Ohkay so, don’t worry guys I’ve got my fix for the day i-e black coffee & thanks to that, I recovered from the shock & torture that I went through in the past hour even though the effect of it was wearing off but never mind. So, I officially declare Sanam as a new sit-com that is airing on HUM TV these days because I don’t know about you guys but this drama surely makes me laugh a lot!!!

Even though I have labeled this colony as Harib Mohalla/Harib Chowk, I will rename it as Talaqyafta Chowk because looks like all those who’re Talaqyafta frequent this place. Here’s the list of all those Talaqyaftas who are residing in or around this Mohalla:

I find it actually quite amusing that despite knowing Shehroz & his ping pong ball-like nature, Harib Prince(ss) chooses to trust him. I seriously have my doubts about how Harib made it to the top & ended up doing so well for himself because it just doesn’t sit well with me as to how could a masoom bechari jaan like Harib put up with the pressures of this ruthless & cut-throat world, just when he is unable to tame a psycho ex-wife, a tharki ex-girlfriend & a ping pong ball-esque friend who should be hit so hard with a racket that he never returns to this place!!!

I don’t really understand why this zanani called Shehroz is running things here? At one hand, he pledges his allegiance to Harib & promises to understand him, but on the other, he fully supports Aila & her pagalpan. It was once again a Sanam Logic that the writer applied where just because Shehroz wanted Aila to believe in Aan & Harib, he decided that he should arrange a meeting of Aila & Sara? It was absolutely ridiculous & disgusting to see two divorcees acting like 16 year olds who just got introduced to the feeling of LOUUUU & were in some lala-land imagining how purrrrrrrrfect their lives would be with Prince(ss) Harib!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! But I think we shouldn’t even bother about how many times the logic has been defied & has been murdered in this drama because writer was on a ‘maaa writin’ maaa rulezzzz’ spree!!!

Chalo jee, Amman jaan ko beti ki Nokri janay ka kuch ziyada hi dukh lag gaya that she ended up getting a heart attack & was hospitalized. I do understand her attachment & her feelings for her daughter so no comments on that, obviously she was worried & took everything a bit too seriously. That’s when things got juicy because Harib got to eavesdrop on Farhan & his mother & ended up finding out that Farhan is also Talaqyafta like Harib, wow such a new twist in the story right??? Even though for a split second I was excited that finally, Harib Prince(ss) found out about Farhan’s reality & now he will save the day but then again I was reminded that the rating-hungry director won’t end this drama before 40 episodes, so I can’t even afford the luxury of a ‘wishful thinking’.

It was absolutely traumatizing to see Aan entering the hospital to become Mannu again (queue dramatic music, dhan dhan dhaaaaannnnnn), why you do this Aan/Mannu/Maya, why you do theeeessss??? That’s the moment when I felt the effect of black coffee was wearing off but I told myself, you could do this Zahra, you’re strong enough to survive this apocalypse!!! We have been taking anti-Mann Mayal shots every single day to recover from the pain that it inflicted upon us & there you swooped in as a reminiscent of traumatizing Mannu. Maya Ali, your performance as Mannu wasn’t ‘classy or amazing’ so there is no need to rely on that again & again & again. Like Shehroz advised Aila in this episode, that’s the same advice I am going to give it to you ‘banda apni purani ghaltiyon se seekhta hai’, so Maya gurllll you need to learn some lessons from your past mistakes too!!!

Also, the germophobe in me gave me a very very hard time when I saw that Aan didn’t wash her hands after flushing her termination letter & it just didn’t stop there, because she put the same hand on her face (queue vomit voice here, uaaaakhhhh)!!!

Just when I once again saw Harib Prince(ss) go on ‘mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha’ spree, I was like pleaseeee not again. Like is there anything that Harib UNDERSTANDS? I guess in the pursuit of turning him into a bechara, the writer forgot to add a very small yet important organ in Harib’s body & that thing is called BRAIN. I just don’t understand why Harib is always so clueless, like how old are you? Are you a school going boy or a toddler when it comes to having some IQ & brains? I really think Harib Prince(ss) needs to snap out of this ‘haye Allah mai bechari, mujhe to kuch samajh nahi aa raha‘ mode, should man up & should take matters in his hands. It was amusing that before even doing anything, he gave up saying he couldn’t afford to give more tension to Shabnam? Oh bhai tumne kaunsa dhindhora peetna hai Shabnam ke aggay, peechay peechay se sara masla settle karo na? Stealthily mohabbat ho jati hai lekin stealthily koi aqal ka kaam nahi ho sakta?

The preview of the next episode gave me such a good laugh because jokes apart & honestly speaking, it made my mood so much better when I saw a Gugu named Farhaan holding onto Harib’s Girebaan, I was like alay lay lay lay layyyyy gugu ko gucchaa aa gayawwwww, awwwwww. Khud talaq de ke betha hai lekin Aan ke paas Harib bardasht nahi??? LOL! Anyways, honestly speaking, I am looking forward to the next episode because I want to see a cat fight between two weak men/boys/toddlers/infants aur phir Shehroz to hai hi teeli laganay wali aunty, so it’s going to be so much fun! Please share your thoughts about this episode of Sanam!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Shucks, there was no mention of food in this episode, may be that’s why I am feeling low & hungry!!!

ALSO:

You know usually when a drama is about to start, all those who watch it are always in a hurry to finish their chores so that they can sit back & enjoy the episode with few snacks…I wish my routine was the same before watching Sanam because before every single episode, I find myself running to grab a cup of black coffee, 1 to keep myself awake & 2 to nullify the headache that might begin while watching this drama. Anyways, with that being said, I won’t lie & will say that this episode was good in bits & pieces but there were as always, a lot such scenes & conversations which seemed unnecessary & a bit too stretched!

