If you want to watch a full-on commercial & emotion-packed drama but you have a short time on your hands; Aaina is the right choice for you. It’s a remake of an old Pakistani classic film produced by A&B entertainment under the banner of Tarang Housefull Telefilms. Re-written by Talha Iqbal Mufti & directed by Surmed Sultan Khoosat. The cast included:

Faysal Qureshi as Sameer
Saba Qamar as Aalia
Firdous Jamal as Javed & Aalia’s father
Seema Askari as Shehnaz & Aalia’s mother
Yusra Rizvi as Meera & Aalia’s best friend
Seemi Pasha as Mehnaz & Aalia’s khala

The Story:

The drama began at obviously a very bold note but the immediate introduction of Sameer & Aalia’s characters & their chemistry kept me going & was an instant click. Samir a writer who’s self-made & believed in living a life as simple as possible happens to stumble upon Aalia who after a party, in the farm house passes out in the middle of nowhere. Sameer being a gentleman brings her to his place where when she wakes up, faces a bit of a criticism from Sameer for her irresponsible behaviour & unreasonable choices. Aalia feels a connection to him at that very moment because she finds him honest, straight forward & attractive. Aalia belonging to a very sound background never really had to struggle for anything in her life. She belongs to a very close-knit family & being the only child gets all the pampering every single time.

Aalia who believes in not wasting much time approaches Sameer & confesses her feelings but he understands that they are not only poles apart in personalities & priorities but have a considerable class difference as well which will never allow Aalia’s parents to agree to their marriage, but still just because he himself can’t resist her charm, he promises to love & protect her all his life. Aalia also promises to stand by him no matter what’ll happen so just for her sake Sameer agrees to meet her father & expects the obvious. Mr. Javed obviously sees Sameer as a ‘social-climber’ & mistakes him as someone who’s posing to be in love with his daughter just for the sake of her social status.

Aalia decides to get married to Sameer without her parents’ consent but never for once regrets her decision as Sameer gives her all the attention & expects the same from her too. Their relation hits a rock bottom when Aalia’s family reconciles their differences & forgives her, making Sameer uncomfortable & conscious because of the constant underestimation he’s put up with due to their behaviour. Aalia & Sameer get involved in an argument. Things result in Aalia parting ways with Sameer but later finds out that she is expecting their first child. To make the most of the fragility of Aalia’s emotional state, Javed creates a misunderstanding & tries everything to part them completely but just because Sameer & Aalia are meant to be together, after facing misery for years & years, they meet their happy ending & to find out how, you’d have to watch yourself. :)

The Brilliance of Aaina:

It goes without saying that the best part of this whole telefilm was the direction & then the acting. Surmed Sultan Khoosat was obviously at his comfort niche & just because of that we got to see a beautifully directed drama. He tackled the script in a way which never made it seem stagnant or boring. I must comment that Faysal Qureshi & Saba Qamar were perfect as Sameer & Aalia because their chemistry was just ah-mazing. They gave us a lot of beautiful moments & it seemed like they were meant to be. Both of them gave a best shot at being Sameer & Aalia & made me fall in love with their characters. I thoroughly enjoyed their scenes together because their emotions were portrayed beautifully & the credit goes to Saba & Faysal for enacting their characters with such ease.

I enjoyed this telefilm for the fact that looking at the time constraint, everything was well-established & nothing was too rushed. The director gave it a perfect pace at which the story unfolds. Apart from the pace, the characters were handled brilliantly as well where the audience get enough reasons to understand each & everything about them. Aalia, who might be misunderstood as an immature rich girl knew she had nothing but sincerity to offer & the way she took care of everything related to Sameer, so that he doesn’t feel any sort of pressure, made her character a lot more likable. Sameer who proved to be a very good husband still expects a lot from Aalia where it takes a toll on their relation. I liked the simplicity of the dialogues because the simple the things are, the more impact they make.

