If ever there is a month in the year when Pakistani drama lovers say STOP! You’re giving us too much, too much drama, too less time to watch it all and hey, where’s the time for spirituality? Let me tell you dear folks, Ramazan is your month. So, I’m not the one making the dramas, can’t alleviate your pain there, but I can attempt to find a hint of spirituality in some stories, and less in others!
So let’s dive right into it and up first is …
1. Pyari Mona
This girl bounces back with a resilience that is so infectious, I end up fangirling Mona well past after the episode is over. Whether it is the way she took her selfies, sitting all alone in that room, post marriage and did not allow self-pity to flood her senses, whether it is coming to terms with Irfan, or not getting all hurt and sensitive by Baber’s hateful comments, or, whether it is her, Biryani binging on the couch after placing Babar’s black coffee beside him, Mona doesn’t let any situation or anyone get her down, for more than a few moments. The realization hits hard, and then, she sinks her heels in and gets to work like the star she is.
I love her sense of self esteem.
Mona not unlocking the door for Babar and expecting him to say sorry, Mona telling her dad she wants to handle things on her own, and Mona not going on an extended mood off and communicating with Babar post wedding, are just some of the fabulous ingredients in her personality that make her so very awesome!
I hope her journey begins along with Babar’s. Where too much food is a problem, too little is as well. Obsession of any sort needs to be tempered, relationships with polar opposite personalities can be a challenge, but we’ve seen them working too. So, Mona and Babar deserve a chance too, but only once they hit rock bottom? Hope not, I hope the change is coming sooner.
Just one request, I want to see Mona helping out Babar on the work front, I predict it will happen, it’s just a matter of time!
And as dramas carry a different flavour with every story we move onto an entirely different feel and flavour …
2. Yunhi
Kim and Zulfi seem to have become best friends overnight. Didn’t see that one coming so fast, but what I find very strange, more than the lack of courtesy and propriety in Kim’s personal dealings, is the fact that she is pretty comfortable paging through other’s personal memorabilia. She came across Dawood’s picture, then Zulfi’s Iqbal as well as overhearing conversations. rather near eaves dropping into conversations not meant for her at all fairness, Kim has got the short end of the stick – unfair character sketch there, as far as I am concerned. Where Dawood is notably judgmental and curt with her, he does not come off as out of character.
That said, Kim definitely paints the hypocrisies in our society, from the way girls are brought up and expected behave as opposed to boys, to our dependence on one income families, as well as a girl’s freedom to step out and do thing all by herself and for herself. All these aspects of life are significant and significantly dismissed as unsignificant by a largely male dominated society. I mean, if a girl wants to go to the bank on her own, she should be able to do it, but she can’t, or is told that others can do this for her.
Hence comes the clash in ideas in Yunhi; Kim vs Dawood and the result will be a clash of societal conditioning actually. Do we perceive Kim as more wrong than Dawood because that is our conditioning, or could the character have been portrayed better? That is the question.
Nevertheless, love the vintage feels of the drama, Maya is a treat to watch onscreen and have to say, Bilal Ashraf as the muted, angry young man is surprisingly convincing in that cob-webbed household where women can be seen and not heard!
Tell me if you’re watching Yunhi for all the vintage feels!
3. Pinjra
If ever there was a heartfelt story with every sub plot developed in fully scripted narratives, this one is it. From Javed’s obstinate stance on parenting, to Azaan’s deep desire to make things right, to Abaan floating on a precipice, taking each day at a time and Dua and Wajiha’s crossroads, the drama addresses each issue that has been raised with a completeness that is profoundly conveyed, yet not didactic. In not being the people they should have been, Pinjra opens up a story of possibilities, retributions, how one can, still, find the right path despite all the mistakes made in the past – Despite the heavy topics it addresses, Pinjra give hope.
In the latest episode, Arsalan won my heart for his deep desire to fulfil his promise of freeing Abaan, Javed, in all his biased fury, lashed out at Khadija as Javed would – he obviously still need time and though we would like him to press the accelerator, we must know, men like Javed might never change, and even if they do, it might never be enough for those around them.
The most poignant message was that of Arsalan, how two people might move on but the children stay scarred forever – a lesson indeed. Being together is not just about physical placing but also providing a home with harmony, love and warmth. Can Javed & Khadija, do it? It’s hard and many will see their reflection in these two, so think before you answer this one.
It’s very hard to come to terms with a person you have grown to unlove and whose flaws stare you in the face every day and … whom you blame for the mess your family and children are in today. Ironically, both Javed & Khadija blame each other – the story can’t be truer to real life events. I bet you know a Javed or Khadija, or maybe, have been them, or are them at some point?
Dramas like Pinjra come around once in a while, so do watch, if only because the child actors have done a commendable job!
Onwards to an uplifting episode of Tere Bin but then, some disappointments too.
4. Tere Bin
Ter Bin has become the drama that makes us smile, react with a spontaneous laugh often and feel frustrated with characters that fall off the track often. We expect them to do one thing, but they turn around and do the exact opposite – do we in fact, share a love-hate relationship with Tere Bin?
