Ohkay so firstly I must say WOW! The very first seaon of the most awaited Masterchef Pakistan has begun & I am totally impressed. The very first episode was enough to let us know the scale at which this show is going to be conducted. I liked the simple approach where they didn’t try to dig deeper into the backgrounds of the contestants but in stead sticked to their cooking skills which they came to show in this competition. First episode down & can’t wait to see what’s more to come already. :)

The judges of the show are Chef Mehboob, Chef Khurram & Chef Zakir. I must say the judges kept their grace & were to the point. They were lenient & friendly with the contestants but were strict when it came to the judgement, just exactly how the judges should be like. At the beginning of the episode they announced that the title winner will be awarded with PKR 50 Lacs & a chance to publish their own cook book, which I must say is a huge pay off in any reality show ever seen.

Now coming onto the auditions, I liked the fact that they didn’t go all over Pakistan to show where & how they picked which contestant. The show has commenced at a point where top 100 have been selected & now the battle for the top 50 spots has begun. The judges didn’t give much of a critera of their judgement but by looking at the auditions they certainly selected those who came up with their own mind in the cooking. The judges are definitely looking for some creativity & mostly those contestants who attempted fusion cooking got through to the next round.

I must say to be honest I never expected to see such advanced & diverse cooking in Masterchef Pakistan, not underestimating our talent by any means but I didn’t know people all across Pakistan would marvel at different techniques of cooking that well. All those contestants who came forward for the auditions presented something unique & fascinating which proves that this competition is going to be a lot more interesting & there’s no chance left to miss this show.

A few contestants who got selected in tonight’s episode were:

Mudassir Ilyas the GM of Medical store from Karachi & he presented ‘Fish w/ Garlic Rice & Vegetable Sauce’
Madiha Khalid a housewife from Islamabad & she came up with ‘Grilled Salmon w/ Smoked Salad & Orange Sauce’
Kaneez Zehra a housewife from Karachi who made ‘Hindustani Platter’
Adnan Qureshi a student from Islamabad who did a fusion of ‘Rice Macaroni & Steaks’
Bushra Fatima who came up with ‘Chicken Biryani & Cake Rusk Sweet Dish’
Ainne a yoga instructor who made ‘Steam Roast & Chicken Kastoori’
Madiha a student from Islamabad & she came up with ‘Chicken Mushroom w/ Bashindo Sauce’
Saad Mustafa a CEO who presented ‘Mutton Chops w/ Brown Gravy, Mesh & Fig Chutney’
Ammarah Numan a housewife from Karachi & she made ‘Mexican Enchiladas w/ Salsa Sauce’
Ammar Afridi a student & a fan of Gordon Ramsay who made ‘Indo Chinese Chicken Chilli Dry’
Ambreen Tariq a Government employee & she made ‘Chatni Fish w/ Spicy Veggies’
Some others who got the aprons were Sobia, Sidra Tariq, Raheel Fatima & Ali Baloch.

So this was the list of the contestants who got the white aprons in these auditions & they qualified for the next round. One thing that’s worth mentioning is that these contestants went through live cooking challenge where they got a time limit of 1 hour in which they had to present the food to the judges & to cook such amazing dishes in an ultimatum with such a pressure on your head is amazing.

I am glad that they kept the spirit of the show light-hearted & the contestants kept their calm as well. They did show their excitement which was obviously justified but none of them actually went on a sympathy spree in front of the judges. This was the only thing that I was dreading in Masterchef but I must say I am glad our weekends are now going to be filled with something worthy & we’d have something to look forward to & discuss every week.

One thing that did bug me a little was the choppy editing because some contestants weren’t introduced properly & some didn’t tell which city they belonged to. I think it would’ve been better that along with the dish ticker, they had shown the ticker having the details of the contestants so as to remember them easily but never-mind.

Of all the contestants in this episode I found Madiha Khalid, Ammarah Numan, Madiha, Ammar Afridi & Ambreen Tariq really interesting & I am definitely rooting for them all. Really happy with the curtain raiser of Masterchef Pakistan & can’t wait to see the rest of the season, bring it on!!! :)

Share your views about the very first episode.

