Ghaaliban aap jaantay sub hain magar anjaan bantay hain – spot on, Sohail! Sohail is turning out to have more of a personality than just the class clown. I started liking him more when he helped Urwah get a job and accommodation and tried to make light of it when Urwah thanked him. And now his assessment of Urwah is definitely in line with my thoughts for really, what is Urwah up to? He is not as seedha as he tries to portray for if he was he would have told his new neighbours he is married. I will not stomach that he is ‘embarassed’ for he was given the opportunity to say so when his neighbour asked and also later on when her grandmother interrogated him. He is quite a dark horse, encouraging the neighbour, married to Ameena and lost in the thoughts – and letters- of Azra. Wah! I am not being judgemental, except maybe I am, it is just that I really want to like Urwah and do not want him to value Ameena after he has gone all astray but these aspects to his personality are not very endearing.
Speaking of endearing, Ameena has managed to win over her mother in law with her sweet nature. Just a thought – why is it in our dramas that either the husband loves his wife and the in laws hate her or the in laws love her and husband wants nothing to do with her? Why can there not be a win-win situation? I love Urwah’s father’s personality for while they love having Ameena around, he realizes her true place is with her husband which is why when he learns that Urwah has a place to stay, Ameena should go live with him. Ameena and Taayi’s bond is sweet, yes, and although at first I was a little skeptical and astonished at their joint reaction to this announcement, I still sort of understood Ameena’s hesitation. She had begun to develop feelings for Urwah but with his brisk response when she rang him and then as she says he never writes to her, who could blame her for not wanting to go live with him. Also, given how she is so young and quite naïve she does not really understand that being married to Urwah means living with him and that as comfortable as she may be with Taaya and Taayi she can not continue living like this for very long.
So, while Azra was on the brink of desperation she gracefully took her leave when she learnt Urwah is married. This new neighbour ‘Shabnam’ as Sohail called her (ha!) is definitely going after Urwah, full guns blazing. It would not be very hard to relate to her wanting to catch glimpses of the new, young male neighbour for like she says she is stuck at home all day and she is a young girl but the ease with which she teases Urwah and is literally throwing herself at him seemed a bit much but then maybe there are such characters in real life. Despite Naani keeping a stern eye on her granddaughter at first and voicing her reservations over Saiqa constantly finding excuses to meet Urwah, there still seem to be plenty of opportunities for the two to interact, especially now with Naani falling ill. Because Naani is unwell but korma and pulao tau zaroor banein gay!
Na mahram pulao! Sohail’s comments sometimes are truly funny but also hold a ring of truth to them. For yes, pulao is not na mahram (duh!) but Urwah is married and should make that very clear to Saiqa. Next week’s preview showed Urwah’s father traveling alone and I hope it will make him speed up sending Ameena to Urwah and not the other way around. I am not sure why he had to go alone anyway for although I had expected Ameena to land at Urwah’s doorstep this episode and even though she did not, the episode was not all that bad. I surely do not want to see more of Saiqa fawning over Urwah while Ameena stitches clothes for the entire neighbourhood! Waisay while she is at it, maybe she could stitch something for Urwah too, even if it is flowery for it would definitely be better than the beige/mustard shalwar kamiz he is mostly clad in!
The actress playing Saiqa is bearable – just about – but while Sohail’s grin makes me smile, her big smiles make me cringe and I wish her a speedy exit like I wished Azra! I like Serwat Nazeer’s dramas because they show how a couple interacts and grows together, well most of her dramas do so I am waiting for Urwah and Ameena to be together again soon. Save Sohail’s scenes which provided some comic relief this episode was just okay and am waiting for the story to move forward now. What did you all think of this episode? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Kunwal Javid
