My pick for ‘drama of the week’ segment was Daam. Produced by Abdullah Kadwani & Humayun Saeed’s production house 7th Sky, written by Umera Ahmed & directed by my absolute favorite Mehreen Jabbar. Before even starting, I couldn’t imagine enough about the magic that would’ve been created by this duo & after it ended, I was in an awe of the perfection.

It we put it in simple words, Daam is a story of two best friends belonging to different social classes. But as simple as it sounds, it sheds a light on an ocean of complications. Starting from those who struggled for basics to those who possessed luxuries, their journeys were covered undoubtedly with a perfection. Initially I actually struggled to get hold of the intermingled relations that the characters had with each other but the moment I got hold of everything, I was hooked to the show. The main characters were Zara, Maliha & Junaid but I must say that the supporting characters – each one of them contributed in making Daam a wholesome package. Not even once I felt that the side tracks were boring or had nothing to offer & the way they were handled brilliantly made me want to know more about them just as much as the main leads.

The list of cast & characters is:

Sanam Baloch – Zara
Amina Sheikh – Maliha
Adeel Hussain – Junaid
Nimra Bucha – Aasma
Sanam Saeed – Fiza
Behroz Sabzwari – Haji Sahab
Mohammad Yasir – Jamal
Faisal Shah – Yasir
Pari Hashmi – Mano
Lubna Aslam & Shahid Naqvi – Amna, Hidayat (Zara’s parents)
Mohammad Ahmed & Parveen Malik – Sami & Mama (Maliha’s parents)

The Families:

Maliha’s life was depicted as picture perfect. With absolutely supportive parents & a brother-love Junaid. They all were like a peaceful perfect family & the wavelength Maliha & Junaid shared was the best thing to see. Maliha’s parents ran a hospital, she herself was an MBBS student & Junaid was studying in USA. Apart from her family, the only person who meant the world to Maliha was Zara, her best friend. The only good reference that I can put forward about Maliha’s character is that she was Zara’s friend & that’s all there’s to it. Sadly, other than that she hasn’t done much to be remember her by. Junaid was a very honest, clear-headed & gentle person who believed in simplifying things rather than complicating them. The best couple of this drama for me was of Maliha’s parents. I say that because after a long long time I got to see such people who were not only blessed with the luxuries of life but also were blessed with an equally big heart. The point was well-made that even though they had everything, they also had a grace to share it with the people they cared about. Their gestures & courtesy towards Zara always brought an overwhelming smile to my face.

Zara’s life was a juxtaposition to Maliha’s. Zara’s father – Hidayat was financially unstable & couldn’t provide his family with the basic necessities. Aasma was Zara’s eldest 35 y/o sister, was single & worked as a secretary. Jamal was an aspiring actor but was unlucky in getting the break. At first he came across as someone who was striving half-heartedly for his passion but he actually wanted to do good by his family & whenever he earned anything, he gave it to his mother. Mano was the youngest sibling & was mentally challenged. Aasma being the only consistent bread earner of the family had become bitter because of facing rejections in proposals & by struggling through out her life. She thought nothing good can ever happen to her & all her feelings came across very clearly. In this whole family, the only person who never complained was Zara. She accepted her life but never stopped striving for better. Zara always took care of the smallest needs of her family & for this reason she was seen doing groceries with the prize money she earned by securing 1st position in a college debate competition & giving her share of food to her siblings. Zara’s mother Amna was the only sister of well settled brothers who were financially sound but were estranged. The only brother who lived in the same vicinity & were on talking terms was Haji Sahab. Who was modest & religious in Amna’s perspective & also to some extent Amna’s hope.

Samra was Sami’s only sister & was also a single mother of two – Yasir & Fiza. Samra only had a support of her brother after she separated from her husband & Sami did all he could to keep their family afloat. Even though Sami was her elder brother & Samra’s family were the in laws of Maliha, they in literal terms were just mean relatives. They took Sami & his support for granted & even though they accepted Maliha as Yasir’s wife-to-be, each one of them had complexes of their own. Fiza was a spoiled brat who had the support of her family, she was an egoist who wanted things her way & was very good at brain feeding. Yasir was a mama’s boy to the extent of blinding unintelligence. Yasir made sure that Maliha understood that she could never have an upper hand in their family even after her father supported them because truthfully they never were grateful to Sami for all that he did for them, all these years. Despite the fact that they were the literate & enlightened ones, very nicely they depicted the pettiness people can harbour in their hearts against their own blood relations because of their own insecurities.

Haji Sahab was the most interesting character for me in this drama because he highlighted the true nature of people who on one hand pose to the world that they only know the art of helping others but on the other hand ignore the actual responsibilities they have towards their relatives. Haji Sahab preached a lot about being a good & God fearing Muslim but in reality but when it came to practicing, he mended the rules & teachings of Islam. When it came to his sister’s family, her son’s role in a drama was prohibited, but when it came to his family, giving a brand new car in dowry was permissible. He was one of those who condemned if a male friend gave a lift to some girl in need but would ignore the fact that the very same girl has to face all sorts of molestation while waiting for a bus at a bus stand. As Islamic he posed to be, he was a pompous gossip monger & lacked a wisdom that people may attain if in true sense they understand the teachings of Islam. For himself just because he had money, he thought he was authorized to do anything he wished for. Haji Sahab & his wife were just the faces to actually portray how harsh & selfish relatives can be. Haji Sahab depicted those Muslims perfectly who believe offering 5 obligatory prayers would earn them Jannah. Just because he couldn’t relate to his sister’s problems, all he could do was to lecture them, when he couldn’t help them, he only ended up complaining every single time.

The Story:

The drama begins at a note where Maliha & Zara are how friends should be like – totally supportive of each other. Their friendship isn’t confined to themselves only but their families are involved too. Maliha’s family endears Zara & likewise everyone in Zara’s family knows about Maliha & respects her because of the timely helping gestures Maliha does for her. One thing that stood out for me the most about Zara’s character was that she was never seen hopeless about the situations in life. Even though Maliha knew about Zara’s background but she wasn’t exposed to the actual problems Zara & her family faced because despite the fact that how much Zara was engulfed in the miseries, she believed in keeping her problems to herself because she wanted a sympathy-free friendship in a dignified manner.

Fiza being their class fellow, Maliha’s first cousin & her SIL-to-be thought she could control everything that Maliha did therefore Fiza took it as her responsibility to keep reminding Maliha of what sort of a liability Zara was being on her. Fiza had issues with every single person she ever got in contact with, therefore due to her complaining nature she becomes a major reason for Maliha’s problem pre & post marital life. Amna has to face derogation every single time from her brother or his wife because they think of themselves as the higher beings while Amna’s family did every thing objectionable as per them. Junaid & Zara even though never promised each other anything but knew they had a compatibility & spark to become a perfect couple. It’s the time of Maliha’s hurried wedding when she finds out about Junaid’s liking towards Zara. This is the moment when she starts having baseless prejudices against her best friend. In the mean time oblivious of Maliha’s feelings, Zara keeps Junaid’s proposal on hold because she herself has Aasma’s wedding to take care of.

This is where everything changes when Maliha starts discussing her personal issues with Fiza. Fiza who is clearly interested in Junaid after her own breakup, grabs the opportunity & brainfeeds Maliha about how she must get rid of Zara. Despite the fact that she knew how much Junaid loved her & how convinced their parents were to make Zara their daughter in law, Maliha never actually shows her detest but within herself she starts harbouring the feelings that no one ever finds out about & starts manipulating the situations against Zara very tactfully. Things actually go wrong just before Aasma’s wedding when their father is imprisoned & Zara is forced by her family to ask for some monetary help from Maliha. Maliha lost in her rage & blinded by Fiza’s influence asks her to pay the price by walking out of Junaid’s life. Zara – having no other option agrees & this is where their friendship ends.

Zara goes to UK on a scholarship & things start shaping up in their family. Maliha, suffering in her own guilt now starts experiencing a difficult time in her in-laws where they pressurize her family for Fiza & Junaid’s wedding. Maliha, selfish to the core & just in order to save her marriage makes a decision for Junaid’s life. 7 years pass & even though Junaid marries Fiza, nothing in Maliha’s life changes because Fiza was still unhappy & every single time Maliha faced the consequences. In Zara’s family, she becomes a cardiac surgeon, Jamal is now an award-winning director, Aasma’s well-settled & Mano passes away. In a brief encounter with Zara, Junaid finds out about things he was oblivious of & then decides to divorce Fiza & get married to Zara as he always loved her. Maliha tries to earn the apology by undoing the mess she created, walks out of her own marriage, confesses everything to Junaid & convinces Zara on getting married to her brother but Zara parts her way again & moves on in life & gets married to her colleague Hassan & settles in the UK.

The Brilliance of Daam:

I loved to-the-point & simple dialogues of the drama. No doubt the conversations were really simple but they weren’t short on the meaning. I loved how easily such beautiful thoughts were shared that too with ease but my favorite dialogue has to be when Aasma asks her Mamu ‘Mamu App Thakte Nahi Hain, Naikiyaan Kar Kar Ke, Mai Hoti To Thakk Jati’. :) Even though each & every episode was based on the daily struggles & issues of all the families, I never got bored & thought they were executed brilliantly. I loved Daam for the fact the smallest of small details like sadnesses, taunts, sacrifices, understandings, misunderstandings, generosity, happiness that people experience in their daily routine were highlighted with the help of all the characters & nothing was left for us to fill in the blanks. All the characters were established with such a perfection that they embodied the strengths & the weaknesses of a human nature with perfection.