Keep supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

This latest episode was much better than the ones we have seen in the past few weeks. It was actually good to see that Zeeshan did not have a sudden change of heart. His attitude towards Romaissa did not change at all after the injury. The fact that his family has no time for him will serve as a reality check for Zeeshan. They obviously don’t care enough to take time out of their busy schedules to give Zeeshan company, that is another duty that has been allocated to Romaissa. I was surprised to see them concerned even initially!

The nervousness and uneasiness which Romaissa feels when she is around Zeeshan was portrayed brilliantly by Sanam Jung. Some of the scenes however were a repetition of what we have already seen in the last few episodes. The scene in which Bushra tells Romaissa that Maham takes after her father was one of the best scenes in tonight’s episode. Zeeshan treats Romaissa like a punching bag which he uses without thinking twice to let out his frustration.

The child star playing Maham is adorable but the person responsible for her styling could have done a much better job. Most of the times it looks like the poor kid is wearing a hair piece. This episode could have been far better if Romaissa’s mazloomiyat wasn’t forced upon the viewers over and over again. I could relate to her feelings more when she couldn’t go to see Zeeshan although she is technically his wife and also when Zeeshan mistreated her. But the scenes in which she was tagged as manhoos by Zeeshan’s mother and of course Bushra seemed forced.

Walid has finally decided to run the business and it seems like he is doing really well too. Maybe that is the reason why Zeeshan is not needed any more and because of that his father does not give him the attention like he used to before.

The preview of the next episode looked promising; Zeeshan will finally start looking at Romaissa as a living entity! I hope it is love and not sympathy which draws him closer to Romaissa. The play really should pick up pace now so that we at least have some happy memories of the last few episodes. I must say that Adeel Hussein and Sanam Jung look good together and I really want Romaissa to have a happy ending. Like many other viewers, I also want to see Nabeel’s family paying for everything that they have done till now.

For once, I am really looking forward to the next episode. I hope I am not disappointed.

Fatima Awan

Hamza! Don’t you get the message? Alvira does not want expensive gifts she wants your time!!! Alvira and Hamza’s marital problems have old and boring written all over them. Hamza is too busy and Alvira feels ignored. The script of the play lacks depth and novelty. It is a story that has been done-to-death and the treatment is run-of-the-mill too. Alvira and Hamza don’t have any compatibility issues but the only “issue” is that Hamza has to give his career more time because his professional life has just started, which in my opinion is understandable. He also feels obligated to provide Alvira with a certain lifestyle because of her background. Alvira is well educated, she could also work, that would have kept her busy and both of them could save money. I hate to see an educated girl sitting at home waiting for her husband to come back home when she could be doing something more useful with her life!! I hate to say this but Alvira’s problems came across as self created for most part of the episode. I am sure her mother in law could do the household chores or she could have hired a maid out of the money she earned!

There were no fireworks when Alvira met her mother after a long time; I expected a little more excitement and emotions. The restaurant they went to looked like a college canteen and the same place was used to shoot Alvira and Hamza’s anniversary dinner scene. The director did not put in enough effort to shoot these scenes in appropriate locations. Sometimes I feel like the producers did not invest much in the play or the director has his hands full with too many projects which he has to look after. Like I said in my last review, the feel of the drama is monotonous and dull because of the usual locations we see every week. Alvira and her mother never talked about ways to reconcile things so that Alvira could be in touch with her parents again but it was good to see Alvira’s mother trying to convince her father to “forgive” her later on. I must say though that Alvira’s mother’s concern for her seemed fake primarily because of the over acting.

The roothna/manana looked really cute in the promos but watching Hamza make tea and breakfast all the time makes it look like a “Here Is Your Ideal Husband” commercial! All through this episode I was waiting for Hamza’s mother to make an appearance in these 6 months that passed in the first half of this episode but she was nowhere to be seen! Alvira was expecting 6 months back too but she didn’t look any different on the anniversary.

