Finally, the much awaited genre of music was covered in Pakistan Idol tonight. It was an amazing episode & the guest judges were perfect as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the episode & a couple of performances too.

The first guest judge was the maestro of Qawwali – Amjad Sabri. His performance was the perfect opening of tonight’s episode. On the high demand Sajjad Ali was called again to judge the contestants & I am glad he once again made an appearance on the show. I am thinking they decided to have a Qawwali week at this point, it would’ve been so good if they had done it before when there were more contestants. It would’ve been a treat to watch as well but as they say better late than never.

The performances & the commentary on them is as follows:

Kashif Ali (KA) of Lahore performed ‘Akhiyaan Udeek Diyan’ of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I must say this has to be Kashif’s weakest performance so far. I wasn’t too impressed & felt that he performed it more like a song & defeated the purpose of it being a Qawwali. He went off-beat so many times, once again sounded too soft & let the music over lap his voice. It looked like the judges were skeptical in giving away the actual comments therefore they sugarcoated a lot when it came to the feedback. Amjad Sabri pointed out a few places where he went weak & said that it was a good performance. Sajjad Ali spoke about the issue in his ending notes too but said he sang it powerfully. Bushra Ansari said it was a powerful effort that he did. Ali Azmat said he managed the camera, the choir really well & was good. Hadiqa Kiyani gifted him a bracelet she owned & said his performance had everything the feel, the heart, the soul & even the perfection of notes (!?!?!?!).

Ali Asad Zaidi (AZ) of Karachi performed ‘Dam Mast Kalandar’ of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Once again it was too evident in his performance that he was pushed out of his comfort zone. He did attempt it nicely but failed to make a mark obviously. Ali Azmat said that he sounded strained & tensed, in the end he tried to show his personality by changing the feel of the song but overall was a good attempt. Sajjad Ali said that he added the rock feel to the Qawwali by the end of the performance. Hadiqa Kiyani said that this wasn’t his comfort zone & it looked like he already had preconceived discomfort level therefore it was evident in his performance through out. She also went to say that he has a lot of potential & a good tonal quality so he could’ve learnt it a bit more & a bit better. Amjad Sabri said that if he had lowered the scale a couple of notches, his performance wouldn’t have gotten the rock feel to it. He advised him to understand the meaning & the purpose of Qawwali before performing it. Bushra Ansari spoke about accent being also another issue but she said it was a good attempt.

Zamad Baig (ZB) of Mandi Bahauddin performed ‘Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He came, he performed, he owned & he nailed it completely. I think this has to be one of the best performances of the episode & also of Zamad’s himself too. Not only his voice was perfect for the genre but he understood the meaning of Qawwali & performed it just the way it should have been performed. No doubt he deserved all the appreciation that he got & also the standing ovation he received from Hadiqa Kiyani & Ali Azmat. Hadiqa Kiyani said no one else could’ve performed this specific Qawwali the way he did, he made a connection & created an ambiance which was necessary. Bushra Ansari said he was on a journey & he took everyone along. Ali Azmat said that Zamad has an advantage of this genre suiting his voice but this doesn’t mean that he sang it well because of it. He performed it brilliantly because he himself is a great singer. Sajjad Ali generally commented that he sang it nicely but said he wouldn’t comment on technical issue. Amjad Sabri at first made a vote appeal for him & said that he would’ve given him a standing ovation too but he picked on a minor note that was missing but otherwise said he sang it beautifully & needed a little more command on Qawwali too.

Mohammad Shoaib (MS) of Peshawar performed ‘Mast Nazron Se Bachaye’ of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. OMG! What a stellar performance. I thought he’d get criticised but he shook everyone by surprise when he performed it brilliantly. He enjoyed & he performed & he convinced everyone to say that he deserved to be in this spot. Amjad Sabri’s appreciative hug proved everything, he said Shoaib can become a perfect playback singer & even went to say that Shoaib could be the voice Pakistan is looking for. Sajjad Ali said that he selected a hit number but owned it because to listen to it in his voice was perfect & even Sajjad Ali gave him a standing ovation too. Bushra Ansari whistled herself thrice for him & said that she was worried for the sargam part of the song but the way he sang it, he nailed it completely. Ali Azmat went on the stage & hugged him as well saying he performed better to what we had expected & we thought that Zamad would have an upper-hand in this round but Shoaib proved us wrong. Hadiqa said he is a fighter who has improved tremendously. She said she was proud of him & the way he created the whole environment proved that he was perfect. She went on the stage & hugged him as well.