I think Nimra Bucha has done a phenomenal job, I was never so impressed by her but she as Aasma had me & just because of Nimra’s acting, I felt the most for Aasma’s character because apart from her family, no one ever appreciated her & thought she was too headstrong. The relationship Zara & Aasma shared was actually nice to see because they depicted how sisters become eachothers strength in the time of need. I also enjoyed the chemistry Zara’s family shared because they actually came across as a family that stood by each other during the hard times & a small success of any one of them came as an opportunity for all to rejoice. Zara & Junaid’s relationship was another brilliant aspect portrayed beautifully where they never promised one another anything but still knew what sort of feelings they possessed. It was a beauty of their relationship that nothing was ever said but a certain understanding always bound them together.

My least favorite character was of Maliha, I really didn’t get why she turned against her best friend & what blinded her. Even though she thoroughly confesses & apologizes & to make things right she even walks out of her marriage, I still believe it wasn’t enough because she never had the right to spoil anyone’s life to shape her own. Haji Sahab & his wife were a picture perfect depiction of how selfish people can get when they themselves have nothing to worry about & give themselves a pat on their egos when they see other’s suffering. They depicted those certain relatives everyone actually come across in real lives, who just love to complain & are always in some sort of a competition marathon with their dear ones. They were the ones who loved bragging but never actually tried bringing a change in their blood-relative’s lives.

I actually waited to see if the ending of Daam will grow on me & if I will come to terms with it but as I thought about it, yes, Zara’s decision made sense, even though she paid back every single penny she owed to Maliha once & if she wanted she could’ve turned things her way but she moves on & finds her share of happiness. But after all this, I feel the most for Junaid because he could never get what he deserved. He could never be happy in his life because he loved Zara. He was never the one who put anyone else in a difficult situation, he wasn’t responsible for what happened & how unreasonably his sister reacted but after all that what he had to accept because of his sister – he didn’t deserve it. So, for this & for the sake of my favorite characters Zara & Junaid, I wish that the ending was a bit different. Zara always had an upper hand because she wasn’t guilty & nor was she responsible for breaking Fiza’s marriage because she wasn’t even in the picture when Junaid & Fiza got married & started having issues, so for this even if Zara had gotten married to Junaid, for me Daam would’ve been a bit more complete, some other way.

All the actors did their jobs really well. Special mention goes to Pari Hashmi as Mano because it was definitely a challenging role which she did effortlessly. I am glad that the script like Daam was directed by Mehreen Jabbar because her approach is phenomenal. I loved the fact that nothing was overdone & her aesthetics were precise. Things that needed to be explained were in detail but things which weren’t important never made it to the screen. I actually want to know what sort of a pep talk Mehreen Jabbar gives to her actors before she starts off with the direction because each one of the actor looks effortless & they seem to be breathing the characters assigned to them. Behroz Sabzwari, Sanam Baloch, Amina Sheikh, Adeel Hussain, Lubna Aslam, Nimra Bucha, Sanam Saeed, Mohammad Ahmed & all the other actors were just simply brilliant & I don’t think anyone else would’ve done justice to these characters like these phenomenal actors did. I have always been a fan of Mehreen Jabbar’s direction & Daam definitely gives me another reason to be.

I loved watching this drama because it was like a rollercoaster ride of emotions which provided an overwhelming experience, a few reality checks, a change in the perspective & a lot of heart-warming moments.Share your experience of watching Daam with us. 

Until the next overview of ‘Akbari Asghari’ by me.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

The play Durr-e-Shahwar is very close to my heart for two reasons. Firstly because it has to be one of the most inspiring, engaging, intense and relatable plays I have seen in a very long time and secondly because this was the first play I reviewed when I started writing so there are many memories related to it. Durr-e-Shahwar has been written by Umera Ahmed, it has been directed by one of the best directors in the industry; Haissam Hussein. It has been produced Six Sigma Productions and Momina Duraid. The leading cast consists of Samina Peerzada, Sanam Baloch, Qavi Khan, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Nadia Jamil, Nauman Ijaz, Maya Ali, Umer Naru, Saba Faisal, Muhammad Ahmed, Kiran Haq, Sophia Saeed and Tasleem Kausar.

The opening scene of a drama says a great deal about how the future episodes are going to be like. Kudos to Haissam Hussain for introducing the characters in a very creative and beautiful manner. Durr-e-Shahwar is one of those rare plays that completely win you over right from the first episode. Durr-e-Shahwar is aesthetically and visually pleasing every step of the way. Every single scene is well-thought-out, all the conversations have depth and the casting is flawless. The contrast between Shandana and Shahwar is shown right from the first scene; the morning in Shahwar’s house is totally different from that in Shandana’s house. Shahwar’s mornings are peaceful and happy, Shandana’s mornings are rushed and chaotic. I could relate to everything in the play right from the get-go. I must confess the tranquility in Shahwar’s house in reality is not found in too many houses nowadays which are run by the younger generation. We are not as patient as our parents were and we also complain a lot more than they used to. Shanadana has a lot on her plate therefore she finds it very hard to cope for obvious reasons.

In my opinion Durr-e-Shahwar is not just the story of two generations but it is actually the story of three generations; Sophie was also a very important part of the play. When Durr-e-Shahwar and Mansoor had compatibility issues and communication problems during the early years of their marriage, they made sure that Shandana knew nothing about the problems between them. Even later on Shahwar only revealed those secrets to Shandana when she thought that it was the only way in which she could save her daughter’s marriage. The best aspect of this play is that women and men from the older generation can connect to Shahwar and Mansoor and those of the new generation can see a reflection of their own selves in Shandana and Haider. Haider is insecure, he thinks his wife wants to dominate him and because of this insecurity he feels that he does not need to do anything to make their relationship better. Shandana tries to make him realize that he needs to spend more time with his family but Haider shuts her out every time. It is almost as if he is punishing her for being a strong independent woman. Shandana does not have the patience to put up with Haider’s attitude. Both of them are impatient, uncompromising and immature. Haider is too busy watching television and playing Solitaire, going on a vacation with his wife and kid is not on top of his list of priorities. He has completely given up on his married life. Shandana and Haider both know that they are incomplete without each other but their egos won’t allow them to make the first move. The way the viewers are transported from present to the past was beyond impressive. The relationship between all the characters has been presented very skillfully; every little detail has been taken care of.

The drama focuses on the importance of being patient through the first few years of marriage and it also shows how important it is to have someone to guide you through difficult times. Shahwar had her father to guide her in the right direction and Shahwar does the same for her daughter. The play shows how daughters look up to their fathers. Shahwar’s father was her hero, Shandana thinks her father is perfect and Sophia loves her father more than anyone else in the world.

When Durr-e-Shahwar gets married she expects her husband to give her his undivided attention but her new life is entirely different and quite contrary to her expectations. She feels “ajeeb” in her new house;Mansoor and his family members are constantly judging her. Durr-e-Shahwar is right in thinking that there is no place for her in Mansoor’s life because his life is already over crowded with people who are his first priority. Mansoor’s family gets all his attention. Durr-e-Shahwar’s in laws are poles apart from her own family. Her father keeps on assuring her that there will be a time when Mansoor will put her above everyone else in his life even though he himself isn’t sure if his daughter’s marriage will work out. The conversations between Shahwar and her father are very poignant throughout the play. I fell in love with Shahwar’s father’s character like many other viewers out there. Muhammad Ahmed made this character memorable by breathing life in to it. Sami sahib is wise, gentle and very loving.

Some of the viewers thought that DeS was regressive because it was asking women to compromise alone while the men had no such responsibility. There were others who thought that DeS was targeting working women. I am a huge supporter of having strong female leads and for punishing men for their mistakes but DeS always worked for me. Mansoor and Haider both were not able to tackle with the ups and downs of early years of marriage tactfully other than that both of them loved their wives and were good human beings. They were not abusers (like Sikandar in Kankar), they did not marry the first woman they got close to after their wife walked out of the door (Adeel in DeM and Shaam in Shukk) and they most certainly did not cheat on their wives (Salman in SeZ and Hammad in Mirat-ul-Uroos). In my opinion both these men deserved another chance and if their women decided to give them that chance then they did nothing wrong. The fact that a woman is a home maker is actually very true, I agree both parties have equal responsibility to make a marriage work but the manner in which the responsibility was shifted to women’s shoulders was actually very well done. The script was written in such a way that it makes compromising seem like a virtue which does pay off after a while. There is nothing wrong with it if people let their egos take a backseat in order to save a relationship if the person they are doing it for deserves it. The play also shows that relationships need work; no matter how happy someone looks at present there may have been times when they had to fight to keep the relationship going.

The most touching scenes of the entire play had to be the one between Durr-e-Shahwar and her father. The conversation between the two on Shehwar’s rukhsati was powerful, tear-jerking and heart-rending. The first few years of Shahwar’s life were covered perfectly; the writer did a commendable job of showing how small things make a big difference. It is of utmost importance that the In laws should be willing to acknowledge their daughter in laws as individuals if nothing else.

Durr-e-Shahwar’s story is very old but the treatment given to it is brand new. Sanam Baloch and Mikaal Zulfiqar shine in one of their best performances in the play. Durr-e-Shahwar has some very powerful performances to its credit. The play is fast paced, beautifully written and directed.

