Ohkay so, Sang e Mah continues to provide the quality entertainment, along with profound dialogues & interesting stories that each & every character has to share. The story on the whole may not be making a lot of progress but every episode continues to be engaging enough. The most interesting aspect of recent episodes is how they all are weaving their own story & how all of it is getting interlinked. It won’t be wrong to say that Sang e Mah is one such drama where every character has something to offer.
They All Have A Story To Tell
Shehrezaad is definitely not leaving Hilmand’s side. She has yet to learn about him & his struggles but somehow every time she hears him talk, she can feel the honesty as well as the sorrow that he is carrying with him. This is exactly why Shehrezaad feels drawn towards Hilmand because she connects with him on an emotional level. Hilmand too has figured out about Shehrezaad’s past but the way he assured her that he was going to stand by her was simply beautiful. This entire scenario has been conceived thoughtfully where Shehrezaad didn’t have to say anything, she didn’t have to revisit the demons by painfully wording the trauma that she had faced, but eventually Hilmand found out about it & put her heart to ease. There is a lot more development left before labelling it as a love story but so far, the equation that Hilmand & Shehrezaad share is one of the best emotional connections that I have come across in a Pakistani drama!
I won’t sugarcoat that at times I felt the entire Gagh scenario was being dragged but at this stage, the way it has led to certain developments makes it remain the focal point of the story. Hilmand committed Gagh & then got attacked, ever since there has been a rift between Marjan & Hikmat because Marjan thinks it was his doing. Gulmeena feels burdened because she knows all of it happened because of her. Badaam Gul knows the truth, but he too feels torn between speaking the truth or keeping Mastaan’s secret. Zarsanga is torn between her sons & Zarghona also knows no matter what happens, none of it is going to guarantee her daughter’s happiness. I must say, one may not expect Badaam Gul to make sense most of the times but the way he explained everything to Mastaan was one of my favorite conversations of the entire drama so far. He made it clear how eventually Gulmeena will be the one paying the price of what Mastaan thought was a favor upon her. This entire situation is definitely tricky & I can not wait to see how the writer Mustafa Afridi will wrap it up skilfully!
Who would’ve thought that Las Peeran would turn out to be such a diverse place with peoples from all walks of life, different backgrounds & belief systems living in it. Haji Marjan not only had an encounter with a practicing Christian, he had fond memories of him too, so much so that he actually saw him as a father figure. Nurse Martha’s track was also done nicely & goes to show how drama makers are now paying more attention to diversity & representation in Pakistani dramas. At times it may look slightly forced but in Sang e Mah, they kept it as organic as they could, which is actually refreshing to see. I will say that Awal Khan has made quite an impression on the audience’s mind, especially regarding how he mistreated his wife Zarghona, so to use him in Martha’s relevance as well as trying to soften the hearts of the viewers towards him was a bit of a stretch. So far we have seen him trying to harm Hilmand on Marjan’s order, as well as trying to target Shehrezaad in order to frame Hilmand, so for him to act so nice to Martha & all of a sudden think of Zarghona didn’t really sit well with me. Having said that, it did not take away the importance & relevance of Martha in the story.
Sabz Ali has always been a troublemaker & this time around he made sure to create some more problems for his townspeople. Sabz Ali & his mother is definitely hungry for the revenge therefore they are doing what it takes to held them all accountable, be it through their harsh words or actions. The members of the Jirga have faced enough embarrassment, therefore they decided to conduct the session so that they could hold Hilmand accountable for what he did. Marjan knows exactly what will happen & the things Hilmand is capable of saying that is why he already felt defeated. I would like to see some insight into Marjan’s character. He definitely is a layered character but I think they have used enough time & now it’s necessary to be more definitive about him, or at least give us the audience some clarity about him. They don’t have to give away it all because that would mean the end of the story but at this stage, seeing Marjan dodging the bullet by simply saying he did nothing to Asadullah is repetitive & just not enough. The only likeable thing about Marjan is his love & gentleness towards his wife Zarsanga, he definitely fell in love & fell harder but other than that, there is a lot more that needs to be known about him!
