Four episodes have elapsed and we have another time change? ARYs lack of faith is disturbing. But then again, this drama has been going downhill for quite some time. I think the biggest dilemma is a lack of focus, a mediocre storyline and poor vision. Trying to throw in suspense elements hasn’t really helped much since we all pretty much know where things are headed.

Dania has succeeded in luring Nabeel into a marriage- there were a few hiccups along the way but the inevitable wedding took place. Nabeel gifted her a house for a wedding and ironically the house cost him his life’s worth of savings! Dania is over-the-moon initially being a homeowner and marrying the man of her new-found dreams but soon her bubble bursts when she is faced with the reality that Nabeel will only be a part-time husband and that too in secrecy. Maria is back and pulling the strings as she does best. She’s torn over the news that she can’t conceive and is suffocating Nabeel in the process.

The long dialogues between Dania’s parents serve no real purpose. There was a failed attempt at trying to get our pulse racing when Nabeel was trying to uncover the mystery behind who was keeping tabs on him and Dania. But just like that, he managed to quickly turn the tables in his favour and now the Private Investigator has sworn allegiance to Nabeel. Or so it seems for the mo. Maria’s bossy attitude continues and is no longer restricted to the home. She is now pushing herself into the workplace trying to keep track of every breath he takes. If only chocking your better half could guarantee faithfulness…

Dania is trying to throw tantrums of her own- Kyun Nabeel? Aaj ki raat rukh jao… Umm, okay, so didn’t she know what she was getting herself into? It surprises me that the characters suffer from short-term memory loss and forget their association with one another. Babar and Naeem have completely disappeared from the scene- Naeem tried to blackmail Dania but that backfired and he was tossed out of his job; Babar feigned an apology which fell flat. This is now simply the story of a man caught between two wives doing the juggling act as best as he can.

My issue really is with the number of episodes. All of this could’ve easily been wrapped up in 15 episodes. Had that happened, we may even have had moments of paying attention. But 22 episodes later, any efforts at redemption seem highly unlikely. Are my faithful four still on-board or have you stumbled off?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Laila has come to that stage in life where she has nothing to lose; this shows in her attitude towards life and towards her marriage as well. She gave Mansoor her best and does not wish to invest in her relationship with him any more. Gone are the days when Mansoor had both the women in his life doing exactly what he wanted them to. Although, it seems like Laila may just forgive Mansoor and give him a second chance, Kukoo has clearly move on. She has realized that Mansoor’s presence in her life was nothing more than “crap”. I must say though that I was actually disappointed to see Kukoo flirting with her client and she obviously has another “friend” to keep her occupied. Mansoor has been replaced by another man, I wish she had learned some other important lessons from her relationship with Mansoor like you don’t always need a man to make you happy! Having said that, I must admit that Kukoo’s characterization is not far from reality; women like Kukoo keep on looking for that one man who will fill the void in their lives which is there due to loneliness. Mrs. Khan is finding it very hard to relate to this new side of Kukoo. She obviously enjoyed sharing all her woes with her, Kukoo is too preoccupied now and too happy to be bothered with all that.

Who is Saadi? An old friend I suppose. Laila was pleasantly surprised to see him, she enjoys his company and he obviously has feelings for her. Laila confesses to him in a weak moment that she is tired of everything but she does not allow him to console her. Laila never had feelings for Mansoor but she always felt obligated to make her marriage work mostly because of her mother. Although, she keeps on saying that she is done with making people happy and wants to do something for herself now but the fact is that she still feels that she needs to make her mother happy. It is only human to want more from life and from relationships than financial stability therefore I find Laila’s state of mind very relatable. Her mother keeps on reminding her that she needs to give her house and her husband more time and Laila keeps on wishing that one day she can make her mother understand her situation.

While talking to Kukoo, Laila says that her daughter looks exactly like Mansoor but when Saadi sees her daughter for the first time they are both quite sure that she looks exactly like Laila! I found it really odd when Laila got up and left without carrying her daughter’s cot with her after that conversation.

Mansoor knows only too well that he cannot pressurize Laila into having his way this time around so he decides to apologize at the end of the episode. The preview of the next episode suggested that Laila decides to give her marriage another chance even though Kukoo tells her that Mansoor isn’t worth it at all. I found Mansoor’s conversation with Shah Zamir very interesting, it was one of the best scenes of tonight’s episode. It was like a reminder to Mansoor about how lightly he had taken his marriage and how he had refused to change anything about his life after Laila entered it. The mystery regarding Mansoor and Laila’s daughter’s name was finally solved in tonight’s episode; the child does not have a name after all!