The background score is played generously especially when the viewers are shown past events. The background music is haunting and mesmerizing; it fully gels in with every situation. Durr-e-Shahwar stayed with me for a very long time and is one of those very few plays which I watched again without forwarding a single scene. It was as effective the second time as it was the first time I watched it.

Sadly, Durr-e-Shahwar never got the attention it deserved from Hum TV in particular. Even at the time it was on air, it was never promoted as much as Hamsafar was. The fact that DeS aired in the same year as Hamsafar made a huge difference of course but even then the actors, the writer and the director deserved more recognition for their work than they got. Samina Peerzada was absolutely brilliant as the old Shahwar, Sanam Baloch owned her role as the young Shahwar, I have never liked Mikaal Zulfiqar better in any other role, Qavi Khan played the old Mansoor with precision. Nadia Jamil was flawless as the confused, bitter and depressed Shandana. Noman Ijaz nailed his role as Haider. Hassan Naru and Maya Ali couldn’t have been better as newcomers. Muhammad Ahmed won me over completely, he made Abba’s character unforgettable. Saba Faisal was equally wonderful as the controlling mother and mother in law. The actress playing Shahwar’s mother also did complete justice to her character and lets not forget Sophia. Haissam Hussain proved once again that he can create magic on screen. A big thanks to Umera Ahmed for some of the most heart-warming, soul-stirring and effective dialogues. Durr-e-Shahwar is a classic which every drama fan must watch. If you haven’t watched it do give it a go, it will transport you in a world of its own right from the get-go. You cannot watch it without crying buckets of tears. One review cannot do justice to this masterpiece.

I would love to hear from those viewers who have watched the show:)

Fatima Awan

Wajood e Laraib; a drama which had Umera Ahmed & Sakina Samo written all over it, but I must say all in a positive way. Aired in 2004 on Indus TV, it had 17 episodes which could’ve been cut down a little but the ending leaves you happy with the feeling of completeness, that a few slow episodes tend to get ignored easily. It was a star studded drama which had amazing actors portraying the characters etched out by Umera Ahmed perfectly. The cast includes:

Faiza Hassan as Washma Kaleem
Faisal Qureshi as Hadi Hassan
Adnan Siddique as Mohid Farooq
Fahad Mustafa as Saadi Hassan
Sakina Samo as Dr. Amna
Shafi Mohammad as Farooq & Mohid’s Father
Rukhsar as Samiya & Mohid’s Mother
Shabbir Rana as Hassan & Hadi’s Father
Aisha Khan as Aliya & Hadi’s Mother
Rehana Akhtar as Nargis & Washma’s Mother
Major Inayatullah as Kaleem & Washma’s Father
Nosheen Shah as Zainab
Zeba Ali as Shiza & Mohid’s Fiancee
Nausheen Agha as Sonia & Saadi’s Wife
Nazli Nasar as Arshi & Washma’s SIL
Sajid Shah as Nabeel & Washma’s Brother

The Story:

Wajood e Laraib in short is a story which tells that you have to lose something in order to find everything. You have to lose something worldly which you love the most to make an opening in your heart which is then filled by the love of your Creator; Allah. Once you find Allah, once you let the power of Imaan over-take your mind & soul, you understand that whichever way you were tested was nothing but for your benefit.

I said that this story had Umera Ahmed written all over it because it had one big happy family where the eldest son was not only the bread-earner of the house but was someone who took the responsibility of his whole family which included his parents, his widow sister, orphan niece, spoiled young brother, his wife & a daughter too. Hadi was such a person who made sure that he put everyone else’s need ahead of him & he found peace in seeing his family happy. Wajood e Laraib shed a light on one such family as well that believed in practicality, that believed that being religious was nothing more than a superstition & fate had no role to play in your life. Mohid; a practical liberal Muslim who believed that he was responsible for shaping his own luck as he was raised that way. Wajood e Laraib also went to show that a girl; Washma, who had so much belief in Allah & had the power of Imaan believed that her Creator would never put her through a test in her life ever or would never check the level of her Imaan.

Hadi & Washma get married & their dream world comes to an end when Saadi, enraged seeing Hadi taking care of the family business ends up killing his own brother. The moment he realizes his mistake comes too late when his whole family makes sure he is put behind bars because to them, Saadi didn’t matter as much as Hadi did. Washma loses her unborn child & starts losing everything, her calm, her rationality & above all her faith in Allah.

Mohid, who by chance happens to visit his friend, stumbles upon a dead body of his friend’s girlfriend. That particular moment his friend thinks he could easily prove Mohid guilty as he was seen at the murder spot. Mohid ends up going to jail & someone who never believed in luck is forced to understand that everything is destined to happen. Mohid, who has a lot of trust in his father, then understands that everyone, every human being is helpless & The One & Only, Who can bring him out of this misery, is no one else but Allah. Mohid then starts his journey of redemption & reversion to the path of Allah.

Mohid & Saadi come across each other while serving their time in prison. Mohid happens to become that person who is ears to Saadi’s guilt, his filth, his regrets & his confessions. Washma forgives Saadi half-heartedly so that he can come out of jail, but just because she can’t see herself coming to terms with what she did & how she was pressurized to forgive him, she feels she is losing her sanity & to pick up the pieces she decides to move ahead in her life but in isolation where no one can remind her of what has happened. Mohid ends up coming out of the jail too because his friend seeks his forgiveness & then confesses his crime. He then gets the opportunity to start afresh & both he & Washma cross paths when they both are trying hard to step into the present leaving the past behind just so to focus on what lies ahead. Washma gets attracted to Mohid’s genteel nature & Mohid tries to look past her bitterness & they end up leading a life they both once dreamt of & are destined to lead.

The Brilliance of Wajood e Laraib:

What I liked the most about the drama is that even though the director took her sweet time in showing the misery of all the characters & as usual the drama lost its pace in the middle, the ending makes it worth a watch. By the end of the play, the way Washma & Mohid’s life together is covered is the highlight of the drama. While watching this play, I couldn’t help getting reminded of the fact that Wajood e Laraib had so many similarities to Mohabbat Subha Ka Sitara Hai, but what makes the former better is the rationality & the balanced treatment of all the characters & their journeys. The way Washma redeems herself & tries to move on was shown very realistically. How Saadi changes from being such a bitter & unhappy bloke to someone who starts caring about what others feel & how he could make them happy was again a journey well covered. Mohid; who thought he had it all when falls down understands that no human being, no matter how successful or blessed, how rich or strong can bring him out of the misery, was something that many of us can relate to.

What I found the best thing about Wajood e Laraib is the fact shown that it is possible to put a closure & move on in your life leaving the misery behind. I liked the way the script was directed which gives you a fair share of tears & by the end gives you plenty of reasons to smile. I am glad Sakina Samo handled it this way that even though all the emotions were covered in Wajood e Laraib nothing was over-done.

This story brilliantly restated the fact that we humans are nothing but hopeless, helpless creatures that at some point in our lives have to turn to Allah & understand the actual meaning of our lives. We have to understand that we are created for a reason & we have to work in finding Allah that too for our benefit because it is us who need Him & we need to worship Him. No matter what we plan & how we plan, it is left in the lurch if it is not meant to happen & more importantly, if it is not beneficial for us or it is destined to teach us a life-long lesson.

There were some heart-touching conversations between Mohid & Saadi, Washma & Amna. Sakina Samo had a short but a very influential role to play in this drama & I am glad she took the role of Dr. Amna & made it as closer to the real life as possible. Hadi & Washma’s scenes were very appeasing & Washma & Mohid’s scene would bring a smile to your face. I felt a lot for the characters of Washma, Mohid & Hadi. I feel all the actors were at their best in Wajood e Laraib & special mention goes to Fahad Mustafa for taking yet another challenging role that too at the start of his career & doing complete justice to it. Those were some seriously strong performances by Faisal Qureshi & Fahad Mustafa in particular & Faiza Hassan stole the show in portraying the rocky journey of Washma to perfection.

What I liked about Wajood e Laraib the most is the story that was elaborately shown after Washma decides to move on in her life. They didn’t stop the story where both Washma & Mohid get married, trying to leave the rest at the viewer’s mercy so that they can shape up the life of Washma & Mohid in their imagination. They still had something or the other to show till the very end, also the complete & satisfying ending made the journey worth watching. Share your thoughts about Wajood e Laraib.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

I must confess that I wasn’t very sure if Tanhaiyan would have the same effect on me which it did when I watched it the first time it went on air. I was not even ten years old when Tanhaiyan aired. That time was very different from now, even little kids used to sit with their parents and older siblings to watch the 8pm drama on PTV. It was like a ritual in every other household because dramas back then had something for everyone. I remember not understanding much about Zara’s trials and tribulations but Qabacha and Sanya were the highlight of the show for me. Watching Tanhaiyan once again brought back sweet memories of the days when PTV dramas guaranteed wholesome entertainment; the days when our drama writers were not obsessed with marital problems. The writers believed in experimenting and the producers were not afraid of trying something new. There was no race for TRPs but only talented people who did their work responsibly.

