The recent episodes of Main Manto Nahi Hoon has fans raising their eyebrows over the show’s seemingly problematic build up of romance between the main characters. Public opinion holds that Manto (Humayun Saeed) and Mehmal (Sajal Ali) should not be romantically involved with each other.

The show follows the story of Mehmal, a girl from a violent and patriarchal family who fights to get higher education against her father’s wishes. At university, she encounters the quiet writer-economics professor who shares his name with the legendary writer.

While not shown explicitly, the show is hinting towards a romance between the two. In one scene, Mehmal’s aunt teases her for having a crush on her professor by pointing out how much she talks about him, hinting towards a romantic attraction. In another scene, Manto grabs Mehmal’s hand and tries to save her from her cousin Farhaad (Azaan Sami Khan) who is forcefully pursuing her. He later gets beaten up by Farhaad's guards.

Fans are disappointed by Sajal and Humayun’s choice of script that is one the verge of normalising such dynamics. Despite the show’s high-budget filmography and good acting, fans couldn’t look past the writing, “Even though Manto is a great character, I can’t shake the weird feeling of a student and teacher having a romantic relationship (plus 20+ age gap)” read one YouTube comment. A comment for Sajal said on Instagram: “I expected better script from you.”