Sanam Episode 03 – Aan’s Mother; The Only Good Thing About Sanam!

Ohkay so, I am glad I took my dose of panadol before watching this drama because now when the episode has ended, I am sure the headache would’ve doubled & the reasons are self-explanatory. I am trying really really hard to warm up to the characters but somehow I don’t feel that they have a lot of depth in them. While watching Sanam, I feel that I am just watching a drama which doesn’t have much to it; nor in terms of story neither in terms of characters but I still am not giving up. One thing that definitely grew on me is the OST, I really like it & I am glad there’s an addition of one more thing that I like about this drama.

Well, I believe that Harib should act like a man & he should stop relying on Shehroz for all the petty problems that he is facing right now. Harib chose to get married to Aila on his own terms, then he should deal with his baggage himself. Harib himself saw how Shehroz was the one who insinuated everything, so it was actually quite odd that Harib once again tried to seek Shehroz’s help in this matter too. Even though Shehroz came to help Harib, the moment Harib left, Shehroz answered all of Aila’s irrelevant questions, whereas if he came with an intention of helping his friend, he should’ve avoided the entire conversation. I don’t think Shehroz had any reasons to reply to every question that Aila posed about Harib’s ex-girlfriend. Also, Harib seems to be missing the point here, it wasn’t Shehroz because of whom Aila was reacting like that, she had an ‘episode’ after she heard everything about Sara from him.

I was actually quite relieved to know that the doctor, without running any tests & without having any proper sessions with Aila miraculously diagnosed that she is suffering from bipolar disorder. It was good that he even suggested that Aila should go through psychotherapy, which actually made me believe that Harib will now try to understand his wife but nope, he chose not to budge. It seems that where Aila is unconsciously suffering from a bipolar disorder, Harib is suffering from self-pity, that is why he has this ‘bechari’ look pasted on his face in all the scenes. Harib said that he has been studying Aila’s behavior for quite some time now, so it again brings me to my point where I fail to believe that Aila never really showed this side of hers to Harib before their marriage.

Well, surprise surprise, Aila not only has a mother but she has a step-father too. Aila also has an uncle & an aunt & also a cousin who she was engaged to. Well, after seeing them I am wondering what took Aila’s family so long to make an appearance? Please don’t tell me that they will be showing up according to their or the director’s convenience? The entire conversation that happened in that scene was so out of the place because usually, such things are discussed & spoken about before the couple gets married. Aila’s mother declared that they are ‘kharay & sachay log’, so where was their ‘sachai’ when Harib was planning on getting married to Aila? It looked that Aila’s entire family was waiting for her to get married to a ‘bechara’, only to tell him later that his wife has some mental issues & now he has to deal with it for the rest of his life. The entire time Aila’s family tried hard to let us know that they take Harib as their son & they think of him as their family member but the lack of chemistry between all the characters that were posing to be a family was quite visible. Well, I know it will come as a shock or surprise (depends on your perspective) but I liked Aila in this episode, I will repeat I liked Aila & not Hareem Farooq in this episode. I liked how she made a come back at her uncle & told him that his son wasn’t worth it. Once again, Harib looked totally surprised when he found out about Aila’s engagement, which shouldn’t have been the case because they have told us time & again that they were in love & spent quite some time with each other before getting married so I am not sure why are they trying to imply that Aila FOOLED Harib by completely hiding everything from him & then got married to him? Another thing that I liked about Aila was how she apologized to Harib, whereas it should’ve been Harib assuring her again & again that she is fine & there’s nothing wrong with her, but our hero sahab chose to tell his wife that she is a ‘psychopath’…so much of compassion for your wife even when you know that she is bipolar, right!

Well, I honestly thought that after the diagnosis, the writer will stir some sympathy towards Aila but it looked like she is trying hard to attribute all the bad habits to her. In the previous episodes, they told us that Aila has no control on herself, she is paranoid, she is ‘shukki’ & in this episode, they showed that she was ‘jhooti’ as well because she conveniently lied to Shehroz that nothing was wrong between her & Harib. Also another thing that they showed was that Aila was openly threatening her husband & she hit him too. Matlab, koi aur burai reh gai hai aisi jo ke Aila mai na ho? Oh & yes, the biggest burai I forgot to mention, she also doesn’t know how to ‘cook’, my goodness, itni buri hai Aila? :/

Khurram & his mother’s scenes didn’t spark an interest but what actually did was the coverage that Aan’s mothers got. I actually found myself giggling at her dialogues; ‘heart attack aya tha, saath le ke chala gaya’ & ‘moochain dekh ke wo log shajra nikal lainge’, lol, she is funny & she is so cute. I really enjoyed watching Aan’s mother & everything that she is doing to get her daughter married. The way she spoke to the branch manager & told him about Aan’s proposal was hilarious too, I like her for the fact that she is brutally honest & so very simple. All hearts for Aan’s mother!

Well, I must say the only time I actually felt that Harib (read OKB) was a bechara was when Aila (read Hareem Farooq) was hitting him hard, I am sure after that scene OKB must’ve had some bruises on his skin. Hareem Farooq tried really hard to bring out some emotion but it just didn’t work. She ended up staining Aan’s reputation & now I am sure Harib will make it his duty to compensate for everything that his wife said & that will lay the foundation of Harib & Aan’s union. This episode was strictly alright, as much as the lead pair should be running the show, it is Hina Bayat who has overruled everyone & even the photo of Shaukat Qureshi is enough to spark a humor & start a conversation. I must say, I love Maya Ali’s outfits, she is rocking them & she looks stunning. The precap of the next episode suggested that Harib will find a mother in Aan’s mother & he will now become a part of their family which will give him all the more reasons to be close to them. Honestly speaking, I don’t think by slightly touching on the fact that Aila was ‘bipolar’ the writer did any justice to the actual issue because Harib seemed a little too pre-occupied with his own bechargi & the focus of the director seemed to be on everything else rather than on Aila’s psychological issues. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Sanam.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Zahra Mirza

Zahra Mirza got associated with Reviewit.pk in 2012. After moving to Australia, Pakistani content was a way of staying connected to the roots, language & Pakistani culture because it felt home. Eight years ago, review writing began as a hobby but has now turned into a passion.