Kitni Girhain Baqi Hain has been on air for the past 6 months or so and has brought up some very interesting topics. While some episodes were a bit on the mellow side, some were outright controversial and others sent a chill down my spine. Women play an integral role in society yet their lives aren’t always as straight-forward as they hope. KGBH highlights some of the fundamental issues women face and how they try to break the barriers that weigh them down. Although not necessarily the right choice, these women make choices that they deem appropriate given the circumstances. Some of the episodes that struck a chord with me are listed below:
Episode 7- Jee Le Zara
Starring Saba Hameed as a widow living by herself and Ehteshamuddin as the plumber and next door neighbour, this episode focused on the loneliness experienced by an older woman whose children had grown up and lived abroad. She finds herself spending time with a man who clearly is a huge contrast from her but I suppose opposites do attract and she finds herself falling in love with him and taking a stand to marry him! This irks her grown children who severe all ties with her and on the fateful day of her wedding, she finds out that the man backed out and has reconciled with his wife! Saba Hameed was phenomenal in the role and her expressions and pain was perfectly portrayed. It’s considered almost unthinkable for a widow to seek comfort in a man and consider marriage especially once she’s old. So it came as no surprise that her children, despite being modern and living abroad did not seem to understand their mother’s need for companionship and shunned her.
Episode 10- Ghairat Mand
Sara Khan played the role of a young, working, middle class girl with a good for nothing brother. Her brother spends his time idling around with his friends and is heavily influenced by their thinking. As his friends insult and exploit girls in the neighbourhood, he starts thinking his sister is similar to those girls and in his head builds her up to be involved with a man. His suspicions end up getting the better of him and seeing a man jump out of his house, assumes his sister was having an affair and ends up strangling her to death with his bare hands only to realize that their house had been robbed and the sister was innocent all along! How often do we come across stories about honour killing and that too based on nothing but mere suspicions and hearsay!
Episode 11- Jhalli
Yet another story that we hear about- Ali Khan lives with his mother Sameena Ahmed and his wife who has been unable to conceive- On his mother’s nudging, he ends up divorcing his wife and remarrying a much younger woman- Sonia Hussain. She appears to be a little too childish but his mother keeps insisting that she’s “jhalli”. On a friend’s request, he visits a doctor and finds out that he is impotent and he was at fault all along- before he’s had a chance to absorb this wave of information, his new wife announces that she’s pregnant and his jaw drops! Was he really impotent all along or was the report a mistake? Is his wife having an affair? The ending left much to the imagination as it was open ended yet it highlighted a very strong issue that exists in our society where women are the ones to blame if they are unfortunate enough not to conceive.
Episode 20- Gudday Gudiya Ka Biyaah
This was probably one of the most disturbing episodes- Sabreen Hisbani plays the role of a woman who is poverty stricken with a very ill husband. She has 2 young children- a daughter and an infant son. She works in the home of a wealthy family and her daughter plays with the daughter of the family. From time to time, Sabreen gets hand me downs but that still doesn’t stop her from wanting more and she often steals too. When the maalkin of the house passes away during child birth, Sabreen becomes the caretaker and finds the head of the house showering her with wealth- it seemed like Sabreen would end up marrying the man but instead, in a shocking twist, while planning a gudday gudiya ki shadi, she ends up marrying off her barely teen daughter to the man in exchange for treatment to save her husband! Child marriage is such a cruel reality that exists even today and I hope such programs raise awareness of the evils of child marriage and help eradicate them.
Episode 23- Haadi ki heroine
I really liked how the episode showcased the current addiction with TV and social media. Uroosa Siddiqui is obsessed with dramas and imagines herself to be a character in a drama- she crosses paths with a guy- Umair Naru who flirts with her since he made a bet with his friends that he can easily lure any girl. Uroosa starts thinking he’s in love with her and starts playing out her fantasies- skipping class and even running away from her home on the night of her mayyoun and ends of slashing her wrists thinking her hero will come rescue her- little does she know that he’s simply a player and already has his eyes set on another easy target! While TV as a medium offers value in terms of entertainment, it also manages to make zombies out of the weak!
Have you had the chance to watch KGBQ and what episodes did you like? Or dislike?
Kanwal Murtaza
