I came across Boltay Afsanay because one of the viewers of the drama asked me to have my say on these. It’s an attempt of Tv One to materialize the old Urdu classics into dramas. I must say I have seen a few of the plays but all of them were well directed. It is more like a short story which is being narrated. The best part that I liked about the show was the usage of profound Urdu. It is enough of an evidence to tell us how beautiful our language is. The perfect delivery of words & accurate accent made me want to improve my way of communication in our mother tongue as well.
It’s going to be more like a short over-view of the three plays of Boltay Afsanay that I have seen. My take on them is as follows:
Chauthi Ka Jora:
This was a story about a widowed mother & her two daughters, narrated by Hina Dilpazeer. The mother was a tailoress living in a very tough condition but because of her expertise in tailoring she was able to earn the bread for her family. Her two daughters were Kubra & Hameeda. Kubra being the eldest did household chores to help her mother. Hameeda was the youngest & like every girl she had certain dreams of getting married & settling well.
The story focused more on Kubra being unmarried & her mother worrying about her. The beauty of the story was elaborated with the dresses because each dress carries a certain meaning to the one who plans to wear it. Kubra’s mother used to make dresses for Kubra in a hope that one day when her daughter will get married she will gift her with these dresses. In a meanwhile, Kubra’s cousin Rahat came to stay with them. This gave a hope to Kubra & her mother that Rahat will get married to her but just because Kubra used to shy away, even though she took care of everything related to Rahat, Kubra forcefully made Hameeda the front person. Rahat definitely started showing more interest in Hameeda because she was young & just at the right age to get married whereas Kubra had withered away & was at a stage in her life where she was meager & didn’t have best of her health. Rahat stayed at their place totally oblivious of the fact that he was being pampered because they all thought he would get married to Kubra but Hameeda was scared to tell everyone about his intentions but deep down hated him for hitting on her whereas she used to sympathize with her sister for working so hard without taking care of her own health just in order to please Rahat.
Well, after finding out that Hameeda had no intention of committing to Rahat, he leaves. Leaving all the family members depressed & once again letting Kubra down. Just because she was already ill, she died & this time around her mother knew that the white piece of cloth she is stitching for Kubra won’t be kept locked in a cupboard rather would be used to send her away where she will rest in peace. This was the most heart-breaking scene of the entire play because no doubt, people end up planning so much, end up dreaming about so many things but the destiny has it’s own plan.
Raqeeb:
This story was narrated by Qavi where he told about the event that once happened in the early years of his life. This was a story about him & his friend Azhar. Azhar came across as a person who held Qavi dear to his heart but also felt inferior to him because of his personality & looks. Qavi was definitely better in comparison to Azhar & had an exposure to life. They were neighbours when they were young but later Qavi’s family decided to move abroad.
The story begins when both the friends meet at a train station & Azhar comes to recieve his childhood friend who was visiting him & his family. At that very moment Azhar tells his friend that he got engaged to Sughra who was his cousin & used to play with both Azhar & Qavi when they were kids. Azhar very politely tells his friend to take care of the situation because he dreads that his fiancee might get smitten by Qavi as he was definitely better off in all the aspects as compared to Azhar. Sughra wasn’t a simpleton as a gaon ki gori should’ve been. She very candidly starts spending time with Qavi & eventually falls in love with him but keeps on waiting for a proposal from him without even caring for a second that she was already engaged. Rather she always made fun of her fiance because Azhar had a different personality to her, he was more serious & philosophic whereas Sughra was a jovial person who wanted to enjoy life.
Qavi actually falls for Sughra too but later one night Azhar confronts him begging him to leave because he could sense the growing feelings between his friend & his fiancee. Qavi at that particular moment decides to leave as he didn’t want to upset his friend as Azhar himself loved Sughra a lot but just because he wasn’t expressive, Sughra never understood what she meant to him. Sughra for the last time asks him whether he ever loved her but very conveniently keeping the state of Azhar in mind Qavi denies of any such feelings & leave. It was a story of a simple love triangle but what made it beautiful was the execution & simplicity with which it was elaborated. The ending left a great impact because the story ends with a teary confession of Qavi that he loved Sughra too.
Bewa:
Story about a young girl narrated by Rashid Farooqui. The story revolved around the two main characters Saira & Zafar. Saira a 19 y/o girl who falls in love with her father’s best friend Zafar. At such a young age she starts to question the mindset of the people related to the criterias set by the society. Irrespective of what others might suggest she dreams of getting married to Zafar whom she once used to call uncle. After hearing her upfront confession, Zafar decides to talk her out of it but Saira remains persistent because she think she would be able to make him fall in love with her too.
Because she grew in front of Zafar, her level of comfort & casualness was something natural for her. Without thinking of what others might say, she keeps on insisting him to come & meet her but Zafar like a gentleman ignores her & her pleas. Like a teenager Saira plans to write letters to Zafar for years & years that had her feelings beautifully etched out on the paper, thinking one day she will be able to convince him of what she wants. Seeing how Zafar never extended anything else than a few friendly conversations, Saira for the time being takes it as a blessing & appreciates him giving her the attention she needs. One day Saira comes up with a request to meet him seeing that her parents won’t be at home. Zafar ends up coming to her place & after feeling her pain, he extends a gentle embrace to her. At this particular moment Saira’s parents show up parting them brutally & blaming Zafar for everything. Saira comes to term with the fact that getting Zafar would be impossible & she gets married to someone else, all this while keeping her unrequited love etched deep down in her heart. Later one day her husband tells her that Zafar uncle who moved to New York passed away there, bringing her to shambles.
Later Saira’s mother at her death-bed confesses that Zafar asked them to come at that night because he wanted to do good by Saira & the best was to walk out of her life. Zafar knew how stubborn she was & how strong headedly she was persistent of the fact that she wanted to get married to him, so instead of telling her the otherwise, he stages a planned fuss so that she ends up giving up on him. Of all the plays of Boltay Afsanay that I saw, I found this one the best because the direction was perfect & the actors played their parts beautifully.
Any more suggestions as to which plays from Boltay Afsanay shouldn’t be missed & any more reviews that you’d like to read?
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
