Ohkay so, this episode was interesting, but I am concerned about one thing & that is the lacking similarities between the script of this drama & the original novel itself. I do understand that when a novel is dramatized, a little bit of tweaking is required as drama & novel are two different mediums of story-telling, but what I am not understanding is the reason behind changes that have been made in the original story because if I consider the story of the novel itself, I find it just perfect for it to be dramatized, so not sure if they will be able to justify these changes that they have made. I know the drama-makers have tried to simplify the story by interlinking the tracks of all the characters in the early stages of the drama but what I am most concerned about is the track of Fatima because I have started to feel that she has become a supporting character in the course of the story being over-simplified for the drama, whereas in the novel, she was the integral part of the entire story. I hope they do justice to her character & do not compromise on her value because Fatima is the binding force & is the main part of this story.

Baqir Shirazi is fixated with Shahista Kamal & that is why only for the pleasure of her company, he has started to broaden his trap by preying upon Haroon Kamal too. Since the day Shahista has grabbed Baqir’s attention, things related to her have started to unravel in front of him & it seems like what he is wishing for is meant to happen because first, he found out that Haroon needed his approval for his business deals & second, he found out the major link through which Baqir could black-mail Haroon & that was Zarka. Baqir found out that Haroon not only had relations with Zarka but he married her as well & that was something that Baqir decided he could use to put Haroon in his right place & take a step closer to Shahista Kamal.

Only a single meeting between Baqir & Haroon was enough for Haroon to know what Baqir knew about him & how he was ready to use his personal life details against him, that is why he told Shahista to draw a line, but then, Haroon has always been quite opinionated & he never really cared about what Shahista might have to say about his reputation, so to see Haroon getting intimidated by Baqir wasn’t really in line with his character. Haroon has been ruthless & he never really held back in letting Shahista know what sort of a person he was even after she spotted him with Zarka in a shopping mall, so to see Haroon getting burdened by a detail of his past was quite unlike him.

Fatima came across Shahista in quite an early stage of the drama, however she thanked Shahista for the help she extended & later with the help of Rabeea, she met Sadia & started living with her at her home. Sadia is a new entry, in the story & in the drama as well because her character never existed in the novel. I somehow feel by making things easier for Fatima & by showing that everyone around her has been quite generous with her, the director has compromised on Fatima’s potential & the emotional strength that she embodied. Through Fatima’s character, the drama-makers could’ve sent out such a strong message that a woman can achieve whatever she wants to against all the odds, because of her will but somehow, I feel the character of Fatima has been made weak & the purpose that she had is not coming through like why did she adopt Shaheer & also, how will she stay strong & fend for herself because as per the novel, Fatima’s entire journey was quite inspiring & it showcased the struggles that a woman like Fatima had to go through who chose to live life on her terms & conditions & who shaped up not only her life but the life of those children that came into her life. In this episode I actually detested seeing Fatima in the background like a supporting character, as if she had no personality & had no direction in life & then I also disliked seeing the actual supporting characters come into the foreground & getting all the coverage!

Sadia happens to be Zarka’s sister & seems like even she married someone out of her love for him, just like Zarka married Haroon because she loved him. Sadia chose a totally different path in her life where despite having nothing, she feels she has everything. Zarka on the other hand after giving birth to the twins, has once again decided to get married & revive her career that suffered due to her marriage & then her pregnancy. Zarka could also have lived a fulfilling life if only her husband wasn’t so selfish & so emotionally absent. Anyways, Zarka’s mother thinks it is better for Sadia to look after Zarka’s twins because she doesn’t have a child of her own & this should be a secret that Zarka’s potential husband should never find out about.

Saqia has made quite a progress in her life & she is ready to live independently. Saiqa has forgotten all about those limits that her parents & her good-for-nothing husband set for her & that is why, she has gained a confidence that even confuses her parents now. Saiqa knows she has a strong back due to which she can deal with Zafar & now when she is fending for herself, Zafar holds no importance in her life to sit & listen to his taunts & commands. Looks like Shahista is still in search of a baby & that is why she keeps on visiting the orphanage & now it has been made clear that even Haroon is not oblivious of the reason why Shahista goes to Hyderabad. A lot of things have yet to unravel & I can’t wait to find out more.