So, this was it from tonight’s episode & I must say the best performances for me were of Zamad Baig & Mohammad Shoaib. Kashif Ali did get some good feedback but after Ali Asad Zaidi performed & got criticised I felt that his performance was at par of Kashif too. They both didn’t have the feel of Qawwali in their performances & Kashif sang it like a slow song too. If they hadn’t announced in the beginning that this was going to be a Qawwali round, no one would’ve guessed that Kashif attempted a Qawwali. By looking at these performances, I feel Ali Asad Zaidi & Kashif Ali will be in the bottom 2 this week.

All of a sudden I feel that either Zamad Baig or Mohammad Shoaib could win the title. So far Ali Asad Zaidi & Kashif Ali looked like potential winners of the show but after this particular episode, this notion has changed completely. It was once again proven that Kashif Ali is not at all versatile that’s why when he had to perform Qawwali, his mistakes surfaced clearly. Ali Asad Zaidi has been good consistently but after this episode Mohammad Shoaib has overtook the limelight completely because if we look at it Mohammad Shoaib has performed all sorts of songs & might be the only one who has experimented throughout, I didn’t say it before because I didn’t want to give an impression of being biased but after this performance I proudly say that I supported Mohammad Shoaib & he deserves to win the title. :)

I am glad Sajjad Ali reminded the contestants about the versatility because our permanent judges didn’t emphasize much on it & in fact when they got a chance they gave them the songs that they could sing pretty well. I hope we do have a folk round too because this was a treat to watch after so long. Share your thoughts on tonight’s episode & also do let us know which were your favorite & least favorite performances.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

This episode laid the foundations for what is coming ahead. The best thing about it was that we didn’t get to see Hassan at all – Bushra was there to make up for his kami! Tonight’s episode was scripted and directed really well. I must say that even though Rabbiya isn’t your present-day Juliet but I found it hard to dislike her character. I was thinking that she would turn out to be just as bad as Nabeel’s family – someone who you can’t help but dislike instantly but that was not the case. Everyone cannot live on love and that is fair enough. It is good that she was honest about how she felt. The only reason her (over) confidence backfired was because she underestimated Zeeshan’s parents. Zeeshan’s parents were not willing to back off from their stance and Zeeshan did not want to let Rabbiya go, therefore he decided to go ahead with the nikkah. I really appreciate the way Rabbiya’s character has been etched-out and the manner in which Mira Sethi has brought this character to life on screen. I truly felt for Zeeshan, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

We have already seen Adeel Hussein dealing with the two wives scenario in detail so yes there will be times when the viewers may see a bit of Shaam in Zeeshan – even the names rhyme! The first wife like all other dramas is full of confidence and vocal while the second one is docile and pretty (of course) who is only going to get married to this man because she has no other choice. She will at some point win him over and then we will be left wondering which one he will leave! I am not sure if I am too eager to see another such situation again in a drama where both the wives are living under the same roof.

The opening scene of the play was very touching; the message was conveyed loud and clear and I am sure everyone out there felt what Romaissa was going through. The conversation between the servants later on should have been short and to the point. The only part of their conversation that really added something new was the one about the way Nabeel distributed gifts and goodies when Hamnah had her daughter. Romaissa’s flashback scenes and thoughts are gradually losing their impact because the way in which they are shown is always the same. The most touching scene of the episode was the one in which Zeeshan goes to Romaissa’s room to congratulate her. Nabeel’s family does not cease to surprise me with their spitefulness; they did not even bother visiting the hospital to see the newborn.

Everyone’s acting was up-to-the-mark in tonight’s episode and the developments in the story were quite convincing too. There could have been less of the servants though! I won’t be surprised if Bushra informs Rabbiya about the nikkah too in the upcoming episodes. I think the preview of the next episode once again gave away more than it should have. It would have been good if we saw Romaissa protesting against her In laws’ decision (in her own passive way) and we were not shown what happened later on. Now everyone knows that there will be a Nikkah and then we will see Zeeshan laying down the “rules and regulations” for Romaissa. I am not looking forward to the two wives living in the same house situation once again. Marriage is not a joke and neither is divorce!

