First episode dropped for Pakistani drama Biryani and for all those who couldn’t wait to see Ramsha Khan and Khushhal Khan pair up again, here’s your moment. Nisa and Meer make quite the pair – one, outspoken, determined and take-charge, struggling to make a mark in this world, while the other, quiet, thoughtful, calm, and not really struggling at much except perhaps, wanting to be invisible, knowing he’s a big name who can’t quite not be noticed just because, well, he is Meer Meran Zaman – son of an influential landlord and primary donor at the University.
The Story
Nisa is a young girl enrolled for a business degree, currently studying in BBA 6, driven, responsible, working a job and a star student in her group, while Meer is a young man born in privilege, son of a landlord, who had offered his college intermediate privately, sitting the exams at home, yeah, some of us have it easy, while Nisa probably worked through her school and college years to earn the wins she has today, college research fellow, a scholarship and high achiever raised by a single mother and uncle with whom she shares a precious bond.
Both the leads meet in episode one and their meeting is not your typical fireworks, butterflies in the stomach sort of moment, but rather, a disgruntled Nisa who’d rather focus on her own GPA than mentor a young, spoilt brat (who’s not really a brat), in order to keep her scholarship intact.
What keeps the pace of the narrative is the light-hearted interactions between the characters that nudge the storytelling yet amuse the viewer with detailing in expressions, dialogues, and expressions. For example, mammoo launching into one of his storytelling modes, Nisa treating Meer as if he was no one special really, in fact, more of a hindrance to her daily routine, yet keeping it subtle (Ramsha Khan read this one well), Meer, born with a silver spoon in his mouth yet your simple, straightforward student who’s probably finding it hard to begin a ‘normal’ college existence as he’s sent from a place of royalty to reside among the commoners.
If that weren’t enough, the story gets a twist as we see Nisa being possibly older and academically ahead than Meer (BBA 6 vs BBA 1), is this fast becoming a Zafar Meraj specialty? One wouldn’t have thought much of it had it not been for the clear reference in college and reason Nisa will be helping show the ropes to Meer.
Performances
Biryani first episode set the story for what’s to come, pacing the storytelling to introduce us to characters and their relationships in subtle yet effective narration. The frames were bright; the edits gave a young feel as characters were introduced in freeze shots and frames alongside their names.
The most impressive entry was Sarwat Gilani who emitted charm, wit, playfulness and yet, something deeper and more in control than meets the eye. It was great to see her back on our TV screens.
Khushhal Khan is versatility multiplied in multitudes on screen as he plays up to Meer’s role, keeping it subtle, showing us we no longer know him s all his past characters, because he’s now Meer Meran and no one else.
Ramsha Khan as Nisa Majid gives us the young, headstrong, outspoken young girl who knows when she needs to back off from an argument, as she did with Shamsi Sahab. She’s in it to win it but clever enough to know when she’s beaten. And it’s only the first episode, but we’re already looking forward to more of the mamoo-bhanji bond.
Javed Rizvi was a gem of a performance as Ansari sahab, Nisa’s mammoo. He caught the tone, pace, look and body language as the old-timer who has a penchant for winding stories, sarcasm and lots of old-world charm. His chemistry with Nisa is already one that will light up the screen.
Syed Shariq Mehmood as Shamsi Sahab gave us a character who’s as real as the university corridors around him – not overly dramatized yet spewing hard facts, not a hero, yet knowing the ground rules, his brief interaction with Nisa where he dropped the facts on her was a reality check, both amusing for viewers yet a bitter pill to swallow for Nisa, a conversation packed in truth and not tact (who needs tact with these two).
And why the drama is called Biryani?
Oh well, all we got was a boxful that Nisa’s mother had bought her but wait for it as more episodes roll in and we’re sure that story will go somewhere, with answers hidden in the narrative.
Biryani is a layered dish steeped in aromatic flavours and it’s only when we mix it well that we get the full hit. If that’s what the makers are going for, then there’s bound to be a whole lot served up, we guess we’ll be watching this one and we recommend you do too!
If you haven’t watched the first episode of Biryani, now’s the time to do so as next week, the drama will air two episodes weekly.
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Biryani is written by Zafar Mairaj and directed by Badar Mehmood. It is produced by Big Bang Productions. The cast features Ramsha Khan, Khushhal Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Laila Wasti, Javed Rizvi, YBQ, and more.
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