Honestly speaking I felt for Hamza more than Alvira in tonight’s episode and I must say that this is the only aspect of the play which I like. For a change I can actually relate to the difficulties the male protagonist is going through in a marriage. I wonder if this was intentional or maybe I am the only one who is looking at the story in this way. I hate to say this but Alvira’s complains are really childish – understandable yet childish! “I am pregnant, don’t mess with me” says it all! I expected Alvira to call her mother when she did not get through to Hamza but somehow she didn’t. How can a girl not think of her mother in such a time? Doesn’t Alvira have any friends? What is life without family! A girl should never expect her husband to make up for the absence of her parents, that is definitely one thing all girls should know! There were times when Sarwat Gillani actually disappointed me with her acting in this latest episode.

Overall this latest episode was fast paced as usual but there were barely any scenes that clicked with me. I was hoping that Fahad Mustafa and Sarwat Gillani’s chemistry will win me over but the script and the direction is so average that nothing seems to be standing out at the moment.

Fatima Awan

Ohkay, this episode didn’t give much in regards to the story but yes, gave us a lot of reasons to loathe Jazib Jee.

Zara & Nano’s conversation gave us an insight that Zara has been struggling with the responsibilites ever since Sophia was in pre-school. So what was Jazib doing all these years? For a moment I felt that at least Zara might cross Jazib’s mind but seems like he’s pretty much settled with his new wife & doesn’t really care how his kids are dealing with the change. As per him, they are just kids when Dua complains but on the other hand he expects them to act & understand everything maturely which I feel is completely selfish of him.

Very easily Jazib told Dua that she needs to have a firm hand on the kids as they are becoming ill-mannered, so I am guessing, apart from the office hours, he has so much time to spend with the kids, so why doesn’t he teach them what they need to learn because he’s their, uh what’s the word FATHER I guess!!! How very conveniently Jazib labeled his kids as batameez, but when it came down to him, he tossed his share of responsibility on Dua as well that now she needs to look after every single thing, starting from their morning alarms to their upbringing to their garam garam parathas. 

While looking at Dua & listening to the conversations she had with Jazib, I kept on wondering Masterchef Pakistan is starting just at the right time, because now she’d be getting so many ideas as to what she must cook for her Jazib Jee every single day, isn’t it interesting? I know she is having a hard time with the kids & they are giving her a tough time as well but are we ever going to hear her talk about anything other than the kids or the food?

Khala Masooma had a short say in this episode & now looks like she went back to her husband so as to understand how step-moms & second wives roll. That’s how she is learning the art of dealing with the second wife & she gives on the pointers to her daughter Dua because she’s in the same spot & she thinks by relating her experience to Dua’s position she can teach her how to make the kids love her. I am glad Sophia’s doing everything possible to make Dua lose her calm.

I don’t know but I felt there were too many shots of Jazib & Dua resting in their room. I don’t know but I feel that much coziness was unsightly. We know the drill, they both have gotten married & Jazib is now sleeping peacefully after eating a good meal he was waiting for his whole life, but to actually show those shots over & over again was unnecessary. I guess they can only show Dua in the frame but now they even had some conversations on the bed which made me upset, I mean things can be shown out of the bed & out of the room so why so much emphasis on shaneel ki maroon blanket & ruffled up hair?

As always, I felt for Zara a lot more. She was upset & she was thinking about Jazib too. It’s like in this separation, the only person at loss was Zara because Jazib is still in the same home, with his kids & totally happy with his new-found chef/wife/babysitter/kinoo peeler & what not. But the only person who’s suffering the most is Zara. I don’t know if there’s a stop to her miseries but seeing her spend time with her kids was definitely a highlight of the episode topped up with the perfect dialogue that she said to Dua which was ‘ja k khana banao’. Dua’s response was quick & seems like she has started to unwind pretty qucikly too. Let’s see what happens next.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Pyarai Afzal is the only show airing these days whose single episode is unaffordable for me to miss. Story is now sounding more like a love rectangle rather than a triangle.. :P Pehlay Farah, than Lubna and now Yasmeen. Lubna’s Lahoo Moo lag gaya must be the tagline of previous episode. I mean that episode was more about Ramleela than Farah,Afzal or Lubna. Unnecessary, inclusion of dialogues related to the movie could have been avoided but again for the fun sake, I took them casually because I was enjoying even Ramleela’s discussion too.

