So we have the 12th episode of Naml in our hands. Personally, I think it was on the slower side and most of it was concerned with the aftermath of Saadi’s abduction. Nonetheless, it had many new developments & revelations to offer.

****SPOILER ALERT****

Progress

Now that Saadi is missing, the main concern of the Yousufs and Ghazis are his whereabouts and well-being. Zumar being a strong woman has shown her strength and (as expected) did not resolve to cry hopelessly rather decided to track the incident. Faris has his own share of love for Saadi and offered to help Zumar, which she accepted reluctantly. Faris and Zumar make Baray Abba, his servant Sadaqat, Nudrat , Haneen and Sam to move to their house for safety reasons. Needless to say is that each family member is shocked and full of sorrow on this incident.

As expected, the CCTV footages of the hospital are tampered with the involvement of security and police. One bait, a thug named Niaz Baig was used for distracting from the right course, but Zumar with her cunning and Faris with his skills see to it.

Meanwhile, Saadi is kept safe and healthy (yet confined) in a hospital somewhere with Mary Angio on the watch. He recites Quran there and understands that he has done some mistakes due to which he needs to suffer here. He confesses in his mind that he should not have gone to meet Hashim and co. without telling anybody and that he has given the pen camera to someone not worthy. There is a young lady doctor who has soft corner for Saadi, hopefully she might be able to help him.

Haneen is frustrated and has shut herself up in her room. A dangerous development is that she is getting involved with Hashim as a consolation. She revisits the Shaikh again who teaches her to strive and make dua simultaneously.

The biggest blast came right at the end where we got to know who the witness was. It was Dr. Sarah Ghazi. Apparently she does not have courage to stand up and claim Saadi’s blood to the Kardaars.

Character Development

Zumar and Faris:

Zumar can be unreasonably stubborn sometimes but she has a brain and she knows how to use it. Instead of falling for Hashim’s bait she devised her own plan of action and is being successful up till now. It came as a relief when she decided to work along with Faris (knowing his ‘skill’ J ) and put aside her own animosity for her beloved nephew. Faris on the other hand is being the man-of-the-house for the Yousufs. Despite his crude ways, he loves Zumar and Saadi very much and is helping execute Zumar’s plans.

I loved the way both Zumar and Faris shut Hashim up when he tried to be a ‘bee jamalo’ again. I must say, their marriage was done at just the right time and now we see a deadly combination in these two.

Haneen Yousuf:

I had (and still have) a lot of hope from Haneen but she is going completely in the wrong direction. Her snide comments on Zumar are unreasonable, when she herself is doing nothing in her power to track her brother. We all know that there is a powerful clue in Saadi’s laptop so it got a bit frustrating when she refused to crack the code. Her crush towards Hashim is increasing day-by-day which is a sign of danger for the Yousufs. Ok, Hashim might be a prince charming, but at least you can use your own brain (girl you are a super genious!!) to smell something fishy. The memory of Saadi calling out ‘O, my two prison-mates’ was really touching, and might click something in her mind later. By the way I loved the term Quran Crazy :-D.

Hashim Kardaar:

This man is a smooth criminal. He really loves Saadi just as Firaun loved Hazrat Moosa (A.S) as a brother but has too much at stake to let him go. But he does have guilt in his heart, unlike Sheru (his looser of a brother) who is still envious of Saadi. I was impressed when Hashim quickly made a story to shake his secretary Haleema’s concerns. But he has to do some serious effort from hiding this all from his mother, who is a cunning witch herself.

The Witness

I confess, I totally did not expect Sarah to be the witness. Exactly how and why she came to that place is a mystery. It is a mark of her cowardice that despite liking Saadi and despite knowing that it was Hashim who got her husband murdered, she is not willing to do anything about it. It is really frustrating for us that despite having a concrete proof in the hands of someone we can trust, Saadi and his whole family are suffering. Why on earth did Saadi choose her to give the pen camera to? It could have been Zumar, she would have believed in Faris’s innocence too. Well, we know that it was a wrong choice but Saadi might have his own reasons.

It is also possible thought that Sarah does not have the pen camera. Saadi could have given it to Ahmar or someone else. Saadi recalled that he gave the pen camera to a ‘ghalat shakhs’. We all know Ahmar is no angel. It is also possible that it was left for Haneen. She does not use gadgets anymore, so Saadi might have thought she was a wrong choice.