The first scene where Harib was at Sara’s place made me roll my eyes so bad, that I had my 1st sip of coffee. Looks like Harib knows that this Mohalla is named after him so like a true counselor of this mohalla, he was visiting Sara to check on her if she was doing alright, also, I had my 2nd sip of coffee when I heard Harib praising Sara saying ‘cooking karte hue achi lagti ho’, matlab meesna pan check kare koi, I don’t know if Harib is dumb or stupid (both are the same thing I know) to be complimenting Sara, knowing how she is still obsessing over him? Sorry, I had to take the 3rd sip of coffee to digest the fact that Harib was so masoom that he was ignoring Sara’s intentions. Also, can anyone tell me where did Extra-Small-Sized Daadi Amman go in this episode, since she was such an integral part of this drama where she was running the show in last so many episodes, so why was she absent? Use kar liya writer ne usay jitna use karna tha, abb zaroorat nahi hai uski? LOL! There goes the 4th sip!

Well, as if this Rishta of Aan & Farhan wasn’t anokha enough that the writer tried to make it more convincing by adding the Low BP angle to it, where it showed that Aan had to say yes to it because she was worried about her mother’s BP stooping a bit too low, well Aan, here’s a todka for you, jab bhi Amman ka BP low ho, to 1 glass Water mai 1 tsp Sugar aur 1 tsp Salt mix kar ke do, Insha Allah BP theek ho jayega aur BP ko theek karne ke liye appko MANGNI karne ki zaroorat nahi paregi. There I take my 5th sip, takay mera BP theek rahay. Anyways, Farhan’s mom plots with Sara that she needs to seal the deal ASAP because she feared losing Aan & her daulat, so there they swooped in with an artificial ring & Aan said yes despite not wanting to because she was worried about her mother’s BP. It was so evident that even Shabnam wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of spontaneous mangni but Shabnam, appko to pata hai na, aj kal mangniyan shaadiyan turwana hamare writers ka favorite mashghala hai, so fikar na karain, appki beti ki mangni bhi isi liye hui hai. 6th sip done!

So, I wonder if Harib went to talk to Sara about Farhan & his family, why didn’t he share his concerns with Aan immediately, like why did Harib wait for Aan to get engaged for him to confess his feelings to her? 7th sip. But, I will however say that as unconvincing as this entire mangni scene was, I actually & really liked the confession scene, where Harib was anxious, Aan was clueless & voila, there came a confession which changed everything. I liked the way the OST was used at that particular moment too, it added more charm to the situation but then again it was short-lived & we had to come back to face the reality that Harib & Aan’s millan isn’t going to happen until 10 talaqs, 20 halalas take place, so 8th sip!

So, all this while I was wondering where was Aila & then she came at the right moment to capture Aan & Harib’s confession. I wonder, which Mobile phone was she using that worked so amazingly from her balcony that too at night to click Aan & Harib’s pictures, but then after my 9th sip, I was reminded that I am watching Sanam, not Sense, so it’s alright!

Then came the scene where Aan had to be humiliated because of what Aila did. I liked that scene too because Harib seemed genuinely sorry & I actually felt for Aan because uska kasoor kya tha yaar? Sirf parathay hi to khilaye the us ne Harib ko, iska matlab ye to nahi ke kuch hai uske dil mai? But seriously, jokes apart, I actually felt for Aan & loved everything that she said about how her mother raised her & how hard she has worked, I love the bonding Shabnam & Aan share, it is the best thing about this drama in my opinion & with this, with the 10th sip, I finished my coffee to muster up the courage to gather my thoughts in this review for you guys!

The preview suggests that I will be needing 2 cups of coffee next week hopefully. Also, I know things will be very serious & I might not get a chance to make fun of everything but seeing the hospital scene was such a reminiscent of Diyar-e-Dil, Haseeb Hassan ko jaisay hi Diyar-e-Dil factor kam laga hoga, unhon ne hospital scene daal diya hoga & it is just me or the hospital was exactly the same one that was used for shooting Diyar-e-Dil’s hospital scenes too? Chalo we’ll find that out next week. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Snackam oh sorry, Sanam!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

ps: I love how the writer doesn’t forget to show the importance of food & some if not all the conversations do include the mention of food in Harib’s life, may be that’s what inspired me to talk about coffee too, at least itna to mera bhi haq hai khanay peenay pe!

OMG, this episode was so funny that I can’t even tell. Just like Harib implied in the precap that Aan couldn’t understand the silence between them, so I am implying the same thing that if you can’t understand the undertone of sarcasm in my review, then you’re not my friend, lol! Anyways, this episode was boring to say the least because it offered absolutely nothing!

I am not sure what made the writer & the director think that by adding Shabnam’s in laws in the story will provide comic relief in a drama? Sorry (not sorry) but every single time they show up with that hideous tun tun tun music in the background, I am reminded of those 5PM comedy dramas that usually no one watches because they have everything to offer except humor & comedy. Also, I must say, the level of stereotyping in this drama is ridiculous because the way the team of Sanam has implied that those who belong to interior Karachi & speak in a certain way are worthy to be laughed at is demeaning & insulting on so many levels. I think it’s about time that we should avoid this kind of so-called ‘humor’ in our dramas where Punjabis are made fun of their Punjabi language & now Karachites are being made fun of because of the way they speak in a certain manner! Not cool Team Sanam! Also, every single time they show up, they actually change the scenario so much that I feel I am watching some weird drama like Mohabbat Bhar Mai Jaye or Jhanjaal Pura, like I know every drama needs a set of supporting characters but these characters are not even fillers, they are just misfits who do not belong to this story at all!

