La Hasil, writing of Umera Ahmed which was dramatized by the production of Momina Duraid & direction of Angeline Malick. I remember it was one of those few dramas I watched when HUM TV had just started & this one remained with me for years. I loved watching it from beginning till the end because of the message this drama carried, backed by some brilliant performances.

The cast includes:

Noman Ijaaz as Mazhar Adaab
Angeline Malick as Katherine/Khadeeja Noor
Fahad Mustafa as Zain Adaab
Faiza Hassan as Maryam
Seemi Pasha as Nuzhat
Khalid Ahmed as Shuja
Yasir Akhtar as Firoz

La Hasil:

It’s a story of redemption of someone & regrets of someone else. It’s a story of bringing out yourself from filth & then walking on the path of self-rectification & self-righteousness. It’s a story that tells when someone finds the light by the Grace of Almighty then nothing else matters anymore. It’s a story of Katherine who becomes Khadeeja Noor. Story of an escort who in the later years of life elevates herself to the level of piety & puts the rest of those self-proclaimed pious people to shame.

Katherine who grows up to see her British mother being deceived & ditched by a Pakistani father always had detested Pakistani men until she meets Mazhar who instantly falls in love with her. Because Kathrine never had seen a father figure in her life who would be protective of her, who’d set the limits of right & wrong for her, she chooses the easiest way of earning money but always feels she needs to come out of it. In the form of Mazhar she gets that leading figure, someone worth leaving all that for & she decides to set herself free from everything she was involved in. Mazhar promises to spend the rest of his life supporting Kathrine but even though she wants to tell him about the past, Mazhar always insists her past doesn’t matter because he knows that to which social background she belongs, having meaningless affairs is a norm. Mazhar accepts her wholeheartedly but even though he lets her know in the very initial stages of their married life that he is conservative & would appreciate if Khadeeja would accept everything he tells him, Khadeeja surprises Mazhar when she molds herself according to Mazhar’s liking & proves herself to be a sincere & devoted wife.

While Khadeeja learns & explores more about Islam, she finds it necessary that nothing must remain a secret between her & her husband but because the Mufti tells her not to disclose her past as Allah forgave everything she used to do the moment she embraced Islam, then there’s no point in letting the past haunt her present, she chooses to remain silent because she doesn’t want to hurt Mazhar. Khadeeja’s life shatters when an acquaintance from her past & Mazhar’s best friend pays a visit to their home. That night Mazhar finds out everything about who Khadeeja was as Kathrine & because he chooses to overlook her present over her past, he divorces her straight away & leaves her alone taking their 3 year old baby boy Zain along with him.

Khadeeja even stumbles upon her best friend Samantha who tells her she needs to let go of the values Mazhar taught her because he’s gone but just because the Khadeeja finds herself attracted to the path of righteousness, she decides that nothing will make her go back to what she was. Khadeeja gets married to a man twice her age in Pakistan in the only hope that she’d ever be able to meet Zain.

Shuja her current husband finds out everything about Khadeeja because she chooses to tell him everything & waits for his decision of leaving her but Shuja surprises her when he tells he can see her present & it doesn’t matter what she was before. Khadeeja & Shuja then adopt a baby girl Maryam & raise her as their own child. Maryam never finds out that she Khadeeja & Shuja rescued her from a garbage bin near their home & always degrades Khadeeja for spending a life way too simply despite belonging to the UK. She dreams high & big & the moment Zain approaches her for marriage, she agrees. Khadeeja because of Zain’s surname finds out who he actually is & agrees to their marriage.

Zain happens to find out that Khadeeja is his mother but after finding out everything about her, he not only forgives but accepts her & tells her that he loves her because of who she is now & not who she was before. Khadeeja’s lifelong misery ends when she spends the last days of her life with Zain.

Brilliance of La Hasil:

La Hasil has been one of my favourite stories written by Umera Ahmed because of the obvious reasons. She touched a very complex topic in this writing of hers but opened a window of new thinking. The experience of La Hasil gives us an insight about how weak people can get when it comes down to judging others. Mazhar who had promised Khadeeja a lifelong togetherness & support leaves her just like that because he can’t see himself coming to terms with the fact that Khadeeja was an escort. Even though Khadeeja never gave him a reason to doubt her after their marriage but Mazhar, a weak chauvinist felt he was being wronged & was deceived.