I enjoyed how the feel of this telefilm was filmy yet very realistic. Those couple songs were a best way to revive the old classics of the cinema & they also contributed a lot in making this experience a wholesome package. I totally enjoyed the transition that Sameer & Aalia’s relation goes through from being complete strangers to a couple in love & later being a newly wedded couple who is just so full of each other that nothing else matters to them because it was shown in such a classy way. For the first time I can say I enjoyed the on-screen romance because it didn’t seem forced & was portrayed very subtly which made it look very warm & complimenting.

A big thumbs up from my side. Share what you felt about this telefilm if you’ve watched it & if you want a recommendation; well here’s mine! :)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay, I am speechless. As much as I enjoyed the episode, the elimination came as a shock to me. Not that I was rooting for Azam but while listening to the judges feedback, I was kind of happy that they were giving out their judgment as clearly about those who were safe but there was a dish that came across as the least favourite due to the flaws but still the contestant who served that dish was safe & someone who stuffed up only a single component of the dish was eliminated.

This episode was mystery box challenge & black apron round all rolled into one. The judges picked the components of the mystery box & had a strategy at their hands to test the contestants. At first the contestants had to pick only 6 of the ingredients from the box & later they were told to exchange the components selected by them with the other contestants. Everyone was baffled but the dishes that surfaced were brilliant.

Amna made ‘English Tea Lemon Cake w/ Raspberry Jam & Creme’. Chef Mehboob liked the combination of the flavours but as Amna pointed out herself, he also felt that the jam was a bit too sour for his liking. Other than that he felt that the sponge of the cake wasn’t too moist because when combined with the sauce, it was getting soggy. Chef Khurram loved the presentation as well as the flavours too. Chef Zakir liked the vanilla sauce & felt when mixed with jam; it gave away another unique flavour that complimented the cake.

Rayyan came up with ‘Ricotta & Berry Tart w/ Chery Coulis’. Before tasting the judges commented on the perfect presentation & also felt bad seeing him in the elimination rounds again & again as they themselves know that he is a strong contender from this lot. Chef Mehboob felt that Rayyan understood the challenge & gave his best shot so for that his food tasted amazing. Chef Mehboob couldn’t stop praising him. Chef Khurram liked the presentation & also said that the dish was flavoursome. The sauce went well with the pastry & pastry was cooked beautifully. Chef Zakir (obviously) felt that the pastry was dry & it needed more sauce to make it moist.

Zain presented ‘Salmon Roulade’. Chef Mehboob felt that the most important factor while making roulade is the calculation of timing because if not cooked long enough, the core remains raw but fortunately for Zain, this wasn’t the case & his dish was great. Chef Khurram loved the overall dish & also commented that the tomato sauce was going perfectly with the roulade. Chef Zakir felt that the fish was a bit more salty.

Iqra made ‘Quiche Lorraine & Baby Spinach Salad’. Chef Khurram liked the flavours & felt that everything worked apart from the crust because it was too doughy but he loved the salad & said it had a perfect freshness & the flavour. Chef Mehboob also commented that the base had more crunch than required. Chef Zakir liked the filling because of the balanced flavours.

Azam came up with ‘Snow Cheese Cake’. Chef Mehboob liked the sponge but felt that the icing had no such flavour as Azam didn’t play much with the ricotta cheese as it has no flavour of its own so the taste has to be induced in it. Chef Khurram felt that the icing had more ratio of lemon zest which made it bitter. Chef Zakir also felt that Azam should’ve played more with ricotta cheese to bring in some sweetness to his dish.

Saad created ‘Pan Fried Salmon w/ Spinach Sauce’. Chef Mehboob thought that the pasta was too thin & for its volume it was over cooked. Chef Khurram didn’t like the sauce & said that it was too rich & buttery. He found the fish bland & also felt that the sauce & the fish didn’t go together. Chef Zakir also felt that the fish lacked seasoning as well.

