Ohkay so, this episode of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay was tragic & heart-breaking. I must say the director deserves full credit for weaving the scenarios in such a manner that actually would’ve kept people guessing what really happened – if the novel readers hadn’t given away the spoiler alerts. Although it was already known that Mashal was not going survive, but how it actually happened was the detail that I actually could see being kept a secret by the director. Those who have not read the novel or have come across any spoiler alerts must be feeling intrigued trying to figure out whether Mashal chose to end her life or it was Mehreen who took it away from her.
The Tragedy
This entire episode beautifully showed how each & every one of them contributed to the tragic ending met by Mashal. Shagufta has also played her part, but it is unfortunate that she will never come to a realization of how undue comparisons put so much burden on Mashal. Having said that, I still felt a lot when I saw Shagufta breaking down because no matter how many mistakes a parent makes, no one ever wants to see their child succumbing to pressures in such an irreversible manner.
I am glad they actually showed both Saleha & Aswad feeling guilty too, because no matter what Saleha says or how she tries to reason, she too played her part in what happened. Aswad felt miserable & he definitely should because he of the way he played with her feelings & expected her to put up with the heartbreak & humiliation. The last conversation Aswad had with Mashal is always going to weigh heavy on his heart because he won’t be able to forget the harsh words he exchanged with her just when she was at the brink of losing her life. In this episode, they also gave a clarity about the day when Aswad heard the things Mashal & Shagufta said about Saleha & Aswad’s relationship. It does put things into perspective as to what was the deciding factor that made Aswad change his mind. After that incident, he knew exactly why Saleha was not in the favor of his & Mashal’s marriage, but it still doesn’t absolve him of how unfairly he treated her. Mashal definitely deserved to know the truth & not left in the limbo!
I liked how Mehreen & Nani’s relationship was shown in this episode. Although Nani was never fond of Mehreen, it never stopped Mehreen from being considerate towards her. Yes, Mehreen did resort to a harsh tone at times but she still cared for Nani. The only person who was made to face the brunt of it all sadly happens to be the victim herself. Mehreen has not had an easy life with all these people adding more to her problems, the bitterness that she has is also a result of the treatment she has received but yes, to blame her for murdering Mashal once again shows how everyone in the family holds such a low opinion of Mehreen. Everyone in this family has never once thought of being easy on Mehreen, forgiving her for the things she was made to bear the brunt of. Now with this tragedy, she is once again held accountable as if she is the only one responsible for all the problems in their lives.
Brilliant Performances
This episode of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay was given a slow treatment, but I definitely find it justified because it showed how grave this incident was & how it was now going to affect their lives. I also very much appreciate the pace of the drama & I am glad they are moving things forward quickly. Zainab Qayyum was the star of this episode because despite having limited scenes, she showed how heart wrenching it was for a mother to deal with the loss of her only child. Khalid Malik is a great addition to the drama & I thoroughly enjoyed his performance as a police officer as well. It was as if this character was made only for him & he delivered. Mahira Khan’s acting in the prison cell was simply brilliant. Usman Mukhtar also showcased Aswad’s guilt, his sorrow & grief convincingly. I loved the flashback of Shabo, Mehreen & Mehreen’s childhood. They have lived their entire life together & as miserable as their present was, it’s not going to change that they were once young girls with smiles on their faces & dreams in their eyes. I am not sure how many times we’ll get to see Kubra Khan in the remaining episodes since her character is officially out of the story, but her performance has been power-packed too. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
Seriously !!! The direction of this episode is very bad ..
continuity failed ! Sorry I can’t connected
Yes, there were definitely a lot of continuity issues especially with Huma Nawab’s makeup but other than that, I do think the build up was really nice.
This episode was quite shocking, It took some time to figure out what actually happened? I was actually expecting that poor dog to die but Mashal died instead. Mashal apni aag mein hi jal gyi! Baaqiaap kay review nay meray achi direction waalay kheyaal ki tasdeeq kardi!
I do not think that they have shown what happened. What actually happened to the dog and whether Mashal took her life or it was just an accident?
AK, that’s the best part that they have leave this on our imagination and concise!
Thank you so much Javed, apni thoughts share karne ke liye aur review parhne ke liye. Yes, it is yet to be figured out whether the food offered to the dog was poisoned or not. I think next episode mai aggar is pe clarity milegi to kafi acha hoga. Aggar novel se hat ke hai to phir ye janna interesting hoga ke ye suicide thi bhi ya nahi.
Poor show by the police man khalid malik. Extremely annoying performance. Literally stopped watching episode becuase of his irritating performance
He has changed the total feel of the show. I don’t know how the writer came up with this idea of “Suna”. Very irritating.
Oh, I really hope you continue to watch it & not leave the drama because of one supporting character/actor.
Very interesting episode and you narrated it perfectly, Zahra. I too liked the directors execution of sequences related to the death/murder. It’s new style and perfectly worked. Still they have not shown the body conditions of Mashal when everyone rushed to her room. They will never show probably, that too good. But overall direction was mind blowing to capture everyone’s expression. I too felt that seeing their behaviour post incident, Aswad might be feeling that her mother took right decision for not tieing his knot with Mashal, but he still feel the guilt & that is a oblivious. But, like his mother, he should think the motive of Mehreen for killing Mashal. She had Aswad, then why this killing. And can someone think how she has given such pills to Mashal’s because everyone knows how bad both of their relations were, so taking medicine from one is highly impossible. Anyways, that’s the story, so let’s reveal it by its own.
