Ohkay so, this episode of Ye Dil Mera took the story forward & gave a lot of answers to the viewers by showing the flashbacks & revealing how Amaan & Ana shared some of their childhood memories together. This episode in general was definitely nice to see, more so because a lot was revealed, however, the acting in some of the scenes was unconvincing & it almost looked like the actors were having a hard time establishing the chemistry needed to make their conversations appear effortless & natural!
Pieces of Puzzle From The Past
Ana has been finding Daryabagh quite familiar but she is unable to put a finger to it. I will definitely give it to Ana that after suffering from anxiety & depression, some of her memory must’ve been hazy but considering that she has spent such a memorable time with her mother in that place, for her not to even remember any of it does make it a little unconvincing. Maybe if they had shown that Ana was around 3 – 4 years of age, it would’ve still made sense because the girl that was shown in this episode was around 7-8 years old & mostly kids do remember the happenings especially visits to certain places vaguely at least. However, like I said, I will give it to her considering that she has spent years being disturbed so for her to hold onto that memory seems highly unlikely. Amaan’s character & his overall growth has become stagnant, especially the motive of bringing Ana to Daryabagh. It seems he wants Meer Farooq to come in order to get in touch with Ana, but it looks like it will take a while because Meer Farooq seems too relaxed & not too keen on getting in touch with his daughter Ana during his trip to France.
So, the reason why Amaan knew Ana had a scar on her chin was because of the childhood incident of falling from the swing. Amaan & Ana’s mothers ended up being friends. It was also suggested that Meer Farooq was clearly interested in Humera but she friend-zoned him. I still feel this would not be the reason why Meer Farooq ended up killing her, there’s obviously more to it. It looks like when Nilo had feared that her life was in danger, she must’ve gone to Humera & she being a witness to Nilo’s death ended up getting killed by Meer Farooq too. They will definitely take some time in taking the story to that point, however it was interesting to note that they did establish the connection between Humera & Meer Farooq way before, because after he shot her, the way he looked at her clearly indicated that he had certain feelings of resentment towards her. However, I will say that it is definitely interesting how in certain scenarios, they have show a more humane side of Meer Farooq due to the love he has for Ana, it is like she brings out the best in him & he likes being a good human being in front of her. Yes, he is lying & faking his niceness but as a father, the love he has for her is unconditional & pure. Having said that, I am definitely looking forward to his undoing because he most certainly has to pay for what he has done in his past.
Humera & Nilo became good friends & this episode only covered the beginning of their friendship. Their conversations were simple to the point of being a little off, also it looked like they both were repeating after each other, which made their chemistry as strangers as well as friends a little unconvincing & odd. In scenarios like these, it shows how important it is for the director to get the desired acting from the actors because some actors heavily rely on the directors & their briefing. It was too obvious that both Zarnish Khan as well as Mira Sethi were struggling to do their bit. Anyways, I was way too happy to be getting the answers that I didn’t let their poor acting & strange vibe distract me but it was still way too obvious. I liked seeing how Nargis Bua was being herself & was super sweet to both Ana & Amaan. It now makes a lot more sense why Amaan has a soft-corner for Nargis Bua because she happens to be the only person alive who was nice to him back in those days & who he has some fond memories of. The scenes of kids were nicely done & they seemed natural, considering the viewers automatically don’t expect the child artist to act naturally or effortlessly but still, both the kids did their part well!
Sahira is obviously following the instructions of Amaan & she is now confusing Meer Farooq, kind of riling him up so that he does something wrong which Amaan will catch onto. Ana is obviously not too keen about not having her mobile phone which is strange but Meer Farooq not being eager to get in touch with his daughter doesn’t make much sense, especially when he is out of the country & hasn’t spoken to her once? Yes, I didn’t find the need of him to be in touch with her 24/7 when he & Ana were in Islamabad & she had just started her marital life with the love of her life, but yes, now that he is far away, he definitely would want to get in touch with his only family, wouldn’t he?
Weak Execution
The episode overall was definitely nice to see. Amaan collecting the pieces of his childhood & Ana finding some of the traces as well, it was quite interesting. Just when I was appreciating the little detail of the hotel staff speaking in French & appreciating the fact that the director put in that effort to convince the viewers that Meer Farooq was in France, I was taken aback by the high-res quality of pictures from Ana’s childhood. It’s little details like these that set the tone for the drama & show that the drama-makers only approached it commercially. I was wondering how much of an impact it would’ve made if they had photoshopped those pictures & given them a little effect of the 90’s to suggest that they were from Ana’s childhood & not clicked yesterday with the child artist. Ahad Raza Mir & Sajal Aly were right in their element in this episode yet again. Naima Khan played her part well. Mira Sethi & Zarnish Khan definitely struggled, although the stylists had put in an extra effort in their clothing to make it look like they were showing a flashback from the 90’s but the actresses on their own faltered, which also made the entire scenario lose the charm & the grip it should’ve had on the viewers, considering they were showing such important pieces of the puzzle related to Ana & Amaan’s childhood. Anyways, please share your thoughts about this episode of Ye Dil Mera.
Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.
Excellent review. You catch faults so easily
Have you noticed 60% of comments of your review come from people writing their names as ibrahim
Thank you so much Ibrahim. Yes, I have noticed that, it’s a beautiful & common name, maybe that’s why. :)
Wonderful analysis of episode.
What an amazing area Daryabagh is! The valley is quite verdant with streams flowing throughout. But in all these beautiful surroundings, there were two dull souls of khawateen who accidently became friends and kept boring us throughout. Itnee mehnat to shoot in real and very cold locations, even kids also sacrificed to come out without winter cap, they had opportunity to unearth the long-awaited secrets in a very strong way if actings and executions were strong. Mira Sethi k baray main kiya kahay banda, bas koi aur naheen mila tha inhain ya shayad sasti parri hogi k flashbacks main hee dikahana hai for couple of episodes only. Zarnish bhee acting se ziada style marti hai.
This also came into my mind k itnee barri bachi Ana was aur usay kuch yaad hee naheen, jabke Aman who is also going though depression and anxiety since long, remembers each minute detail of his past.
Dramay ka overall theme aur storyline diff hain, could be better if handled properly.
Thank you so much Urs for your comment. I enjoyed reading how you drew a comparison between the beautiful location & the boring scenes. The only actor playing her part well in that scene was Naima Khan because she was being herself & was totally natural. Mira Sethi & Zarnish Khan were disappointing, their chemistry was strange & the dialogues were boring too. Yes, it is sad that this drama could’ve been so much better if it was directed properly because the theme & the storyline is so interesting.
I know anaa bari lag rae thi kafi per us ki mama ny bola na ky jub hum last time aaey thy tab yeh 2 years ki thi aur ab wo 3 saal baad aaey jiska matlab wo 5 years ki hui to 5 years ky bachay itni purani baat aaram say bhool saktay hain
Jee, appki baat sahi hai lekin phir bachi bhi 5 saal ki rakh lete…8 9 years ki bachi ko 5 saal ka dikhana thora ikhtelaaf paida kar raha hai puray scenario mai.
Thank you for the review. I always knew it must during vacations Ana must have visited dariyabagh and met aman and his family.
I agree mothers had reputation of dialogue. It was good that mother’s dresses were of 90s fashion.
What I have understood from previous episode was that Ana was around 5 when this happened. And since was too young plus traumatized so she must have missed this part of her life. I think they hired a bit old child actor to play the part. It also explains Aman education gaps and all since he was moving between UK and Pakistan and still managed to start his career much before Ana graduated.
You’re welcome Pakistani. Yes, going by Ana’s dream it was foreshadowed that Nilo must’ve gone to Humera’s place & that’s where she got killed. As much as the past incidents & the storyline is interesting, the execution doesn’t do justice & falls flat. Yes, it does make sense that Ana didn’t remember everything clearly because then Meer Farooq must’ve paid utmost attention to help her forget what she saw back then.
I think execution wise it was a nice episode since there were no continuity issues. Your point about ana’s lack of interest in talking to mir farooq is quite valid. Just wondering what hindrance a phone call between ana and mir Farooq would have caused to amaan’s plan?
Apart from that zarnish Khan’s ‘nae’ after every dialogue was very irritating. Even in ishq zahenaseeb she had the same issue. In fact, child artists performed better than the two ladies.
Coming to the story, I think it’s still going strong and since i’m not a Bollywood fan so it’s a unique one at least for me( since quite a lot of people called it baazigar)
I thought ahad was extremely good in the wood cutting scene.
Definitely looking forward to next episode.
I think maybe Amaan doesn’t want Ana to get in touch with Meer Farooq because she will let her know about her visit & their cottage in Daryabagh, which will easily allow Meer Farooq to connect the dots & trace the truth that Amaan is Humera’s son? This is my guess so far but yes, not sure why Meer Farooq as well as Ali Baksh are so relaxed when they have not gotten in touch with Ana for days.
Yes, the child artists did play their part well but both Zarnish & Mira were very weak in their portrayal as Humera & Nilofer. I am not too sure why people are drawing comparisons between Ye Dil Mera & Bazigar? I myself enjoy watching Ye Dil Mera because of the suspense element & different storyline, it’s just that the weak direction is taking away the charm of the drama.
I think Mira sethi and zarnish khan have done well.