It was now time for the results & obviously Amna & Rayyan got the well-deserved critique where the judges praised them for their efforts, for the flavours & for the presentation. It was good to see that Rayyan redeemed himself & I hope that he keeps up the good work. After them, Iqra & Zain got the feedback where they got appreciated but also got some criticism on the lacking components of their dish but still they were safe. It now came down to Azam & Saad & going by the judges remarks it was pretty evident that Saad was about to get eliminated but when they announced Azam was the one who was being eliminated, I wasn’t too sure why?

While listening to the detailed & elaborate comments from the judges I was kind of happy that they were giving enough reasoning about the dishes that helped the contestants in getting through to the next round & as honest as they were about Saad’s dish, I was sure that he would be eliminated because Azam only stuffed up the icing & Chef Mehboob while tasting did comment that the cake was good. & when it came to Saad’s dish, the pasta was over-cooked, fish was bland, the sauces didn’t compliment the fish & the dish on the whole lacked seasoning & yes, the presentation wasn’t great too, so I guess the judges gave enough reasons to clearly show that nothing on that plate worked & also it was mentioned on the tasting table that this dish could put Saad in danger which by the way wasn’t said about Azam’s dish so for this I feel Saad was given an unfair advantage & Azam became a scapegoat just to keep Saad in the competition because to send someone home on the basis of a stuffed up icing doesn’t really make sense. I wasn’t rooting for Azam & have always preferred Saad over the other contestants but I feel what’s unfair is unfair & Saad should’ve been eliminated.

Thankfully there wasn’t much drama in this round & whatever happened between Iqra & Azam wasn’t taken to another level by both of them because whatever Iqra said was more on a humorous side but I still don’t think telling someone that you suck that too to someone who is older to you is a reasonable joke. Share what you felt about the episode & the unfair decision of the judges?

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

OOOO EMMM GEEE!!! What a purrrrfeccctttttt episode it was. I actually got emotional while watching it & this is what the beauty of this drama is. I absolutely loved this episode as it was beautiful in just so many aspects. I can’t thank the team of Marasim enough for giving us such a beautiful drama.

 “Aisay kyun muskurati ho jaisay ronay ka ghumaan ho?”, Daood finally understood that he had a responsibility towards Nayab but before anything, Nayab made sure she conveyed to him what she was feeling like she hated being treated as a commodity, that she was not a lifeless soul hovering in his home. Very simply she conveyed her burden that she had feelings too & she was not ready to compensate the void Daood’s life had due to Momenah’s absence. It was interesting to see that Nayab got hold of the complexity of her situation & depended on Daood when she fell weak. Daood definitely took some time but when he understood how a wife should be treated, he made sure she felt like a princess.

I am glad they have portrayed the obvious beautifully like when a husband loves his wife & makes it obvious, the mother & the unmarried sister start feeling insecure & label the wife as tactful but they tend to ignore the fact that it depends on the man himself as to how he maintains a balance between all his relations. Daood’s reassurance to Nayab about the comfort she deserved was a lesson that so many men out there need to learn because very subtly they touched the subject about how wives are mistreated & often confused as life-long maids. Daood made sure that he clarified Nayab’s position & her authority in his life in front of everyone especially his mother so that she doesn’t feel burdened enjoying all the luxuries that she; being Daood Rafique’s wife is entitled to.

Nayab seems to have shut the doors of her heart because she still hasn’t gotten over the fact how her love was the reason for Zaid’s death & just because she feels obliged to him, she can’t seem to place someone else in her heart with the fear of wronging Zaid’s feelings but every single time she doesn’t forget to remind herself about how much of a gentleman her husband Daood is. Nayab still may be dwelled in a delusion that Daood ain’t happy with her but she definitely needs to understand that this relationship needs more expression, more words to make it stronger.

I loved how they have portrayed the pact between Daood & Nayab about being husband & wife, so that both of them don’t expect too much each other. Daood has been comfortably honest about not being able to love Nayab as he had loved Momenah with all his might but he also didn’t bother much about Nayab’s past as for him, none of it seemed to matter much.

