Alif Allah Aur Insaan Episode 22 – Disappointing!

Ohkay so, I never ever ever thought that Alif Allah Aur Insaan would come at such a stage where it would lose its charm. I can’t believe that a drama that was so engaging has now turned out to be a perfect case of stretching & dragging & the sad part is, the drama-makers have left no stone unturned in making it obvious that yes, they are dragging this drama to grab last bit of the rating they can while it lasts. I remember saying that praising Hum TV drama is like giving them a ticket to drag it & they proved me right once again, first Yeh Raha Dil & now Alif Allah Aur Insaan. It is actually quite unfortunate that such good dramas end up getting ruined because the producers chose not to end them at the right time. I always knew that the pace of the drama would slow down at some stage but I never expected that everything will go all over the place, clearly showing that things have been stretched way beyond!

I still find it odd that Shahzeb hasn’t recognized Basit because he clearly met him the day Nazneen went to see him & was also the in-charge of their engagement. I don’t really know what difference it would’ve made if they had changed the scenario & had shown that Shahzeb knew Basit was Nazneen’s servant’s son. Even though Nazneen’s reaction when she saw Basit was realistic but not sure why Basit seemed so shocked, as if he wasn’t expecting her to be around? Out of all the tracks, I still am interested to find out how this one is going to unfold as there’s still something left to be seen!

I really had a hard time watching Reena & Nawazish Ali’s scenes tonight because the chemistry between Ushna Shah & Farhan Ali Agha was cringe-worthy, like even when they were trying to show that Nawazish Ali was getting jealous of Hassan, I found it quite odd. Also, the acting of both Ushna & Farhan in their scenes together was so weak that I couldn’t believe I was watching the same Ushna Shah who blew us all away with her portrayal as both Rani & Reena in the initial stages of the drama. This entire track was again a filler & was used to stretch because I don’t see a reason why they couldn’t wrap it up in previous episodes? Reena ignored Nawazish & spent some time with Hassan, Nawazish became insecure & did what Reena wanted, which was a proposal for marriage. This is going to mark Reena’s downfall because she really isn’t getting the crux of the situation & she is unable to see that for Nawazish she is just a flavor of the month!

Now talking about the most unconvincing & unneeded track of the entire drama; the budding romance between Shaheer & Zimal, who both qualify as a perfect couple for any Punjabi Gandasa Movie as there’s nothing about them both or any other character in this track that speaks ‘art student’ to me. I know I am not looking for stereotypes but then I don’t think I am being picky in judging their appearance & overall personalities as when the drama began, we all saw how much attention was paid on every actor to give their respective characters the personality it required. If we recall every single character like Nazneen, Shahzeb, Basit, Rani, Nigar Begum, Shammo, Rani’s family members, each one of them had such perfect personalities that helped in portraying their characters to perfection, so when it comes to Shaheer, Arsalan, Zimal they are a complete misfit for these roles!

Talking about the proposal & Zimal’s reaction to it & later the tun tuni music which was used to suggest there was something magical going on between them, everything was awkward because all this while I kept on waiting to hear a single dialogue from Zimal where she would talk about being engaged but she didn’t? Seriously is she giving an edge to Shaheer & what for? Also, I am not really buying that Shaheer or any other friend doesn’t know about her engagement because when you get engaged, your old school friends & new college friends are the first few people to know about it. There’s absolutely nothing about this track or its character or even actors that’s piquing my interest & I am not sure if it will change in the episodes to come either!

I must say this episode came as a huge disappointment because I for once didn’t feel I was watching Alif Allah Aur Insaan, a drama which I used to look forward to eagerly. They have actually dragged it & it is quite obvious because that’s when the drama loses its charm & the story loses its purpose. For the first time, I am unable to see the purpose of the story because now it seems all over the place & for the first time, the perspective of the writer is unclear. I must say, even though they have quite nicely portrayed that Reena could never become Nigar Begum, like no matter how hard she tried, she could never take her place, that being said, I must say for the first time I was quite disappointed in Ushna Shah’s portrayal as Reena Begum because her acting was not upto the mark. When it came to Sana Fakhar, she portrayed the character of a courtesan quite gracefully but Ushna Shah has failed to do that because her expressions were a bit too suggestive & she took it a bit too far. Also, I wish they had maintained that ethnic, traditional persona of Reena because now she looks unrealistically urbane & a bit too polished, considering she is someone who came from the slums & was unlettered.

At the moment, I think the only thing worth watching this drama for is Nazneen, Shahzeb & Basit’s track because apart from that, even Reena’s track has lost its charm as it is quite predictable what is going to happen to her & then there’s Zimal Shaheer track which is so boring that it makes me yawn. Also, I am not sure who thought introducing Arsalan’s character & giving him a nerd look would be a good idea, not to forget his killer jokes. Arsalan reminds me of those back-benchers who are completely isolated from the cool groups of the class & they try really hard using their weird sense of humor to get some attention & when they don’t they end up laughing at their own jokes to feel validated about their existence, in short, I roll my eyes & raise my eyebrows every-time Arsalan is on screen because he fails to make me laugh. Also, I think Hum TV has hired the actor playing the role of Hassan to drag the dramas, ironically he was playing the role of Hassan in Yeh Raha Dil & ended up dragging that drama & similarly in Alif Allah Aur Insaan, once again he was seen as Hassan & acted out a few filler scenes!?! Talk about monotony! Anyways, please share your thoughts about this episode of Alif Allah Aur Insaan.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Zahra Mirza

Zahra Mirza got associated with Reviewit.pk in 2012. After moving to Australia, Pakistani content was a way of staying connected to the roots, language & Pakistani culture because it felt home. Eight years ago, review writing began as a hobby but has now turned into a passion.

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