Anyways, Harib took Aan on a ride, only to sit quietly with her, that scene was done nicely for a change because it showed how he wanted a friend to share his silence with him & Harib knew that Aan was the only one who could do that. This was probably the first & the last scene of the episode that made sense, had some touch of emotion to it & was done nicely, but as the rest of the episode progressed, it reminded me that I was watching Sanam, a drama which is running for the sake of defying basic logic & common sense!

A major part of the episode was dedicated to Shabnam’s in laws & I thank the director for it because I didn’t have to pay attention to what was happening in a drama, not that I need to pay attention to it anyways but still. Shama came to fix Taimur & Aan’s marriage only to find out that Shabnam won’t allow that to happen.

The moment Sara came in with her aunt & spooky zombie-esque cousin, I knew they were impostors & were only there because Sara must’ve told them how Aan & Shabnam were the easy targets as they are a little too simple minded. I must say, I had a good laugh at the way Sara & her aunt forced Shabnam to say yes, it looked like they were selling 3 piece Lawn ka Suit to Shabnam & were persuading her to finalize her purchase, like seriously, bas drama bananay ka mauqa mila hai to kuch bhi dikha do, kuch bhiiiii, beshak uski koi tuk ho ya nahi!

I must say I find Shehroz’s random humanity pangs a bit too funny. After throwing resignation letter at Harib’s face & following Aila like a puppy, Shehroz was now trying to make Aila realize what she did with Harib at his office was wrong? Ye acha hai, pehle teeli laga do phir agg bhujanay ke liye paani bhi khud hi daal do. I had a good laugh once again when Aila announced that she will be moving to Harib Chowk. Uf, so dramatic na!?!?!

So, Harib has finally fallen in love with Aan & looks like in the next episode he will declare his love for her. Lekin bhai zahir hai, jab tak 10 talaqain, 20 halalas aur 50 mangniyan nahi tootaingee, Aan aur Harib ka milan to hoga nahi, so bas dekhte jao. The precap promised some more senseless drama where now Aila will blackmail Harib by showing him some pictures of him & Aan together, to is mai aisa kya hai? I must say I had a good laugh seeing the level of AAG Harib was ready to jump in, hahahah, itni aag mai se to macchar bhi bach ke nikal jaye but oh well, for a second I forgot that I was watching Sanam, kyunki, naam hi kaafi hai!

Please share your thoughts about this episode of Sanam & yes, once again, I thank the casting director for bringing in Hina Bayat in the show, she is literally the backbone of this drama & she is the only one I enjoy watching in Sanam!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

LOL! Thank you so much Team Sanam for uplifting my mood at the very last moments of this episode because just when my blood was boiling, Shehroz & his ‘you-ditched-me-Harib’ face made me laugh out loud, we’ll get to that later but yes, as usual, this episode was cringe-worthy because once again we’re getting to see how the liars always have an upper-hand on the non-liars. I will thank Team Sanam once again for proving my point that Sanam is actually Mann Mayal 2 because the situations were not only forced but seemed a little too familiar & the pre-cap of the next episode sealed the deal!

Well the first half of the drama was dedicated to Fatima. We all get it, she is disturbed & still she is lucky to have Aan aunty around her. Aan took a responsibility of fixing the dent in Fatima’s head & she succeeded, woo hoo, we’re thrilled for them. Although, there were a couple of logics that left me scratching my head, like the principal telling Sara that if she had known that Sara was a ‘single parent’ she would’ve re-considered her decision of taking Fatima in her school. I never knew this became one of the criterion in hi-fi schools of Pakistan that they actually are bothered about how things are rolling between the parents of their potential students!?! Also, Sara telling it to Fatima ‘mera hi kasoor hai ke tumhe paida kiya’, hmmmmmmmmmmm, what a nice thing to say to your kid. I don’t understand one thing, Sara is least bothered about her daughter since she is more focused on rekindling an old affair, so why doesn’t she send Fatima back to Faisal, as Fatima is more attached to her father & also, for Sara she is a victim & not a mother, so why is she even bothered about Fatima as every single time we only see her complaining how Fatima has made her life tough for her. It is actually quite disturbing how for the sake of ratings, they just show anything even if it doesn’t make sense or even if it is inappropriate. Honestly speaking, showing ‘mothers’ in such a bad light is offensive that too for a guy like Harib, who is half-wit, bechara & boring but then they are trying to live by the proverb which says ‘love is blind & so are the lovers’.

Anyways, Fatima’s counselling sessions were a success & once we dealt with one psycho, the focus was shifted to another psycho (mind you, I do not believe that Aila is a psycho & I have never used that word for her, I am only going by what the drama-makers are trying to prove, so yeah) who said she is going to tear Harib’s life apart & her mother doesn’t say a word, in fact sympathizes with Aila & justifies her behavior citing her own failed marriage with Aila’s father as an excuse. Aila has made up her mind that she will destroy Harib’s life & just when she was looking for a reason to conduct her plan, Shehroz swooped in!!!