This show is way too much unpredictable man. Firstly, it was all about those letters mystery which is still a secret buried deep inside Afzal’s heart ; And now , this whole Lubna sequence. All I am thinking is that it is nothing but Lubna’s strategy to compel Farah to speak her heart out and confess that she is in love with Afzal. Farah’s rage is clearly depicting her inside out; The way she is reacting to every action Lubna takes regarding Afzal is more than enough for us to know that Farah loves Afzal but she is resisting to tell anybody and more than that she is not ready to accept the fact herself ;Peak of her anger was shown when she heard Lubna humming the song and broke the window.

Yasmeen is a very interesting character added to the show in recent episodes; Though, Sohai was never my favorite actress still, I am enjoying every scene of her – she looks way too good in this role. So, this is my request to Sohai Ali that next time try to experiment with her acting skills rather than sticking to one particular “rota dhota role”. The pink lipstick, loud blush suits her character well and her confession infront of her mother told us that she is in no way flirting with Afzal and is seriously interested in getting married to him.

Our Afzal is looking literally “pyarai” in that security guard uniform. His decision regarding his job was right to an extent that he shouldnot wait for opportunity to knock out at his door rather he should go out and fetch for the opportunity – No matter how long it takes and by adopting which way he will become “Afzal” .

Mehtaab’s re-entry in the show made me happy again.This time he is completely transformed man ; He is looking elegant and poised rather than sounding like a goofy as before. The way he made Afzal realize about where he is standing right now being Farah’s admirer was nothing more than his way of taking revenge from him.

Mehtaab called Farah and Lubna picked up but point is that despite of saying again and again that she is not Farah but Lubna , Mehtaab got easily tricked by Lubna..At that point, I thought that he was only pretending to be different, deep inside he is still a goofy bal k bechara maasoom he hai and everyone can play with his emotions just like that. Seriously, I felt bad for him when Lubna said that she will reconsider her and he become happy thinking the fact that Farah will reconsider her again.

 By the way, was that beep really necessary during Lubna and Mehtaab’s call? I mean their lips can easily be read and the words they uttered were not different from what they use frequently.

Without any doubt, dialogues are the soul of this show and credit goes to Khalil ur Rehmaan; He penned down every dialogue beautifully and not only they sound good but they are equally meaningful too. The way Afzal’s mother changed her mood ,when Farah’s mother visited her and told her that they will help them in finding Afzal, clearly described her longing for her son.

Now that Lubna knows exactly where Afzal is , I am guessing that story is heading towards its end. Last scene of today’s episode was too hard for me to digest. Are they actually planning for a sad ending ? Honestly, it would be unbearable for me to watch Afzal die; Maybe, he was wearing a bullet – proof jacket because he was in his uniform.. :P

Share your views about today’s installment of PA.

 Rabia Basharat.

Merai Humdum Merai Dost is the play I was looking forward from the day when I came to know that Farhat Ishtiaq’s Best Seller Novel will be dramatized & as soon as I came to know that one of my favorite TV artists,Sanam Jung,will be doing Umm-e-Aiman’s role, I was the happiest girl on earth. Being directed by, Shehzad Kashmiri and Produced by Momina Duraid, Merai Humdum Merai Dost will be aired every friday at 9pm only on URDU1. Now that we are done with formal intro of the show,Lets start with the characters introduction.

Taufeeq Kamaal (Farhan Ali Agha) was married to Zainab for many years but their marital life didnot work for them as Taufeeq was obsessed with success and beauty and according to him, Zainab lacked both of them. He demanded separation from Zainab but poor Zainab pledged for mercy and it was only because of their daughter Umm-e-Aiman (Sanam Jung), Taufeeq let both of them go out of his life without giving divorce to Zainab. Like typical eastern wives, Zainab loved her husband even when he left her and Aiman all alone in this gigantic world. While on the other hand, Taufeeq got married once again to Almaas (Zainab Qayyum);the type of girl for whom he actually anticipated throughout his life.

For Aiman, her father is nothing but a name that facilitates her whenever she has to fill an application form; She hates him and even asks her mother that she should hate her even more than her. Zainab was fighting with a deathly disease and Aiman tried every possible way out to help her mother and at-last, Zainab gave her life up. From those scenes when Zainab’s state went serious till her last breath, Sanam Jung’s acting was near to perfection. Her mother was whole world for her and now that she is no more, Aiman felt completely doomed.