I did not find Zarsanga’s oblivion convincing at all. In such a small town where everyone knows everything, where the house help gave Hikmat a piece of her mind for attacking his brother, for Zarsanga to not know where Hilmand was made little sense whatsoever. Also her way of coping with the heartache was again quite interesting. I like how all these characters are just so flawed & do not shy away from admitting their mistakes; except Marjan who refuses to state the truth & hides behind a mere no all the time. Zarsanga is quite an emotionally unavailable mother. She couldn’t do much to save Hilmand & make him feel loved & now when it comes to Hikmat she is deliberately pushing him away by not believing him at all.
Impressive Storytelling
Sang e Mah has definitely been an interesting journey so far. I would love to see the Jirga session with Hilmand facing Marjan. It is obvious that Marjan is saving it all for the finale but I do feel it’s about time that things move forward & the truth from the past is unveiled. However, the way the writer had added stories within a story is quite interesting & suddenly refreshes the mindset as you’re watching the drama. Atif Aslam & Kubra Khan have created magic on screen as Hilmand & Shehrezaad. Their performances are convincing & strike a chord every single time. The rest of the actors have also performed brilliantly. Sang e Mah continues to be a very impressive drama with strong storytelling & brilliant execution. Please share your thoughts about the latest episodes of Sang e Mah.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
Hi Zahra, good to see your review. It is delayed & collective, hope everything is good at your end.
My comments for episode 14 are as below. It is another good episode. I liked how Marjan diverted the attention of his wife Zarsanga from Hilman’s ill condition to her white hair. He made her do hair dye by threatening to marry some young one without white hair. But Zarsanga started dying her hair, not because of his threat but to follow the order from her husband. The way Zarghona broke the news of Hilmand getting attacked by Hikmat, to Zarghona was great. She knew that such a news will shake up Zarsanga very badly, that’s why she started telling their mother’s story about hair dying & making her promise of being standstill while she apply dye to her hair. Once Zarsanga made that promise, she broke the news. Then also, Zarsanga tells her that this news her shaken up her roots (not the roots of her hair but her own roots which is her generation). Hilmand in hospital tells Hawal Khan that he is not saying sindari but Rijz. Here, the Rijz means call out loudly enemy to excite him to attack, like Lalkarna. Shaherzaad’s cousin doctor’s scene & his story are managed very well; straight & short. Looks like in the next episode he will not have screen space and that’s all for him then. One more thing I like about this drama is; it managed to show various castes & religions harmony. Like Sikh community since beginning hand in hand with Pashtun (even in Jirga), this episode has shown how a Christian nurse helped Shahezaad for treating Hilmand out of the hospital.
My comments for episode 15 are as below.
This episode was also interesting. We get to see the direct interaction between Hilmand & Shaherzad and thought changing interactions of Hawal Khan. Let’s start with Badam Gul & Mastan Singh’s face off for the first time after Mastan’s attack on Hilmand. This time again, Mastan is taking religious cover to cover his fear. But Badam Gul’s befitting reply was great. Saying why he will never reveal to anyone that Mastan attacked Hilmand. But also letting Mastan know that whatever he does for the sake of Gulmeena, is not going to work, but bring more harm to many lines, including Gulmeena. Another highlight was Gulmeena’s performance. She was almost absent in the last episode, but in this episode, she was for a very short scene, but the way she performed was appreciable. When Badam Gul called her for Hikmat’s meeting, she gets frozen in the place, just talking with eyes like someone you love the most, then when Hikmat starts talking, her expression changed to getting angry, and when she gave a final reply, again the expression changed to angrier and lastly, when she cried alone, showing that she lost Hikmat forever & nothing will help the two to unite. So great change of expression for a very short scene. Regarding Hilmand, I like his style of talking poetic & philosophical. For a simple sentence, he expresses so twisted with words that make him a unique way of dialogue delivery. Like, falling of Hawal Khan from Ladder he explains so beautifully, poetically & realistically that it made me laugh and praise him simultaneously. Another example of his dialogue delivery was his detailing of himself comparing Kabul’s situation to the Russian invasion. And how slowly he turns the table & equates Kabul with Shahrazad and makes himself & her on the same side of the sufferer, was great. And this similarity of suffering made him close to Shahrazad and good to see him realizing that she is doing all this because she has a feeling for him. Now it will be no more one-sided love by Shahrazad. Lastly, Hawal khan’s change of thought processing was great to see. First objecting to being at a Christian home & then objecting to eating or drinking there. However, seeing the hospitality provided to him by the same Christian person, made him realize that humanity serves first then religion & all. He immediately compares his treatment here with the treatment he receives at Haji Mastan by looking at the well-prepared bed for him, including the first aid treatment he receives here. It was realized to him that for doing good one does not need to see the religion or caste and who fits here better than a nurse profession we see daily around. This made him clear his self-made or common misconception of what a religious person thinks about other religions. And made him drink the remaining tea from the cup of nurse & bring a new ladder for her. Bravo, this drama has put several times the social equality message over religion.