One thing that is marvelous about La Hasil & makes it a unique story is the fact they have shown brilliantly; that a human being can never forgive but it is only Allah, Who not only Overlooks but Forgives, not only Accepts but grants Respect too. Khadeeja who chose to come to the path of Islam was abandoned but the way her life was shaped up because she remained on the right path went to show the power of faith.

I feel Angeline Malick directed & enacted the character of Khadeeja brilliantly. Drama does have a slow start but the moment it picks up the pace, everything falls perfectly into its place. Through the character of Maryam they told what actually the value of a human being is. A girl who thought she has conquered the whole world actually didn’t know that her life started off in a garbage bin & the woman she doubted & detested was the one who may not have given birth to her but gave her a shelter, an identity & a meaning to her life.

Fahad Mustafa was beyond amazing in his character of Zain because he questioned Mazhar for his values rightly so. I feel this has to be one of the best performances of Fahad Mustafa till date because he breathed life into this character. Faiza Hassan left no stone unturned in making us hate the character of Maryam by the end of the drama. I must give a special mention to the soundtrack of La Hasil which was written by Khawar Kiyani, sung by Hadiqa Kiyani & composed by Imran Ali. It has a feel to it & the whole experience of this drama would’ve been incomplete without this soundtrack.

I think this has to be the very first drama that I cried while watching because of the suffering of Khadeeja Noor, someone who could’ve easily gone back to where she came from, could’ve left the rope of Allah but just because she tasted Imaan, she knew that she wanted nothing more from her life but just the acceptance of her repentance from her Creator; Allah. La Hasil emphasized on the fact that one can never judge a person & one should never try to judge a person either because it is Only Allah who can fill the hearts with His Love & The Faith. I could’t resist feeling overwhelmed because there were some really heart-touching moments like when Khadeeja goes back to her home to get her belongings after she gets divorced, the first time Khadeeja meets Zain in Pakistan, the time Zain finds out Khadeeja was his mother & the ending when Khadeeja’s on a death bed & Mazhar seeks her forgiveness. Those were some brilliant but emotion-stirring moments which make you understand that Khadeeja’s life met a perfect ending & just because she elevated herself & retrieved her soul from the filth, she wasn’t left alone. I have a very high regard of this story & feel that the dramatization did justice to it.

Share your thoughts on La Hasil.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay I must admit, as the episodes are being revealed I am getting hooked to this show. They have certainly given us a lot more than we expected in terms of acting, story & dialogues. To be honest at first it came across as a story with a spectrum of family politics but now when the story has moved forward, they have taken it to another level & that isn’t disappointing at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the conversations in this episode & because of it I feel we’re being able to connect to & feel for the characters a lot more. When the episode began & Daood screamed on top of his lungs, I was like that’s being repetitive but the way Gaitiara molded him & talked him into getting married was brilliant & then it showed Daood’s outbursts had to be continued so that Gaitiara could take a final step. She has been playing with Daood at lot more than he himself knows & the way she backed her argument with a little bit of emotional blackmailing but some meaningful hidden secrets, it showed how much she wants to control things. Daood for now may not be able to see what his mother herself has planned for him & he may be angry at her but by the end of the day he’s the only son who knows he has a certain responsibility & liability towards his mother therefore he couldn’t continue to be angry.

Momenah hasn’t moved on but has just gotten engaged to divert her attention from the break-up but Gaitiara used it against her to tell Daood how heart-less she actually is. Daood himself saw Momenah act all comfy with her fiance  therefore he easily believed in what his mother told him.

Gaitiara & Deeba’s conversation gave us an insight as to how guilty Gaitiara herself feels for what she had put Daood up with but still she doesn’t want to sacrifice her ego for the sake of her son’s happiness. She is not at all ready to surrender to Sherbano & hand her son over to her daughter. Giaitara tried to pull off an act in front of Daood that she’s ready to face the defeat but Daood gave in his consent of getting married to the girl Gaitiara has chosen for him.

