I hate sounding redundant but Ary is desperately in need of a makeover. The channel continues producing sub par serials and the time changes don’t seem to work in their favour. Joining their list of serials that are ruined by their lack of consistency is Goya- a drama that actually got off to a pretty decent start. From the beginning, I struggled with the lighting and sound quality- the issue was never fully resolved. For me, production values are extremely important- if I don’t like what I see, I tend to lose interest quickly. I wish producers would take some time to look into the superior standards maintained by Hum TV. They may not churn out hit after hit but Hum continues to keep the audience engaged with their visuals.
23 weeks ago, Goya started out as a serial that dared to be different. For a change, the male protagonist was not your typical macho man with women falling over him like flies. He was quite the opposite- a 20 something struggling with finding his identity while trying to breathe under the constant scrutiny of his father. The female protagonist was not the usual damsel in distress- she was a young woman with her feet firmly on the ground who had accomplished her dream of pursuing a career in journalism. She was raised by a single mom but that never restricted either of them from holding their own. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Mohini changed Omar’s life and in fact she had a big hand in his grooming too. Here was a man who never made an independent decision in his life and he needed the right nudge to keep moving forward. Mohini’s strength became his strength and he decided he wouldn’t let anything get in the way. Despite their ups and downs, these two lovebirds continued to bloom and were on their way to expecting their first child. But life isn’t a bed of roses and Sr. Hashmi decided it was time to bring back Omar in any way that he could. Money corrupts the best of us and all he needed was to find the kind of people who would bend to his will. He succeeded in tearing Omar and Mohini apart. But that’s when things stopped making sense. Mohini fell into a well of self- pity and Omar gave in to a dosri shadi. His second wife started behaving very much like any cliched dosri biwi with a competitive streak. As if we didn’t have enough on our plates already, we had to deal with Sr. Hashmi’s illegitimate Bengali daughter who pretended to be the househelp.
Bad things happen to good people and Mohini became the victim of a terminal illness. Instead of dealing with her cancer, she made up her mind that her life wasn’t worth living and no one could do a thing to convince her otherwise. Just as quickly as Omar rushed into his second marriage, he jumped out of it washing his hands off all responsibility. There were many sub plots within the main plot that could’ve become more than what they were. Zara and Adnan’s story had plenty of potential but it was nipped in the bud. Ali’s character was wasted. The mystery surrounding Nomi remained a mystery. Zeb continued her paheliyan till the last episode- her kahani took forever to disclose and by the time they finally revealed it, it no longer mattered. Yet, in the very last episode, she had another conversation with Zara that hinted at a possible ” there’s still more to come”.
Every time I watch a serial that ends in tragedy I can’t help but wonder why. At what point did the story become focused on “Mohini Must Die”? The last few episodes were high on drama and ensured both Osman Khalid Butt and Sana Javed carved a niche for themselves. Even though Sr. Hashmi seemed genuine, I feel he didn’t get his due- this man deserved far worse than a mere stroke. Asma’s parenting was an epic fail- whatever got into her? For an independent, single mom, she literally watched her daughter die without managing to convince her to at least put up a fight. I would’ve loved to see a positive message arising from a tragedy- death is inevitable but how we deal with it is in our control.
The dialogues were definitely the highlight for me- deep and profound yet easy going and relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed the earlier episodes with Adnan and Ali and their little exchanges with Omar. The drama had a youthful vibe and dialogues that resonated with the audience. For me, the turning point was Omar’s dosri shadi– I had a hard time accepting how he succumbed to pressure knowing full well that Mohini (especially at the time when she was carrying his child) would disappear without reason. With so many dramas dealing with multiple wives, Goya was certainly not one I expected would turn that way. Some highs, some lows but Goya managed to stand out for some fine performances despite the forces that were against them (loud background score, poor lighting and disappointingly low production values). It’s almost unfair to the people who invest their time and efforts- the writers, the actors, the crew members because they have no control over technical difficulties. Ary and Six Sigma really need to go back to the drawing board and do an overhaul. They can’t continue to sabotage any more creative endeavours .
Yours in watching,
Kanwal Murtaza