Overall, this episode was interesting & the preview of the next episode suggested that things will move forward. I wish the director hadn’t kept all the focus on Shahista/Haroon/Baqir’s side of the story & had given Fatima’s character the due coverage too because her story is what I was most excited about. I wish as the episodes progress, Fatima’s character takes a front seat & her journey is covered appropriately too because right now I am not feeling her character at all as she is looking like someone who has no clue & is only making through life with the helping hand of others. Fatima’s character was the most positive character of this entire novel/story & I wish we get to see more of her. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Thora Sa Aasman.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ruk jao Zainy, mat jao! Let me see now. 27 episodes of roughly 40 minutes each – it took our ‘shehzada’ (as Mehtaab had called him) Sherry all of those minutes minus the very last 30 seconds of the final minute to utter the words that most of us had hoped (and others wondered whether) he would utter! We were left guessing to the last minute how this drama would end and I will admit the way the events played out in this last episode was convincing to an extent.

Zainy’s CSS result – how long does it take for the result to be announced by the way? She went through an entire pregnancy, initial months of motherhood – before her result was announced. Zainy is seen struggling financially with Ahmer not being able to provide for her and her son Mustafa and she sells jewellery to make ends meet. The CSS result gave her the confidence she needed and finding Ahmer still involved with Bina served as the last straw and she finally walks out on him. Ahmer makes no move to stop her either. It was heartbreaking to see how Abba, such a positive, proactive and encouraging character had become a broken old man. I loved how Zainy seemed to outwardly grow a thick skin to ward off Novera’s constant jibes and gave her all to help Abba regain his strength and will to live again.

Novera is so deeply submerged in her insecurities and jealousies that let alone Zainy and Abba she will not even let her own marriage flourish. Ah, but there is one relationship that she works on and fat lot of good that has done her except well, land her the nikkah nama to Sherry – and that is with Nigaar Apa. I was very surprised at Mr. Novera, oops, Sherry’s attitude in this episode. It almost appears as if Sherry can not look past his personal feelings of hurt and lurrve and rejection to forgive Zainy or at least give her a chance to let her stand on her own feet. He was hostile when she came back but bore with her for he recognized she gave Yusuf what he and Novera were unable to give. But the way Novera sent Mustafa with Ahmer upon Abba’s death and said Sherry has packed up her stuff and she should go back to her ‘own house’ seriously made Sherry lose some major brownie points with me. For all of Zainy’s faults, for all of Sherry’s amazing personality – I was fast losing patience with his firm stance of not letting Zainy return. Tough love it may have been but I felt how Zainy’s departure was forced from their house upon Abba’s death was a bit extreme.

Mehtaab left two things as her legacy in this episode – her words of wisdom when Zainy was beside herself with despair upon Abba’s death ‘aap jo bhi faisla karein us ski zimadaari bhi khud he utthaana’ and secondly – her beehive, LOL! When Zainy went back home and left Mustafa with Taayi I wondered if she left him with her for good. Fast forward nine years and Sherry has aged and comes to a festival (a very empty festival I may say) to hear Zainy speak and their conversation answers our questions. Sherry’s ‘I have 3 sons and 3 daughters’ left me gobsmacked and I thought okay 6 kids and in Canada with no naukar chaakar would have finally made Novera too busy to cause trouble but turns out he only made that up and he has a daughter but Novera has left him and remarried. Zainy also left Ahmer (duh!) but thankfully her son lives with her. I found Sherry’s responses to Zainy’s pertinent questions very lame, I am sorry to say. I find he was too hard on Zainy and this whole ‘her house, my house’ really did do my head in. Yes your husband’s house is supposed to be your house but your parent’s house is not a stranger’s house either!! Novera with her constant obsession of repeatedly sending Zainy back to her own house stemmed from her insecurities but Sherry harping the same tune was very annoying. Yes, his attitude finally made her get up and make something of her life but was that his intention really? He kept telling her to go back to Ahmer – not to stand on her feet and leave him if that was what she felt she needed to do.

Anyways, Sherry finally musters up the courage to ask Zainy to not leave (standing ovation please!) and so all’s well that ends well. Maybe. I had wondered how Novera would fare in all this? Does Sherry leave her for Zainy? How does she end up leaving Ahmer – if at all? So yes the events in this episode seemed to flow in a fairly believable sequence. I have to say I have enjoyed watching this drama and am amazed it stretched across 27 episodes and yes it could have been wrapped up in less episodes but it was all good. Agha Ali has truly impressed me with his acting in this play as has Seher Afzal. How she effortlessly played Zainy, making us frustrated with her and feeling her pain later on. I loved loved loved Abba’s character, although a bit stifling at first, the way he stepped up after Mehtaab’s death was just beautiful and Nadeem Baig did a tremendous job. The dialogues and direction were good too and one thing that truly surprised me was how a Big Bang Production was not very Big Bang-ish and I feel that statement is self explanatory.