I am fan of Khalid Mohammed, he is very fine actor and as you said, this role was like written for him only. Finally, your observation, about the three girls in childhood together as smiling, was great. They once were really happy, but their elders sow the seeds of jealousy, rivalry between them & shabbo taking advantage of the stronger side whichever side it shifs.
Thank you so much Aamer for your insightful comment. Yes, seeing Mashal Shabo & Mehreen as young girls was heartbreaking. They never would’ve imagined how their lives will turn out to be this way. I am so glad they didn’t show Mashal in that condition. This is one thing I really like about Farooq Rind’s approach that at times he leaves a certain details to viewers’ imagination.
This is exactly what I thought too, Aswad should analyze how would’ve Mehreen given an overdose of sleeping pills to Mashal. This is usually something people resort to when they make that decision themselves. Aswad will never come out of guilt now & Mehreen will once again suffer for something she probably isn’t responsible for!
I really liked the treatment given to that murder/death sequence. Definitely something and actually refreshing. Hated the Police officer’s acting or maybe the character. If it was suppose to be a nuisance, it was exactly that. Made it hard to get through his scenes but oh well, Mahira was in those scenes so couldn’t do much about it. Aswad is weak and pathetic, whatsoever. Why can’t he for once be clear in whatever he wants or knows. Anyways great review. <3
Iam still wondering what happened to the poor Dog and whats running in Shabbo’s min
Yes, it will be interesting to figure that out too.
I’ve loved this drama till now but this episode was cringey on so many levels. First and I will shout this from the rooftops. What was the intent in having the police officer in Khalid Malik act that like that?? It was one of the worst acting scenes I’ve seen in recent times with repeatedly saying Suna and Suniya. Yuck! I almost had to stop watching because it took away from the entire direction of the play. It was silly and juvenile and poorly done. It made the scenes comedic and as if they wanted us to laugh?
I love your reviews but I’m surprised you didn’t mention any of the plot holes with regards to the police officer saying that she died through overdosing on sleeping pills. The post Morten wasn’t even done so how in the world did they come to this understanding.
Also, Assad has to be one of the least likeable characters ever. As a hero, he is such a toxic male with no redeeming qualities. This doesn’t really allow the viewer to even want him to get with Mehreen to be honest.
Finally this episode was also Mahirah Khan’s weakest performance as when she screamed in the jail her intonation was exactly like Khirads in Humsafar with the infamous Mami yeh Kya Kahree Hain line. Her voice broke and her eyebrows were moving too much in this episode.
Again, I have loved this drama from the onset but this episode was such a letdown. I hope it gets better here on out and please please do not have the police officer ever come back and appear on the screen again!
Thank you so much Nadia for sharing your insights, I enjoyed reading all the things you felt about the episode & the actors/characters. It is always interesting reading a different take on an episode & I am so glad you discussed what you felt.
I think they clarified that Mehreen was in the jail for almost a week now when the police officer accused Mehreen of giving Mashal an overdosage of sleeping pills. This is what made me think that may be the report was now out & because the officer knew, he was trying to coax so that Mehreen might confess.
I did notice Mahira’s voice & as much as I wish she didn’t sound like that, I too felt maybe due to so many retakes her vocal chords gave up on her. I think a lot of expressions are very much a Mehreen thing, it just shows how many thoughts are always running through her mind that too when she chooses not to say anything. :) I thoroughly enjoyes reading your comment. Hope we continue to discuss this drama every week with each other. :)
I have been out of Pakistan long. So just wonder is it the way police conduct the cases there. Very unprofessional. No search of victim’s surrounding or interviewing the people in the house but blindly arresting Mehreen just because the parents claimed she killed her. Also most sleeping pills death is suicide that is what novel said and made more sense.
Yes, for novel readers it is a very basic detail but I think for the sake of dramatization, they stretched it a bit to show the aftermath of Mashal’s death.
I do not know why our drama writers are always showing Police personals in such comedic ways. Is this really the way a sensible person will act.
Mahira’s acting was excellent,but police officer character is so non serious,can a police officer is like that kiddish,yuck!
I really liked the execution of this episode…it did remind me of Ishq Zahe Naseeb where the director had woven suspense around Zahid’s mother and Yumna’s character. The preview shown in the last episode did suggest that Mashal will die (someone had given out a spoiler in comments and I happened to read it before it was deleted), I was expecting that it will be shown clearly but I was surprised in the way the whole scenario was executed….and though I knew it was Mashal, my mind still kept suggesting things like…did Nani have the poisoned food by mistake or was it someone else…. Brilliant job with the execution!
I can’t stop saying that Aswad is such a coward! He easily holds Mehreen and his mom responsible for what has happened but not even once he admitted having a rude conversation with Mashal, moments before she died.
I was thinking was it Shabbo who gave the poisoned food to Mashal by mistake or did she end up having it herself, thinking that Shabbo has already thrown the poisoned food. The suspense will be maintained till the end, I guess. But to confuse the viewers or even Shabbo, they have shown in the preview that Mehreen was making something for Mashal. May be it is Shabbo who has given the cue to everyone that it was Mehreen, the way she was looking at Mehreen when she saw her entering Mashal’s room. Well, it remains to be seen.
A humble request to all those who have read the novel, please do not give away the story or events relating to it and spoil the fun. Let’s all enjoy watching it.
PS – Very well written review Zahra! Looking forward to more!