Tanhaiyan is a classic which needs absolutely no introduction but I will write a brief summary of the play to refresh the memories of those viewers who watched it a long time back. The play has been written beautifully by Haseena Moin, it has been directed by Shehzad Khalil – one of the best directors of PTV at that time who discovered many new faces and the play has been produced by Shalimar Recording Company (SRC). The cast of the drama includes Shehnaz Sheikh (as Zara), Marina Khan (as Sanya), Behroz Sabzwari (as Qabacha), Qazi Wajid (as Faran), Asif Raza Mir (as Zain), Durdana Butt (as Bibi), Badar Khalil (as Zubi/Aani), Jamshed Ansari (as Buqrat), Amir Hatmi (as Saad Salman), Yasmeen Ismail (as Vida), Azra Sherwani (as Appa begum), Sultana Zafar ( as girls’ mother), Subhani Ba Yunus (girls’ father) and Imtiaz Ahmed (Aani’s servant).

Tanhaiyan is the story of two sisters Zara and Sanya whose life takes a terrible turn when their parents die in an accident. Both the girls are very close to their Khala Zubi who they call Aani. They wish to continue living in their parent’s house in Lahore but soon after their death the two sisters find out that their father had taken a big amount of loan to make the house. The people who had given him the money wanted the house now because there was no other way to pay them back. Initially both the girls try their best to convince the people concerned that they will return the money in a few years but finally they come to the conclusion that there was no other way out. Both the girls move to Karachi and start living with their Khala. While Saniya moves on because she believes that she still has many people around her who love her. Zara feels that she has let her father down, her sole purpose in life is to earn enough money to buy her parents’ house back. She loses her faith in people because the people her father owed the money to were very close to him so she expected them to understand. The title of the drama refers to the loneliness which Zara feels after her parents pass away and the way she isolates herself from the world because nothing matters to her anymore. In her quest to earn money, she forgets that people who were once close to her were moving away from her. She was misses out on all those beautiful moments which Sanya, Aani, Bibi and Zain were cherishing. The drama ends on a happy note, the viewers have the satisfaction of knowing that Zara got her happy ending even after making so many wrong decisions.

The beauty of this drama lies in the beautiful relationships that all these characters have with each other. Even after so many years watching this classic was actually like a breath of fresh air because there were no mazloom women in the play, no family politics and most importantly no villains or heroes. The play is full of characters who you can fall in love with over and over again. I couldn’t help but connect to all the characters because there was nothing over dramatic about them. Zara’s character has been etched out brilliantly. Zara was always very insecure and lacked confidence. The reason behind that was explained wonderfully by her father. It is actually very true that every grown up is a product of the surroundings and the circumstances under which he was brought up. Zara decides to be strong after her parents’ death but deep inside she is still the weak and vulnerable girl that she once was. What she really needs is love and family but she is too busy proving that she doesn’t need anyone at all.

Zain’s character is charming and very likeable. He has feelings for Zara but he also does not want to let Vida (his fiancé) down. Vida’s character is one of the many characters in the play which you can’t help but fall in love with. All the women in the play are positive and enlightened unlike the conniving and desperate women we see on our screens nowadays. We see women fighting over men all the time in our dramas but how often are we shown these love triangles the way it was shown in Tanhaiyan. Zara never schemed to win Zain over, in fact she got engaged to Saad Salman just because she didn’t want Zain to think she was waiting for him. Vida broke the engagement herself without any grudges because she knew Zain did not love her. She did not play mind games like we see many women playing in our dramas.

Aani’s character is another one which I would really like to see on our screens more often. Apa Begum actually liked her boldness and bluntness; how refreshing is that! Marina Khan completely nailed Sanya’s character. It wasn’t an easy role to play because it could be quite annoying if it wasn’t done well but that was most certainly not the case. Sanya, Qabacha, Bibi and Buqrat added the comic element which this play really needed. If Tanhaiyan was about Zara’s struggle alone then it could have been very dull and too serious. Behroz Sabzwari is outstanding as Qabachi. All the actors fit in perfectly in their respective roles. Bibi’s lines made me laugh over and over again. A big thank you to all the pretty and very well dressed ladies in the play. I loved the make up and the dresses.

I know that not too many people liked Tanhaiyan Naye Silsilay but I must say that after watching this prequel, I am even more convinced now that the sequel was totally in line with the prequel. Also, the ending was like the one in the prequel. I loved how they made a beautiful OST based on Tanhaiyan’s original background music.

I also agree with people who were saying that the play Ranjish Hi Sahi was inspired from Tanhaiyan. Honestly speaking, I don’t mind it at all if more writers get inspiration from these classics. Our writers should watch this play over and over again and take notes. Yes, it is possible to make a classic without degrading men or women! Have humans really deteriorated so much or the writers nowadays feel that portraying people in a negative light is the only way to get people’s attention? There is a very good reason why Tanhaiyan is a classic and it actually makes me very sad to see where our drama industry is headed now.

It wasn’t easy watching this play online but I decided to take up the challenge because so many of our readers wanted the play to be reviewed and I must say it was totally worth it! Do share your thoughts about the play and how different it is from the dramas we see on our screens nowadays.

Fatima Awan

We have decided to start this segment of Drama Of The Week in which one of us is going to write an overview of one of the old dramas, so that all of us here can get a chance to talk about some of the most popular dramas from the past.

I did not watch drama serial Meri Zaat Zara-e-Benishan when it went on air and decided to catch up only recently since I felt that it was a must-watch play. The play has been written by Umera Ahmed, It has been directed by Babar Javaid, it has been produced by 7th Sky Productions and the main cast includes; Sammiya Mumtaz, Faysal Qureshi, Samina Peerzada, Adnan Siddiqui, Sarwat Gillani, Imran Abbass, Mehreen Raheel, Ismat Zaidi,. Khayam Sarhadi and others.

First of all I would like to say that one aspect of the play which I liked the most was that unlike many of the dramas that are on air nowadays, I wasn’t left wondering what the characters were going through. I am all for leaving things to the viewer’s imagination but sometimes I feel like our directors at times show us more than there is need to and at other times they fail to emphasize on what is important in an intelligent manner and therefore the audience is left clueless. Every time Sara (Sarwat Gillani) wondered about something important, the director ensured that the viewers got to hear her thoughts. Sometimes expressions and gestures are not enough to convey the exact feelings of a certain character and things need to be spelled out loud and clear. When Arfeen (Faysal Qureshi) finds out about Saba’s death and visits her grave, Sara finds it strange that a cousin her mother had not even seen for years felt so strongly about her mother’s loss. There were many other times when I couldn’t help but appreciate the director Babar Javaid for the clarity with which he presented the story on-screen.

Meri Zaat Zara-e-Benishan is essentially a story of regrets, betrayal and self-discovery. Like most of Umera Ahmed’s writings the story has a religious and spiritual element which leaves a very strong impact on the viewer. I must say that the different messages/lessons that were highlighted in the play could not have been brought forward in a more apt manner. Here are some of the messages in the play which you can’t help but ponder upon.

The Inside Is More Important Than The Outside

How often do we judge people based on how they look like from the outside? Women who cover their heads and say their prayers are always considered more righteous than the ones who do not do both these things. Umera Ahmed touched upon a very sensitive topic by refuting this belief. Sometimes those who look pious from the outside can do horrible things too. Arfeen’s mother (Samina Peerzada), who is considered as an exemplary woman by everyone in the family and his father who is respected by all do something terrible to someone who may not pray five times a day but is God fearing.

The conversation between Saba and Sara that was shown in one of the last few episodes was heart touching and very meaningful. I feel like I must quote it here….

Sara: Ami kabhi kisi ne ap ko buhat takleef di hai?

Saba: Nahi mujhe kabhi kisi ne takleef nahi di

Sara: Aur aap ne , kya ap ne kisi ko takleef di hai?

Saba: Shayed

Sara: Aisa nahi ho sakta, ap kese kisi ko takleef de sakti hein, ap tu itni ibadat krti hein aur ibadat krne wale log kese kisi ko takleef de sakte hein

Saba: Allah se mohabbat krne wale kisi ko takleef nahi de sakte, sirf ibadat krne wale de sakte hein. Mein Allah se mohabbat krti hun sirf ibadat nahi krti

This scene and these dialogues have to be one of the many in this drama which are soul stirring. They leave you pondering upon things we don’t often think about and shake you to the core!

Making A Mockery Out Of Your Religion Merely To Get What You Want In This World Can Have Serious Repercussions

Arfeen’s mother was so blinded by her desire to keep her son from marrying Saba that she forgot all about the consequences of her actions. She did not think twice before making a mockery out of her religious beliefs and was actually very content afterwards, when she managed to get what she wanted. She had no idea what was coming her way.

Is Forgiving Others As Difficult As We Make It Out To Be?

I must say that the message of forgiveness that has been put forward by this play is beyond impressive. Saba forgives everyone, only to please Allah – it is so simple yet so complicated!

The following conversation of Haider with his father was very meaningful and deep.

Arfeen: Mera tu koi kasur nahi tha.

Haider: Aap ko yakeen hai papa ke ap ka koi kasoor nahi tha?

Arfreen: Haider, mein buhat pyaar krta tha Saba se. Agur ama yeh sub kuch na krti tu mein usay kabhi talaq na deta.

Haider: Sara qasoor dadi jan ka nahi tha papa, kuch kasoor aap ka bhi tha.

Arfeen: Mera kasoor sirf yeh tha ke meinay apni maa ki baat pe aitebaar kiya. Such aur jhoot ke beech mein tameez na kur saka….agur meri jaga tum hotay aur bazahir tumhari biwi gunehgaar sabit ho jati tu tum kya krte?

