Ohkay so, this episode of Sang e Marmar was quite interesting. It gave us an insight into a quite a few characters without mixing things up. It looks like the director will take his time in introducing all the characters properly & that is why for now, he focused on a handful of characters, which is an intelligent approach. What I loved the most about this entire episode was the blend of everything, from comedy to relationships to the intense stuff that sheds a light on the hypocrisy of a few people. I must say, all the aspects along with the emotions were portrayed beautifully & that is the reason why this episode totally worked for me!
Shireen is actually in love with Aurang & she is still holding onto the peacock feather that Aurang gifted to her in their childhood, because for Shireen, it is everything that she has related to him; it is his beautiful memory that is embedded in her heart & it is also a source of connection that she has which links her to him. Aurang might not even remember Shireen at this stage of his life but he most certainly is oblivious of the fact that there is one simple minded, honest girl in his neighboring village that loves him deeply & longs for his presence. I actually liked the flashback scene of Aurang, his brother who most probably must’ve been Saifullah & Shireen because it showed the personalities & the characteristics of these three people that they till date embody, where Saifullah didn’t mind grabbing something that belonged to somebody else brutally & Aurang couldn’t resist giving it back to his friend, who he initially gifted it to, showcasing how considerate he is & Shireen appreciated Aurang’s presence in her life back then & she still does, but she is still waiting for her moment of glory.
Gohar has laid his eyes on Shireen’s friend & he is doing everything to fool her into believing everything that he is not. Everyone in Ghari Baraan is well aware of who Gohar is & what sort of a personality he has, but quite cunningly, he has called dibs on a girl who doesn’t belong to his village as he knows that he won’t be able to escape from the elders of his village if he got caught. Unfortunately, Shireen’s friend, who has an easy going approach in her life has fallen prey to Gohar’s attention. For her, just the fact that a guy wrote her a decent letter means that he is serious about her. The way she reacted while daydreaming about all the things that Gohar wrote in his letter slightly touched on the lack of exposure girls at that age of their lives have. She is gullible & she also doesn’t have a brother who she can be fearful of, but like every other girl, she also dreams of having a life partner, a soulmate & a companion who can give her an utmost attention, that is why just a tape recorder & a letter filled with cheesy poetry was enough for her to fall in love with a complete stranger who actually looks like a hooligan. I don’t know why but the conversation between Shireen & her friend gave me a feeling that things won’t end favorably for Shireen’s friend & she will end up paying a heavy price as she is a bit too naive & she is choosing to trust someone who is not worth it. Shireen’s slight mention of a girl who passed away made me feel that may be her friend will end up losing her life too.
Gulistan Khan once again showed what sort of a hypocrite he is. He is someone who believes in molding religion & cultural norms to suit his convenience. Where at one hand, Gulistan Khan can’t stand to see his son in an attire other than Shalwar Kameez, he doesn’t mind digging a grave to receive his money. Gulistan Khan knows that the key to his power & success is the oppression of everyone around him, that is why he didn’t even second guess himself before he ordered everyone to accompany him to the graveyard. That scene was quite intense & it was a tad bit disturbing but it was definitely tackled brilliantly & I was actually relieved that the son of the deceased agreed to give the money back to Gulistan that his father owed. Everything that Gulistan did was only shown to shed a light on how cold-hearted he has become in the course of attaining the power & position in his village. It brilliantly shows how power makes people blind, that they can’t differentiate between right & wrong & forget about the fact that one day they will have to pay back for everything that they have done too. The vision or possibly a flashback that he had while standing next to his father’s grave was a hint that he got but chose to ignore it completely, I wish he had paid heed to that but right now he is blind from within.
Torah Khan believes in maintaining peace with people around him, that is why despite knowing that what Gulistan ordered him was wrong, he chose to follow them obediently. The things that Torah said about Gulistan Khan were a clear cut depiction of how much hatred he has in his heart for Gulistan, but I have a feeling that he is waiting for the right opportunity to get back at his Uncle. I am sure Gulistan has something to do with the death of Torah’s mother, that is why he doesn’t leave an opportunity to share what he feels about him. I think Torah is definitely trying to gather information that he can use against Gulistan, that is why he seemed a little too interested in what the thief was telling him about Gohar.
Overall, this episode of Sang e Marmar was beautifully directed & elaborated on screen. Saife Hassan surely knows what he is doing & I can’t thank him enough for giving this project such a perfect treatment. I loved how comic & light-hearted scenes made things a little easy & immediately changed the mood & feel of the episode. Even though Aurang & Gulistan Khan didn’t get enough coverage but it most certainly didn’t feel like I was missing out on something because everything else was being conveyed with so much of detailing that it actually felt like an important part of the story. I actually had a good laugh at Gohar & his antics, where he was too busy in his games that he didn’t have a time to offer prayers, but he used the exact same thing to build an impression on his lady love. It is sad that he is just fooling around & sadly, his intentions aren’t nice too. I hope that Torah saves that girl from Gohar because she doesn’t deserve this.
I must say, even though Hassan Noman didn’t get enough screen time, the one scene that he had was enough for him to showcase what a talented actor he is. He actually made his scene a treat to watch. Throughout the episode, especially while listening to the ladies, knowing that they have never stepped outside the vicinity of their home let alone village, I was wondering it would’ve been so good if they all had put an effort to imitate the Pushto-Urdu accent, because apart from Hassan Noman, no one else did it & that’s what defined his attention to detail as an actor a little more than the rest of the cast. I also wish the male actors had done that too because the creative team has brought the Pukhtoon culture to life perfectly in this drama, but one thing that’s missing is the accent that would’ve sealed the deal. Apart from that, everyone’s acting is perfect & I am quite impressed with Kubra Khan’s acting too because yes, at times her dialogue delivery can sound a little effortful, but in most of the scenes, she seems pretty natural. The one who stole the show in the episode was the actress playing the role of Shireen’s friend, I thoroughly enjoyed watching her & she is such a fine actress who makes it obvious that acting comes naturally to her, so massive props to her. I will say that I am impressed how all the actors have owned their characters & have given their characters a perfect treatment, like they actually look like they have been living such a life in such a setting since the day they opened their eyes. I can’t wait for the next episode already as seems like Aurang will address the elephant in the room by inquiring about Torah Khan’s mother & I can’t wait to find out what actually happened to her. Please share your thoughts about this amazing episode of Sang e Marmar.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
