praise. Girls sigh over his looks and line up for photos with him, and fame and money have gone to his head. He can’t believe that an ordinary girl has just picked his personality apart. Mizni begs Nashwa to keep her voice down, but Nashwa asks why she should, since nobody in the dark knows who’s sitting where.

It’s a fun first meeting that sets up a classic clash of pride and plain speaking, and Ana Ilyas clearly enjoys bringing a famous, arrogant man down to earth. The title, “fireflies of love”, hints at the small sparks that will follow.

You can read Muhabbat K Jugnu online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Ana Ilyas: Chand Meri Dastras Mei, Usay Panay Ki Chah and Janay Na Tu, or see all Ana Ilyas novels.