Haider: Mein? Mein usay maaf kur deta!!! Such aur jhoot ko janchnay ke liye Quran ko beech mein lanay ke bajaye agur aap aala zarfi dekhate huve un ko maaf kr dete, unke bazahair nazar anay wale gunah ki pardaposhi kur dete tu buhat si zindagiyan buch jati papa……agur ap yeh kehne ke bajaye ke mein tumhei talaq deta hun keh dete ke mien tumhei maaf krta hun!!! Aurat ko bhi maaf kr dena chahyhe….ghur, rishtey aise tootney nahi dene chahyeh!

People Who Fear Allah and Respect Him Turn To Him In Adversity

Saba might have had a very difficult life in the world and all the people in her life let her down but it was this adversity that brought her closer to Allah. The conversation between Saba and Arfeen when he comes to take her with him was another impactful conversation – one which one can listen to over and over again.

Saba: Aap ne mujhe judge kiye Arfeen. Mujh Mein khot dekha tu berehmi ke sath mujhe sooli pe charah diya. Aj begunah paya tu phir mere pass a gaye. Kul phir se gunehgaar hone ka shuk huva tu phir se dhudhkaar dein gay mujhe.

Arfeen: Ab aisa nahi ho ga….tum meri mohabbat ka yakeen karo

Saba: mein gunehgaar hoti aur tub aap mere sath aa kur khare hotay tu ap ki mohabbat ka yakeen kur leti

Arfeen: kon hai Saba aisa jo kisi gunehgaar ke saath khara ho sake ?

Saba: Allah…..Allah hai na. Wo gunehgaar ki sunta bhi hai aur us ko bakshta bhi hai , us ko nawazta bhi hai.

Arfeen: Wo Rub hai Saba aur mein insan hon. Vo jesa hai vesa koi nahi ho sakta.

Saba: Haan jesa vo hai wesa insan nahi ho sakta…koi nahi ho sakta!! Faisla krna buhat aasan kur diya aap ne mere liye!!

The play also emphasized the importance of marriage and how vital it is to try to make this relationship successful for both men and women. I think this was a very important message as well because in most of our dramas we are shown that it is only the duty of the women to make a marriage work.

While watching the play, I couldn’t help but think how important it is for parents to have faith in their children. Saba’s parents chose to believe what others were saying about her rather than their own daughter. They ended up losing their daughter forever.

Sara’s track is very important in the story because it gives Arfeen and his family a chance to redeem themselves. If it wasn’t for Sara, Haider would never have found out what happened in his father’s life in the past. There were times when I felt like the story could have been more interesting if it was not shown in flashback mode.

I found a few similarities between this play and Shehr-e-Zaat. Both of these plays are about a woman’s journey of self-discovery which brings her closer to God. But I must say that MZZBN had more of an impact on me than SeZ. Saba’s character has been beautifully portrayed by Sammiya Mumtaz and etched out brilliantly by Umera Ahmed. There are no loose ends in the story. The play has been directed very well too. Samina Peerzada plays a role entirely different from what we see her playing on screen and she does it so remarkably. Faysal Qureshi’s character reminded me of his character in Qaid-e-Tanhai. He excels in showing remorse and regret. The scenes in which he is reminded of his past had to be my favorite as opposed to the ones in which he plays the young Arfeen.

The beginning few episodes were slow for my liking but the mystery element of the plays keeps you hooked to the screen. As the story moves forward, it is a completely different experience altogether. This drama definitely takes you on a spiritual journey and gives you a lot to think about. The drama is intense, heavy-duty, inspiring, extremely touching and poignant. The OST of the play has been beautifully sung and the lyrics are extremely heart-touching too.

I am surprised at the number of times Mehreean Raheal has played roles similar to the one she plays in this drama. She has to be one of those actresses who have been typecast to the limit.

Do share your thoughts about the play. I felt like I had to add all these dialogues because most of the viewers must have watched this play when it went on air so the dialogues may help some of you remember few of the scenes I mentioned.

Fatima Awan

I watched the play Mere Pass Pass when it went on air a few years back but when I sat down to watch it again now so that I could do justice to my review, I realized there was very little which I had actually forgotten. Yes Mere Pass Pass is one of those plays which leave a lasting impression on your mind. The play has been written by Samira Fazal, it has been directed by Misbah Khalid and produced by Momina Duraid. When Mere Pass Pass went on air Noor-ul-Huda Shah was part of the Hum TV network too and I think it was a time when both Noor-ul-Huda Shah and Momina Duraid used to take special interest in the scripts that were being written for Hum TV. That was probably why the scripts back then had much more clarity. The main cast consists of Deepak Perwani, Nadia Jameel, Moammar Rana, Aysha Khan (senior), Faisal Shah and Ayesha Sana.

The story of Mere Pass Pass is unusual; it is the story of a man Shariq (Moammar Rana) who falls in love with a married woman. It is a case of love at first sight, he has no idea that Eman (Nadia Jameel) is married to Adil Kamran (Deepak Perwani) – a man who visits the gym owned by Shariq quite often and is definitely not among Shariq’s favorite clients. The way the characters are related to each other is very interesting indeed. Unlike the recent plays written by Samira Fazal, the personality traits of the characters stay the same right till the end. I am all for character development but this play is more story driven. The writer does a superb job of sticking to the main story right till the end. You can’t help but fall in love with Shariq’s character in particular. There are times when you wonder if people like him really exist and there are times when you want to believe desperately that human race would be nowhere without people like him! Shariq’s commitment to Eman and his silent love for her is the main attraction of the play. I found myself rooting for them all through the play.

Eman and Adil stay happily married for five years. Although, they are poles apart but Eman’s love for her husband and compromising nature keeps the relationship going. Adil Kamran is a very practical, headstrong, heartless and an unreasonable person, so much so that nothing in his life is more important than the goals he has set for himself. He is definitely a person who is made up of his complexes; his sole aim in life is to have a good lifestyle and he cannot put up with people with a “middle class mentality”. Eman respects the way Adil wants to live his life, not only this she tries her best to mould herself according to her husband’s wishes. Eman does all this for Adil because she loves him, she never thinks that she is doing anything extraordinary by trying to live the life Adil dreamed for them. Eman believes in deriving happiness out of simple things; this is one trait of her personality she cannot grow out of despite of Adil’s insistence that she should change herself.

Shariq is simple, genuine and crazy in love with Eman. Shariq gets the opportunity to get closer to Eman when he starts living next door to her. Eman and Adil’s marriage breaks apart because of Adil’s stubborn and unreasonable behavior (I am not going to give away the main twist in the tale because some people may not have watched the play). The way Shariq and Eman evolve from being complete strangers to best friends is shown brilliantly. Faizer (Faisal Shah) and Shariq’s friendship is also a very special part of the play. Faisal Shah’s dialogue delivery is not impressive most of the times but the cuteness of his character more than makes up for it.

The beauty of this play lies in its simplicity, the perfect characterization and a very engaging screenplay. Every character and actor leaves a lasting impact. The casting is faultless and all the actors share superb on screen chemistry. There are times when the camera work isn’t very impressive but overall the direction and editing is spot on. Nadia Jameel is flawless as Eman and Moammar Rana is equally brilliant as Shariq, he brings out the best in his character. I just wish both of them would have paid a little more attention to their wardrobes. Deepak Perwani was the perfect choice for playing Adil; his body language and dialogue delivery are very convincing. I really enjoyed watching Ayesha Sana after a long time; she is such a fine actress, I wonder why we don’t get to see her in dramas any more. Ayesha Khan (senior) stole my heart as Shariq’s mother, I loved her character and her acting. The baby playing Ana is adorable. Samira Fazal deserves due credit for showing some of the most extraordinary mother in laws in her drama serials.

Eman may have been an emotionally weak and vulnerable person at one time but Shariq’s love gives her the strength to let go of the past. It was a pleasure watching a woman following her heart and making a wise choice in the end. There were a few minor details which were not at all convincing like the way everyone left their front doors open all the time and why was Emaan still wearing her engagement ring right till the second last episode? I am not sure if the recap of the entire serial was needed before showing the last episode since the play was short and to the point.

The OST of the play has been beautifully sung by Hadiqa Kiyani and Atif Aslam. I enjoyed listening to it over and over again. All the episodes are available on youtube in good quality. The play had a sequel as well; it was the first Pakistani drama with a sequel. I think this play is a must watch for everyone who has not seen it.

I would love to hear from all those viewers who have watched the play.

Fatima Awan

Mera Naseeb, a writing of Samira Fazal, direction of Adnan Ahmed & production of Momina Duraid for Hum Tv. Aired in the year 2011 with a total of 21 episodes.

If we put it in simple words Mera Naseeb was a story of imperfect but strong headed females who met the weakest men in their lives but just because they had so much conviction, the ladies compelled those weak men to rectify their mistakes & reflect on where they were wrong. I liked this drama a lot because of those few strong female characters which reflected the light on the women power. By far, Mera Naseeb has been the only women-centric drama that has done justice to the courage women carry within themselves & a special mention goes to the writer for etching out all these relate-able yet imperfect characters to perfection.

