Today’s episode was really special because Asher ‘bhai’ got cake with chai ;) This episode like many of the previous episodes of Gul-e-Rana had a lot of filler scenes but the story is moving forward gradually. Tonight we saw the twist which many of the viewers already knew about and were probably looking forward to also. While Asher’s murder was yet another dream, Adeel’s accident was a reality which will change everything for Rana who wants to start afresh. I must say that Mehmood Akhtar was brilliant in tonight’s episode. I couldn’t help but feel everything his character was going through. His portrayal of a father who couldn’t see his son suffering was effortless. But certain steps taken by him just like always made me wonder if he really was as wise and loving as the writer wants us to believe he is. Adeel’s father now knows exactly what happened with Rana when she was living with Adeel but he still asks her to go and stay with him, something which did not make a lot of sense. And then dialogues like “mei tumharay liye surprise lene gaya tha” made the situation even worse. Adeel’s reaction was more of shock than surprise! I felt that this particular development was not handled very intelligently. Rana’s reluctance to help the man who gave her nothing but pain was portrayed perfectly by Sajjal Ali but the background music during all those scenes was painfully loud, unnecessary and distracting. In the last episode Adeel was supposed to be in another country and in this episode he was back in Pakistan. The timeline in this episode had me confused because Rana’s life hadn’t moved forward much in this episode but Adeel went to another country and came back in what seemed like a day.
Asher and Rana’s relationship got more screen time in tonight’s episode than anything else. Although Adeel’s accident should have been the ‘highlight’ of tonight’s episode but the scenes between Rana and Asher coupled with Rana’s concern for Asher made this episode more about Asher than anything else. Imran Ashraf plays the tough guy flawlessly; his acting was superb in Sadqay Tumhare, it is convincing in Aabro and he did complete justice to his role in the first episode of Dil Lagi too but unfortunately his portrayal of a sweet man (his conversations with Rana on the phone and the smirk on his face when Rana tells him not to talk about death) is not the least bit impressive. The viewers still don’t know whether Asher knows that he has a very serious disease or not because there was mention of blood cancer in only two episodes but then we never saw Asher going to a doctor unless Rana’s company is the cure for his ailment! Asher has feelings for Rana and he is due to get married very soon but we don’t see him making any effort to stay away from the girl he loves. The writer obviously expected the viewers to feel for Asher but I am finding it very hard to feel anything for his character. It would have been much better if he helped Rana like a brother instead of betraying her trust like this. If he has feelings for Rana, he should try to keep his distance because she is married and he is going to get married very soon. This latest development in the story just proves Adeel right, other than that it does not help the story in any way.
Rana’s mother was completely out of the picture once again. Maria has done her part and now she has vanished from the scene too! Characters disappear from this drama whenever they are not needed and when they are needed to take the story forward they appear like they are the most important characters in the play! Rana’s mother at least should get some screen time in every episode since she lives in the same house. All the actors performed really well in tonight’s episode but unfortunately overall none of the developments had an impact. The preview of the next episode did not give me much to look forward to because it seemed like nothing about Rana and Adeel’s relationship will change anytime soon. The scenes in the preview looked highly repetitive and not the least bit exciting.
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Fatima Awan