According to the promise she made to her mother that she will go to her father after her death, Aiman tried to make up her mind but she failed every-time she attempted to do so. She knew that even after her refusal, she has to leave because there is no way out except going to her father. It was really sad to see how Taufeeq didnot pay much heed to his daughter and focused more at his foreign trip.

Haider (Adnan Siddiqui),middle aged man with a very serious and realistic approach towards life, is one of the closest friends and colleague of Taufeeq Kamaal. Haider was given responsibility of Aiman till Taufeeq and Almaas won’t return back. On her way to the land of his father with Haider, Aiman was completely shattered and broken from inside.She is the one who lost her mother and just after losing her, she was going to live with a person whom she hated throughout her life and sad but true, that man was her father. Or uss se bhi barh kar ye k he wasnot there to attend her when she was expecting him to be there to console her during the hardest time of her life. Though, Haider tried every possible way to make her feel comfortable but he was a stranger for her and she didnot pay any attention to what he did and what he say.

Another side track in this story is of Sajeela (Hareem Farooq) and Mazhar (Junaid Khan). Mazhar comes from middle class where Sajeela was once a part of rich family. They tried every possible way out to get married to each other and luckily,they succeeded. But soon after their marriage nothing remained same; Maybe its Mazhar’s guilt of not fulfilling Sajeela’s desires and because of that he is having inferiority complex or maybe its something else that will be revealed later – whatever the reason maybe it is sounding as if their marital life is nothing but a compromise with one sided effort of Sajeela for making things better.

First two episodes were too good as far as introduction is concerned. I literally loved the background score – At times, it sounded like Turkish serials BS too. Direction was perfect and all artists played their part perfectly well.

What is your say about introductory episodes of MHMD ?

Rabia Basharat.

P.S. Apologies for reviewing it late.. :)

Another week of a decent episode of Marasim. I am glad they have taken enough time in establishing the characters because by doing so they have been able to make us understand more about them. I feel the characters are getting more relate-able & the direction seems perfect ever since they’re done with the flashbacks.

This episode focused more on Nayab, her life & her character. After losing her mother, Almas has forced Nayab to stay with her because she has no one else who’d look after her. Nayab & Zaid being first cousins are emotionally involved with each other where everyone in their family knows of their relation & pretty much approves of it. Zaid is a humble & caring person who loves Nayab a lot. He is Nayab’s support system & she knows she can rely on him any time because he truly loves her & cares for her. Right now they both are waiting for Zaid to get settled after his CSS so after that they’d be able to step in a married life together.

Deeba on the other hand has told her mother to fetch a simpleton for Daood who can be bossed around & she’ll be in an awe of how rich he is. Deeba thinks a simple girl from the middle or the lower middle class will buy everything Daood will ever tell her & she will happily compromise whereas a girl belonging to the same social class as them will never mend & will always be rigid. Daood hasn’t found a closure to his break-up yet & he is mentally scattered.

On a short visit to Almas’s place Gaitiara happens to see Nayab & get a glimpse of her nature, sadly Nayab fits the description given by Deeba for Daood’s wife perfectly & just when Nayab visits to hand over Gaitiara’s dress to her, Gaitiara tests Nayab by showing off the wealth & her place. I thought Urwa was brilliant through out the episode but she excelled in this particular scene as well. She made it look like she wasn’t interested or rather she didn’t notice much about her surroundings but just to satisfy Gaitiara’s pompous ego, she kept on adding more to it by appreciating all the ‘material’ Gaitiara owned.

I felt the whole ‘suit dhoondho’ scene was a bit over-done & a bit dragged. I mean if Nayab couldn’t find it Almas should’ve gotten up to help her in finding the suit. At one point Almas has all her sympathies with her innocent younger sister but on the other hand she thinks it’s ohkay to boss her over just because she wants to prove a point to her mother in law that Nayab is not a burden on them & is helping with the household chores.