Deeba obviously got jealous seeing how the low-life Nayab was now enjoying the bounties of life that too on account of her brother who couldn’t even stand the sight of her. Her comparison was nothing but a result of her idlness but little did she know that she may have to face the same feelings in the near future when she will eventually get married to Abdullah, who has returned for good & is actually single once again. Can’t wait to see more of this drama & I am surprised that they still have a lot of twists & turns in store for us. Share your thoughts about this episode.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Hmmmmmmmm! Did they finally manage to make you guys feel a thing or two for the characters? Nope, it didn’t happen for me this time either. It was a pretty slow episode with some repetitive conversations & nothing much really happened in this one. I hope it doesn’t turn into a yawn-provoker too early.

Zawaar finally got married to Haya & once again he rubbed Bee Jaan & his superficial love for her on Haya’s face too. I think he shouldn’t expect his ladies to take care of his mother on his behalf because he himself has failed miserably in keeping up with her expectations. It seems pretty convenient that he can keep on reminding others about his poor mother but when it comes to him, he doesn’t really bother much. He’s one lucky bloke because now he’s got Haya to take care of his mother & Sofie to take care of him, luck’s working wonders for him already.

Who actually Shireen & Safeer are to Bee Jaan & her family? If Safeer was Bee Jaan’s brother, Zawaar would’ve called him Safeer Mamu or if Shireen was Bee Jaan’s sister, she would’ve been referred to as Shireen Khala but still they are addressed as Safeer Bhai & Shireen Apa, so not really sure how, the lady who is so keen about this family’s happiness is related to them? At first I thought they were living in the same house but all of a sudden it was shown as if Safeer & Shireen have a place of their own where they invited the newlyweds & Bee Jaan for Zawaar’s farewell dinner?

I don’t know why but I feel all those emotions that they tried to show actually never really made an impact whatsoever. Zawaar’s excitement of returning, Haya’s despair of separating with her trophy husband & especially Sofie’s incessant confessions of her mills & boon inspired love for Zawaar, it all actually lacked finesse. I do feel it was pretty obvious that Sarwat Gillani had a hard time delivering those typical dialogues that were lifted from Khawateen Digest. All those mohabbat k dam bharna, lambay bhayanak khuwaab se be-daar hona, saans ka atakna, neend ke na anay se tarap jana…wo bhi kiss ke liye: Zawaar ke liye? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

I think the hype is definitely or in fact has definitely subsided because apart from the scenic views & locations of USA, the story has nothing to offer. While looking at Haya making tea for Zawaar & tending to his headache, I felt she could’ve gotten someone else, someone so better but just because our Zawaar happens to have a chicken’s spine; he ended up spoiling her life. She definitely deserved someone better but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

A pretty average episode with some unrealistic reactions. Share what you felt about this episode & how much did they disappoint you?

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

“Birth is nothing without virtue, and we have no claim to share in the glory of our ancestors unless we strive to resemble them”. Our identity not only defines who we are but where we’re from; our bloodline gives us a sense of belonging. If it weren’t for our lineage, what would set us apart from each other? We take pride in our history, our family names, our backgrounds- and why shouldn’t we? They entitle us to bragging rights- thanks to the various stories passed down from generation to generation with claims of superiority. Hum TVs latest Saturday night offering, Laa brings together Momina Duraid (producer), Sarmad Sehbai (writer) and Farooq Rind (director).

Laa ka matlab hai nahin; yeh nafi ki pehli manzil hai. Daniyal Malik (Meekal Zulfiqar), our charming and carefree hero, chaandi ka chammach laikey paida hua hai. Daniyal is the only son of the affluent Tareen (Qavi Khan) and his wife, living in Lahore and traveling to the USA after completing his MBA- wahan bachiyyan phasaata phiron ga. He spends most of his time with his friends- Shazy, Tutu and Jimmy placing pointless bets and doing a one-up on them. Enter Naina (Sadia Khan), the daughter of his father’s friend Razi (Naeem Tahir) and his wife Zainab (Seemi Raheel), who have come from Karachi to Lahore to finalize a suitable match for her. It is imperative that they find a kattar Syed zaada although Naina wants to escape from the hasb aur nasb.

