Finally the much awaited play went on air and I have to say that I found myself counting minutes today. This first episode introduced the viewers to almost all the characters that we will be seeing in the play. First of all let’s talk about what I liked about this first episode. I simply loved the characterization of Kashaf (Sanam Saeed) and Zaroon ( Fawad Khan) both. I found it very interesting the way they are poles apart and also the manner in which it was shown. Kashaf ke liye “zindagi aik buhat bara masla hai”, everything about Kashaf’s life bothers her and she does not believe in hoping for any better for the future. According to Kashaf “moajzay sirf defence aur Clifton mei hotay hai”, I found this particular dialogue so very amusing! Kashaf wakes up in the morning dreading the fact that she will have to change two different rides before she finally gets to the University. Although she never expected to get into the university in which only the rich and famous get admission but when she did we did not see her thanking God or being happy about it even for one second, simply because Kashaf believes that she does not deserve to be happy. There are reasons for Kashaf feeling this way; a father (Waseem Abass) who does not care about his family because he has another family to look after and that is the family he is more interested in and a mother(Samina Peerzada) who Kashaf loves dearly, therefore she cannot see her working so hard to make ends meet. Kashaf has also worked very hard herself too to get where she is today. How can a girl who is so negative come this far? I could not help but wonder that! Maybe because Kashaf is not just negative but also very practical and that must have been the driving force behind her success. Kashaf does not believe in making “khiyalai palao” when in reality there is daal for dinner but when there actually is meat for lunch Kashaf does not eat it because it reminds her of her mother’s toota huva chashma and bag and all the struggle she has done all through her life. I absolutely loved Kashaf’s character because honestly speaking I know a few people like that who will never be happy with life no matter what. Besides, Sanam Saeed did a commendable job of convincing me at least that she was the perfect choice for playing Kashaf. She definitely scored an A+ on my list today.
On the contrary Zaroon believes “zindagi kiya khoobsurat cheez hai”. He is someone who cannot even remotely relate to the kind of life that Kashaf lives. Zaroon is your typical spoiled brat who never had to work hard for anything in life but thinks very highly of himself. In fact he is probably the only one who has such a high opinion of himself, everyone around him from his family to his friends think that he is irresponsible. Zaroon has seen so much comfort in his life, he would like a challenge in his life, something that will make his life less easy….ignorance is bliss I guess! Another very interesting thing about both these characters is that Kashaf despises men and thinks marriage is “ghulami”. She obviously thinks so because her father never looked after them and was never there for her mother, therefore she has a very negative opinion about men in general too. Zaroon, on the other hand thinks that women are the only aspect of life that is not enjoyable, although he is quite a flirt!
Zaroon’s mother Ghazala (Hina Bayat) is a very liberated woman who never feels the need to ask or tell her husband before going somewhere and her daughter Sara (Ayesha Omer) is the same too. Zaroon’s father Junaid (Javed Sheikh) and Ghazala are completely different from each other but it was plain to see that it is Junaid who has compromised all his life to make the marriage work because Ghazala has the final say.
Do I want to talk aboutAsmara? She was the only character which put me off. Why? Well, because Mehreen Raheel really needs to stop playing the same kind of characters and that too when she is playing Fawad’s best friend yet again who does not want him falling in love with someone else. I have no idea where the Asmara/Zaroon track will go from here but I must say that I did not enjoy the Asmara/Zaroon scenes…I just watched the two in Ashk and the characters are still very fresh in my mind. Why couldn’t Mehreen Raheel for once play Fawad’s sister and Ayesha Omer could play the “friend”! We only got to see a glimpse of Shehryaar Munawar so can’t say much about his character or acting. Samina Peerzada was spot on as usual, good to see her playing the mother.
I must say that personally Kashaf’s character and dialogues appealed to me more than Zaroon’s character, at least after watching this first episode (Fawad Khan fans please don’t kill me!). I am more than willing to fall in love with Zaroon’s character! Overall, really really enjoyed some of the dialogues in particular, the acting and direction both were spot on and I have to say it was well worth the wait.
I am sure everyone watched this first episode whether you were or weren’t looking forward to it so please share how you felt about this first installment.
Fatima Awan.