I must say after Daood & Momenah’s character, I have started to like & feel a lot for the character of Nayab & for a change it’s good to see Urwa Hocane doing something different. She has portrayed the feelings of Nayab perfectly & is fitting the role really well. Apart from the suit scene & Daood’s unnecessary caterwauling, I found the whole episode very interesting. They are taking it slow but definitely have a control over the script because the direction seems perfect. Can’t wait to find out more.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Congratulations to Zamad Baig & his supporters on his win. :)

This is it from the very first & the very successful season of Pakistan Idol. They gave us an amazing finale episode packed with a lot of memorable performances & gracious guests who gratified the stage with their presence. Abida Parveen, Hamid Ali Khan, Sajjad Ali, Ali Zafar were invited to be a part of this memorable journey & it was a treat to see them all but the highlight of the whole episode for me has to be Sajjad Ali performing ‘Sohni Lagdi’.

Of all the performances, my least favorite were of Hadiqa Kiyani & Bushra Ansari. As much as I am sad that Pakistan Idol is ending, I am glad that I won’t get to see in fact tolerate Bushra Ansari on the weekly basis that too twice a week. I think she seriously needs some counselling because of the obvious reasons & like they say last but not the least, her last appreance on the stage of Pakistan Idol was not a least bit normal.

It was good to see all the eliminated contestants & I was actually really happy to see Syed Sajjid Abbas, Mehwish Maqsood, Rosemary, Asad Raza Sonu, Ali Asad Zaidi & Abdul Rafay Khan again on the stage. Their performances were pre-recorded but they were great because in a very short time they paid tribute to the Pakistani music & fulfilled the purpose of this stage because it belongs to Pakistani music.

So, this was it from the very first season of Pakistan Idol. No doubt being the very first launch of the franchise, they did justice to the whole format & made it larger than life but I hope in the next season we do get some other judges who not only judge but mentor the contestants along the way. I also hope that the team behind Pakistan Idol would pay more attention to explore more genres of music as a challenge to the contestants every week. This time around, no doubt they set different themes & moods but never really gave a room to the contestants to come out of their comfort zones in order to experiment with the different genres. More or less they let the contestants establish their styles & excel in them over & over again.

This would be an understatement to say that the episode which was based on the actual genre of the music like Qawwali has to be the most memorable episode of the whole season followed by the patriotic themed episode. The way they invited guest judges for the mentoring was definitely great & Sajjad Ali & Ali Zafar stood out the most but I hope next time they’d let the guest judges mentor the contestants on specific genres too.

So, with this & with Zamad Baig’s win, Pakistan Idol comes to an end. It’s a celebration time for his supporters because he did really well through out the season. The list of the songs he has performed that paved the way for his success is as follows:

Auditions: ‘Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ – NFAK
Piano Round: ‘Kali Kali Zulfon’ – NFAK
Gala Round 01: ‘Kiya Hai Jo Pyaar To’ – Ahmed Rushdi
Gala Round 02: ‘Mukhray Ton Nazran Hawatan’ – NFAK
Gala Round 03: ‘Khuwaab’ – Ali Azmat
Gala Round 04: ‘Teri Deewani’ – Kailash Kher
Gala Round 05: ‘Mai Tera Hero’ – Mika Singh
Gala Round 06: ‘Sanu Ik Pal’ – NFAK
Gala Round 07: ‘Pakistan Pakistan’ – NFAK
Gala Round 08: ‘Jiya Dharak Dharak Jaye’ – RFAK
Gala Round 09: ‘Dastaan-e-Ishq’ – Ali Zafar
Gala Round 10: ‘Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ – NFAK
Gala Round 11: ‘Jatt Charheya Kachehri’ – Abrar ul Haq
Gala Round 11: ‘Soona Soona’ – Ramez Khan
Gala Round 12: ‘Tere Ishq Nachaya’ & ‘Tere Ishq Mein Jo Doob Gaya’ – Saein Akhtar & Allan Faqeer
Gala Round 12: ‘Allah Hu’ – NFAK

I wish all the best to all the top 13 contestants & especially Mohammad Shoaib for standing out the most & proving a point that he is versatile. He has gained a lot of popularity & will be remembered. I wish luck, power & success to Zamad Baig, Mohammad Shoaib & the rest. :)

I thank all those who appreciated my effort & my take on Pakistan Idol & supported me on my reviews.
Till we meet again for the very next season. ;)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.