I swear, the writer has pushed Harib’s bechargi to the limit by showing that every single person around him will misunderstand him & will question his intentions without even speaking to him first. Sara is bent on getting back into Harib’s life & then comes Shehroz with his good-for-nothing big eyes that are blind to see the reality. At one point, Shehroz declared in front of Sara that he has been with Harib ever since he learnt how to wipe his nose with a tissue & the next moment we see how he is incapable of putting two & two together to realize that Harib wasn’t in touch with Sara after they broke up? Why did Shehroz choose to believe Sara & deemed fit to report it to Aila? Matlab is admi mai deemagh naam ki cheez hai bhi ya nahi? I guess nahi, because aggar deemagh naam ki cheez hoti to ye Sanam drama ka part na hota. Seriously, I find it annoying how the writer is making the liars win every single time, oh I get it, because according to her, these things made Mann Mayal ‘interesting’ (coughing sarcasm) so she thought of adding all those masalas in Sanam to make it work too but it is falling flat! Sara lied & made it look like Harib was still in touch with her & without even cross checking, Shehroz barfed everything in front of Aila. I actually lol’ed at the scene where Shehroz ‘ditched’ Harib for hiding the truth from him, as if Aila aur Sara nahi, Shehroz uski possessive psychotic girlfriend tha! Chalo, one thing is final, Harib has always had a thing for psychos, that’s why he ends up with one psycho after another like first Shehroz, then Sara, then Aila & now even Fatima, good job Harib!

The story & the characters of Sanam have stopped making sense. The pre-cap left me in shock because looks like Sara will now try to get Aan hitched so that she walks out of Harib’s life, how reminiscent of Mann Mayal where Jeena went to Mikaeel & talked him into taking Mannu back so that she can be with Sallahuddin, like seriously Mona Haseeb, is this what you came up with? Are ratings so important to you? Do you still think people will love seeing all those things again that they have seen in Mann Mayal & hated the drama for it? Anyways, I think Hareem Farooq’s dress designer was definitely not her best friend because he/she chose the worst dresses for her. Also, I lol’ed when in the pre-cap Aila talked about moving to Harib Mohalla, hahahaha, I won’t be surprised if Shehroz will wag his tail & follow Aila to Harib Mohalla too, since he is one Phappay Kutni who loves being a frenemy to Harib. Also, looks like Sara will pressurize Shabnam to accept the proposal she brought for Aan & Shabnam will succumb to those pressures, wah jee, ye bhi anokhi kahani dekhne ko milegi. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this hideous episode of Sanam!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay so, this drama taught me one amazing lesson, that after you have had a gazillion parathas, pizzas, cold drinks & ice creams, one thing you definitely shouldn’t miss is a cup of green tea *sipping from my cup of green tea*. Oh well, may Allah bless my dear sister who doesn’t watch this drama, but just because she happened to watch a promo of this drama, she innocently asked me if Aila was back in Harib’s life after a plastic surgery, then I had to tell her that no, Harib has a thing for mentally challenged & mentally scattered ladies & the new face that she was talking about was of Harib’s first love Sara & not his first wife Aila, haha!

I must say, I loveee the way they reinforce the importance of FOOD in our lives week after week after week. I love how all the ladies keep on hovering around Harib like food-fairies, be it Shabnam, Aan & now Sara, how sweet. I am sure it won’t take too long before Fatima will start sharing her cupcakes & ice creams with Harib too, but you know what, I don’t blame these ladies, zahir hai bhai itni nazuk si, kamzoor si jaan hai Harib, to khana thoosana to banta hai boss. I love how all these ladies have set a roster & work in peace & harmony where Aan attends Harib for breakfast, Shabnam takes care of lunch & snacks & then Sara takes care of his dinner, this man’s life is sorted! WAH! But I think since Sara has some competitiveness in her, she will now compete with Shabnam to see kaun Harib ke pass khana pehle pohachata hai, & honestly speaking, I am actually really very excited to see the race between Sara & Shabnam! I now get the reason why Harib has curbed the urge to get married, because he is being well taken care of so biwi ki kya zaroorat. He has a mother around him, he has an ex-girlfriend around him & he also has a future wife around him, to bas sara mamla set hai na bhai! I am sure Harib must’ve done some amazing deeds in life, because of which Allah blessed him with such amazing neighbors who only focus on feeding him, how sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!

Khabardaar kisi ne Harib aur Aan ko misunderstand kiya to, they are JUST FRIENDS alright, JUST CLOSEEE FRIENDS. Such close friends who are so comfortable with the idea of posing to be a ‘couple’ for a 7 year old *shivering with disgust*. Ohkay so, because of this episode, we learnt about all the things that Fatima loves to eat & Sara doesn’t, aur Masha Allah Harib ka pait to waisay hi khulla hua hai, so it doesn’t even matter what comes in front of him because he is like a chalta phirta food vacuum machine. While Aan was having a time of her life connecting with an Extra Small Sized Daadi Amman Fatima, Sara was eyeing Harib & thinking about all the luxuries she can bring back into her life if she somehow traps Harib again because he now has everything that she left him for.

Honestly speaking, on a very serious note, my appeal to the parents of the child actor playing the role of Fatima is that they should actually be more careful & cautious about all the dialogues that our not so intelligent dialogue writers write for her & make her say, like seriously, I am sure it is going to have such negative impact on her. I know the tone of my review is humorous but this is actually something that I am writing out of concern because the way Fatima said to Sara ‘aggar appko larkon ki wajah se yahan rehna hai etc’ was so not appropriate for a child of her age. I really think the parents of that child artist have to & should monitor & screen the dialogues that the directors make their daughter say because seriously, even if it is for a drama, it is so not cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, now that I have my public service message out of the way, let’s focus on other good things (coughing in sarcasm) that this episode offered. I liked the conversation Shabnam had with Harib, she is someone who actually lightens up the mood & I thank Hina Bayat for being a part of this drama, because she really brings in some sighs of relief when she shows up. We were also shown how much Khurram loves Aan but honestly, I am not going to take a guy seriously who chooses to sleep on a pink checkered bed-sheet which is actually designed for girls, so whatever!