Fatima Awan

Ohkay, I must say I have started to enjoy this drama a lot more now. I mean I find it something decent to tune into every week. They have taken the story forward reasonably & the direction has improved a lot as well.

I still have an issue with Kiran getting the limelight. I think the writer loved the character of Kiran more than Shabbi’s. Just when I thought that she didn’t deserve such a decent husband she proved me right because she shooed him away too. I thought Usman would reject Kiran’s demand of divorce but seems like he decided to part ways with such a negative woman the moment he found the opportunity because yes, a peaceful & calm guy like him deserved someone better. But having said all that I really hate the way they have mocked the concept of divorce & marriage in this drama just like all the other dramas. I am shocked to see the prevailing trend because girls who go through divorce unfortunately know how hard it is & what do they have to face afterwards but the way they are showing that the girls remain DHEET after 1+1 divorce is just puke-worthy.

Surmed continues to destroy the business of Jameel Ahmed & Shabbi has started to probe a bit & just in a very little time she has learnt a lot about who Surmed was as a kid, what he went through & why he is that stern of a husband. I feel they have nothing left to show in their story that’s why they have parted them in a way that Shabbi is busy in her own life expressionlessly & Surmed is busy with the new found business to handle & destroy.

Just when I saw Kiran all lifeless lying on the bed I was like chalo shuker that’s the end of her journey & our suffering but to see all that as a failed attempt of suicide, left me sad. Why didn’t she die? Ohkay we get it that she had to live & get married to Usman so that Shabbi could find out the real face of Surmed but now when all that has been taken care of, why not just kill Kiran’s character?

Teeeeepu is having a great time with Neha & they both have beaming attraction for each other. I know it’s a small detail but I couldn’t help noticing the 90’s TV in Teepu’s room which he manually shut down himself. I think the director got confused because when he was supposed to show the 90’s era he showed us the mod-scot Neelam but now when we’re already in 2014, Teepu has a cathode ray tube TV, funny isn’t it!

As much as I hated seeing Kiran’s mother blaming Shabbi for Kiran’s divorce, I loved the slap she got & the insult she had to endure. She was the one who told Kiran to keep a hawk-eye on Teepu & to be stern with him. Now when she is sowing what she reaped so why is her mother feeling sorry? Instead of blaming Shabbi for what has happened to Kiran, she must blame herself first for not turning Kiran into a compassionate & humble lady & then she should blame Kiran for having a crappy tongue. I mean sorry the way Kiran is pleading Teeeepu to come back because she is ready to do everything he’d want, I mean does she really think that’s going to happen? I hope that Teepu gets married to Neha ASAP & bring her along to shut everyone’s mouth & demands. That’s going to be a good twist that I’d want to see.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

It has been a while since I actually looked forward to a play. The only reason I was interested in finding out more about the play was that it stars Sarwat Gillani; she is one of my most favorite actresses among the younger lot. She is an outstanding actress and most importantly she is one of those exceptional actresses who refused to be typecast. I am already in love with the chemistry that Fahad Mustafa and Sarwat Gillani share on screen only by watching the promos but I must admit that the Big Bang Entertainment doesn’t have much to its credit – I hope that things will be different this time around. The play has been written by Sana Fahad, directed by Badar Mehmood and produced by Big Bang Entertainment (Fahad Mustafa and Dr. Ali Kazmi).

This first episode was well-paced and the picture quality was superb. It looked more like a film than a drama. Our female protagonist Alvira (Sarwat Gillani) comes from a very rich background, she is romantically involved and pretty much committed to Hamza (Fahad Mustafa) who is her class-fellow. The story starts with both of them finishing off their BBA. Alvira’s parents (Sajjid Hassan and Sabahat Bukhari) want her to marry a family friend’s son who is as well off as they are. Alvira tells her mother straight away that she is not interested because she loves someone else. Alvira is very confident about her feelings and her future with Hamza but Hamza has his reservations because of his status. Alvira was brought up in a very affluent household but she is not the least bit materialistic. Hamza loves her for who she is and does not measure her worth based on how much wealth her father has.

