Woweeeza! Ashraf, you cunning old witch you! Okay, well not entirely cunning but whatever the reason behind him changing his mind at the time of nikkah he did promise Ifrah he would say no and she, and we believed him! We had been wondering last week if Ifrah and Ashraf will get married and although I did believe they would I had thought it would be due to Ifrah giving in to pressure from her mother and Ashraf’s father – I sure as hell did not expect her to ask Ashraf to say no and fall prey to the game that plays out!
As expected, Ashraf’s mother is not thrilled with the announcement her husband makes. She gradually changes her stance when Ashraf asks her to and when she realizes that no matter how she feels, Ifrah is once again to be her daughter in law. I have to say I really like how her husband tells her to think of Ifrah as a daughter and to treat her well.
Words of wisdom galore in these episodes by – Sabiha Khala and Jawad. Sabiha explains to her daughter that agar tum nay Ashraf se shaadi na ki tau ussi Ashraf ki biwi tumhein dhakay day kar iss ghar se nikal day ge. Wah wah. I would like to think Ifrah’s mother has only her daughter’s welfare at heart but well it is clear Ifrah hates Ashraf and with good reason and yet she has forced her into this nikkah with emotional blackmail and odd reasoning. Seems like she has landed herself a 2-in-1 package for Ifrah lands a husband, Sabiha khala lands herself a home. I understand these are two women alone in the world and I do not want to sound harsh and critical for I do in a way understand where she is coming from especially with that wretched Shibli still on the loose but is this really the only solution? Maybe encouraging Ifrah to bring herself out of the deep depression she is sinking further into and move from that neighbourhood to wherever they came from, work, do something!! Anyways, maybe it is the actress playing Sabiha khala as well who does not seem so convincing in her role to me that makes me feel that way.
Ashraf promises Ifrah he will say no at the time of the nikkah but asks her not to say no for it would make her look bad in front of everyone and he did not want that for her. She agrees, saying she does not want to hurt her mother. But if he doesn’t say no, she will poison herself and die. Hain? And that would not hurt her mother then? Uff! With Jawad’s words of how Ashraf’s ‘dilli khwahish’ is within reach and that Ifrah will forget her anger soon so he should go ahead with the nikah, Ashraf says yes and Ashraf and Ifrah are pronounced man and wife! Oooo la la!
I would have loved to see Ifrah and Ashraf’s first meeting after the nikkah. Was my initial thought. Except when I saw a month later that she is still spitting venom and crying buckets with her hair strewn all over the place – I thought ah well. Yeh he kuch hua hoga. Ashraf is shown to be wondering after the nikkah if he has made a mistake since he had promised Ifrah something and did the opposite but oh well, too late now. Ifrah is still crying and her mum is still trying to tell her how lucky she is and Ashraf’s mum is still eavesdropping on their conversations! Seriously, don’t Amma jee’s ‘gauddas’ (knees) hurt with all that clambering up and down and listening in on these mother daughter conversations?!
Ashraf has managed to buy a new house for his family – in Ifrah’s name. Ifrah comes up with a solution to her troubles – how about Ashraf leave her and her mum in this house and take the rest of his family and himself and move into the new one?! Genius! (Not). I mean, now that she is married to him and it definitely does not look like she has the option of going anywhere then maybe try to accept things and at least try to move on?
Can I please share what I think will happen now? There will be lots of Ifrah spewing venom at Ashraf and Ashraf ‘hurting’ inside and then Shibli will reappear and Ashraf will save the day – whether he dies doing so or not I do not know. But I will not be surprised if that does not happen for if there is one thing about this drama it is that it is quite unpredictable. I know Ashraf was despicable but it appears that time heals and his family seems to be accepting the change in him with even Saira being happy at his nikkah. I wonder if Ifrah will finally forgive him and grow to feel anything other than hate for him.
I loved Salman Shahid’s acting in these episodes. His joy at the new house and hearing Ashraf and Ifrah are spending time together etc was very natural and real. Noman Ijaz’s facial expressions when Ifrah tells him she hates him and wants to be left alone actually made me feel for him. But what is with these desi heroines in our dramas that smear lipstick all over their faces in distress??! I would get all worked up and anxious when our gori heroines in the angrezi movies would scream and throw and smash plates etc in anger and I would think haye, now they will have to clean all that up so what was the point?! And our desi sisters tend to scream and promptly rub bright red lipstick all over their faces till they are left looking like wild vampires on a lucky night out!! Enough!
Are you shocked that Ifrah and Ashraf got married so quickly and how the marriage actually came about? Would love to hear your thoughts!
Kunwal Javid
