Ohkay so, this episode of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay further elaborated how problematic the situation was for everyone involved, with one side trying to find a solution & the other side creating more issues. There were some of the scenarios that barely made sense & were included only to explain the dynamics further which could’ve been easily avoided. I will however say that the preview of the next episode has definitely made me look forward to it quite eagerly because in this episode I did feel things were getting a tad bit monotonous but it seems that is going to change soon.
Aswad’s Betrayal
I really do not like Aswad’s character. It is mind-boggling that despite seeing what he is putting everyone through he fails to take any responsibility. He doesn’t want to own up to what he has done & how all these years, he led Mashal into believing that he really wanted to marry her. The only thing Aswad seems to be sorted about is his feelings for Saleha & how he can never go against her wish – he has a lot more clarity as far as his mother is concerned but when it comes to other equations, he is quite weak & problematic. It was a few episodes back when Aswad once told Saleha about Mashal & when she said she’d be happy to see him with Mehreen, he didn’t say anything to convince her. The way his mother was being treated & how Mashal’s family reacted was only because Aswad chose not to give Saleha any clarity about what it was between him & Mashal.
Aswad was seen repeating the same thing over & over again that he never led Mashal into believing that he was going to marry her, which makes him look like nothing but a coward. Another aspect that highlights this personality trait is how he is always loud & stern with Mehreen but when it comes to Mashal, he is seen stuttering. It is because he himself knows that he is guilty in front of Mashal but with Mehreen, he doesn’t mind showing her an attitude. The moment when Mashal came to confront him, Aswad not making an eye-contact & trying to look away further established the fact that he is well aware of what he has done, but he once again failed to take responsibility for it. Instead, he continued to guilt-trip Mashal that she was the one who mistook their friendship as something else. Aswad is being rude to Mehreen because he is also holding her responsible for this fiasco only because she accepted this proposal. It is funny that a mature man like Aswad is behaving like such a spoiled brat who can do nothing wrong & wants others to clean up the mess he has made.
Although Mashal is no saint, if we keep everything aside, in this entire situation she & her family were not wrong. Aswad gave Mashal enough reasons to believe that he was going to come, propose to her & get married to her, therefore her reaction was totally justified. It was sad seeing how helpless Mashal felt because the guy she had such high hopes for ended up betraying her trust & not only that, he was acting as if he was never involved emotionally. It was unfair that at this stage of her emotional & mental involvement, Aswad wanted her to see this relationship differently. Mashal was definitely wronged by Aswad & I can’t even begin to imagine how ugly things will get when his guilt will start creeping in!
Saleha has definitely been the most reasonable character in this entire narrative but in this episode, the way she continued to advocate that Aswad was only friends with Mashal was so wrong. It was like she was blatantly denying & refused to even think that there could be a possibility of such sort, that too when Aswad has spoken to her on these lines once before. Saleha on her own doesn’t want Aswad to get married to Mashal, that’s fine, but she shouldn’t have been so staunch about the idea that Aswad never made promises to her. It was like she was turning a blind eye to the fact that her son could also make mistakes & be wrong ever in his life. The way she covered up for him, although she herself has been kept in the dark makes it look like she is letting Aswad know that no matter what he does, she will always stand by him.
Saleha clearly knows what Mehreen goes through in Nani’s home. She also suggested that both Aswad & Mehreen should get married without the knowledge of the rest of the family members, therefore for her to send ‘shadi ki shopping’ with Mehreen absolutely made no sense. It was like she was alerting everyone herself that the wedding preps are in full swing & the date could be decided any day. Mehreen also knows quite well how Mashal likes to destroy her things, therefore she shouldn’t have brought her bridal stuff to this house. Yes, if she was trying to show it off to Mashal then that’s another story but what Mashal did was quite expected therefore it shouldn’t come as a surprise to Mehreen later.
The conversation between Mehreen & Mashal was probably one of the most interesting ones so far. Mehreen let Mashal know how she rolls & how she always wants what belongs to Mehreen. It was also as if she openly rubbed it to her face that this time around, she won’t be able to snatch Aswad away from her. The way Mehreen intimidated her, in the end, was also very interesting & both Mahira & Kubra Khan were outstanding. Mehreen did feel like backing out & she also knew about all the things her relatives will say after her & Aswad’s Nikkah but at this point, she has definitely made up her mind. Aswad’s poor behavior is also not concerning Mehreen at this stage because right now, she is just focused on the escape she is going to get after she’ll sign the Nikkah papers.