Oh well, I actually applaud in sarcasm for Mona Haseeb for glorifying such a pathetic concept that a woman even after getting married & having a child can still be in love with her ex-boyfriend, wow! After all the Talaqs, Halalas, living with your Ex-boyfriend, trying to go back to your ex-husband after divorce (reference Mann Mayal), we now see these so-called writers glorifying such a hideous thing under the banner of LOVE! I know Mona Haseeb must be really proud of the character Harib that she conceived, that is why like a true mother to Harib she introduced all those ladies who take care of his appetite, but sorry Mona Haseeb, Harib is not such a catch that a woman even after getting married & having a child would be in love with him. There’s a limit to showing pathetic concepts & I think they really really need to draw a line now because all these things are getting out hand. I hate the fact that being a female herself, Mona Haseeb has made Harib a center of every woman’s universe, be it Shabnam, be it Aila, be it Aan & now Sara, she has made every girl who came into his life such a desperado who has no self-respect & no sense of right & wrong whatsoever. Alright, we know that Sara didn’t get the LOUUUUUUUU from her husband Faisal, that’s completely alright, but when a woman becomes a mother, her entire life, her personality, her priorities…every single thing changes, so I am not sure what made Mona Haseeb pen down such a hideous concept, character & conversation where she showed that Sara’s heart was still skipping a beat after seeing Harib. This is so inappropriate at so many levels, like it is disgusting!!!

I actually thought that after getting all the backlash from the entire Mannu/Sallahuddin/Jeena sharing a roof without any relation in Mann Mayal, Haseeb Hassan will be cautious but he proved that he still can touch new lows by showing such hideous concepts once again!!! The theme of this drama was still alright where they showed that a bechara got married to a girl who had some psychological issues but now to see all these ladies turning into desperadoes for him is absolutely sickening. Aur preview ka to poochain hi mat, looks like Harib’s frenemy Shehroz will come back & this time around he will be on team Aila because he will doubt Harib for being in touch with Sara all these years while he was in a relationship with her Aila & I can’t even begin to imagine how ugly the situation will get. I won’t be surprised if Aila & Shehroz will also move to that suburb, I think they should rename it as Harib Mohalla since everyone in that Mohalla seems to be related to Harib. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this episode of Sanam!!!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mrza.

Thank you Sara for saying ‘Ye kya ho raha hai Allah Miyan’…My thoughts EXACTLY!

Oh My God! This is unbelievable. Well actually, this instinctive reaction is coming after watching the precap of the next episode but I’ll come to that later. Anyways, basically this episode had nothing to offer & it was quite slow. I am kind of annoyed at the pace of the drama & this is not a good sign because we are just in the initial stages of the drama & seems like the director has already started taking things slow to test the remaining amount of the patience the viewers had in them after watching Mann Mayal. I seriously think that HUM TV should have thought things through & they should have given the viewers a chance to recover from one apocalypse that they just experienced by not airing Sanam right after Manna Mayal ended because with each passing episode, this is turning out to be Mann Mayal 2! Literally, showing one apocalypse after another is never a good idea & that is the reason why the viewers are not feeling this drama at all.

Well, honestly speaking, I was surprised to see Aan spending more time with Harib even after she saw how that created an issue for Harib previously. Aan was shown to be quite independent & she was doing this welfare work on her own, especially for herself but now it seems that she can’t even go to see those kids herself without tagging Harib along. Anyways, looks like Shabnam took my advice seriously & now she has actually started her catering business because like Aan announced, now she would also be delivering dinner because her delivery service is not confined to the breakfast only. Aan also declared sincerely that she will continue to do so till Harib gets married & his wife takes care of his taste buds but I was wondering, what if Harib once again gets married to a girl like Aila who doesn’t know how to cook, will Aan & Shabnam still do catering for him? I am sure they would since they are so faarigh & have nothing else to do! I am not sure if Aan is simple-minded or a bit too conniving where she is conveniently ignoring the fact that spending time with Harib & literally going in & out of his place can cause a dent on her image? I am sure Shabnam tells Aan to deliver the food to Harib only, which doesn’t meant that she has to sit with him, monitor if he is eating his food properly, pour a glass of water every time his chokes & return after witnessing the sight of last morsel making it to Harib’s mouth!?!?! Seriously gurllll, find yourself some activity & oh, is it just me or someone else also rolled their eyes when Aan was being ‘chummy’ with Shehroz…!!! *eye rolls*

So, Aila’s parents found her & they took her with them. It was good that Aila’s step-father gave her a piece of his mind but I am sure Aila’s mother Aisha would never allow her daughter to get better by facing the reality that she has some mental issues as Aisha herself is in denial. That thing was sorted & seems like Shehroz had an ‘insaniyat’ pang once again, where he started whining about how he was of no use & couldn’t save Aila & Harib’s marriage, like seriously, ye sab Aila ko taarhnay se pehle sochna tha na, huh! It is actually quite amusing how the writer is making sure that we all do not forget about the profound words that were uttered by Sallahuddin’s mother which were ‘in logon ka koi deen emaan hai bhi ya nahi’?

Well, it literally took 5 seconds for me to realize that Fatima is going to test my patience even more & I literally hate when the kids in our dramas are given more coverage than they require aur upper se phir Masha Allah aisay batameez bachay hon to phir to Allah hi Hafiz hain. We get it Fatima you’re from London, but ye Pakistan hai, kukroon kurroon, wake upppp!!!!!! Seriously, it looks like the writer is always going to keep Harib surrounded by people with mental issues, may be this is the writer’s way of avenging the fun viewers made of her husband’s work in Mann Mayal, so she decided to throw one psychopath after another our way to turn us viewers into a psychopath too. Just when Aila’s character took a backseat, the writer brought forward 2 such characters where the mother has an anxiety (love this fancy shancy word) & the kid that is plainly & scaringly annoying!