I must say that after watching the last episode I had huge expectations from this one but I am not sure how I feel about the latest developments. I am waiting to find out of course how the story progresses in the next episode. Do share your thoughts about this latest installment.

Fatima Awan

I think it’s about time that the viewers are set free from this izteraab ASAP. They’ve pretty much done everything they could & have told us everything related to this dysfunctional family, so yes, we totally understand how things are going to roll, so it would be better if the camera rolled quickly & the drama ends because there’s no point in stretching the play.

It was good to see Jazib in this episode, just as a reminder that it’s his family who’s going through all this. I just didn’t really get how they made the surroundings of a potentially dead person so easy going like people especially Jazib doesn’t seem really bothered about Zara. Dua is just focusing more on serving juices to Zara & Zara’s main focus is on making Dua’s life hell till she lasts. Sorry to say but if we look at the bigger picture, it’s about time that we should be feeling sympathy for Zara’s character but sadly her scenes are nothing but a pain to watch.

Once again, I am kind of questioning the approach of the script because seems like Sofia was the lead actress & every actor around her was playing a supporting role because this kid has gotten a lot more coverage than required. They pretty much showed that Dua has won the kids over so there was no need to convince us with some more drama related to the questionable choices made by Sofia. Dua helped her & Sofia has become a fan. Not that it was necessary but if they showed how Dua helped Sofia, then they should’ve stopped right there. I just don’t get that a woman who is dying & is pretty much aware of it is not doing anything to subside her anger & agitation. Very conveniently Zara blames Dua for all the wrong things that have happened in her life & to her kids, so I think considering the few days Zara’s left with, she must reflect on the choices she made through out her life rather than just bursting out in anger every single time at Dua for the things she ain’t even responsible for.

It’s a high time that Zara should in literal sense start picking up the pieces & do what she can to spend some time with her family but all that we see her doing is spending some time with her friend & then watching some TV programs. She’s lethargic, we get it but from where does she get all the energy to shout at Dua? Zara already knew that Sofia got involved in something big so why didn’t she take hold of the situation straight away? Now when Dua seems to have tackled the issue perfectly, Zara still has found another reason to bring her down.

I feel the drama should end because it’s like they’re just beating around the bush without coming to a proper ending. Going by the preview, Dua still has some wits & time left to make Zara happy which she clearly can not, so in stead of trying to show that Dua made some efforts, they should wrap the story nicely by showing the efforts made by Zara to help Dua bond well with her kids as she’s going to live with them from now on rather than becoming a seemingly painful liability on them till her last breath. Share your views on the episode.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Kahan se shuru huai thai or kahan pohanch gayai.. This is what that comes in my mind whenever I think of this show now. I feel extremely sorry for all fans of Pyarai Afzal, including me, because this show started with a great note and look where we are standing now. First of all, having male protagonist and then Khalil Saheb’s powerful dialogues made this show most anticipated one. Episode after episode, we kept on falling in love with this show but after 20 episodes, this show started losing its charm.

I have no clue why are they doing this to the brilliantly written script; I mean this extension is totally uncalled for. We wowed to see Afzal happy  ,we got sad when Afzal cried but now, nothing comes in my mind that can help me to connect to the characters.

I agree with the fact that dialogues were the reason for which this show got famous and loved by all. But repetition of same dialogues and same situations adds nothing but gives you a feeling as if you are watching the same incident again and again.

Afzal rejected Yasmeen when Yasmeen confronted him and spoke her heart out. Afzal loved Farah throughout his life and now that he knows that he is not capable of getting married to her so there was no chance of him getting married to someone else too.

Afzal parents are still longing for him and he misses them equally. His sister, Arfa – who was once closest to him, cries for him day and night and prays for him. Rukayya knew that Afzal liked Farah and for that whenever Farah visits her, she feels as if her own son is sitting in front of her.

Lubna’s so called love is of no use till now because Farah has seriously become a “dheet haddi” ; I mean hadh ho gaye ab tou, she is ready to be engaged to that psychiatrist but has no guts to tell Afzal about her feelings for him. On the other side, Afzal bhi dhun ka pakka ho gaya hai, that slap of rejection somehow made him egoistic and now he wants to get engaged too – after knowing that Farah is getting engaged.