My comments for episode 16 are as below.
It’s another good episode. Now, for the first time Jirga is not influenced or scared by some authority like Haji Marjan and takes a stand for making the right decision. The influence of Marjan was so much on them that they can’t think by themselves, but when Marjan was away & they sat together, they realized that they should act righteously. And this build-up courage in them to say on the face of Marjan what they unanimously decided. They dared to say calling Jirga on Hilmand or say sorry to Sabz Ali’s mother. It’s a big change under Haji Marjan’s umbrella. I like the discussion of Hilmand’s friend on his father’s grave. They even don’t know why Hilmand was against Marjan, but they want to help Hilmand in his absence. Hilmand, though leave with them for long, but this secret he never shared with them. This also makes me think that how much Hilmand suffers daily by keeping this top-secret within himself. As Hilmand, while Talking to Shaherzaad says that he knows who attacks him, this I think means that he knows Mastan attacked him because by his hand, Mastan’s bracelet was removed and usually such bracelets are worn by Sikhs only. But Hilmand might think that Haji Marjan has sent Mastan to attack him. Interesting to see, even Marjan goes to Shahji for advice. And during the discussion Shah ji made him confess that Marjan has killed Nasrullah. Though Marjan did not utter such words exactly but the way he has broken down with tears when Shahji told him that he killed Nasrullah, as well as he continuously crying loudly while saying Takbeer for namaz, make us understand that definitely Marjan has killed Nasrullah. Finally, the last highlight about Marjan’s childhood story of getting lost and later found & returned by a Christian father. Good to hear the details of this story & involvement of this Father in Marjan’s family and later death & burial in Laspiran. This drama has continuously sent social harmony messages that humanity is above any cast or level in society.
Sang-e-Mah is a visual treat indeed. I like the execution, the locations, the rustic feel that it has been shot with and needless to mention, the performances.
I feel Zarsanga (Samiya Mumtaz, I always get confused between the names Zarsanga and Zarghona) has a role to play in Nasrullah’s death, which might only be revealed towards the end and Marjan is aware of this and is hiding the truth as he wants to save Zarsanga from the guilt.
Hilmand and Sheherzad’s scenes are always a delight to watch, the scene when Hilmand gave her his ring was beautifully done. However, I am not sure what this means from his side.
Mastan was missing from this episode, so was Gulmeena. The story is moving at a slower pace right now, but still manages to hold viewer interest. I recently heard in an interview that Atif Aslam was not the first choice to play Hilmand, but I am glad he did it as the poetic dialogues suit him very much and sound so good in his voice. (Although I think Ali Zafar would have been equally good, but no complaints)
I thought Awwal Khan’s change of attitude towards Martha, the nurse was abrupt or too rushed. Also, Awwal Khan remembering Zarghona was out of the blue, as until previous episode, we didn’t even know that Awwal Khan was her first husband.
Waiting to see how things unfold from here.
Zahra ji, You have not posted since last few weeks now. Hope all is well at your end. Look forward to your return.