Mera Naseeb was a star-studded drama & the list of the actors & characters is as follows:

Syra Yousuf as Nazia
Sanam Saeed as Shazia
Imran Abbas as Moeez
Adeel Hussain as Shehbaz
Imran Aslam as Fahad
Ayesha Gul as Rafia & Shehbaz’s sister
Rubina Ashraf as Sajida & Shazia’s mother
Samina Peerzada as Salima & Nazia’s mother
Sakina Samo as Habiba
Bushra Ansari as Saba & Fahad’s mother
Sajjid Hassan as Moeez’s father
Sabahat Bukhari as Zahida & Moeez’s mother
Rehan Sheikh as Azeem
Ali Afzal as Firasat

Mera Naseeb:

Story of two sisters Shazia & Nazia who were born at the same day but remain oblivious to the fact that they are actually biological sisters. The moment they were born a fortune teller predicts that Nazia will always have a negative effect on Shazia’s life. Being brought up in a strict orthodox family where they were allowed to attend the college clad in a Naqaab & Abaya, Nazia accepts this way of living but Shazia always retaliates. One fine day on their adventure spree they come across Shehbaz who falls in love with Nazia. Somehow both Nazia & Shazia get exposed & Nazia is forced into marrying Fahad straight away. At first Nazia does plan to elope with Shehbaz but when her Pupho Habiba tells her the reality of her mother’s relation to Shazia’s father, she changes her mind & also she takes it as her responsibility to pay back what Sajida & Shazia have done for them all their life. At that particular moment Nazia decides she can’t think selfishly & can not become the reason for her family’s embarrassment.

Their real ordeal begins when they step in their practical lives where Nazia meets a very strict mother in law & a mama’s boy as her husband who does fall in love with his wife & proves to be a very understanding partner but is always keen about his mother’s wishes to a blinding point. Shazia on the other hand gets married to a seemingly perfect guy to later find out that he has lead a disturbed life because of his parent’s abusive relationship. At first Moeez promises Shazia all the happiness but later when things begin to go wrong he unconsciously becomes a replica of his father where he hits his wife & loses a track of his life like falling for Nazia, blackmailing her, drinking & ignoring all his responsibilities forcing Shazia to become the bread winner for herself & her husband.

Nazia’s marital life hits a rocky track when she finds out she is expecting a baby girl where her mother in law demands a baby boy. Unable to cope up with the pressure, Fahad commits suicide & Shehbaz who never had let Nazia slide off his mind proposes her straight away. Alongside, Shazia’s life starts shaping up where Moeez realizes his mistakes & takes control of his life especially after he finds out that they are expecting their first child. In the end they all meet happy times after coming out of the miseries of life with their heads held high.

Brilliance of Mera Naseeb:

First of all I commend the director for such a flawless direction where he not only did justice to the script but brought out the best in all the actors. It was the first time when I saw the performances of Syra Yousaf, Sanam Saeed, Adeel Hussain & Imran Aslam & I was amazed at their acting skills. I must say this has to be one of the best performances of their respective careers till date.

Even though the story revolved around the domestic issues, the execution made it worth a watch. They touched all the issues that women may face in their lives but that too very tactfully without making it boring for even a second & without overdoing any bit. I liked Mera Naseeb for a lot of things like how women on their own can lead a life with each other’s support. How a girl like Shazia who always got scolded for her impatience understood the delicacy of her difficult life & concealed it gracefully. Just because Shazia had faith in herself, she chose to get married to the person she knew didn’t love her. She tolerated everything with the hope that everything will turn out to be in her favor & the faith that she had in her husband more than he had in himself was absolutely brilliant. Shazia’s character as a wife showed how much patience, compromise & sacrifice it takes to make a marriage work. Those were some really nice moments when Sajida after finding out about the abuse Shazia has to go through asks her about Moeez but she chooses not to complain about her private life even to her mother.

I also liked the emotions of trust they showed in Nazia & Fahad’s relation where girls may easily forget everything that may have happened in the past but Nazia’s dialogue while showing Shehbaz’s letter to Fahad saying ‘mai appse chuppa nahi saki’ went to show the level of love & respect she had for her husband & backed it by literal honesty where she didn’t believe in keeping secrets. Plus the way Fahad accepts her past & just asks her to assure him of never leaving his side was heart-warming.

Another very important aspect that they touched subtly in this drama was about the outer appearance. Nazia who always got praised for her beauty had a pretty hard luck whereas Shazia despite having average looks & a turbulent beginning of her marriage didn’t go through the level of pain that Nazia had to face in her life. The belief in the predictions was crushed very decently that no one is capable to run or ruin anyone else’s life. Everything happens the way it is meant to be & everyone meets the destiny that’s destined for them to be. The arrogance of Moeez’s father & Fahad’s mother was put forth brilliantly because later they realize their mistakes & it went to show that no matter if you end up realizing how wrong you were, in the end you’re left with nothing but regrets because then it’s too late.

I must say the relationship, ladies of the house shared with each-other & with the daughters was just amazing. They realized their daughters needed everything but sympathy therefore the way they encouraged them was a perfect lesson to teach. Nazia’s conversations with her MIL & then her mother by the end of the drama were very truthful where she is convinced to move on in her life & snap out of the misery of her husband’s death. Nazia’s final decision of leaving behind her past & joining a college again for her own sake was another one of those commendable moves which showed that how important it is for a girl to get hold of her life & how easy it becomes when she has a strong support system.

Adeel Hussain as Shehbaz, Imran Aslam as Fahad, Imran Abbas as Moeez were brilliant & I loved their acting. Syra Yousaf as Nazia & Sanam Saeed as Shazia must take a bow for their perfect performances. Even though Sakina Samo as Habiba did have a side role to play but she was that important link that bind the whole family together. The drama did get a little slow after the 16th episode but nevermind. For the first time I also focused on the OST & it was amazingly sung by Komal Rizvi. I loved the ending of the drama where they showed some shots of the life Shehbaz & Nazia were living together. That particular bit made the drama a wholesome gift wrapped with a ribbon with a perfect bow on top because they didn’t let the viewers imaginations roll & gave them something to smile upon.

No wonder why Mera Naseeb got the appreciation because they changed a lot of perspectives about a lot of things through this drama. Share your views about Mera Naseeb.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

The most amazing thing about these “old” dramas is that they have a very new feel to them which the dramas that are currently on air mostly lack. The picture quality or the make-up may not be picture perfect but then these aspects are completely secondary especially when there is a strong script, impressive direction and spellbinding performances to keep the viewers engaged. I must say that Malal is very different from all the other plays written by Umera Ahmed. It does not involve middle class families, lectures on morality or religion and there is a variety of characters which stay with you long after you are done watching the play. Malal is the story of broken dreams, heartaches, happy endings and most of all of human relationships. Every character is a story in its own right. The beautiful and meaningful conversations make the drama a treat to watch. Everything falls into place beautifully in the end leaving no room for arguments as to how things should have turned out.

Malal has been written by Umera Ahmed, directed by Mehreen Jabbar and produced by MD productions. The main cast includes Sarwat Gillani, Faisal Rehman, Imran Abbas, Deepti Gupta, Adeel Ahmed, Tania Kazi, Badar Khalil, Shamim Hilali and Ismat Zaidi.

The story begins with Zeenia (Deepti Gupta) and Danish (Faisal Rehman) living happily as friends for ten long years in the US. Both of them have a special liking for each other but no declarations of love or verbal commitments are made between the two. Things change drastically when Danish’s mother pressurizes him into getting married to her best friend’s daughter Mahi (Sarwat Gillani) although Danish makes it clear that he wants to get married to Zeenia. His mother feels Zeenia is too old and modern and she wants him getting married to a girl who is much younger and prettier. The marriage takes place but Danish never accepts this relationship whole heartedly, he cannot help but constantly compare Mahi with Zeenia, who just cannot come up to those standards no matter how hard she tries. Mahi’s cousin Jawad (Imran Abbass) falls in love with Zeenia and he makes Zeenia realize that she too deserves to be appreciated. I am not going to go into the details of the story because people who are reading the review have either watched the play already or may want to watch it so I wouldn’t want to give away too many details.

Here are few aspects of the play that make it a must-watch

The story is new and free of clichés

The story of Malal does not revolve around a zalim saas and a mazloom baho, there are no never-ending misunderstandings between the hero and heroine and guess what there are no heroes and heroines in this one at all but just real people who everyone can relate to. There are no villains either!!! Moreover, It is not the story of a rich boy marrying a poor girl.
It is a brand new story which sets new standards.

*It is not alright to befriend people over the internet but even if you do it isn’t that big a mistake!

*It is perfectly alright to marry a woman much older than you if there is mental compatibility. Age is not a factor in marriage but compatibility is.

*An independent working woman wants and deserves to be loved too!

*We have a set of parents in the play who are open-minded and understanding.

*The writer does not rely on dramatic twists to keep the viewers engaged because the conversations are enough to keep you glued to the screen.

Watch it for the excellent characterizations

I must say that I had a difficult time disliking any of the characters except when Danish was being very selfish and unreasonable. All the characters are very relatable; you feel whatever they are going through every step of the way. All the actors have done a commendable job.

When Mahi got married to Danish, I got the feeling that maybe the writer was trying to prove that a girl like her couldn’t be a good wife but gradually she learned everything and was doing great. Mahi may have been fun, bubbly and young but she was willing to learn to be responsible and she did. She tried to save her relationship but when she found out that Danish never loved her she decided to move on. Sarwat Gillani is picture perfect as the innocent, naive, immature but still very likeable Mahi. Sarwat Gillani’s voice is very nasal in the entire serial probably because they were shooting in very cold weather and she had a constant flu.