After rejecting her, Afzal asked Yasmeen ;  I mean seriously , was it that much easier for him ? He proposed her just like that and thankfully ,she rejected her because she knew that he loves Farah and both of them will never live a happy life because when it comes to Afzal, Farah’s love overpowers Yasmeen’s affection.

But wait.. Yasmeen kahan reh sakti thei peechay.. She called Afzal and told him that she is ready for engagement but with a condition that he has to marry him and will never leave her half-way. Afzal is now unable to stand Farah’s association with someone other than him and inreturn,he is putting his own life at stake ; Taking decision of getting married to someone whom you never loved isnot clever act indeed or woh bhi badlay ke aag mai..

Thats all what I extracted from past few episodes. Still, I can’t smell this show heading towards its ending. Are you ?

Do share your thoughts about your journey with Pyarai Afzal so far.

Rabia Basharat.

P.S. I was busy with personal stuff , you will get to read regular reviews from now on.

It was a very interesting episode that showcased some MasterChef quality food. I personally enjoyed watching the episode because everyone was pushed to attempt something new & even the elimination was justified.

The contestants had to cook pasta & they had to randomly pick second core ingredient that they had to gel in their dish to compliment the pasta of their choice. I must say I am amazed to see the performances of some of the contestants & even the presentations this time were great. Everyone came up with some brilliant ideas & I am glad that the contestants are showing their talent to the best of their ability.

Maryam got Pear as a second core ingredient so she created ‘Chocolate Pasta w/ Poached Pear & Pineapple Sauce’. Chef Khurram liked the presentation but felt that the pasta was too hard & wasn’t good at all. Chef Zakir pointed out that the pear was raw in the middle & was overcooked on the surface.

Rayyan got to work with Lobster so he came up with ‘Lobster Tortellini’. Chef Mehboob dreaded that the lobster tail tends to remain undercooked & the same thing happened with Rayyan’s dish but other than that the filling that he prepared & the pasta was perfect according to Chef Mehboob. Chef Khurram remarked his dish as excellent but felt that the portion wasn’t the right size. Chef Zakir also liked the pasta.

Khurram got Mango as a complimenting ingredient so he created ‘Stir Fried Mango & Vegetable Noodles’. Chef Mehboob loved the dish & commented him for giving out the best dish once again because it was perfect in flavor. Chef Khurram felt that he justified the rules because the balance of flavours was amazing with some sweetness to something zesty & spicy, the dish worked really well. Chef Zakir was amazed that Khurram made such pasta which was as good as a packeted one. He was totally impressed.

Gulnaz had to work with Blue Cheese so she came up with ‘Fettuccine Pasta w/ Chicken & Blue Cheese Sauce’. Chef Mehboob liked the pasta but felt that the whole dish needed a bit more creamier sauce. Chef Khurram found the presentation weak & the sauce too thick plus he also commented that the blue cheese wasn’t as evident in her dish as it should’ve been.

Amna got Broccoli so she came up with ‘Broccoli & Lobster Cannelloni w/ White Sauce’. Chef Mehboob didn’t like the presentation. He found the pasta overcooked because it was too thin & felt that the lobster was too dominant in the dish. Chef Khurram felt that the broccoli was flat & so was the sauce. He felt that the taste of lobster was overpowering. Chef Zakir was disappointed seeing such a dish by one of a top 10 contestant.

Zain selected Egg Plant so he created ‘Egg Plant Stuffed Cannelloni w/ Marinara Sauce’. Chef Mehboob commented that the presentation was best so far & also the pasta was cooked perfectly. Chef Khurram commended him for such a plating & felt that he did an amazing job.

Iqra got Pom-fret so she presented ‘Seafood Lasagne’. Chef Mehboob didn’t like the presentation & found the pasta too thin & overcooked. He felt that the pom-fret was lost because other seafood flavours overpowered the whole dish. Chef Khurram didn’t appreciate the way she plated up the dish & he was disappointed to see someone so good at pasta presenting such a weak dish where the sauce & the fish had no great flavours. Chef Zakir commented that too many things cannot bring out the best taste.

Madiha got Tofu so she came up with ‘Tofu Alfredo Roulade’. Chef Mehboob found the pasta as overcooked & felt that the sauce had no salt in it. He also suggested that Madiha should’ve cooked the tofu a little to bring out some texture in it. Chef Khurram felt that the main ingredient & the second ingredient both were flat. Chef Zakir renamed her dish as less salty pasta served with cherry tomatoes.