What to Expect

The list of Kardaar family’s unpunished crimes is getting longer and longer. It is only a matter of time when this house of cards will fall. We can definitely expect something from Mary Angio, both she and Saadi can put two and two together for Aurangzeb’s murder. I have a feeling that Ahmar may play a vital role in #SavingSaadi.

All in all, the story is moving in a very engaging way and the readers cannot help to wait eagerly for the next installment.

I would give this episode a rating of 4 out of 5; please share your own take on it in the comments J

Noor-us-Saad

What I absolutely love about Muqaddas is that all the characters are well-etched out. They all fit in, and they all have a reason for being in the story. Muqaddas has no unnecessary tracks involved.

Akbar always has a plan. It’s surprising how quickly he cooks up the best solution to any of Ruhi’s problems. This time, the problem was Muqaddas’s stubbornness. She wasn’t ready to return to the house until Aatir brought her kidnappers to justice and Ruhi thought that the only way to kick Muqaddas out of Aatir’s life was to first bring her back. The plan was almost perfect. Using a patsy to make Muqaddas think that her kidnapper had been caught.

Aatir wasn’t too sure of the plan until he heard Muqaddas talking to Jahanzaib (her father) about how she was afraid of going back to the house from which she had been kidnapped and requesting him to wake up and convince Aatir to stop trying to take her back. Aatir figured that the only way to change his wife’s mind was to follow Akbar’s plan. The patsy was arranged by Zain and as expected, it was Babar.

Babar and Irum’s relationship was on the rocks after Babar refused to tell Irum exactly what he did for Zain, i.e, scaring Muqaddas at night (that too in her own room). Her constant requests didn’t make him spit it out and so, she tried a dhamki. If Babar wasn’t going to tell her the truth, would Zain do it? Or would Aatir do it? Unfortunately this dhamki made Babar think he had to stop her by all means.He was too afraid of Zain to let Irum inform any part of the truth to Aatir. Thus, he locked her in a room. Poor Irum wasn’t expecting such a response from the man she loved!

It was only after Zain’s second visit, however, that Babar realized what trap he was walking into. What if the police actually imprisoned him? He’d have no way of saving himself. But refusing Zain on his face was not something Babar could do (Zain had even offered him safe haven in Dubai). When Zain left, he let Irum out of the room. Now no woman would ever forgive a person who locked her in a room for a whole day (even if he ordered pizza for her) but for Irum, Babar is her whole world. She loves him a lot and that’s why Babar’s apologies were easily accepted by her. Babar also knows that Irum is the only sincere person in his life, so he could only discuss such a matter with her. He told her exactly what he had done, and what Zain wanted him to do. He decided that Zain needed him, and him and Irum needed each other. He would take Irum with him to Dubai and in case Zain actually let the police catch him, he would tell everything to Aatir. That was his backup plan.

While all of this was being planned, something unexpected and very interesting happened. As we already know that Muqaddas did not see her molester. She only saw the maid, but she did hear the voice of a man who called himself “hukum ka ghulam“. When the kidnappers drove her to Aatir’s house, she noticed a band and chain on that man’s wrist. So during the drive from the hospital, Muqaddas recognizing that man at the signal was believable but the way she screamed “Yeh wohi aadmi hai” was……not so believable. She did the same thing when she saw the maid at the hospital a few episodes ago and the maid ran. The man (whose name has been revealed to the viewers as Shaukat) did the same thing and drove away at fast speed. The whole chasing scene was remarkable. It was thrilling and I really enjoyed watching it, so kudos to the director and the actors who were involved.

When Muqaddas and Muhib came home and Tehreem got to know of this, her reaction was anger. However, she soon thought of the situation Muqaddas was in. She is expecting and before anyone got to know of this, something had to be done. Unfortunately, according to Ainee, the case is “complicated” and terminating the pregnancy will put Muqaddas’s life in danger and so she put forward the suggestion of sending Muqaddas back to Aatir’s house. Woh apne bacche ko Aatir ka hi samjhe. I felt sorry for Tehreem that not only did she have to send her sister back to the house before the kidnappers had been caught, but Muqaddas got the wrong idea. She thought Tehreem only made her go back so she could go back to Zameer’s house.

And then came my second favourite scene from this week. We got to see our masked perpetrator once again. After what he did to Muqaddas, I cannot wait for him to be revealed and get punished  and that too very severely.

  I must say that the scenes between Muqaddas and Aatir post-return with the OST playing in the back ground were nicely done. I am totally in love with the lyrics and Shuja Haider has done a great job! As one of the readers also mentioned, the OST itself is a clear message. I think has been written from the perspective of the masked man and tells the tale of his obsession with Muqaddas.