Things really can’t go wrong more than that for Nayab where she now has a proposal at hand & her relation with Zaid is at stake because he is still a student with no such definite future. Almas does feel for her sister but she is thinking way too practically. Almas might have supported Nayab if she was staying in Pakistan but now all of sudden when she has to move to UAE with her husband, she can’t seem to find any other better solution to Nayab’s problem & now she’d force her into marrying Daood. Giaitiara has kept Daood’s indifference a secret because she wants to see Nayab as her daughter in law in any case.

Nayab does come up with an idea of at least getting legally married to Zaid so that she can live with him in his house & even though Zaid has agreed to it, I doubt Zaid’s mother will support him in this because she seemed disinterested in his & Nayab’s relation anyway.

I must say all the actors especially Saba Hameed, Ahsan Khan, Urwa Hocane & Sonia Hussain have performed brilliantly. The director has done a brilliant job in bringing out the best in these actors & seems like they are really living the chracters of Giaitara, Daood, Nayab & Momenah. They have been excellent so far & because of that I seem to feel a lot for them all. Can’t wait to see what happens ahead.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

So, with this episode the introductory week of Masterchef Pakistan comes to an end. Once again no other complaints but I felt that the episode started way too suddenly as if the editor was in a rush but other than that the auditions couldn’t get any better because we got to see some amazing cooking skills by some very genuine people. I enjoyed this episode a lot because of a certain contestants & I can’t wait to see more.

This episode showed a lot more contestants who came & won the apron to get through to the next round. Next time there will be a boot camp where top 50 will strive to earn a place in the top 16 & then the real competition will begin. I must say once again that I am totally impressed by the level of cookery we’re seeing on this show, that too people from normal backgrounds & all walks of life are coming up with something unique is striking a chord hard.

The contestants who won the apron in tonight’s episode were:

Almira a young lady from Bhawalpur who presented ‘Meaty Muffins w/ Garlic Mashed Potatoes’.
Anila Kamar a mother from Faisalabad who came up with her own technique of ‘BBQ Biryani’.
Maryam a housewife & a mum from Lahore & she made ‘Chicken Permesan’.
Khurram Haroon a businessman & a Rugby player from Lahore who presented Japanese dishes ‘Sushi & Calamari’.
Zaid Rasheed a fashion designer from Peshawar who presented ‘Jin Min Rolls w/ Self-cooked Sauce’.
Zainab Majeeb a fashion designer who learnt the cooking from her bro-in-law & she made ‘Pecan Crushed Chicken w/ Tomatoe & Spinach Pasta’.
Dr. Maryam Soomro of Karachi & she made ‘Japanese Cuisine’.
Gulnaz from Chitral who came with a support of her husband & she made the traditional ‘Ghulmandi & Randeru’.
Denis Fernandis of Karachi who left a job to participate in Masterchef, he made ‘Stove-cooked Chocolate Cupcakes & Chicken Breast w/ Cheese’.
Misbah Imran from Lahore & she came up with ‘Sajji’.
Faiza Siddique from Egypt & she made the Arabic dish ‘Chicken Dunni’.
Ali Shah a student & the most interesting contestant who came up with ‘Accidental Dish’ but later the judges named it as ‘Mun Mun Chicken’.

So, these were the contestants & I must say a few were really interesting. I liked Mrs. Gulnaz because of the determination she had & the funniest comment she came up with was that her area had no cable & because of that her family won’t be able to see that she came up for the auditions. The best thing to see was that her husband was supportive of her & was encouraging her to participate in this show. Ali Shah, he himself had no idea & no hope of getting selected came up with interesting conversation & engaged the judges as well. I had a good laugh seeing his excitement & he was like even the Australian Masterchefs won’t reckon that he got selected that too in Pakistan, lol. Other than Gulnaz & Ali Shah, I am also rooting for Khurram Haroon, Zaid Rasheed, Zainab Majeed, Dr. Maryam Soomro & Faiza Siddique. I hope all these people make it to the top 16 & shine in there.