Ammarah got Minced Mutton to work with so she made ‘Tex Mex Mutton Pappardelle’. Chef Mehboob loved the presentation & the rest of the dish. He felt that the size of the pasta was perfect & so was the thickness. Chef Khurram liked the presentation as well & liked the flavours of the sauce & the pasta. Chef Zakir commented that the dish had perfect Mexican flavours & he ate such a perfect pasta after a long long time.

It was now time for the announcement of top 3 & bottom 3 dishes. Ammarah, Khurram & Zain were selected in the top 3 & Khurram well-deservingly won the challenge. Maryam, Madiha & Iqra fell in the bottom 3 & Iqra was eliminated.

I must say I was wowed by the presentation of Zain & Ammarah’s dishes. They looked picture perfect & as rightly pointed out by Chef Khurram, they looked appetizing. I am actually really glad that Khurram won this time because he deserved it based on his consistent performance. Chefs commented themselves that he has been in the top 3 for 3 times so it was his day. Ammarah is proving to be a very very strong contender as the variety of her food is amazing. Zain is redeeming himself as well. Saad’s dish was ignored so not sure if his performance was good or bad in this round. I was excited to see how Maryam’s dish would turn out because Chocolate Pasta sounded amazing but sadly she missed the mark but no doubt she presented the dish well & the idea was great too.

Madiha obviously presented a weak dish but I think she is spaced out. Even though she didn’t mention it too openly but it was pretty evident that the other contestants are giving her a hard time which I don’t really get why because I have never seen her comment negatively against anyone or regarding any situation, she is just as much of a contestant as others are so the contestants shouldn’t indulge themselves into petty politics & shouldn’t corner her. Iqra commented too casually that Madiha should pack her bags & leave whereas she herself was leaving, lol.

I feel that the judges took the right decision because Iqra wasn’t performing well at all & going by how she was labeled as a pasta master, the performance was quite disappointing. I feel that Iqra had some sort of an attitude problem or something because what Maryam did was just a genuine gesture but the way she reacted was OTT. Amna’s comment on the situation was once again uncalled for because if Maryam had walked away, she as well as others might’ve judged Maryam for being too inconsiderate (as they said about Saad’s gesture last week) but just because she showed some concern, it doesn’t mean it was in a bad sense & she was ghussofying in anything. Amna needs to relax & work on her dishes rather than commenting too casually on what others are doing because she is coming across as negative as well. Share what you felt about this episode & yes needless to say but still ‘no spoiler alerts please’. :)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

ps: To all those in Pakistan who’re fasting on Monday; Ramadan Kareem. :) 

Ohho, things have taken a worst turn possible for now. Don’t know why but I feel the characters have been flipped to fit the current situation which isn’t appeasing to see at all.

Just because Abdullah & Deeba got married, Daood now finds it hard to keep up with the responsibility/marriage he is associated with. Seeing Momenah around him has hit the nail in the coffin but Daood being himself is persistent that he can turn things in his favour because he has suffered a lot. I must say the character who was potentially becoming everyone’s favourite has now been ruined. The 180 degree flip of Daood’s character was the last thing anyone wanted to see because he is the same person who stood up for what was right & never once allowed anything wrong to happen to Nayab but seems like he got tired of compressing his feelings therefore he got irrational.

The way they’ve tried to show Momenah’s petty issues with Fahad isn’t convincing enough. It was obvious that she was unhappy emotionally but just because her husband refuses to speak to her in his office hours doesn’t mean she’s got the right to leave him & elope with her ex-fiancé. Lately, this non-issue is being addressed in the dramas a lot that the wives remain unhappy for the fact that their husbands are paying complete attention to their jobs. If only Momenah would’ve understood that her trip to Pakistan was sponsored by her workaholic husband, then she wouldn’t have even thought of giving Daood an edge at all because Fahad is working to keep his family afloat & give Momenah all the luxuries that she can think of, so, what’s wrong if he is focused on his career? One can’t have it all & Momenah should be honest that she is unhappy because Fahad is not Daood but she can’t say she’s unhappy because Fahad isn’t giving her the attention.