Here’s what I loved:
Murtasim glaring at Meerab when he discovers she’s pregnant and then the camera lens moving ever so smartly to cover the multi expressions of the multi group seated around the table. From Javed’s reassuring nod to Maa Begum’s proud air and Meerab’s petrified silence, the scene did everything to entertain, which it did. Fast forward to Meerab and Murtasim in the room when he lets out his fury and she, defensive in her dishonesty, has to down a glass of milk as well as Maa Begum’s perpetual pampering, feeding and attention.
Loved how Meerab flew into a fit of rage at spotting Haya and Murtasim in close encounters of the seductive kind (at least from Haya’s POV) and then, Murtasim, standing speechless, watching her as she nearly proclaimed to him that she feels something.
Loved how Meerab grabbed the first car available and reached the village in record time, I mean, that was fast even for a Pakistani drama, you have to admit.
And then, subsequently, jump to episode 2, I loved how Murtasim defended Meerab before the family clan on how the intimate details of their relationship are nobody’s business, also loved how Meerab looked back at him, as if stung by the love bug, but then, she ponders over that pre-nuptial agreement, not ready to tear it still. The girl is undergoing a gradual changeover but … here’s what I didn’t quite get.
What I questioned in Tere Bin?
Why did Meerab have to think so long about a non-entity such as Rohail. Agreed, he made her realize that she has been taken far away from her roots, the person she was, but Meerab being Meerab should have very strong, upright principles and cannot be expected to cave in, just because a non-hero has resurfaced from the past.
I refer to Rohail as a non-hero because, let’s face it, he is really no match for Murtasim. And here I request drama makers to provide a match that fits the bill. I mean, the character is going to end up being psycho and really doesn’t have the charisma to match our hero, so when Meerab seems confused in her life choices, she clearly seems … well, confused?
Taking it a step further, Murtasim being uber sweet with Haya makes no sense, especially after we saw him in initial episodes, being extremely curt with her. Plus, the man knows she is hundred percent head over heels in an obsessive kind of way, so why, why would you entertain the girl – because you get a kick out of it, or because you’re super naive?
Either way, it is a bit off character and then, so is Meerab’s entertaining Rohail in any way.
That said, seems like Tere Bin is set to make Murtasim into an even bigger hero, because if Meerab transgresses her principles and meets up with Rohail again, then, oh well, that’s not what our heroine was all about so I for one, am not about to enjoy her fall from grace.
And finally we come to …
5. Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha
Maheer’s sorrow is above and beyond anything we want to see, and Saad’s doormat behaviour is not welcome. Our male leads are now divided into two categories; the overtly toxic or the overtly giving. Saad falls into the second bracket. The fact that Maheer did not trust him and think he married her, knowing the truth about Areeb’s dad, was a bit disappointing. One should know their friend, even if not their lover right?
Maheer makes me want to shake her out of her zombie like state, her disregard of another’s pain, her selfishness at not even acknowledging her father’s illness as she poured forth her heart yet again. Maheer had a spark in her, at least when we saw her in the first episode, that spark is gone. And, if this is what love does to you, then perhaps, never fall in love, I’d say. Stay single or stay with a platonic relationship. This love is really sucking the life out of you Maheer, the kind we read about eons ago in romance novels that wouldn’t make the cut today.
So, my advice to you Maheer, snap out of it, and now!
And then we have dear Neelo, who’s turned into your toxic neighbour next door. Isn’t it better not to entertain proposals where the people are questioning or judging the morals of the family based on one unfortunate incident and the word of a girl (Faha) no one has seen before?
Mujhe Pyar Hua tha is disappointing and needless to say, those getting Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam vibes should know that Salman Khan’s character was not near psycho as our dear Areeb is about to be?
Any guesses where this one will go? Do give your best shot in comments!
And the last but not the least, my hot favourite amongst the week in dramas, in fact is, the one and only …
6. Kuch Ankahi
This drama is turning the corner in history by going where no drama has been before, and in a good way. Nikah clauses struck out by default – I mean, just the fact that everyone recognized that one shows how common it is, unfortunately. Then we have Samiya and Saif tying the knot, much to our despair – but that too, will have a story and I suspect the Nikah clauses will have something to do with it. Kuch Ankahi is teaching us that we all have our own journey, and much as we take joy in covering our own, we have to be patient with a loved one’s journey too, and Samiya is that loved one.
Salman is coming out the clear winner here with his finger on the pulse of all women who want a man just like that; emotionally present, physically able to help, socially adept at relationships – I love how he doesn’t force his view on Aaliya or attempt to ‘fix’ things, he’s just there, to facilitate events as those around him want them to be played out.
He is also patient. Salman does not rush into love, or hate. His quiet appraisal of the family and his gradual and growing warm regard for Aaliya is ever so sweet. There is no forcing in love, and Salman seems to know that with all of his young years, he seems to carry maturity beyond his years, the gol rotis and chai in every girl’s book are a major plus!
And as we wait for Samiya’s future to unfurl further, we have to say, Kuch Ankahi makers have reached into the heart of our society, delivering messages ever so subtly in a story that is spread out between multiple characters, yet, each character adding a flavour of his or her own!
Keep on watching The week In Dramas and tell me what you think. Which one will you let go and which one will you hold on to as Ramazan brings its own challenges, clashes and so much less time to watch so much more onscreen!