Daniyal encounters a stranger, Naimat Khan (Rehan Sheikh) who was recently released from prison- the details of his crime are unknown but a quick flashback reveals he had a daughter, Ameena who he loved fondly but he was cautioned by a powerful zameedarni (Rabia Noureen) and soon afterwards, his precious Ameena died. Did Naimat serve a prison sentence as a result of seeking vengeance? Naimat hints that Daniyal may not be who he thinks he is- a Malik. Daniyal dismisses him as a nobody and walks away. Little does Daniyal know what’s in store for him in the not-so-distant future.

Naina is a strong-headed girl who falls weak to Daniyal’s charm and declares her desire to marry him. Naina thinks she’s had an epiphany ever since Daniyal took her to the Saaeen Baba and got a taweez for her. Her parents try to dissuade her while Daniyal smugly shares stories of his latest conquest with his friends. Naina was afterall, nothing more than a shart for Daniyal. While Naina’s mother turns frantic, her father decides to talk to Tareen and Daniyal overhears their conversation which speaks about his adoption. Daniyal loses his identity in that split second and his world changes. He clearly tells Naina that he was never serious about her and turns her down.

Laa is off to a promising start and has the same feel as Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahin– the last interesting drama I watched on HUM TV. The background score is brilliantly composed by Sahir Ali Bagga and the title track has a sufi theme. Laa delves into the concept of spirituality and brings forward the discriminatory practices of society that distinguish one zaat from another. Meekal Zulfiqar has made a brilliant comeback and looks conspicuously handsome- this role seems tailor-made for him. Sadia Khan is pretty but she has a long way to go; for the moment her acting is sub par. As for the remaining actors, they haven’t made their presence felt or maybe I’m too busy focusing on the male lead to notice anyone else. What do you have to say about Laa?

P.S. Laa was booked by Fatima but due to unforeseen circumstances, she couldn’t review the first two episodes. I am covering for her until she returns thus the delay. She will be reviewing it regularly once she’s back.

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Ohkay so, over all it was a very enjoyable episode to watch. I liked the challenge & I think these team challenge episodes are becoming my favorite because you get to see the high energy of all the contestants & the judges as well.

This time the off-site challenge was set in a school where the contestants had to serve 50 students. The captains were picked randomly but then it came down to the captains to pick their team members. Azam was the Red captain & he chose Saad, Rayyan, Amna, Iqra & Zain as his team members. Maryam being the Blue captain chose Khurram, Ammarah, Sidrah, Gulnaz & Madiha as her team.

This time around the judges left it on the contestants to decide the menu themselves but did give them a bit of a briefing as to how the food should be healthy & how they should make it attractive to appeal to the kids. Maryam left it out on her team members to give out the suggestions & by the end she will make a decision of which dish to work on. Madiha suggested Pizza Sandwich & the blue team decided to go for it. Even tough Madiha’s idea was great & I liked it for being different, I feel the rest of the menu of both the teams was pretty basic. There are a lot of things that can be served to the kids so I kind of missed out on the variety because none of it spelled ‘MasterChef’ food to me though in terms of idea & then selection.

The challenge began & both the teams had only 2 hours to prepare & plate up their dishes to serve the kids. It was interesting to see the whole set-up that was done in the school to indulge the kids into some activities & it shaped up more like a party for the students but I must say I was really happy to see the confidence of all the kids that the judges spoke to because they knew their food & gave out the details pretty well. No doubt when it came to critique, the kids were too keen & didn’t miss out the details. I loved how the students explained what they liked & what they preferred.