Even though Momenah resisted but then once again she failed in making Daood understand the intricacy of the situation. She saw that Daood was treating a marriage like a toddler’s game but Momenah on her own lost rationality & instead of speaking to him with finality; she gave him a ray of hope which could result in Nayab & Daood’s divorce. According to Momenah, she thought she would make a point by mentioning Daood’s kid but whatever she said was more like an advise instead of a warning, it was more like a challenge which she knew Daood would accomplish. It showed that to some extent she also wished that Daood would leave Nayab so that Momenah could settle down with him.

All of a sudden they’ve started to show that Nayab has feelings for Daood & she is trying to save her marriage but then once again, she never really made an effort before. If Daood never allowed her to win him over, she never herself tried in the first place too but just now she could sense Daood’s disinterest in her kid, she thought it would be better to give this marriage a little push but then she has been wrong in calculation & it’s too late now. Daood definitely is wrong as he never endeared Nayab but then it was a vice versa scenario all this while too.

At first I thought Gaitiara would understand Nayab & would stand by her but she took me by surprise by showing she was no less an evil herself because now when her evil daughter is settled & happy, she is allowing Daood to not only get married to Momenah but she was suggesting how it was possible. Gaitiara is obviously quite cunning because now when Deeba’s married, she can’t afford to lose Daood & just because she wants to control & hold onto her stooge (Daood) she has confessed of her insecurities, hah. One can’t expect compassion from Gaitiara but the transition of everyone else’s character is making things a bit indigestible. As always the acting & the direction was phenomenal & I am sure the drama isn’t just over yet & for that I am hopeful. Let’s see what happens.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza. 

You know what’s the best thing about watching a drama online? Yes, you can forward it as much as you want to. An episode that was meant to be technically 38 minutes long had nothing but 20 minutes of crying & useless close ups.

While watching this drama I was reminded of the character of Aunn from Aunn Zara, who was ankhon ka tara & ladla of the family to the point where the ladies of house were fixated to him just because he was the only son, only grandson, only nephew but then his character had so much to offer, so many shades to it that everything related to him fell into its place perfectly but then here we are watching how every single lady starting from Bee Jaan, to Shireen Apa, to Sofia, to Haya & to some extent Safeer bhai (a gentleman of course) are fixated to Zawaar…yes, Zawaar? What is his character by the way I mean what has he offered so far except a tired face & a bunch of lies? Why in the world is everyone so obsessed with him?

As usual Zawaar at first felt bad for leaving Haya behind but then he blamed her for not informing him so he was like ‘jaow mai nai bolta tum shay, mai katti hoon’. Finally, after a good night’s sleep his conscience woke up too & he was seen explaining things to Haya but just one dialogue gave me a reason to despise him more & that was ‘wapis jana hai to chali jao but soch lo Bee Jaan ka kya hoga’. Why in the world does he expect everyone else to pay the price on his behalf that too just because they’re in some way related to him? IF he was a man enough – IF; he would’ve handled things properly without getting into such a mess where no one else had to fend for his mistakes. Now just because Haya is supposed to take care of HIS Honey Bee, she can’t open her mouth.

Surprise Surprise, this actually came as a surprise to me that Sofia has a job too. Finally, she isn’t as unproductive as she seems but still she is someone who celebrates 1st meeting anniversary, 1st phone call anniversary, 1st letter anniversary, 1st smile anniversary, 1st fight aniversary etc etc etc etc 1st etc etc etc. Yes, she is actually quite very faarigh even after she has a job. Sofia claims to have fallen in love with him in the very first meeting but I couldn’t really get that because she also claimed to be very practical, so I am wondering how did she fall for such a guy who was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open? As far as I know yawning is contagious so wasn’t Sofia yawning by being in a company of such a sleepy fellow? While watching all their scenes together I was wondering which wife especially someone like Sofia who is in an awe of her Zoey speaks so painfully formally to her husband? & they say it’s LOVE, what a joke.

Not only Sofia is clingy but she is so thick headed that just when Zawaar announced the name of the uninvited guest Haya, she couldn’t connect the dots & figure it out that Haya was no one else but Zawaar’s cousin? She has been married to Zawaar for ages & she has always spoken to him about his family so how’s it possible that she never once saw a family picture of Zawaar, just to know how his family’s like? Very easily, tiredly & sleepily Zawaar spun one lie after the other in front of Sofia, why? Because like I said the guy has a chicken’s spine. He thinks, he actually thinks he can fool his wife who is so suffocating to be around? Will have to find out how the chicken’s cut into pieces by the two butchers I mean two wives. But yes, nothing, absolutely nothing about any of the characters is interesting.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.