I am totally loving this show because of the fact that they have kept it very simple & haven’t turned it into a melodrama where every single contestant is coming & shedding tears sharing their miseries to earn the apron. Yes, the narration can get a little filmy as pointed out by a reader earlier & the editing issues must subside so other than that, I am enjoying it a lot. Can’t wait for the next week because of the Boot Camp. The contestant there will be facing a lot of challenges set by the judges, so let’s see what do they come up with!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay so firstly I must say WOW! The very first seaon of the most awaited Masterchef Pakistan has begun & I am totally impressed. The very first episode was enough to let us know the scale at which this show is going to be conducted. I liked the simple approach where they didn’t try to dig deeper into the backgrounds of the contestants but in stead sticked to their cooking skills which they came to show in this competition. First episode down & can’t wait to see what’s more to come already. :)

The judges of the show are Chef Mehboob, Chef Khurram & Chef Zakir. I must say the judges kept their grace & were to the point. They were lenient & friendly with the contestants but were strict when it came to the judgement, just exactly how the judges should be like. At the beginning of the episode they announced that the title winner will be awarded with PKR 50 Lacs & a chance to publish their own cook book, which I must say is a huge pay off in any reality show ever seen.

Now coming onto the auditions, I liked the fact that they didn’t go all over Pakistan to show where & how they picked which contestant. The show has commenced at a point where top 100 have been selected & now the battle for the top 50 spots has begun. The judges didn’t give much of a critera of their judgement but by looking at the auditions they certainly selected those who came up with their own mind in the cooking. The judges are definitely looking for some creativity & mostly those contestants who attempted fusion cooking got through to the next round.

I must say to be honest I never expected to see such advanced & diverse cooking in Masterchef Pakistan, not underestimating our talent by any means but I didn’t know people all across Pakistan would marvel at different techniques of cooking that well. All those contestants who came forward for the auditions presented something unique & fascinating which proves that this competition is going to be a lot more interesting & there’s no chance left to miss this show.

A few contestants who got selected in tonight’s episode were:

Mudassir Ilyas the GM of Medical store from Karachi & he presented ‘Fish w/ Garlic Rice & Vegetable Sauce’
Madiha Khalid a housewife from Islamabad & she came up with ‘Grilled Salmon w/ Smoked Salad & Orange Sauce’
Kaneez Zehra a housewife from Karachi who made ‘Hindustani Platter’
Adnan Qureshi a student from Islamabad who did a fusion of ‘Rice Macaroni & Steaks’
Bushra Fatima who came up with ‘Chicken Biryani & Cake Rusk Sweet Dish’
Ainne a yoga instructor who made ‘Steam Roast & Chicken Kastoori’
Madiha a student from Islamabad & she came up with ‘Chicken Mushroom w/ Bashindo Sauce’
Saad Mustafa a CEO who presented ‘Mutton Chops w/ Brown Gravy, Mesh & Fig Chutney’
Ammarah Numan a housewife from Karachi & she made ‘Mexican Enchiladas w/ Salsa Sauce’
Ammar Afridi a student & a fan of Gordon Ramsay who made ‘Indo Chinese Chicken Chilli Dry’
Ambreen Tariq a Government employee & she made ‘Chatni Fish w/ Spicy Veggies’
Some others who got the aprons were Sobia, Sidra Tariq, Raheel Fatima & Ali Baloch.

So this was the list of the contestants who got the white aprons in these auditions & they qualified for the next round. One thing that’s worth mentioning is that these contestants went through live cooking challenge where they got a time limit of 1 hour in which they had to present the food to the judges & to cook such amazing dishes in an ultimatum with such a pressure on your head is amazing.

I am glad that they kept the spirit of the show light-hearted & the contestants kept their calm as well. They did show their excitement which was obviously justified but none of them actually went on a sympathy spree in front of the judges. This was the only thing that I was dreading in Masterchef but I must say I am glad our weekends are now going to be filled with something worthy & we’d have something to look forward to & discuss every week.

One thing that did bug me a little was the choppy editing because some contestants weren’t introduced properly & some didn’t tell which city they belonged to. I think it would’ve been better that along with the dish ticker, they had shown the ticker having the details of the contestants so as to remember them easily but never-mind.