Zeenia’s character had to be my favorite in the play. Zeenia is someone who was brought up by relatives and friends because she came from a broken home. Having lived that kind of a life, Zeenia thinks that pleasing people was the only way to win their love. Zeenia’s character is kind, soft hearted , fair but very strong. I loved the way she decided to keep her distance from Danish once he was married. Deepta Gupta’s perfect portrayal of Zeenia’s character made me feel for her and also made me fall in love with her character over and over again. Deepita’s eyes speak a thousand words, something you can’t help noticing.

Zeenia had been in Danish’s life for so long that he didn’t know how to live without her. The marriage was too sudden and he never allowed himself to fall in love with his new wife. Faisal Rehman is among my favorite actors. He breathed life into his character by
adding his own touch to it.

Jawad’s character is very inspiring, we definitely need to see more men (boys) like him in our dramas. Jawad is a very open minded person who knows exactly what he wants from life. He is confident and likeable throughout the play. I must confess that I am not a big fan of Imran Abbass but I especially liked him in this play.

Saifee’s character is also an important part of the story. Saifee is a young boy who doesn’t know how to cope with the situation he has been put into and therefore ends up making a big mistake. His character is vital to the story because the aftermath of his actions serves as a reality check for many.

The actress who played the role of Zeenia’s friend and the actor who played her husband deserve a special mention here. It was refreshing to see new talented actors on screen. The relationship between these two added a balance to the story; they went to show that all marriages are not dysfunctional!

All the characters big or small have something to add to the story. All the actors playing these characters are very well-suited for these roles.

Superb and meticulous direction

Mehreen Jabbar handles all the tracks in the story with finesse. The relationship between different characters is gratifying in more ways than one. Mehreen Jabbar is known to create such chemistry between all the actors that the viewers can’t help but relate to the dynamics that exist between them. You don’t feel bored listening to the long conversations between the characters because the setting is just perfect for every scene. The play is laced with moments that stay with you long after you are done watching a certain episode. Except for the confusion regarding the age difference between Jawad and Zeenia in different scenes, everything is picture perfect.

There is a lot of talking in the play but you can’t help but rejoice every second of it. Malal is sweet and sensitive. It was very refreshing to watch something different written by Umera Ahmed. I recommend it to everyone who is looking for something different, engaging and unhurried. It is compact, effective and definitely a must-watch!

Fatima Awan

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.

Dhoop Kinare – a classic of olden times, written by Haseena Moin, directed by Sahira Kazmi & produced by Farkhanda Shaheen for PTV. I thought it was a high time to revive & relive the excellence of our old blockbusters by discussing them therefore my pick from one of them for this week is Dhoop Kinare.

This drama needs no introduction because it is one of those classic masterpieces of PTV that made it across the border & compelled everyone to say that Pakistani dramas are beyond imagination amazing. I must say I had heard about it & somehow picked the story as well when my family watched it back in those days but this is the first time I got to see it myself & couldn’t resist praising it, not wondering why it got such popularity. All the actors were perfect & their conversations just brought a smile to my face.

The list of the actors & characters is:

Rahat Kazmi as Dr. Ahmer Ansari
Marina Khan as Dr. Zoya Ali Khan
Badar Khalil as Dr. Sheena Karamat
Sajjid Hassan as Dr. Irfan & Anji’s Fiancé
Qazi Wajid as Mohsin Ali Khan & Zoya’s Father.
Arshad Mehmood as Baba & Dr. Ahmer’s Foster Father.
Azra Sherwani as Fazeelat Bibi & Homemaker
Hamid Wayne as Mr. Jalal & Anji’s Father
Ishrat Hashmi as Mrs. Jalal & Anji’s Mother
Kehkashaan Awan as Anji & Zoya’s Best Friend
Rizwan Wasti as Mr. Nasir Jamal & Dr. Sheena’s Husband
Latif Kapadia as Dr. Adil & Dr. Ahmer’s Best Friend

The Story:

Dr. Ahmer; an orphan lives a life with his foster father who adopts him when he was just a child. Since then they both share a cordial relation because they both mean the world to each other. Dr. Ahmer’s life turns upside down when Baba dies leaving him devastated not only because of his death but because a secret he kept all his life from Ahmer about a family that he once had. Baba leaves a letter to Ahmer revealing the truth but he refuses to read because he is on his journey of detest & doubts. He feels wronged because of the secret Baba kept to himself all his life. For Ahmer, Baba adopted him because he wanted him as a partner to end his loneliness & all these doubts take place in Ahmer’s heart because before dying Baba makes his grand-daughter a beneficiary of the home both Baba & Ahmer lived in.

Zoya Ali Khan who’s a fresh MBBS graduate finds out that her grandfather whom she never met left a house under her ownership. Zoya a boisterous young girl who takes life way too casually now believes that she has attained a wealth overnight so therefore she doesn’t need to work hard in becoming a practicing doctor, but just because her father reminds her of how much her mother wanted their daughter to be a doctor Zoya agrees to do the house job to fulfil the wish of her late mother.

Zoya joins the hospital in a children’s ward where Dr. Ahmer is her boss. Oblivious of the link they both share, they both continue to have turbulent relation because Dr. Ahmer’s a perfectionist & a dedicated doctor but Zoya is least bothered about her duties & doesn’t understand the complexity of her job. Time takes her toll on Zoya & Dr. Ahmer’s continuous scolding convince her to take her job seriously & she also promises herself to prove a point to Dr. Ahmer that she can be a good doctor too. Zoya eventually works upon her motive & earns the respect of not only Dr. Ahmer but all her colleagues as despite having a serious job of taking care of childern with illness, she brings in the life & positivity to her surroundings.

Dr. Sheena who has been friends with Dr. Ahmer for a long time idealizes him as her perfect partner but she gets the idea that Zoya is also getting interested in Dr. Ahmer. This paves the path towards a love triangle. Sheena always gives Zoya a hard time but she finds Ahmer always supporting Zoya. Sheena now understands that Ahmer never intended to have a committment to her, then marries her classfellow. After seperating from her husband Sheena still hopes that Ahmer will take her as his wife because she hates seeing herself losing in front of young Zoya. Ahmer’s continuous support to Zoya then becomes a liking & later takes a form of emotional attachment towards her because he couldn’t help getting attracted to Zoya’s positivity & her lighthearted take on life. Ahmer always feels conscious of their age difference but overcomes the fear because he hears Zoya’s confession to Sheena about how much she loves Dr. Ahmer as she couldn’t resist falling for a charismatic person like Dr. Ahmer.

It’s now the time when they both are aware of each other’s feelings when Zoya’s father suffers a loss in the business & is physically fragile. Without her father’s consent Zoya tries to sell off the home so that she can help pay off the loan that her father has garnered. Ahmer who had always strived for getting the house back happily purchases it just to find out that the girl who he hated for taking his home away from him was none other than Zoya. Ahmer then reads a letter his Baba writes to him before dying in which he confesses how leaving his own family daunted him so therefore he wanted to do good by his granddaughter as a compensation because he could never provide a shelter to his own daughter. This way he would rest peacefully that he at least gave a roof to his only granddaughter. Dr. Ahmer comes to term with the fact that Baba was a person who only believed in benefitting those he loved therefore Ahmer accepts Zoya wholeheartedly not only because she was Baba’s granddaughter but also because he loved her.

The Brilliance of Dhoop Kinare:

I must say while watching the drama, the only thing I couldn’t stop raving about throughout was the usage of proper & accurate Urdu. I kept on wondering that no doubt Pakistani drama industry has progressed in terms of technicality & technology but we have also taken a back turn in the basic things like simplicity, the accuracy of Urdu & those brilliant heartfelt stories which leave you awestruck because of their excellence. I couldn’t help noticing how easily such a simple execution could strike a chord & make a drama memorable. No doubt the progress our industry has shown these days has its pros & cons but sadly the quality of entertainment has been left far behind. After watching Dhoop Kinare I do hope that our current lot of actors work on their accent & pronounciation of our language & use just as much Urdu as they can because it was a treat to listen to. The drama-makers must consider projects like Dhoop Kinare as a standard that they have to & they must deliver & I am sure our industry will redeem itself overnight!

All the side characters had just an important role to play in this drama as the main characters. As much as I enjoyed Dr. Irfan’s conversations, I loved the relation Zoya shared with her father. As much as Fazeelat’s raised voice to put forward her concern about Zoya was enjoyable, seeing Anji’s father as a stern & disciplined businessman but a soft-hearted father to her was a treat to watch too. All the characters were just perfectly portrayed by the actors & I must say I loved almost all the conversations because they were simple but carried a million meanings within.

I loved how Anji was ears to Zoya’s innermost feelings & how Zoya pushed Anji towards Dr. Irfan. Dr. Ahmer found a trusted friend in Dr. Adil who always helped him in changing his perspective towards certain things. Another aspect that went to show how straight forward Zoya was, were the confrontations she & Dr. Ahmer had. No one actually could’ve dared speaking to Dr. Ahmer just like that but it was only Zoya, who knew she had to convey her feelings to let the other person know how hard it was to keep up with the trials they put Zoya through. I must say I never thought that the actors back then had cared much for the fashion but it came by as a pleasant surprise to see all those ladies as proper fashionistas with short hair, matching earrings & up-to-date outfits of that era. Even though they all came across as very simple, each one of them had a fashion sense for sure.