I must say that the first few scenes confused me. One minute Alvira walked in the house declaring that her papers had ended and the other minute she was applying for MBA. It seemed like Hamza found a job a little too soon, I just couldn’t make out how much time had elapsed since they graduated. Hamza’s mother (Ismat Zaidi) was quite happy with his choice once she found out that the girl was rich, it remains to be seen how Alvira’s father will react. I get the feeling that there will be a completely filmy scene when Hamza goes to meet him in the next episode.

Sabahat Bukhari should have gone easy on the western outfits; you can look stylish, chic and modern wearing age appropriate dresses too. Hina Bayat does it all the time, it would be nice if others could follow her example too. The diamond gift that Zaka gave Alvira was definitely OTT! The story isn’t new; rich girl falls in love with a middle class boy and the problems they face later on but Fahad Mustafa and Sarwat Gillani might save the day. I am also waiting to find out what Sana Fahad has ins tore for the viewers. Their characters are very likeable and they definitely look great together. The play isn’t overcrowded with side characters and the director didn’t take ages to introduce us to the characters. The party scene was very nicely done, talk about paying attention to detail! It had to be the most visually pleasing scene in the entire episode. The facebook page of the drama is promoting it in a very good manner and the admins are doing a great job of keeping the page active.

How many of you watched this first episode? Do share your thoughts about it.

Good News: We will be watching the 2nd last episode of Shukk this week, hurray:)

Fatima Awan

Aha! I’ve got news for my regular readers, I’ve got a naim-o-badal for Mujhe Khuda Pe Yakeen Hai in the form of Izteraab. Can’t wait to share some therapeutic laughing fits with you all.

Jazib is a cocky prude who finds it really hard if a roti has thick corners & is rolled a bit thinly in the middle. He can’t do without Imli ki chutney even if it costs him his molar (tooth). Sorry, but I find Jazib more annoying. I agree that he has told Zara a lot of times that she doesn’t need to go out of the house to earn a living but I think it’s his duty to make her realize it that too gently & politely. He needs to make it all worth giving a shot & needs to make it appealing that if she stays at home, it would benefit them both. But the way he shoots her with tauntful arrows, any girl would run away & would find peace in the hours away from home. He is one of those annoying husbands who are not only glutton & foody but are also annoying eaters who find it really hard to appreciate what they are served with at the dining table. He must be sleeping when his parents & teachers were teaching him ethics all his life.

What’s with Dua’s fixation to J for Jazib & J for Jee. If they want to throw reality on us then Dua should’ve addressed him as Jazib Bhai because I have seen so many girls who in their wildest dreams had never thought they’d get married to their cousins who they had all their life referred to as XYZ BHAI but the moment the wedding was fixed, Bhai word was thrown out of the window. I feel it would’ve looked more realistic to show that Dua had no intention of that sorts but it was Jazib who started getting swayed by her cooking command but right now it looks that Khala has very tactfully trained her bholi Dua to impress the bhukkar Jazib.

I think we are going to see a lot of conversations in this drama happening around the dining table where the point of discussion would start off with parathas, then go on to gulabi chai, then allu k pakore then imli ki chutney. Ohkay fine, we get it! Zara ain’t a good cook & Dua can cook everything she can even evaporate a married man’s relationship with his wife, she is that good of a cook but what’s the point of making a point again & again where Jazib mentions a single thing & Dua scurries to the kitchen as a short order cook. If she is so passionate about it, why not just stay in the kitchen then!