I think the writer has tried to add in a lot of scenarios to add more content in this otherwise khalam khali drama but sadly those situations are either so bizarre or so done & dusted that they are just coming across as fillers & bad ones at that. Sara is being given so much of coverage but you know what, her entire story didn’t stir any sympathy because they introduced her as someone who walked over bechara Harib for the sake of money. Very conveniently Sara blamed her parents for getting her married to a Richie Rich but she can not say that now as even she seemed a little too concerned about the utility bills she’d had to stay worried about if she got married to Harib. Like they say ‘neeyat saaf, to manzil asaan’, so since Sara’s neeyat wasn’t saaf, she & even her parents used the Richie Rich for his money, so now she can not use it against him to turn him into a villain in front of Harib that too when she is living in an apartment that he bought for her! If Sara’s husband is the culprit, so is Sara for being attracted towards him because of his wealth. So, just like Sara’s scenario is bizarre, the scenario of Shabnam’s in laws is so typical & pathetic that it is not even funny because we have seen such relatives in our dramas a million times who choose to stay associated with someone because of their wealth. It is so obvious that Shama is interested in Aan because she being the only child will be entitled to everything that her parents ever had & owned, so what’s so new in here that the writer ‘assumed’ that we will like or enjoy watching?

Well well well, I think if they had shown that Sara moved with her Daadi Amman to this apartment, that would’ve made far more sense than showing that she moved with her child because Fatima surely is a Daadi Amman in a small packaging. It was actually so annoying to see her ‘doubting’ her mother’s intentions because she spotted her sitting with a guy & she also used it to threaten her mother, like seriously, is she a kid or an agony aunt? What’s even funnier was that Sara called Harib to help her out in curbing the doubts in Fatima’s mind, as if Harib is Fatima’s father & he knows how to handle Fatima? Like seriously!?!?!?! They all seem so weirdly lifeless that it is not even funny because yes, the thing that left me shocked was seeing Harib seeking Aan’s help by asking her to act like Harib’s girlfriend to tame a what, 7 year old? Like seriously!?!?! Also, like I said, the writer has made sure that Harib will be surrounded by at least one pagal at a time, so now Sara has filled in that void that was created by Aila’s absence & now she will start behaving like a possessive psychotic girlfriend who would give Harib a hard time every time she will see him with Aan. Oh so-called writer jee, hamain pata hai appne Harib aur Aan ko milana hai to 10th episode mai hi ye miracle dikha dain, ye paglon ki toli dikhana zaroori nahi hai baar baar!!! Well in the initial part of the episode, Harib did say that he wanted to help Aila out with her mental issues, so now looks like the writer took care of that khuwaab too because now Harib will be taming a 7 year old & will be tolerating her tantrums haha!

I will say that I enjoyed the entire rishta scene where Aan shooed Rehan; the Woodpecker by telling him about her family’s background. Shabnam’s reaction was funny & I liked the fact that Aan was being honest. Princess Harib is depending on Prince Aan (pun intended) a lot more than he realizes but I found it good that Aan still stays unaffected by everything that is happening in Harib’s life, like she seemed pretty ohkay with the fact that Harib was having a conversation with Sara, similarly, she is not making excuses to not get married in a hope that may be Harib will propose her, just a few things that I liked about Aan’s character so yep!

Overall, this episode was slow, boring & cringe-worthy. It is so obvious that our patience is going to be tested with each & every episode. I am actually still laughing at an idea that Princess Harib & Prince Aan will pose to be a couple in front of a 7 year old & then they will continue with this act as they wouldn’t want to upset this extra-small sized Daadi Amman, like seriously!!! I think ‘like seriously’ is going to be my go-to expression while reviewing Sanam because I am not sure how many times Team Sanam will make me say that. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this khofnaak episode of Sanam that reminded me of the scary Mann Mayal!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay so, Mona Jee, you have clearly established the fact that Harib is a bechara, so why there’s so much emphasis on it once again? This episode made me feel that I was watching Bechara Diaries where Harib was being shown as an ultimate bechara while also being the most sought after bachelor since Aila has now walked out of his life.

The episode for sure started on a good note where they showed that Aan was more than just a food fairy. Aan believes in social work & that is why, to keep herself rooted & grateful for all the things that she has in life, she spends her weekends with the special children. Aan took Harib to meet those kids too, so that he could reflect on how he was taking his life for granted, but I was somehow sure of the fact that this won’t change him or drive him to snap out of the self-imposed bechargi that he strongly feels for himself. Just after a few moments we saw that Harib went back to his bechargi shell since he is so used to it.

Even though out of concern for Aila, Harib should have informed her parents the moment she left his place, I am glad that they finally learned the truth about what was going on between Harib & Aila & were not in the dark about their daughter anymore. However, I will say that I am amazed how clueless our writers make the parents in our dramas to be, I say this because the moment Harib told Aisha that Aila needs professional help, she reacted as if it was a news for her, whereas when Harib went to meet Aila’s parents, it was Aisha who herself spoke about Aila being stubborn & spoiled. I am amazed that while still being in the same city, the director didn’t show Aila’s parents visiting their daughter once after her marriage. Chalo, with Mannu it was understandable because she was in a different city so her parents’ oblivion seemed justified but in this case, it seems like a major loophole & nothing else. In the initial meeting, Aisha did seem aware of Aila’s temperament, so it is very very hard to believe that she was chillaxed & wasn’t at the edge after Aila’s marriage, just to be sure that her daughter was doing alright or not? I feel the writer has done a very very poor job in writing the reactions of all the characters in different situations. The same Aisha who seemed a little too conscious about Aila’s nature was now acting like she for the first time heard about her daughter having some psychological issues, whereas Aila’s step father was seen talking about Aila’s behavior.