Convincing Performances
This episode was definitely interesting but I will say that things have started to seem a little monotonous, therefore I am glad with what I saw in the precap. Although Mashal was quite disturbed I don’t think she’ll do something irreversible. As far as I think, she’ll hurt herself only to frame Mehreen, but let’s see. It also can’t be ruled out what Mehreen might do because she too has such tendencies where she can hurt Mashal – she first hurt her emotionally so maybe she’ll do it physically too, who knows. In this episode, Usman Mukhtar’s acting was quite convincing especially when he was trying to avoid the eye-contact with Mashal. Aswad definitely is a weak character & Usman Mukhtar has portrayed that convincingly. Mahira Khan was brilliant too but in this episode, Kubra Khan stood out the most. She showed all the shades of Mashal’s character beautifully. All her emotions with so much clarity that despite knowing how negative she has been, you still feel for her, for what she is going through. I also like how they show some flashbacks from their childhood which actually explain the events that shaped up their personalities, be it Mashal or Mehreen. Definitely looking forward to the next episode. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
So, i think that the scene where Aswad gives Mashal the ring and says I bought this for you in the US and hoped to give it as an engagement ring should have been edited out and him breaking the news to Mashal that hes engaged should have been done differently instead of a cliched ring being given to her. Atleast thats how i like to think of it. If you take that one scene out, every interaction of Aswads with Mashal (the face time calls, etc) was platonic and just friendly until she blurts out that she likes him on the phone and then they meet up in the cafe and he says now I’m being forced to think upon this new dynamic with you. Then it makes sense that he’s outraged at being called flirtatious for many years because in his head they were just friends and he only recently said that hes thinking about this relationship differently. Aswad is def a weak character because regardless of how recent the relationship with Mashal was he should have stood up more for her in front of his mother.
It was totally different in novel. Aswad was madly in love with Mashal and he tried his best with his mother but in the end his mother went to hospital and then Aswad gave up
Dramay main asal main usman aur mahira ki casting ki wja say aik love angle dikhanay ki koshish ki hy between mehreen and aswad jb kay novel main aysa kuch nae tha. Aswad was madly in love with Mashal. Ar wo poori koshish krta hy to get married to her proper stand leta hy per uski ami bht zda unreasonable hojati hn. Aswad ar mehreen dono ki bht zda emotional blackmail krti hain admit hojti hn hospital main tb dono manty hn.
Pta nae dramay m itna bura kyn dikha rhy hn totally story kharab kr di hy. Hr story main love triangle dalna zorori to nae hta.
Novel main aswad ko sirf Mashal s pyar hta hy.
Well, after reading the other comments on this review, I feel a bit different about this episode. Initially, I could not connect to Mashal saying that Aswad gave him all the hopes and then he is backing off. Although, I agree that Aswad does come out as a weak personality not owning up to his decisions or not doing enough to make a decision but I never felt that he gave Mashal any hopes. All the while, I felt it was Mashal trying to woo him by putting down Mehreen and that it was her mother who always gave her the false hopes. However, Aswad only recently mentioned that he did not think about Mashal in any other way but has started doing so now.
After reading the other comments, it would have made more sense if he was shown as ‘in love’ with Mashal and then trying his best to turn things his way. But may be the director decided to tweak things a little bit in favour of Mehreen and Saleha; or we can say make life more difficult for Mehreen (considering she doesn’t have a happy married life to look forward to). May be the director wanted to show Saleha as a positive influencer and not as someone who will blackmail her son emotionally (though she did exactly just that but in a subtle manner).
It could have been the idea of strengthening Mehreen and Mashal’s character but in doing so, the director has weakened Aswad’s character even more. May be these are just his ‘issues’ that Mehreen will deal with in this drama. He even eavesdrops on others’ conversations LOL!
I did not understand his stance after hearing his mom and khala’s conversation. I am unsure what he felt about it. Does he hold Mehreen responsible for everything that everyone is going through. He yelled at Mehreen for going back on her decision too. He said stop interfering in other people’s lives, whereas Mehreen is the one who is at the receiving end, in this case.