Love your detailed review Zahra as always. Direction has a lot of flaws as they are not focusing on the details. Also when Meer Farooq was looking at Zarnish Khan’s pictures, they nowhere looked like ones from the 90s. Same for the flashback scenes. It all seemed too forced.
I enjoyed this episode though as it was fast paced with a lot of questions answered. But it was really weird that neither Anna’s beloved Agha Jan nor herself even remotely thought about contacting each other.
The nightmares and anxiety Anna has is definitely all manifestation of childhood PTSD she went through. And the way Meer Farooq exploited the memories into some random nightmares and figment of imagination from an early age can easily condition a child’s mind to believe in it fully.
We often remember childhood memories not from first hand experience (that we do in snippets) but details are usually filled by parents, pictures, comments of others.
Really looking forward to the next episode!
Thank you so much Aneeza for appreciating the review & for sharing your insights. Yes, I wish they had at least edited those pictures in a way which had at least given them the 90’s effect, not like these which looked like they were captured from Instagram yesterday, especially Zarnish’s pictures.
Yes, you are right that Meer Farooq must’ve played a huge part in making Ana forget about everything from the past, however it was interesting that she was still finding this place familiar. Amaan was more or less the same age but he remembers every little detail himself, even Nargis Bua from his childhood whereas he has witnessed the murder of his family himself, but yes, it looks like he didn’t let himself forget all the minute details because he was on his own whereas Ana was influenced heavily by Meer Farooq.
Episode 17 was overall good ,both of the mother’s seems educated when they r talking to each other ,aman’s mum was like I have left the Ayesha ,Abdul Rehman Baba k pass … How can she leave choti si bachi aik noker k pass … Child abuse k waqey nai suney Kabhi ,writer should pay attention towards these kind of lines
I didn’t see the girl you mentioned. Can’t recall if she was in shooting scene either.
Ayesha is Aman’s sister?
This is the thought that crossed my mind too. May be they could not shoot those scenes with such a young child in that weather, they just used her name to complete the picture. Aashu waisay bhi abhi tak dikhai nahi gai shayad 1 scene ke ilawa. :D
I was quite anticipating Mira Sethi’s entry but was slightly disappointed with her performance. You’re right, it seemed forced at times.
Initially I thought Amaan was trying to torture Aina mentally and emotionally and couldn’t understand why, given she had nothing to do with the murder of his family. Plus, she too was a victim in this scenario. But it makes sense to me now. He isn’t trying to cause trauma, rather trying to evoke her memories of this place and their time at Daryabaagh. There’s no way Aina would believe anyone if they told her of her father’s wrongdoings. Not even Amaan, no matter how much she loves or trusts him. He is trying to jolt her brain so she recalls everything herself, or atleast the important bits about her mother’s death at the railway station. Then she’ll begin hating Meer Farooq and Amaan’s job will be done.
Also, so SO glad that Humera’s wasn’t an honour killing like most people were predicting. Honestly, this would’ve been the worst plot twist. Very patriarchal. Excited to see how the story unfolds.
You mentioned a good point that Aman just might be trying to evoke her memories, but then in that case he should not try to make her feel that she is a psycho or is scared for no reason. The way Ahad is playing the character or is made to play the character is not right, the switch of his emotions is not correct.
Thank you so much Naziha. Mira Sethi as well as Zarnish Khan’s performance was disappointing. Yes, what you’ve said does make sense, may be this was Amaan’s plan right from the beginning because like you’ve said, there’s no way she is going to believe Amaan when he will tell her about his family’s murder & their murderer.
Good review. You are finally pointing out the flaws like they should be pointed out. Ana not being in touch with her father was always odd. I got married to the love of my life but missed my family few hours after my rukhsati and ran to them every other day and this girl is living in a bubble after getting married.
It makes sense that Ana doesnt remember. While speaking to her psychiatrist she said she could not recollect some past memories. It is a natural defense mechanism of the brain to protect a person after they have gone through a traumatic experience to shut down certain memories.
Why is Aman’s blood black?
کالا خون؟
بچہ بدلے کی آگ میں جل رہا ہے۔۔ 😆
اصل میں چینلز کو منع ہے خون دکھانا، اس لیے کبھی بلر کرتے ہیں اور کبھی کور۔ اس دفعہ کالا ہی کردیا۔
Thank you Sara. While watching a drama episode by episode, it becomes easier to pick every detail. I watched 12 episodes back to back & then started reviewing so I was only focusing on the goods, also because I was so glad that I was done with the torturous Ishq Zahe Naseeb. Now I do get to see the flaws when I am watching each episode as it comes.
Ana could be under the influence of Amaan but when it comes to Meer Farooq, why hasn’t he appointed Ali Baksh to keep tail Ana & see where she is? In an era of Whatsapp, when it shows a long gap in your last scene, that’s when your family gets flustered – this is what usually happens with me if I don’t check my Whatsapp for a little while, I get quite a lot of msgs from my family but yahan Meer Farooq ko hosh hi nahi hai & he is not even bothered.