Another contradicting & amusing thing that they showed to further enhance Harib’s bechargi was that in the very first episode, Harib said that his decision of marrying Aila came after a lot of thinking & brainstorming, but very conveniently, or shall I say, very bechar-ily, he put the entire blame on Aila that she was the one who forced him to get married, otherwise he would’ve never done that?Aida tu kaka??? Chalo, Aila ke kisson mai aik aur kissa shamil ho gaya, aur Harib ki bechargi diary mai aik aur page fill ho gaya ke it was Aila who pushed her way into Harib’s life, which once again brings me to my point that it is hard to believe that Harib jaisa nazuk mizaj larka survived in this ruthless world on his own & became independent & successful.

Harib seems to have always been in a need of a safety blanket, that is why he has always left others to do the heavy lifting, just like now he is making Shehroz & Aan do that for him & just like he was holding Aila responsible for the marriage as if wo to cerelac khanay wala bacha tha, jisay apna life partner choose karna bhi nahi aya. It was very easy for Harib to tell Aila’s parents that Aila was at Shehroz’s apartment but like a meesna, he stayed quiet so that when Shehroz will spill the beans, Aila’s parents will question him & not Harib.

As if, Harib was not covering the bechargi quota properly in the drama, that the writer introduced a materialistic bechari in the form of Sara. It was amusing to see that the girl who left Harib because he was poor immediately started telling him the tale of how she was still regretting her decision the moment she saw his huge bungalow. LOL, very unique bechari I must say. Seems like Sara also has a daughter Fatima & honestly speaking, seeing ‘pakkay bachay’ in the dramas is my biggest peeve, so I am not sure how I will handle the coverage that pakki hui Fatima will get!!!

As far as spending time with the kids was concerned, it seemed good enough but looks like Harib & Aan have turned that opportunity into an excuse for dating, so much so that Aan didn’t even bother telling Shabnam that she was with Harib the first time she went to the shelter. I must say, I cringe eveytime I hear these guys talking about food, as if after marriage that is the only important thing in life that none of their conversations are complete without it. Harib also informed that he will be going to Shabnam’s place to eat dinner cooked by her. I am sure since Harib is used to put blame on others, when he will gain a few extra kilos, he will blame Aan & Shabnam for that too, haha!!!

This episode was boring to say the least. I just don’t understand what the writer is trying to achieve by showing incomplete conversations between the characters & the sudden change in their stances because of which I feel that the writer herself was so confused that is why she made her characters confused too. I was actually quite shocked to see Harib holding Aila responsible for the marriage as if she got married to him on a gun point, seriously, the way the writer has babysat Harib while turning a female into a villain is sickening. This episode also included a very sexist comment where Shehroz tells Aila ‘mai tumhe dara raha hoon (kyunki mai khud to aik chooza hoon) tum aik larki ho ke itna bold step kaisay le sakti ho’, I think the writer should know & so do all those becharas like Harib & Shehroz that a girl with an opinion & a stand is far better than these mazloom chickens! It is actually quite frustrating to see such a poor effort from a team that has quite a lot of experience to its credit, but then again, it is so obvious that no one can do much if the screenplay is crappy to begin with. The dialogues are mediocre, the acting is substandard, the reactions are confusing & the situations are bizarre like seriously, nothing makes sense & there is nothing that seems promising enough to keep the interest alive in this show. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this boring episode of Sanam!

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

PS: I am sure all the dear readers are concerned about Fatima Awan as they didn’t see reviews by her lately. Actually Fatima Awan is unwell & needs some rest, so I request you all to pray for her speedy recovery & send positive vibes & wishes her way so that she can come back with her amazing amazing reviews soon. Our prayers & support is all what our dear friend Fatima needs right now, so please do remember her in your prayers. :)

ZZZZzzzzzZzzzz….Oh! Sorry, I just woke up because this episode of Sanam served as a lullaby & put me to sleep. Ohkay so, shuru karain? LOL! Even though I knew that this drama didn’t have much to offer but I never knew that it wouldn’t even have some sense & logic to offer too. After watching this episode, I was reminded of Sallahudin’s mother’s comment; ‘in logon ka koi deen emaan hai bhi ya nahi’?

The moment Shehroz realized that his frankness with Aila was going to cost him his job, he returned to his senses & immediately forced himself to see Aila as his Bhabhi. All of a sudden Shehroz realized that he couldn’t deceive his langoti yaar because of sir-phiri Aila. Honestly speaking, I will thank Shehroz for making me laugh at his chicken-ness which made him realize that he was nothing without the financial support of Harib. The entire time Shehroz was pledging his loyalty to Harib by calling Aila his Bhabhi repeatedly, I was recalling all those times when he flirted with Aila shamelessly & all those satyrical glances he gave at her which clearly indicated his evil intentions. I must say, the writer really has left a lot on the viewer’s imagination, where she expects the viewers to understand these characters without doing any work on her part & without even establishing their characters properly. In the initial episodes, we were clearly told that Shehroz was anything but a loyal friend but now the bromance between Harib & Shehroz was being pushed to the limit to show that Harib meant everything to Shehroz.