I think the only thing lacking in this drama is a strong male personality. The females are running the show for sure. However, Usman, Mahira and Kubra have done phenomenally well in portraying their characters.
I enjoy this show in bits and pieces. I like Saleha and her sister’s bond. I love the toxic brawl between Mehreen and Mashal. Usman Mukhtar does well as Aswad but Aswad as character itself is so weak and poor that you don’t enjoy it as much.
I like how the show started with family relatives/elders insecurities and negativity impact the children, this notion is still there but its seems more of a love triangle story these days. I wish that could’ve have been avoided.
The pace of the show is slow, that’s mostly because of the simplistic storyline. However, the next week episode seems to be a roller-coaster.
Thanks for the review, Zahra.
Regards
LKH
Hi Zahra, for me the episode, Aswad’s & Saleha’s character are justified. Take Aswad for example, sure he talks with Mashal on distant but never made any promises, even his feeling did not start until he came to Pakistan and meet Mashal 2-3 times. Till then it was normal or modern day cousin talk. However, one thing is sure, the feeling he had for Mehreen was gone blunt over the years and now when he sees Mehreen, he gets annoys and definitely it goes more bad when Mehreen accepted the proposal. Also, he was having more stronger bond with his mother, they are like friends to each other, discussing everything & talk to anyone in front of each other. And sure he does not want to hurt his mother, so his feeling towards mother is more stronger than the new & still confused love feeling towards Mashal. Hence, he decided to accept Mashal. Abs he still thinks Mashal as good girl & Mehreen as bad.
Regarding Saleha, she knows the start up bond between Aswad & Mashal, but she does not want that to be forever because she knows the difference between Meereen & Mashal. She knows that Aswad will realise one day Mehreen is good & Mashal was bad and her mother’s choice was correct.
Regarding Mashal’s parent’s attitude, so they are really over reacting. In now a days society also, which parents thinks that their kid will bring the proposal by own. Ok, they know the two talks, but they can approach to Saleha with proposal but not with attacking way or threats.
Anyways, I like the episode very much. Mother-son bond was shown as a friend who knows each other well from long time since the man in the family was expired. I like Saleha’s clarity & basis of her choice of selection. With this clarity, Mehreen’s confusion has gone that Mashal indeed. Bad choice for Aswad and she knows Mashal will come after her even if she marries Safwan.
Hey Zahra how you doing?? Thanks for taking time and doing this awesome review.
I was extremely depressed watching last night episode Asswad mom’s acting and expression is the killer she love Mahira so much it really shows I was crying out loud when mahira was telling to her aunt mein apni dost say pata karon…!!!!!! She’s getting hate from every one except aswad mom so many time I feel like shaking her so she can cry out loud I hope one day she will tell Aswad how every one was with her..another seen when they were sitting on the roof was quite sad did you notice last night episode there was less back ground music thank god.
Two thing why I feel like aswad wearing fake hair… and kubra sometime when she raise her eyebrows I fell like show copy Saba qamar May be I am wrong.
Thanks for listening to me haha stay blessed!!
Hi Zahra,
Just a few thoughts, don’t mean to disagree with you …
I don’t know if Aswad’s character is weak … I thought he was just confused … When they showed the childhood scenes it seemed that he was more close to Mehreen, but now since Mashal is the one keeping constant contact with him, she has kind of turned him against Mehreen and inclined towards herself … It’s like a battle between his instincts and what he is seeing/hearing. Also, not marrying Mashal was not as much flaking on her, I viewed it as him choosing his mother and her wishes over Mashal (or his own interests)
Also, “Mashal is not a saint” is a huge understatement … She is a vicious, entitled and nasty psycho … All the horrible things she did to her cousin, and it shows her taking pleasure in hurting her … Ruining clothes is one thing, but to get rid of her inhalers is really psychotic … So absolutely no sympathy for her 😒 bit you are right … The character has been played so well by Kubra that I’ve genuinely started to dislike her …even if Mehreen did not like Aswad (which she does) if she was marrying him just to get back at that psycho, I’d be cheering her on 😉
Just my thoughts …💜