Durefishan Saleem: Dramas, Roles and Awards

Durefishan Saleem biography

Durefishan Saleem has had one of the fastest climbs in recent Pakistani television. She moved to Karachi in 2019 with a law degree and no screen credits. By the end of 2023 she was the female lead of Ishq Murshid, and the first episode of that HUM TV serial has now passed 94 million views on YouTube.

Images Dawn reports that she was born in Lahore to Saleem-ul-Hassan, who directed and produced for PTV in the 2000s, and her mother Shumaila Saleem. She has two brothers and a sister. She studied law (LLB) at University College London before deciding to act. Her date of birth has not been published by any of the outlets we rely on, so this page does not give her age.

Her first role was Erum Jameel, a supporting part in Momina Duraid's Dil Ruba (HUM TV, 2020) alongside Hania Aamir and Mohib Mirza, and it brought a Lux Style Awards nomination for emerging talent. ARY Digital then cast her as Zoya, the lead of Bharaas, which won her the New Emerging Talent (Female) award at the 2021 ARY People's Choice Awards.

Career timeline

• 2019Moves to Karachi to work as an actor (Images Dawn).
• 2020Debut as Erum in Dil Ruba (HUM TV); first lead as Zoya in Bharaas (ARY Digital).
• 2021Pardes and Juda Huay Kuch Is Tarha; ARY People's Choice award for New Emerging Talent; telefilm Hangor S-131.
• 2022Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi (ARY Digital), opposite Danish Taimoor, makes her a household name.
• 2023Jurm (Geo), an episode of Siyaah (Green), Jaisay Aapki Marzi (ARY) and, from October, Ishq Murshid (HUM TV).
• 2024Plays Zamda Khan in the Geo revenge thriller Khaie.
• 2025Wins Best On-Screen Couple with Bilal Abbas Khan at the 10th HUM Awards; Sanwal Yaar Piya premieres on Geo in September.
• 2026Stars in Dar-e-Nijaat on ARY Digital, opposite Sheheryar Munawar.

Durefishan Saleem dramas list

Every television serial below was checked against a news report, the drama's own Wikipedia article, or the broadcaster's official YouTube upload. The last column links to that check, and a dash means our sources do not confirm that detail. 10 serials are listed, oldest first.

Durefishan Saleem telefilms

Durefishan Saleem's biggest hits

Ishq Murshid (HUM TV, 2023–2024)

As Shibra she plays opposite Bilal Abbas Khan's Shahmeer, and the push and pull between the two drives the serial. The Express Tribune's report on the 10th HUM Awards (October 2025) names Ishq Murshid as the leading winner of the night: Best Drama, Best Actor for Bilal Abbas Khan, Best Director for Farooq Rind (shared), Best OST for Ahmed Jahanzeb, and Best On-Screen Couple for Bilal Abbas Khan and Durefishan Saleem. On HUM TV's official channel, episode 1 (uploaded 8 October 2023) has 94.9 million views, and the HUM Music upload of the OST has 9.4 million (both as of 2 October 2026).

Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi (ARY Digital, 2022)

Many viewers search for this serial as "Yeh Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi", but the title ARY Digital broadcast was Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi (ARY's YouTube uploads spell it "Khudgharzi"). Durefishan plays Mehak Shamsher, a sheltered young woman, opposite Danish Taimoor, in their first project together. It was the role that made her widely known. The official ARY Digital upload of episode 1 (11 May 2022) has 116.9 million views, one of the biggest episode-1 numbers in this guide. Later, in Images Dawn, she said she would not watch or make a drama like it again, which is a frank thing to say about the show that made her name.

Sanwal Yaar Piya (Geo Entertainment, 2025–2026)

Her first serial with Feroze Khan and Ahmed Ali Akbar casts her as Piya Aslam, a college student. Geo premiered it on 15 September 2025, and the episode 1 upload on HAR PAL GEO has 32.3 million views.

Khaie (Geo Entertainment, 2024)

A complete change of register: she plays Zamda Khan, a Pashtun woman in a revenge thriller led by Faysal Quraishi. The serial was also debated. Images Dawn questioned whether it reinforced stereotypes about Pashtuns, a charge Quraishi rejected.

Durefishan Saleem awards

Notable nominations

• 2021: Lux Style Awards, Emerging Talent of the Year (Dil Ruba)
• 2022: Lux Style Awards, Best TV Actress - Viewers' Choice (Pardes)
• 2025: Lux Style Awards, Best TV Actress - Viewer's Choice (Jaisay Aapki Marzi)
• 2025: Lux Style Awards, Best Actor of the Year - Female Viewers’ Choice (Ishq Murshid)
• 2025: Lux Style Awards, Best Actor of the Year - Female Viewers’ Choice (Khaie)
• 2025: Hum Awards, Best Actress Popular (Ishq Murshid)
• 2025: Hum Awards, Best Actress Jury (Ishq Murshid)

Fan following

Instagram follower counts change daily, and we cannot read them reliably without signing in to Instagram, so we leave them out. These YouTube figures come from official broadcaster uploads, as of 2 October 2026.

Durefishan Saleem new drama 2026 and upcoming projects

Dar-e-Nijaat is her current serial on ARY Digital, with Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui. Episode 17 aired on 26 September 2026, and its official upload had 4.1 million views by 2 October 2026. We found no other officially announced project for late 2026, so we list none.

How we checked this page

We only list a credit when it can be checked. Every credit we found could be confirmed. Talk shows, hosting work and reality-show appearances are not counted as dramas. If you spot an error, please use our corrections page.

Related pages

Talk of the Town: top Pakistani actresses · Pakistani drama actresses · Pakistani drama awards · Lux Style Awards winners · New Pakistani dramas 2026 · Best Pakistani dramas to watch · Showbiz