So the day of the showdown between Muqaddas and her (fake) kidnapper came and on the very same day, Muqaddas found a gun, yes, a gun in Aatir’s drawer. I was surprised that she didn’t ask him about it. Khair, that weapon (almost) came in handy when Muqaddas saw Babar. When she recognized Babar because of his eyes, I screamed “I knew it!” because it is very easy to remember a person with coloured eyes.

    However, Muqaddas’s reaction seemed unusual to Aatir and that’s why he didn’t let Babar go. After giving it some thought he figured out why Muqaddas was so violent towards the man who wasn’t even her real kidnapper. He understood that Zain had to be involved in the second kidnapping attempt. Zain was in deep trouble but this trouble could have came earlier if Kabir had came forward with his info. What kept him quite for all these days? His reaction after Nida told him that Muqaddas’s kidnapper had been caught was weird too.  Kabir’s getting on my suspect list again and as I have mentioned before, the OST points towards a man who is very much obsessed with Muqaddas. Kabir sounds good to be the kidnapper but that would be predictable, won’t it? I would love for the kidnapper to be someone we least expect to be.

Even though Muqaddas was still adamant on finding the other kidnappers (Shaukat and the maid) she realized that Aatir is sincerely trying to find them. She apologized to him for being stubborn and was excited to be his bride again. Her happiness didn’t last long and that very night she realized that she was pregnant. The valima ceremony was spoiled for her already and Jia only made it worse with her taunts. As if Ruhi wasn’t enough for them! There was only one way to make the ceremony worse, and voila, the fainting did the trick.

Shaukat’s mother-in-law had to save her daughter from her husband’s tyranny. She decided she would no longer let Shaukat mistreat her daughter and will not hide his crime. Paying a visit to Aatir’s house was a great idea but the timing was terrible. Since everybody except Akbar was at the ceremony at the time, he got to know the whole story. Let’s see what plan he will cook up now.

These three episodes were more than enjoyable. I love the way the story is unfolding. Thank you Adeel Razzak for writing such an interesting drama and thank you Ali Masud Saeed for directing it so well. All the actors connected to the project have done a splendid job. Especially Iqra Aziz has surprised me with her natural acting skills since she is a new comer.

What did you guys think of these episodes? Do share your point of view :)

Areeba Mohsen

This drama is moving forward in a very engaging way and now I actually look forward to see what’s going to happen in the upcoming episodes.

In these previous three episodes, Hania has gone from the bubbly, love struck girl to a very negative, quarrelsome and unsure wife, and she is not to be blamed for all this alone. Hamza tried from the start of marriage to stay dominant and authoritative and was not able to convince her effectively to adopt his family values. Rather, he tried to keep a firm hand and insisted on seeing his wife as a similar version of his wife and elder sister which was met with utmost resistance from the egoistical Hania. Most of her guidance is coming from Ammo jan, who at the moment is least bothered about her daughter’s future or happiness, except to score points by proving how right she was by opposing Hania’s and Hamza’s match.

Hamza’s mother is also not of much good use. Though her heart is in the right place, she is not able to have a firm dialogue with her son that would effect his psyche and attitude with Hania. In this last episode, Fahad (Behroz Sabzwari) is shown to try and talk with Hamza and that might be fruitful because he seems to have a deeper insight into the problem than the women of any family.

In 8th episode, we saw Hamza hitting Hania when she accused Alia. That left me in really bad taste about Hamza. For all of Hania’s shortcomings, she surely did not deserve to be slapped like that. If he was so concerned that she is embarrassing Alia, there were many other ways of confrontation rather than hitting your wife and then going out to party.

A major development that soon followed was the news of Hania’s pregnancy. It was received very well by Hamza’s family and even he himself came to apologise, though it still doesn’t justify his behaviour. But now it’s Hania who is totally on the wrong footing. On her Ammo’s advice, she is hell bent on aborting her baby and so receiving Hamza’s wrath, though deservingly this time. How could she not think of her baby as more than a liability, an unwanted responsibility and a way to insult Hamza on his resources, and her mother seems even more cruel, provoking her daughter to have an abortion without any solid reason. But Hamza’s way of dealing with all this is still wrong. He should sit down and talk some sense into her, no matter how hard it gets for him. He should know better than locking and restricting her going out. Predictably, all this is increasing her determination to get rid of the baby in order to re gain some control and freedom in her life.