They may want to establish the fact that Zara is falling short on her responsibilities but I feel she is trying really hard to keep everything intact. They have shown a fact brilliantly that people take career-oriented women as heartless & emotionless whereas despite the fact that they are strong headed, they need moral & emotional support too. They long for some appreciative words but here seems like Jazib prefers Paratha over Partner. They may want to show that working women are weak & are a bad mother & wife but sorry I side with Zara completely. Jazib’s being a pain & why does he always think that by openly taunting & comparing Zara to Dua, he can getaway from the mess by giving it a name of a joke. Whatever he said about Dua wasn’t just a mere joke but it was coming straight from his heart. He didn’t even have a courtesy to keep his feelings to himself but blurted everything out in front of Naani & even his Khala. Khala waisay to bari samajhdaar banti hain but in baton pe gugu kyu ban jati hain? Can’t she see Dua’s being over attentive towards Jazib & even if she scolded her, Dua’s frowning face was enough of an evidence to show Khala what her real feelings for Jazib are. Sorry, I am not buying this bhola-pan of Dua that she herself doesn’t know what her feelings are, no one in this date is such a gaye (except Romaisa of Mohabbat Subha Ka Sitara Hai, of course)!!!

Let’s wait for the next episode to find out what else does Jazib like to eat & what else can Dua cook for her Jazib JEEEEE!!!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

The story moved forward at a fast pace in these two episodes. The developments in the story were completely unexpected. Too bad that most of the important twists were already given away in the promos of the upcoming episodes, not only this there was a special news in Jung newspaper as well telling the viewers exactly what was coming their way. I wish that Geo would give people a reason to sit through a drama by not providing them the opportunity of following the drama through the promos and the summaries they give in the papers. I am all for intelligent marketing but the drama should be promoted in such a way that the viewers keep on wondering what is going to happen next. Telling the viewers that Hiba will have an accident would have been intriguing enough, telling them exactly what was going to happen in my opinion was just plain foolish! Similarly informing the viewers that Rohail was going to fall in love with Tooba would have been sufficient!

Kamal and Bilquees are finally back – the moment that we had all been waiting for. Even after all these years the things between them remain the same. Kamal Hassan never got over what happened in the past and rightly so too. It remains to be seen how Tooba will react once she finds out that Rohail is Kamal’s son. The woman who was responsible for breaking her engagement and the one who played havoc with her mother’s life is the mother of the man she loves so much that she is not even going to let Hiba stand in her way now.

Hiba’s accident was executed brilliantly. I am glad that she didn’t have that accident because of Rohail. I expected Rohail to be a little more empathetic towards her because they were really good friends but sometimes it seems like he feels absolutely nothing for Hiba. Tooba’s initial reaction to Rohail’s request and her conversation with him later on was totally in line with her personality. The great thing about all the characters in the play is that they are very well etched out. Unlike some of the characters in other plays which completely shock you with the things they do and nothing makes sense.

Emaad Irfani is doing very well for a newcomer. He just needs to improve his expressions when he is listening to people. He looks overly attentive and too surprised most of the times even when it is not needed.

I must say I absolutely loved the transformation in Tooba’s character. She obviously has no idea that Hiba is in love with Rohail. Rohail must have been attracted to Tooba all along that is why even though they spent so much time with each other, he never told her the reason why Hiba stopped working with him. I think Rohail is being very unfair to Tooba by not telling her the truth because he knows only too well that Tooba will do anything to make Hiba happy and would never commit herself to a man her sister loved. Rohail is being very selfish; I actually felt like he was taking advantage of Hiba’s condition. If Hiba could tell Tooba the truth, things would have been very different. Rohail has always been shown as the kind of person who places his own feelings above others quite unlike Tooba. Now that I think about it Rohail’s first meeting was very well done because I remember wondering at that time if Rohail was really interested in Hiba or was he attracted to Tooba. The confusion was created intentionally. Thumbs up to the director and the writer for keeping it subtle and for keeping the viewers guessing right till the last moment.

Every episode of this play is a visual treat that deserves to be savored. There is plenty to look forward to. Do share your thoughts about these two episodes.

Fatima Awan

By far, we have seen that Afzal leaves Hyderabad just for the sake of becoming an established entity; He knew that this was the reason for which he got rejected by Farah. It was so interesting to see that how Afzal’s family reacted after knowing the fact that Afzal is gone. Maulvi Saheb’s concern didnot come to end but he got anxious to know whether Afzal had some cash to spend or not. Afzal’s mother got shocked but didnot put a glance of sadness at her face just for the sake of not letting her husband know that she is worried. Inshort, both of them looked apparently happy, but deep inside they were completely broken.