Of all the contestants in this episode I found Madiha Khalid, Ammarah Numan, Madiha, Ammar Afridi & Ambreen Tariq really interesting & I am definitely rooting for them all. Really happy with the curtain raiser of Masterchef Pakistan & can’t wait to see the rest of the season, bring it on!!! :)

Share your views about the very first episode.

Keep supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

This latest episode was much better than the ones we have seen in the past few weeks. It was actually good to see that Zeeshan did not have a sudden change of heart. His attitude towards Romaissa did not change at all after the injury. The fact that his family has no time for him will serve as a reality check for Zeeshan. They obviously don’t care enough to take time out of their busy schedules to give Zeeshan company, that is another duty that has been allocated to Romaissa. I was surprised to see them concerned even initially!

The nervousness and uneasiness which Romaissa feels when she is around Zeeshan was portrayed brilliantly by Sanam Jung. Some of the scenes however were a repetition of what we have already seen in the last few episodes. The scene in which Bushra tells Romaissa that Maham takes after her father was one of the best scenes in tonight’s episode. Zeeshan treats Romaissa like a punching bag which he uses without thinking twice to let out his frustration.

The child star playing Maham is adorable but the person responsible for her styling could have done a much better job. Most of the times it looks like the poor kid is wearing a hair piece. This episode could have been far better if Romaissa’s mazloomiyat wasn’t forced upon the viewers over and over again. I could relate to her feelings more when she couldn’t go to see Zeeshan although she is technically his wife and also when Zeeshan mistreated her. But the scenes in which she was tagged as manhoos by Zeeshan’s mother and of course Bushra seemed forced.

Walid has finally decided to run the business and it seems like he is doing really well too. Maybe that is the reason why Zeeshan is not needed any more and because of that his father does not give him the attention like he used to before.

The preview of the next episode looked promising; Zeeshan will finally start looking at Romaissa as a living entity! I hope it is love and not sympathy which draws him closer to Romaissa. The play really should pick up pace now so that we at least have some happy memories of the last few episodes. I must say that Adeel Hussein and Sanam Jung look good together and I really want Romaissa to have a happy ending. Like many other viewers, I also want to see Nabeel’s family paying for everything that they have done till now.

For once, I am really looking forward to the next episode. I hope I am not disappointed.

Fatima Awan

Hamza! Don’t you get the message? Alvira does not want expensive gifts she wants your time!!! Alvira and Hamza’s marital problems have old and boring written all over them. Hamza is too busy and Alvira feels ignored. The script of the play lacks depth and novelty. It is a story that has been done-to-death and the treatment is run-of-the-mill too. Alvira and Hamza don’t have any compatibility issues but the only “issue” is that Hamza has to give his career more time because his professional life has just started, which in my opinion is understandable. He also feels obligated to provide Alvira with a certain lifestyle because of her background. Alvira is well educated, she could also work, that would have kept her busy and both of them could save money. I hate to see an educated girl sitting at home waiting for her husband to come back home when she could be doing something more useful with her life!! I hate to say this but Alvira’s problems came across as self created for most part of the episode. I am sure her mother in law could do the household chores or she could have hired a maid out of the money she earned!

There were no fireworks when Alvira met her mother after a long time; I expected a little more excitement and emotions. The restaurant they went to looked like a college canteen and the same place was used to shoot Alvira and Hamza’s anniversary dinner scene. The director did not put in enough effort to shoot these scenes in appropriate locations. Sometimes I feel like the producers did not invest much in the play or the director has his hands full with too many projects which he has to look after. Like I said in my last review, the feel of the drama is monotonous and dull because of the usual locations we see every week. Alvira and her mother never talked about ways to reconcile things so that Alvira could be in touch with her parents again but it was good to see Alvira’s mother trying to convince her father to “forgive” her later on. I must say though that Alvira’s mother’s concern for her seemed fake primarily because of the over acting.

