Is Pyari Mona growing on you? Are you getting too much of Wahaj Ali every week or is Kuch Ankahi your slo mo vintage drama break?
Hiya folks! Back with the latest on the drama watch! Firstly, I’d like to thank all of you for sharing, commenting and appreciating my (attempted) tongue in cheek take on our beloved and sometimes not so beloved Pakistani drama offerings! I hope we are able to give you a breezy recap of the stories that made it to our screens, for that has always been the intention! And also to bring drama audiences back to reading – aaah, the pleasures of picking up a book in this fast paced world, but let’s start with drama reviews, we’ll get to the book soon enough – baby steps.
So let’s kickstart our ahem, breezy review with the breezy Tere Bin!
The Battle Of The Bed In Tere Bin
The battle over who gets the bed is driving Murtasim crazy. But fans want to know if he just wants the bed or more? Not me, just some twitter banter I repeat here. The real conversation is whether we should take Tere Bin as a serious attempt to drive conversations on women empowerment, traditional gender roles, which is all Merub apparently stands for, or just switch off the thinking part of our body and sit back and relax — this Ramazan comedy arrived a bit early but who’s complaining yeah?
The point is, if makers wanted us to consider Merub’s struggle and side with her, shouldn’t she be fighting for that Law Degree rather than her side of the bed? If women is the agenda then why is Haya a terrible apology for all young girls who have an ounce of self respect, why is Merub not more concerned about that undeserved slap from Murtasim (are slaps ever well deserved?) and why are Merub’s adoptive parents not more vocal about her plans to study and become a lawyer when they raised her proper for many years?
The drama is so busy pondering over Maa Begum’s obsession with the consummation of the Merub-Murtasim marriage that all sense has left the script so far and we assume that more will be taken away from us before we can see some real messages. Two great actors wasted or amusing us with their ludicrous antics? Your guess is as good as mine. Tere Bin is definitely driving views and for all the comic reasons! If that is what the team had aimed for, then they’ve won, if not, oh well, make hay sand memes while the sun shines!
Onwards to Pyari Mona
Sanam Jung and Adeel Hussain are handing out believable performances. From ridng a bike to playing tennis, Mona is sending out strong messages to fat-shamers in society – I can do anything you can do and I’m happy with the way I look! She speaks her mind but plays it subtle. Babar on the other hand is your gym buddy, one who downs early morning protein shakes and makes his family do likewise. Tell me you haven’t seen one of these walking around town, the kind who can’t stomach the sight of a good biryani or worse still, a hot gulab jamun dipped in sugar syrup! Much as Babar’s character is health conscious, his behaviour is tirelessly obsessive, driving his young wife Samiya into depression.
Well done there Pyari Mona for showing us that the problem is not necessarily in the fat people but the overly health conscious ones too. Sabeeka Imam is doing a great job playing Samiya and Babar’s controlling nature, his dismissive behaviour with Mona is catching onto viewers – the story unravels at a fast pace. Just a word on him entering Mona’s room while she was asleep – don’t go there please, an error that is best avoided in future. I guess it also points to the fact that we don’t consider fat people has having a sense of personal space? Not sure why that happened but it made for some uncomfortable viewing. I was half scared Mona would wake up to her brother in law fiddling around in her room, so happy he left in time!
Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha Up Next!
So the last minute nikah.com people managed to arrange a new and improved groom for poor abandoned Maheer and that too, before the maulvi left the scene! It was amazing how Areeb didn’t manage to get through to Maheer, but worse still, that Anabia’s mom who was at the wedding venue couldn’t call her friend to ask what’s up? This is called contriving a marriage to take place but not creating believable circumstances for the urgency? I mean, why does a girl have to be married off to anyone else last minute when that is not the bridegroom she had in mind? How can you expect her to spend a life and a night with a guy she wasn’t expecting to be with an hour ago? The thought is horrifying. And for all those who say that Saad is her cousin, okaaayyy. If a girl does not have romantic feelings for her cousin, can you imagine the nightmare bestowed upon her when she is forced into a last minute marriage and that too, when they both know she is in love with another?