No one can be as dumb as Farah. I am seriously not getting what on earth she wants ? And why she is not clear about her aims. Firstly, she played with emotions of Mehtaab. To clean bowled Mehtaab, she took help from poor Afzal.Then played with his emotions because she wanted to go abroad for Mphil. And now that all obstacles are completely vanished, she decided to not go abroad but will do Mphil from Karachi.And now today,she seemed confused again that she should not go to Karachi. Her father is so right.. wakaie, dimaagh ka aalu bana deya hai..

Farah’s discussions with her sister clearly depict that she has developed feelings for Afzal. Unlike Lubna and Arifa, I guessed it not merely because she keeps on talking and asking about Afzal but my guess also relates to Farah’s feeling for Mehtaab. Now that she is in love with Afzal, she came to know that how badly Mehtaab got hurt when she rejected him.

Babu Hameed, Afzal’s first friend in Karachi, helped him to go through his hard time.. Ya ye kehna chahye that Afzal helped him. This way or that way, within very short span of time, they became good friends as if they were together since their childhood.

I am really liking Sohail Ali Abro’s character in this show. Her first encounter with Afzal at her own house was fun to watch. It was pretty much predictable that sooner or later Yasmeen will fall for Afzal and tonight’s episode gave her strong reason for that.

Be it his love for Farah, respect for his parents or loyalty towards her sister, Afzal proved himself to be an extremist. And tonight, we came across his hidden trait and that is to fight for right. It was his father’s teaching that gave him courage to never fear a man because at the end of the day a man is the creature of Allah who wants a man to fear him only.Afzal’s fight with Wali was interesting to watch and I enjoyed every dialogue during their fight; The way Afzal handled wali after having that lethal fight was another treat to watch. So for me, the highlight of today’s episode was Afzal and Wali’s encounter and the scenes after that; Inshort, last half of the show compelled me to watch the show till end.

First half of the show was a bit dragged and I lost my interest somewhere in the middle of episode.But Wali’s part brought my interest back into the show. Ab dekhna ye hai whether Farah will go to Karachi or not ?

I would love to read your feedback about today’s episode.

Rabia Basharat

I had completely given up on this show by the time I saw the 3rd episode. The whole episode was filled with the good and evil sister-in-law drama. Saira could not stand Adil giving so much attention to Rudaba, and she created a huge drama to get attention. She thought that Rudaba had complained to Adil about her attitude when the poor girl had done no such thing.

After that, Saira openly showed her dislike for Rudaba and made her feel like a stranger in the house. But not in front ofAdil of course, in his presence she was at the best of her behavior. The way she taunted Rudaba about Buland in front of her sister and brother was simply pathetic. This track was dragged to the limit and by the end of it; I had completely lost interest in the show.

Tayabba and her desperation for marriage is getting on my nerves by each passing episode. How desperate can a person get? It is not the end of the world if your engagement breaks. She kept on whining about how unfair life is and kept on blaming her brother’s illegal work and bad reputation for her broken engagement. This track is seriously getting very repetitive. The crying and whining continued in the 4th episode too, and it was simply frustrating to watch Tayabba’s scenes.

However, the fourth episode managed to capture my interest, and now I have some hope for the show. Why was the episode worth watching? The answer is simple: Faysal Qureshi. I was disappointed with his loud and rash character; all the pointless screaming simply made my ears rings. But I had forgotten how well Faysal can emote through his eyes, and that romance and Faysal Qureshi are a perfect combination.

We saw the start of the attraction phase between Bashar and Rudaba. Rudaba is scared out of her wits when she is near Bashar, but she still manages to challenge him even though she never means to. He was amused by the ‘monster’comment, and simply shocked by the detailed and honest comment about his behavior and character. The best part about his eyes is that they can emote both anger and softness. We saw the soft look when he was admiring her and the angry look when he was furious with her.

Rudaba was staying at Bashar’s house because Adil and Saira had to go abroad for some urgent business work. Bashar never gave a second glance or thought to Rudaba, and treated her rudely (that’s normal behavior for Bashar). For him, she was no more than Parizey’s care taker, but with each encounter, his opinion about her changed. She disobeyed him and took Parizey in the rain. That was the first time anybody disobeyed him so openly and calling him furious would be an understatement. He unleashed his wrath on Rudaba and the poor girl simply fainted. Yes, FAINTED! I was surprised and a bit amused by her fainting spell.