It is very hard to decide who is worse or more wrong between these two husband and wife and this is why it’s a very lifelike situation. This is exactly how relations are broken in reality too, by feeding your own negativities and egos, rather than stating and sorting the problems clearly and patiently. Very excited to know how Hamza deals with this new lie of Hania that he has divorced her and how Hania bears the burden of this sin of hers.

Mehwish

I’ll say it once again, Muqaddas is a definite treat to watch!

The situation maybe tragic, and evils might lurk in the female lead’s life but this show has plenty of interesting characters and unpredictable twists to keep us all hooked. This is no roti dhoti kahani. 

Muqaddas told Aatir to find her kidnappers no matter what, and even told him not to come to her before he did so. Her mind changed when Zameer came to her house and told Tehreem that she was ruining her marriage for her sister. She realized that she is being a burden on Tehreem.

Muqaddas decided to call Aatir, who did arrive, only a day later. The reason for his late arrival was Ruhi. One of Ruhi’s good for nothing “friends” has planted this thought in her mind, that in Ahmad Ali’s family, second marriages are the permanent ones. She used the fact that Ruhi herself is a second wife to support this nonsense. Thus, Ruhi was convinced that Aatir should divorce Muqaddas and marry Jia. However, when she told Aatir to do so, he refused saying that, “Mein aik soteli maan ke liye apni biwi ko kabhi nahi chorunga.” 

Ruhi was furious over what Aatir said to her and locked herself in her room. I really think there was nothing wrong in what he said because Ruhi was being very unreasonable. She should be grateful for a step-son like Aatir but instead she can’t wait to see him unhappy. Akbar requesting Ruhi to open the door and shifting from Ruhi to “Ruhi Bhabi” mode, after Aatir arrived, made me laugh.

So after handling this situation, he made his way to Muqaddas’s house where Muqaddas was waiting for him. She even agreed to return to his house but Tehreem could not let this happen. She was worried sick thinking what Aatir’s reaction would be  if he found out about the pregnancy. I think Tehreem telling Muqaddas about Jahanzaib’s (their father’s) condition was a way to stop Aatir from taking her home, but I am glad Muqaddas finally remembered her father.

I think I am finally understanding Aatir’s character (not completely though). He does love Muqaddas a lot, but he is selfish. He wants Muqaddas all for himself. All the others in her life can go to hell for all he cares. The glances he gave Tehreem in the car while he drove Muqaddas to the hospital suggested that he didn’t want Muqaddas to find out about Jahanzaib’s coma mainly because that would mean her not returning to his house. But I can’t shake this feeling, that he knows something about the kidnapping that he is not sharing.

I really enjoy Akbar and Zain’s scenes. Zain knows Akbar is the one to call for help when things get messed up and as Akbar is gradually learning about all of his nephew’s harkatein, the conversations between them are getting more amusing.

Zain had one of his men, Babar, scare Muqaddas when the whole embezzlement issue surfaced. He had decided to get Babar out of the city but fate wasn’t in his favour. Babar turned out to be the fiancé of the journalist, Irum, who reported about Muqaddas’s kidnapping. Since Jia and Irum are friends, Irum decided to make her friend meet her fiancé. The way Jia put two and two together was rather unbelievable. Still, one of my favourite scenes from this week was Zain and Jia’s confrontation while Kabeer watched. Now two people know of what Zain did. Jia, however, is sure that Zain kidnapped Muqaddas and that’s why she told her mother to stop trying to get her hitched to him. I really want to see what Kabeer does now.

Babar is terrified of Zain but Irum isn’t. Even when Zain told her that Aatir is searching for her and will make her suffer she didn’t want to leave the city. Even if Babar decides to follow Zain’s instructions, I think Irum won’t. She is already fuming over the fact that Babar has hidden so much from her.

Nida talked some sense into Ruhi (although I wish she hadn’t done it) and told her to plan a Valima ceremony for Aatir and Muqaddas. Ruhi realized that in order to throw Muqaddas out of Aatir’s life, she’ll have to bring Muqaddas back first. However, Muqaddas isn’t interested in having such a ceremony at all. Her family’s lives are a mess and she can’t possibly be enjoying her life right now.

This show is so well written, directed and performed that I hardly get bored while watching it. I can’t think of any actors who would play these characters better. Even the supporting cast is performing well. That’s something!

Are you enjoying Muqaddas as well? Feel free to share your thoughts.

Areeba Mohsen