The story line makes me do a double take on all sane reviews I have done so far and I wish, I wish, I sincerely wish they had delayed Maheer’s marriage. What is the thing with today’s dramas that makes us want to go the sensational way? I really don’t have much else to say on MPHT because I was disappointed to say the least. The narrative played with our desire to see Saad and Maheer together and also purposefully pits Areeb to be the bad guy (which he might well be in future)- we already spot some red flags in his past behaviour and just goes to show, a girl can’t jut fall in love and trust her decision can she? All I have to say is, good that her dad didn’t know of her liking Areeb, that would have added fuel to fire after the mom’s toxic phone convo!
Shall We Move onto Kuch Ankahi Then?
Sane, non toxic, unassuming and oh so meaningful! If Kuch Ankahi was a sitcom, it would run into multiple seasons but … and here’s the catch, and unfortunately, our audiences are not able to appreciate the steady pace of this story line. They want Merub & Murtasim to fight over who gets the bed, they want Haya to attempt suicide, they want Samiya to come marching into her drawing room and utter – Nahi, yeh shaadi nahi ho sakti, rather than taking time to reason it out, and … they want Ali and Tanya to be married eventually. Such is the danger of sensational content that it seeps into our sensibilities like Covid 19 – we need a vaccine to protect us and that vaccine ain’t coming folks. But you can protect yourself by watching more of Kuch Ankahi and Pinjra, and less of … ahem, some ‘other’ dramas!
But Kuch Ankahi had some magnificent conversations this time. From phoppo empowering Samiya to Aaliya throwing the Clifton shopping mall at Saif, from Shagufta proposing to Saif to Tanya and Ali’s heart-warming bond, the drama touched upon the issue of women’s inheritance in our society and how we consider it not relevant or important to give them their fair deal in life and then again, we do it in matter of fact ways as if it is a norm not to, and a favour to her if we do.
So Shagufta is the new character on the block viewers will judge the most, more so because she’s not your average compliant bahu material. She is outspoken, at times she seemed a bit crude and at times, we were just surprised to see that Saif was, in fact, a different person when with her. Just goes to show love can do things to a person and that’s a positive statement by the way. Ali Safina is nailing the role, and I feel he is enjoying it too. Just a word of caution, when characters like Shagufta come onto the screen and behave in a dare devil, unorthodox manner, we tend to question their behaviour even more because of the way they are positioned – loud, outspoken and a bit rude or lacking in courtesy? If we want to push the message that women can and should propose to a guy, maybe we make the character more mainstream, more relatable and hence more digestible to the average viewer. But Shagufta has managed to make her mark and we want to know what’s up next. I also want Samiya to take a decision now, which, the Aaliya in me wants to be a rishta refusal, but I guess we have to wait and see and let the girl decide for herself, as they say, some people only learn after they fall… that too, is a life journey and as per phoppo, we have to be there to catch them – that is our life journey!
More thoughts on Kuch Ankahi’s latest episode here.
Last But Certainly Not The Least Is PINJRA!
Our worst fears have been confirmed as Abaan’s assault has been discovered. The drama had to play it subtle because of the censorship rules, though I do wonder if they couldn’t show it any other way because we were confused till Wajiha mentioned the 24 hour guideline. My blood boils, more so for all the police officials who kept it under cover, and as a mother, I wonder if character reactions weren’t a bit too muted. How could a mother or father not fly into a fit of rage, anger, a meltdown of sorts? This is where the reactions had to come full throttle but I didn’t see them. Wajiha’s deep sense of remorse, of having let down a child were definitely palpable, Javed’s stoic silence was laced in guilt and Khadija, oh Khadija, I expected more from you. But maybe you feel utterly defeated, already lost!
Two critical conversations in Pinjra: Abaan telling his mom that she wouldn’t have believed him was a painful reminder that when children are told continuously that they lie, or are not heard at home, is a communication problem that can lead to this – Abaan not speaking up when he should have.
Second was when Khadija told Javed that she will definitely disclose all to the children, and she should never have kept them in the dark. Another parenting message that needs a mindset change – communication is the pillar upon which we build relationships – so why ignore the most important relationship in our lives – and that is with our children!
And that’s a wrap folks! Watch the dramas you love and keep an eye out for the new ones. Bakhtawar ended on a high note and Yunhi will be coming in to give us some weekend love! Btw, if you have or haven’t watched Pathaan, I have, and here’s the unfiltered review!