The look on Bashar’s face when Rudaba fainted was priceless! It was obvious that he felt guilty for his behavior (a first for someone like Bashar), and he had never expected her to faint all of a sudden. For the first time, we saw Bashar  acting in a normal way as he gently tried to wake Rudaba. It was funny to see Bashar speak so softly and act in such a gentle way! Their next encounter in Tayabba’s bedroom was also pretty amusing. Faysal’s eyes did all the work in this scene.

Bashar has not realized that he is attracted to Rudaba, but he will soon. Judging from the preview for the next episode, he would be speechless after he sees Rudaba all dressed up and this would make him think about her.

Another highlight of the latest episode is that Buland is officially back. Buland and Rudaba’s  first encounter was pretty filmy, there was no electricity plus there was rain. Rudaba was standing outside the house with candles in her hand and Buland was under the umbrella. The expressions of both the actors were perfect. But then if someone asks me who is a better romantic hero; Faysal Qureshi or Sami Khan, then my answer would be Faysal. Ushnah Shah has good chemistry with Faysal, now let’s see how her chemistry with Sami turns to be!

I would recommend you to watch this episode, its better than the previous ones!

Till Next Week!

Mariam Shafiq

Ohkay so another week ended with a sad elimination. I know it was really sad but we all had somehow anticipated this would be happening.

I really didn’t understand Bashar Momin’s promotion in the middle of Pakistan Idol. I think GEO has already created enough hype about it & also usually a promotion happens before the show starts. Now when already 4 episodes have gone on-air, I don’t think the promotion was required once again.

It was Ali Asad Zaidi & Rosemary who came in first to get their results. As expected Ali Asad Zaidi was safe because of his awesome performance & Rosemary made it to to the danger zone solely because of the unusual song that was allotted to her.

Next & the last three who came in for their results were Zamad Baig, Mohammad Shoaib & Kashif Ali. I knew Mohammad Shoaib would be safe because of his perfect performance & thought Kashif would be safe too but it came in as a shocker to see Kashif Ali finally making his debut in a danger zone leaving Zamad Baig safe.

Then it came down to Kashif Ali & Rosemary so that the final announcement can be made. I felt the moment Rosemary was told that she didn’t make it through to the top 4 she seemed like she was expecting this result & so did her family.

Definitely sad at her elimination because she was capable of making it to the Top 3 but I am glad she came & proved her talent that too at such a young age of 15. Judges really had some great things to say about her & Bushra Ansari rightly said that Rosemary doesn’t lack talent, she only lacked some votes. She did survive till the Top 5 & that is something definitely huge at this age & I loved what she said to her co-contestants. It was rather sweet.

So, with this we’re left with the Top 4 & they are Ali Asad Zaidi, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Shoaib & Zamad Baig. I am not sure if we’d see any variety at this stage of the competition but I do hope they choose different genres to perform in the next round. No one is expecting them to step out of their comfort zones but a little experiment in the genres is definitely required.

I hope they had allotted a better song to Rosemary because even though they had to sing the songs of Ali Zafar, Rosemary could’ve performed another duet because the contestants who have performed these sort of songs have always been eliminated previously. This is why Ali Azmat always emphasized on choosing the right song which does make some sense.

I wish my favorite Rosemary all the luck, success & a bright future.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay so this was another episode of Marasim. Even though they have been showing a lot of flashbacks from the past but still the story is moving forward. I am not disappointed by the direction & feel things are moving on normally. Definitely, I am not going gaga over this drama but it ain’t that bad either.

As expected, the news of Abdullah’s wedding reached Gaitiara & Deeba. Deeba was shattered because she was forced to fall in love with her cousin as they were supposedly engaged. Daood assured his sister of finding her a better partner but she chose to refuse his offer & not only that but now she has started to have an issue with Momenah too. This is definitely a story of vindictive people who have been involved in years family politics & hatred.