I have a business plan for Shabnam & Aan & I am sure they will make big bucks if they will follow my advice. Shabnam should open a catering business & Aan can become a food deliverer & while she is at it, she can charge a few extra bucks for fetching couriers, letters & newspapers for her clients too. Since Aan is taking her Nashta delivery job so seriously while being a Daakiya too, I am sure Allah will put a lot of Barkat in this business seeing Shabnam & Aan’s sincerity & devotion in feeding people. Just when I was about to doze off, Harib made me laugh out loud at his ‘bohat bhook lag rahi thi’, like seriously, in the very first episode when Harib made brekkie for Aila, we learned the fact that Harib is a decent cook, so why has he forgotten the art of culinary ever since Shabnam & Aan have become meherbaan at him?

All this while, I was blaming Mona Haseeb for not doing justice to Aila’s psychological issues by completely forgetting about them, but she proved me wrong by ‘slightly’ hinting about the medication & psychiatric sessions that Aila needs, haha, like they waste so many episodes on bickering & bechargi but when it comes to something meaningful, they literally cover it in a dilogue or two. What a great way of dealing with an issue when you show nothing about it, do not give it a proper coverage & just when things are about to fall apart & just to prove how bighearted bechara Harib is, you make him say ke Aila Jaan, apni dawai yaad se khana aur pagal khanay bhi yaad se chali jana. This dialogue showed that this drama did include the fact that Aila has some psychological issues, so in stead of turning this story into a marital war & in stead of keeping the pace so fast, why didn’t they give a proper coverage to bipolar disorder by showing that Harib himself took Aila to the shrink & focused on understanding her behavior & issues himself too? Like they could’ve taken some time in developing misunderstandings between them but they just fast forwarded everything. It seems like such a wasted opportunity & also the entire bipolar thingy seems like an after thought because the director was in a hurry to throw Aila out of Harib’s life so that Harib could enjoy Anda Parathas without any mental pressure.

Aan learned the truth that Aila was seeking divorce from Harib & she blamed herself for it which was a right thinking on her part but then she put a lid on it quite easily & announced that both Aan & Shabnam should take care of Harib, meaning they should make him some more Andas Parathas, like seriously? I never knew that such a ‘seedhi saadhi’ Aan who has such a bright future ahead of her will entangle herself in the worry of her parosi’s parathas, lol. Like just imagine, from now on, Aan’s entire routine will be revolving around Harib’s nashta, where she will make sure to sleep early, so that she can wake up before the sunrise, iron her clothes, straighten her hair, clip in some weirdly textured extensions, put some makeup on to show up at his doorstep on time with a tray of weird smelling Anda Paratha & god forbid if Harib will spill the oil or yolk on himself, she will do his laundry too. In the initial episodes, they showed that Aan barely had time & she was always running late for office, so much so that Shabnam had to run behind her holding a brekkie tray, but seems like Aan has started waking up before Tahajjud so that she can spend enough time with Harib without even worrying about getting late from her office. I must say, even though I love Shabnam’s character & even though she was quite liberal, I still find it odd that she is allowing Aan to spend time with Harib, that too when he is going through a rough patch in his life, it’s like she herself is hoping for Harib & Aan to cook something together, haha!!! Bhai Harib munnay ko nashta karana hai to apne ghar pe karwao na apni nazron ke samne, ye Aan ko akele bhejne ki kya tukk hai? I feel this way because we know that Shabnam was looking for a decent proposal for Aan but now she seems a little too relaxed & laid back? Kyun jee!?!?!

I must say Aan was introduced as a very wise character but even she forced me to remember the infamous dialogue of Sallahuddin’s mother because at one hand she was crying buckets blaming herself for the divorce & on the other she was visiting Harib’s place as if it was her own home. Why didn’t Aan think for a second that may be Aila decided to come back so she shouldn’t just barge into Harib’s home so casually? Harib to choro abb to Shehroz ko bhi Anday Parathay ki adat dalay lagi hai Aan, haha! I was never a fan of Anda Paratha combination but thanks to Sanam-makers, I will detest it for the rest of my life!!!

This episode reinforced the importance of smartphones in our lives. It showed how one bro was manaofying his rootha hua bro, using the telephone credit that he was able to load in his phone because of the rootha hua brother’s meherbaani. It also showed us many features like how one can ignore phone calls & how unwanted messages can be deleted. To be honest I enjoyed watching the tantrums Harib was throwing over Shehroz’s phone calls & text messages, only to prove his bechargi in the next scene by opening the door for him to stay at his place, haha! To be honest, these characters have no personality whatsoever, they don’t have a mind, they don’t have a stand, they have nothing, which brings me to a point that the writer has no writing skills & that is why, this entire drama is so weak in terms of screenplay!!!

Overall, this episode was filled with subliminal humor. I had a good laugh watching Aila ke sataye hue Harib & Shehroz with their pain stricken faces, where Harib was dukhon ka mara hua & Shehroz was Aila se shadi ke khayal se ghabraya hua. I had a good laugh seeing Aan hovering around Harib like a food-fairy. Seriously girl, get your act together & stop worrying about Harib’s calorie count. Aila is fun, like seriously, at least she is someone who has a personality & is consistent. Aila might be negative but at least she is not a lota. The preview of the next episode suggested that Aan’s zid of thoosofying food in Harib’s mouth will cause more troubles for him because Aila’s parents will spot both of them together. I must say Aan’s dhitai & besharmi is commendable, like she is forcing herself into his life so much that he can’t even think of living a day without her anda paratha…hmmmmmm, strategy aur tact bohat acha hai waisay. Also, Aan was introduced with a braid & a dupatta, like it was good to see a confident educated girl still being in touch with her roots but ever since she has allotted a duty of feeding food to Harib to herself, her dupatta has slipped from her head & her braid has untied itself automatically, hmmmmmmmmm, bohat nazuk surat e haal hai. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this food filled episode of Sanam.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.