I also asked my sis about the black blood, it looks like the channels are not supposed to show blood that is why in some scenes they either censor it or turn it black. For a second even I was concerned if Amaan was a human being or not, lol!
I think years of going to shrinks and her father convincing her of a happy childhood,Anna couldve suppressed all these memories from daryabaagh
Gr8 review Zahra.
This drama is a suspense thriller, and most of the suspense was revealed in last episode, but there was not much shock value as most of it was expected, and the way all the suspense gets revealed takes away the thrill factor, earlier also they revealed a lot by showing his friend asking too many questions and now just by Aman remembering those days, , there should have been a better way to let the suspense come out in a natural way or by showing Ana or Farouq learning abt Aman,…something of that sort. Im not very satisfied by the way Aman’s role and his behavior has been handled. He knows everything , remembers everything, and knows that Ana is innocent, then there is no point in torturing her. Fed up of him first torturing her, and then comforting her, same repetition going on.
Im not too disappointed by the acting of the 2 mothers, that was fine, not bad. But ofcourse felt the other negative points mentioned by everyone, that why Agha jaan is not trying to contact Ana and vice versa.
Performances wise Sajal is the best. Writing is good, direction wise, Ahson Talish is trying his best, cant expect more from him. A better director could have made his drama a classic like yakeen ka safar.
Thank you Tiger. One of the commenters mentioned below that maybe Amaan is trying to help Ana recollect those memories, this way she will be able to see her father for who he is & when he will fill in the details of how he murdered Amaan’s family, Ana will not find it hard to believe. Amaan must’ve picked up the details that Ana has witnessed her mother’s death, but I am interested to see how did Amaan find out about it? Because as they have shown, he was kept in hiding for 2 months & then his servant himself took him to the airport & Amaan never came back. Interested to find out how Amaan got to know about Nilofer’s death & Meer Farooq’s connection to it.
Interesting that you didn’t find their acting odd but trust me, it really was unconvincing & unnatural. Yes, this drama definitely needed a better director.
One detail which distracts from the storyline is that both children look the same age, when they grow up Aman looks10 years older than Ana. Aman as established and is running a huge petrochemical empire, whilst she is still studying.
Hi Zahra, Aina was not six or seven years old in the childhood clips. She was only five. Her Farhana Khala had said in the car on the way back from the graveyard, “And how would you remember? You were only four or five years old when Nilo Baji passed away.”
Aina’s mother did not live to watch her turn six years old. We also know Aina lost her mother at Darya Bagh which is their holiday destination, so it must be in the very same trip much later on at the hill station, that Nilofer was executed. Aina was two years old the last time they came to Darya Bagh before that. It had been three years since so that makes Aina five.
Coming to another point you made which I respectfully disagree with. I will allow that there may be another reason besides scorn for Humaira that led to her murder at the hands of Mir Farooq, such as a feud with her husband. But I have read quite a few people forcefully argue that rejection can’t be reason enough. I say it can. We’re talking about a man who can get someone clobbered for stalking his daughter, he can get someone disappeared on a plane who allowed his company’s shares to devalue, or as he puts it, betrayed him. Do you really think his inflated pride cannot not be grouped with the likes of men who acid burn the girls who reject their proposals?
When the production team has hinted at the possible reason for the murder, why does it need the support of another reason, such as hiding Nilofer’s murder, which you say happened before and Humaira knew about. I’m guessing it was vice versa and the timeline is reversed.
I think Nilofer found about her friend’s death and Mir Farooq went after her life. How can you ignore the reason of rejection as weak, and comfortably accept that Mir Farooq killed a beautiful, loving wife, who gave him no cause to doubt her loyalty. He actually loved his wife and had to get rid of her because he needed to protect himself. That’s a pattern with him. He wouldn’t harm family, especially one that his daughter was attached to, unless something compelled him. He doesn’t mind other people competing for Aina’s love, such as Nargis Bua and Amaanullah. We also know that he loved his wife because he shared with his confidante, Ali Baksh, in secrecy, that Aina looked as lovely as her her mother on the latter’s wedding. He doesn’t habitually look at his wife’s pictures, but he did sweep her off her feet the first time he met her so he couldn’t just kill her unless he wanted to save his own ass.
Besides, there was nothing suggesting that Humaira and her husband were robbed of their tranquility, probably knowing of a murder in their locality, in their many conversations shown in Amaan’s flashbacks. They were comfortably going for a picnic when they were shot, they weren’t going to the officer of a police station to report a murder written. They didn’t carry any arms with them as they travelled with two minors, which they obviously should, if a serial killer was on the loose.