Even though a lot of years have passed but Gaitiara hasn’t found a closure till now. She keeps on reminding herself of all the hardships she had to endure because of her late MIL & also that her SIL Sherbano had an important role to play in snatching away Gaitiara’s peace. Even though it was Daadi’s decision to get the grandchildren married & despite all the hatred that had harboured in between them over the years, no one dared to break off the engagement because the cousins already had inclined towards each other emotionally. Momenah’s only saving grace was the relation of Abdullah with Deeba & vice versa but now when Abdullah has walked out of the commitment, Gaitiara has found a concrete reason to call of Daood’s engagement too.

Momenah thought it was her duty to assure her MIL-to-be about how she keeps them all closer to her heart & therefore she didn’t feel ashamed in literally begging them to make her a part of their family by forgetting what Abdullah has done to Deeba. Momenah may love Daood wholeheartedly but she really doesn’t know that Deeba will treat her like her mother Sherbano treated Gaitiara & Gaitiara will treat her the way her MIL used to treat her plus definitely Momenah’d have to pay the price for all the ill-treatment Sherbano put Gaitiara up with.

Times have changed & just now when Sherbano knows her own daughter’s happiness is at stake, she feels remorseful & ashamed because of her behavior with Gaitiara & clearly she can foresee what Momenah would have to endure because Gaitiara has lost all the respect for her in-laws. Sherbano thought that Gaitiara might’ve forgotten all the insulting she ever got from her but she was shocked to hear her confession of how much she has hated them all these years. This was definitely an eyeopening detail for Sherbano because she never must’ve thought that ever in her lifetime Gaitiara would come to a position where Sherbano won’t be able to look into her eyes with the same pride she once had in the early years of their lives.

Gaitiara dreaded seeing her son getting away from her as Daood was the only one who took a stand for his mother in front of his father & grandmother but now when she saw that Daood found out about Abdullah’s wedding & planned his own with Momenah so as to protect his engagement from breaking, Gaitiara can’t tolerate her only son being snatched away by those people whom she has hated all her life. For now, she has officially called off their engagement & seems like Daood will resist & try to undo his mother’s decision. Let’s see what happens next.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

First of all the dialogues that deserve the most absurd dialogues of the century award

Shaam’s mother: mein tumhein kuch batana chahti hun lekin wada karo ke tum naraz nahi ho gay

Shaam: Yehi ke Sehrish pregnant nahi hai

Shaam’s mother: Tumhei kese pata chala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Errrrr it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, right guys?? Just when you think that it can’t get any worse, it does!! All of us thought that the characters and the story could not get any more twisted and the happenings more ridiculous and illogical but I would call that wishful thinking now. Shaam and Sehrish playing pretend in the opening scene was beyond absurd. Both of them knew there was no baby so they could at least be honest with each other when they were away from the house…away from militant mommy! One second Shaam’s mother was huffing and puffing and the next moment she was having guilt pangs! In one scene she was threatening Sania and in the other one she was feeling for her. Shaam’s mothers attempts to keep him in Sehrish’s room were the tactics an eleven year old would use but not something you would expect from an old lady. Nothing about Shaam’s mother’s character made sense. Same is true for Sehrish, if she does not want to fight for Shaam any more, she should just stop! There was a time when she was fighting for her husband because she felt she could not live without Shaam now that she clearly sees Shaam, Sania and Roomi as a family, she should just move on with life.

Shaam’s mother gave him a chance to divorce Sehrish but how lucky are we that he is still thinking things through! Sania and Shaam’s conversation in the study in which she apologizes was another pointless conversation in tonight’s episode. When I saw this particular scene I was reminded of the times when we had to write a long answer to a question in exams and I hardly had a paragraph of logical details in my mind, that was when you had to stretch all those details to fill pages even if what you said made no sense. Our writer my dear friends is following the same formula here! Samira Fazal knows only too well that there is nothing left in the story. The only way to stretch the drama is to fill it with conversations that go around in circles and have absolutely nothing new to add to the story.

My husband asked a very valid question at the end of this episode; he wanted to know how I was going to review this one because nothing happened!! Well, ranting always comes in handy in such a situation and that is exactly what this episode deserved. I will say once again that I am beyond disappointed. Team Shukk and ARY you maybe getting the TRPs you dreamed of but you have turned the love people used to feel for this play into detest…way to go!!

Fatima Awan