It was good to see the preps as well but like always the preps were no doubt shown in detail but a bit too haphazardly. Like they showed everything in general & most of the times the captains were explaining who was assigned with what duty but the actual contestants weren’t speaking much for themselves. Maryam came out as a great captain where she took things in her hands & helped her contestants whereas Azam was a bit too firm & supervised his team & their errands mostly without cooking much for his team. I feel this time around all the teams worked really well together without any hiccups as they listened to their captains.

Khurram brings in a great energy, Rayyan works like a machine (Masha Allah), Madiha is always brilliant in her ideas, Iqra obviously has an upper-hand when it comes to desserts, Ammarah is focused, Saad is definitely good at marketing, Amna knows what she’s doing & for this, these contestants are definitely standing out the most. I am glad all the contestants got to convey their feelings & they were covered properly.

Red team came up with ‘Mini Beef Burgers w/ French Fries & Chicken Pops’ along with ‘Chocolate Cup Cakes’. Chef Khurram liked the chicken pops saying they were succulent & tender. He also liked the muffins saying they were rich in flavor. Chef Mehboob felt that this team paid attention to the briefing & actually understood what was required & just because they kept their target eaters in mind, they had an edge at winning the competition.

Blue team presented ‘Pizza Sandwich w/ Chicken Crispies & French Fries’ along with ‘Chocolate Trifle’. Chef Khurram found the taste quite flat but he liked the dessert. Chef Zakir felt that in comparison to red team’s cupcakes, blue’s chocolate trifle was better because it had a balance of flavors & sweetness.

It came down to the voting & I loved how the students got to vote for their favorite team. They had to pick either red or blue balloon to cast their vote & clearly the blue team won, sending the red team off to the elimination round. The judges themselves voted for the red team but unfortunately their votes didn’t matter much because blue team won with a huge margin.

I enjoyed watching the judges communicating with the students this time but when the episode began; I couldn’t help forwarding some of their screen-time because their spoon-feeding & repetition was a bit too long. It’s like when they were dealing with the contestants, they took them as kindergarten kids where they had to make sure each & every command was conveyed to them thrice so that they can understand. ‘Aik aik kar k aprons nikalain’, ‘khana banatay waqt dehan rakhna hai’, ‘bachay zalim hote hain’, ‘kaisay banana hai dehan rakhain’, ‘appki planning matter karegi’, ‘aj app bachon k liye bana rahay hain’, ‘soch samajh k banana’ & then how can we forget the ~*Ultimate MasterChef Question*~ ‘aj kya bana rahay hain app’. I think the intro of every episode should be cut down & the judges should wrap up their briefing as quickly as possible but other than that I liked their spirit & their attitude a lot, looks like they themselves have started to enjoy this MasterChef experience & therefore we can see them getting candid enough. Once again I’d say that it would be better to see the contestants talking through while cooking a bit more. This episode certainly had some & I hope they do more of it in the upcoming episodes.

It’s coming across pretty evidently that the contestants are showing zero tolerance towards each other. Rayyan’s general comment on the cupcakes was made to keep the atmosphere lighthearted & the spirits high regarding the competition but Sidrah didn’t take it too well & later Maryam & Saad’s spat was covered once again, where Gulnaz, out of nowhere, actually passed a derogatory comment regarding the whole scenario. I am not too sure but even in the last episode when Gulnaz was on a tear-spree, Amna did comment in order to clarify her position but Saad didn’t utter a single word on the camera, similarly, this time around too he didn’t say much so I think he is keeping things from being sensationalized but the ladies (being themselves) are finding it hard to keep it to themselves. Whatever happens shouldn’t be shared in the first place & if the contestants do speak about it, the editing team should edit it to keep the competition fair & healthy. I hope this unhealthy politics & those taunts are kept out of the way because I have never ever seen it happening in any other MasterChef show. People do get involved in politics & it’s a human nature but to actually give words to some harsh feelings isn’t appeasing to see & they should be shown as one team with no such politics working in their own orbits to win the title.

Share what you felt about this episode & how much did you enjoy it?

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.