Each & every actor enacted their character perfectly & I couldn’t believe how effortless Marina Khan was as Zoya. It was like she was born to act because she gave a life to her character. Rahat Kazmi was undoubtedly at his best & he portrayed the character of Dr. Ahmer with brilliance. & I must give a special mention to Sajjid Hassan for performing Dr. Irfan with so much ease. Each of his scenes were like a rollercoaster ride & he singlehandedly instilled the humour quotient in the drama. No wonder why this drama became everyone’s favourite because it certainly deserved to be. I am glad I took my chance & invested my time in Dhoop Kinare because yes, nothing can ever beat the magnificence of this drama.

Share your views about & memories that you have of Dhoop Kinare.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Akbari Asghari; adapted by Deputy Nazir Ahmed’s Urdu novel Mirat Ul Uroos, produced by Samina Humayun for her production house Six Sigma, written by Faiza Iftikhar & directed by Haissam Hussain. What a combination. :)

It’s a story depicting the very basic concept of ‘never judging a book by it’s cover’. ‘Appearances are meant to be deceptive’, this is another example which defines Akbari Asghari for me. I can’t begin to tell how much I have enjoyed watching this drama twice & I think I can give it a go again & again because the main factor is, you can never get bored. All the actors have enacted their characters brilliantly & I am sure they themselves wouldn’t have known what they were doing for our entertainment & how grateful we would be to them. :)

The list of the actors & the characters is:

Ali Aijaz as Kareem Fazal Chaudhru (KFC)
Nasreen Qureshi as Bay Jee
Ashraf Khan as Luqmaan
Nayyar Ejaz as Peer o Murshid
Nargis Rasheed as Shaheen (Sheen)
Rehan Sheikh as Hatim
Amna Ansari as Kulsoom (Kim)
Imran Abbas as Akbar
Humaima Malik as Asghari (Sara)
Fawad Khan as Asghar
Sanam Baloch as Akbari (Becky)
Humaira Ali as Batool Pupho
Kiran Haq as Shabbo

The Family:

Yes, it was a family of Chaudhry KFC, with Bay Jee as his sister, Luqmaan, Hatim & Batool as his childern. Luqmaan was married to Shaheen & had two sons Akbar & Asghar, who lived with Chaudhry KFC in a small village in Punjab – Pakistan. Hatim was married to Kulsoom, had two daughter Akbari & Asghari, he was settled in UK, ran a cab & Kulsoom had a catering stall she looked after. Batool was married to the industrialist in Sialkot & had the only daughter Shabbo.

The Story:

Story was about everyone having an ulterior motive except a few elders of the family. Some had them for the betterment of their family members while the others spun them for their own selfishness. Akbari Asghari is a story of two sisters, Becky & Sara. Becky was manipulative, loved to be in everyone’s good books, pretended to be innocent & very sweet but deep down she was very sharp & knew how to mold situations for her benefit; whatever the cost may be. Sara on the surface might come across as a girl with very liberal values & no morality but in actual she was more upfront, straight forward & always had the accurate argument backing with logic to prove herself right. It was just about the time when Becky almost elopes to be with her non-Muslim boyfriend Roger but just in the nick of time her mother Kulsoom finds out about it. Becky heart-broken after finding out about Roger’s marriage then promises her mother that she will go to her father’s hometown & get married to her cousin Akbar.

Akbar who had left everything worldly thinking he was doing everything right for the sake of his Deen spent his life following the footsteps of his peer o murshid. Asghar, the youngest, everyone’s favorite & Gaon’s Casanova was always in a search for someone suitable who’d benefit him materialistically. So, finally the moment arrives when the promise has to be materialized. Promise that was made years ago at the birth of Akbari & Asghari when they were verbally engaged to their first cousins Akbar & Asghar.

Kim & Hatim who have high hopes for Becky dread marrying her away to Akbar – the fundamentalist of the family. Akbar on his own tries to walk out of the marriage because he thinks modern khatoon was way out of his league. Asghar being the opportunist senses Akbar’s distress & gets ready to be sacrificed for the sake of his brother. This is how Akbari & Asghar get married. I loved the fact that even though they were shown as two different people, they were totally the same; manipulative, & dishonest but the only difference that set them apart was Becky being more mature & clever whereas Asghar was gullible & naive. Things spice up a lot when Batool & Shabbo come in the picture because Asghar has made some promises to Shabbo as well but very easily he ditches her & gets married. Akbari keeps on manipulating Asghar because she wants out of this marriage & spend her life free from any obligations. She loves being loved & appreciated because she can’t tolerate being in anyone’s bad books. Asghar right after his marriage earns the title of Zan Mureed by being totally smitten with his wife, he obviously does it thinking this way he’ll be able to go abroad with her & settle there on the expense of his FIL’s business.

After Asghar Akbari’s wedding, Akbar accompanies Hatim because everyone tells him to take care of Hatim & his business after his heart attack so that his Chacha could rest. After finding out the reality of his Chacha & Chachi that they owned nothing which they flaunted about – Akbar tries to bring them out of their complexes & earns their respect because of his modesty. This paves the path of Asghari’s likeness towards Akbar because she finds herself getting attracted to such a humble person like him. Becky now ups her plan & starts fabricating the lies against her in-laws so that her family helps her walk out of her marriage but things go totally unexpected when Sara agrees to get married to Akbar thinking she will be with Becky & would undo the zulm going on with her sister. Akbar agrees to this marriage because according to his peer o murshid, he’d be doing this girl a favor by bringing her back to her long lost path of the Deen.

At first Akbar finds it hard to cope with the be-baak Asghari but as he gets to know her, he finds her submissive, practical, logical & falls in love with her. Asghari who has prejudices against him also after understanding him better knows that he is honest, down to earth & is a gem of a person but has been trapped by a fake peer o murshid because of Akbar’s blinding trust in him. Asghari jumps into a situation just for Akbar to rescue her from his peer o murshid & that’s when they confess their love for the first time. Akbari who later finds out that Asghar was in an awe of getting such a perfect wife feels guilty & rest Shabbo’s clinginess to Asghar does the trick of surfacing her deep etched love for her husband where she rectifies her mistakes & promises to be a good wife & daughter in law. Finally & last but not the least, Asghari takes the situation in her hand & sends Bay Jee away to her actual home – the home of her husband which she rejects going to at the day of her marriage for the sake of her brother’s dignity & in the end they all live happily ever after.

The Brilliance of Akbari Asghari:

I loved Akbari Asghari for the fact that it highlighted thick issues very lightheartedly such as complexes, insecurities, ulterior motives, misunderstandings, family politics & what not. Each & every episode was like a roller-coaster ride of laughter along with emotional moments. I can convincingly say that this drama was entertainment personified because even though they tackled things with humorous, the underlying issues still remained the focal point & were handled brilliantly. Undoubtedly, for people like me who like to tune into lighthearted realistic dramas, this was actually real because people in their daily lives do have such fun moments too which were portrayed with perfection in Akbari Asghari.

I loved all the characters of Akbari Asghari but I must say the star of the drama was Nargis Rasheed as Shaheen or Sheen as Bay Jee called her. Not only Sheen but all the female characters in this drama were perfect examples of how ladies of the family should be – strong, confident, like a binding force & forgiving on tops. I must especially mention the bit where Shaheen & Akbari come to a closure with seeking forgiveness & apologizing to each other was the best moment for me, it went to show how easy is it to let go of the past mistakes & work towards the better future. This is exactly what we need to see in our dramas, some strong headed but bighearted females who know exactly how to run a family. Apart from Shaheen, another interesting character was of Batoolan Pupho played by Humaira Ali brilliantly. I loved her fixation to English & her translations were just perfect. Kiran Haq was adorable as Shabbo & I think she did justice to her part as well. Well, what can I say about Nasreen Qureshi. I love love loveeee her Punjabi fluency & she made me love Punjabi more, she was adorable through out the drama & it was a treat to watch her as Bay Jee.

I loved this drama mainly for the reason because Akbar & Asghari’s characters went to show that how exactly religious matters can be handled. Akbar thought he was just doing things right – which he undoubtedly was, but just the little input from Asghari made him tackle his religious side logically as well. There were some amazing dialogues that targeted the mindset & notions of people which they might have towards someone who is trying hard to adapt the religious way of life. No one could’ve ever thought that a broad minded girl like Asghari could actually have a religious side to her as well but what stood out the most for me about her character was the logic that she always presented in each of her discussions.

I loved Akbari Asghari for the fact that each & every character had an important role to play, starting from Chaudhry KFC to Peer o Murshid, there was not even a single character which seemed boring, forced or someone who had nothing to contribute to the story. Every character was just as important as the other because together they made this drama a master piece.

I loved the Gaon touch, the use of Punjabi, the direction, the screenplay, the dialogues, the story & every thing about this drama & I must say that Humaima Malik & Imran Abbas outdid themselves & they stood out the most for me. Sanam Baloch & Fawad Khan were great as Akbari & Asghar as well & all the other actors were brilliant as usual because the director brought out the best in them.

I loved this drama, hence I label it as a complete package of entertainment. Do share your views about Akbari Asghari if you enjoyed it as much as I did & those of you who have missed this drama, go watch it NOW! ;)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

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.