The roothna/manana looked really cute in the promos but watching Hamza make tea and breakfast all the time makes it look like a “Here Is Your Ideal Husband” commercial! All through this episode I was waiting for Hamza’s mother to make an appearance in these 6 months that passed in the first half of this episode but she was nowhere to be seen! Alvira was expecting 6 months back too but she didn’t look any different on the anniversary.

Honestly speaking I felt for Hamza more than Alvira in tonight’s episode and I must say that this is the only aspect of the play which I like. For a change I can actually relate to the difficulties the male protagonist is going through in a marriage. I wonder if this was intentional or maybe I am the only one who is looking at the story in this way. I hate to say this but Alvira’s complains are really childish – understandable yet childish! “I am pregnant, don’t mess with me” says it all! I expected Alvira to call her mother when she did not get through to Hamza but somehow she didn’t. How can a girl not think of her mother in such a time? Doesn’t Alvira have any friends? What is life without family! A girl should never expect her husband to make up for the absence of her parents, that is definitely one thing all girls should know! There were times when Sarwat Gillani actually disappointed me with her acting in this latest episode.

Overall this latest episode was fast paced as usual but there were barely any scenes that clicked with me. I was hoping that Fahad Mustafa and Sarwat Gillani’s chemistry will win me over but the script and the direction is so average that nothing seems to be standing out at the moment.

Fatima Awan

Ohkay, this episode didn’t give much in regards to the story but yes, gave us a lot of reasons to loathe Jazib Jee.

Zara & Nano’s conversation gave us an insight that Zara has been struggling with the responsibilites ever since Sophia was in pre-school. So what was Jazib doing all these years? For a moment I felt that at least Zara might cross Jazib’s mind but seems like he’s pretty much settled with his new wife & doesn’t really care how his kids are dealing with the change. As per him, they are just kids when Dua complains but on the other hand he expects them to act & understand everything maturely which I feel is completely selfish of him.

Very easily Jazib told Dua that she needs to have a firm hand on the kids as they are becoming ill-mannered, so I am guessing, apart from the office hours, he has so much time to spend with the kids, so why doesn’t he teach them what they need to learn because he’s their, uh what’s the word FATHER I guess!!! How very conveniently Jazib labeled his kids as batameez, but when it came down to him, he tossed his share of responsibility on Dua as well that now she needs to look after every single thing, starting from their morning alarms to their upbringing to their garam garam parathas. 

While looking at Dua & listening to the conversations she had with Jazib, I kept on wondering Masterchef Pakistan is starting just at the right time, because now she’d be getting so many ideas as to what she must cook for her Jazib Jee every single day, isn’t it interesting? I know she is having a hard time with the kids & they are giving her a tough time as well but are we ever going to hear her talk about anything other than the kids or the food?

Khala Masooma had a short say in this episode & now looks like she went back to her husband so as to understand how step-moms & second wives roll. That’s how she is learning the art of dealing with the second wife & she gives on the pointers to her daughter Dua because she’s in the same spot & she thinks by relating her experience to Dua’s position she can teach her how to make the kids love her. I am glad Sophia’s doing everything possible to make Dua lose her calm.

I don’t know but I felt there were too many shots of Jazib & Dua resting in their room. I don’t know but I feel that much coziness was unsightly. We know the drill, they both have gotten married & Jazib is now sleeping peacefully after eating a good meal he was waiting for his whole life, but to actually show those shots over & over again was unnecessary. I guess they can only show Dua in the frame but now they even had some conversations on the bed which made me upset, I mean things can be shown out of the bed & out of the room so why so much emphasis on shaneel ki maroon blanket & ruffled up hair?

As always, I felt for Zara a lot more. She was upset & she was thinking about Jazib too. It’s like in this separation, the only person at loss was Zara because Jazib is still in the same home, with his kids & totally happy with his new-found chef/wife/babysitter/kinoo peeler & what not. But the only person who’s suffering the most is Zara. I don’t know if there’s a stop to her miseries but seeing her spend time with her kids was definitely a highlight of the episode topped up with the perfect dialogue that she said to Dua which was ‘ja k khana banao’. Dua’s response was quick & seems like she has started to unwind pretty qucikly too. Let’s see what happens next.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.