I have enjoyed reviewing this play and thank you to all my dear readers who have regularly read my reviews and commented. What has stayed with me at the end of this episode is that biryani that Ahmer and Bina were enthusiastically digging into and thankfully I have made the same for dinner so I am off to satisfy the sudden hunger that brought on, LOL. Team Sherry and all others – what did you think of this last episode? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Kunwal Javid

So the ‘psychiatrists-in-a-pakistani-drama’ practice continues. I am not a fan of Maami’s personality but I am sure my expression mirrored the perplexed one on hers when the psychiatrist was dishing out her words of wisdom. Shadi karo na karo, bhai type se karo ya total stranger say, time spend before shaadi with total stranger is helpful how – wait, hand over the psychiatrist’s job to Shariq. Ah, yes. Let’s do that. Armed with that new insight, Saba’s parents, rather her mother feels that Shariq should spend time with Saba before she gets married so she is able to be comfortable in his presence which is being transitioned from ‘bhai’ to ‘miyan’. And Shariq? I had noooo idea being a DC was such a ‘vaila’ job-seriously! He is babysitting Zoya (making daily calls to the servant to make sure she had her juice on time), nurturing and easing Saba’s mental state of mind – when does this guy actually work?

Although he seems to be trying to be friendly and act as naturally as possible around Saba, we see Shariq feels trapped in this new relationship – as expected. Not only is Saba mentally not all there but she is someone he has viewed as a younger sister and he feels it is not easy to switch the tag of ‘behn bhai’ to ‘miyan biwi’ as he explains to his mother. I find Saba’s father’s reaction and approach although not fair to Shariq but much more believable and understandable as a father rather than her mother who seems to be living in ‘la-la land’. Maami is seriously grating on my nerves. Being hopeful over your child’s recovery is one thing but after the horrendous first ‘outing’ Shariq and Saba had you would think she would rethink the ‘outing’ suggestion so soon again!

I am still a bit confused about Saba. From what I seem to understand she has a general fear of all men except her father and Shariq but when she is overcome by erratic fits, she can not and will not listen to reason to the extent that nothing makes sense to her. Like the whole policeman scenario was really quite extreme and I could not believe after the ‘hand’ situation in the car she dragged it all the way to begging the policemen to not leave her alone with Shariq. But I will not dwell much on that and suppose maybe that is just what her mental state is like.

Shariq seems to have agreed to do his ‘duty’ but also wants Zoya by his side. Although it has not made much sense having her living in his house so far, it makes even less sense that he should expect her to stay on after his marriage to Saba. His baby names’ suggestions show his emotional state of mind where he has been thinking of names for the baby – with his name as a surname. Zoya seems to be stuck mentally on Azmeer – but her reaction to the news of Shariq’s marriage seems to suggest the beginning of some other emotions.

Seems like we are in for quite a few scenes of Saba ‘ping-pong-ing’ between Sherry Bhai is good guy – Sherry Bhai is bad guy. In spite of that, the hopeful look on Anam Fayyaz’s face when Shariq promises to stand by her no matter what was very heartfelt and spot on.

Shariq seems to want to have his cake -and eat it too. He has agreed, albeit reluctantly to marry Saba but he wants Zoya by his side too. Zoya seemed to be trying to think ahead by saying she wants to go back to work when the baby arrives. The way she had that conversation with Shariq though made me wonder where it was leading – Shariq’s nanny services for baby maybe?!

I can not help but resist pointing out how Sherry Bhais in our dramas are fast becoming Angels in Disguise Potential Miyans. There’s Sherry Bhai in Tum Yaad Aye and now in Intezaar. Anyways, the drama is watchable for now. There is something about Sana Javed’s acting that I can not place my finger on – but it seems to fall flat at times. Mikaal Zulfiqar, Anam Fayaaz and the actor playing Mamu have acted out their characters well. I do like how the drama does not have any extra characters being used as fillers – khair, how many more fillers would be needed with Shariq managing two women in his life already, but still! Anyways, I am interested to see how Shariq plans to manage both these relationships simultaneously – and keep his job in the process!

How many of you watched this episode? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Kunwal Javid