When a drama character speaks for a live audience, one that sees themselves reflect off the screen in her, when she echoes the realities and emotional burden that many come face to face with every day, the creators have managed to touch a nerve. This time it was Urwa Hocane’s portrayal of Beena – Beena in her epic fury, disdain, anger, and revenge mode too, and of course, Beena the woman who had all the answers for Tabish, and all the men he represents in a world that is still pretending to uphold the cause of women but fighting hard to prove it.
Beena was our heroine for a day.
Every dialogue hit razor-sharp, every response landed more legitimate than the first and every time Tabish turned to respond, Beena had a better, more fitting reply to set him back a few hundred years.
The truth is, Beena spoke for all the women who cannot speak. And although they realize she is but a character onscreen, one that will disappear once the episode is over, banished till next week – (2 episodes per week, might give her a longer lifeline, but that’s all), Beena’s words delivered a catharthis – the women who watched from across the screen not only saw Beena in themselves, but sadly, wished the revenge track to be resoundingy effective so that Tabish would in fact, be completely thrashed – because, let’s face it, not only did they see themselves in Beena, but they also saw their own husbands, or someone else’s they know, in Tabish.
The truth is, women like Beena exist because they speak, act, behave and go where no woman (or at least the majority of women watching Aap Ki Izzat) dare not go. The truth is, that although every woman (and every husband) knows her husband should not carry on an extra-marital affair under the guise of eventually asserting his right to a second marriage, that every man who chooses to marry a second time might just want a second spring, a final shot at mid-life, might just feel his first wife just doesn’t cater to his ‘needs’, desires or preferences any more, and that he has a right to choose again, will have been triggered by Beena’s actions and subsequent defense of them. The truth is, that for every woman who has been made to feel ashamed of her middle-age, as she copes with a life that has demanded more from her than given back in return – a husband, in-laws, childbirth, managing an entire household, bringing up children, mental health, and physical demands – the truth is, when she quiety looks in the mirror, or wakes up to a dull, persistent pain in parts of her she never knew existed, the truth is, that when she realizes her 40 year old body cannot do what her 25 year old body could, she bows her head in defeat, almost accepting every taunt, every sarcastic and often heartless joke thrown her way, be it her greying hair, a body that’s not 20 or 25 anymore and children entering adulthood who often treat her as a fading reality in a universe where once, she rested at the heart of it.
But it is not just that women see themselves in Beena, but they also see the men they know or have met, or live with, in Tabish.
And hence, even as Tabish apologized, even as he felt ashamed for not appreciating or respecting the woman who stood by him in his toughest times, he repeatedly struggled and even failed to understand and hence asked her, “But didn’t you do the same with Me? You ran away with a sabzi wala?”
And just like beena, Tabish also reflects all the men he reperesents – “Lekin main tau mard hoon.” said all that needed to be said in response. And here’s what “Main tau mard hoon” rally means: You might be right to a point but you’re losing the argument Beena, because you’re a woman. Hence, you will be judged differently. Because your actions define the respect I receive in this world, not mine.
And so, just like Beena is a ficititious figure who gave us a moment to dream and cheer her brave words, and even more daring stance in life, Tabish too is an onscreen character who showed patience, remembered his Beena as the woman who supported him and gave of herself without any strings attached, tended to his mother, his children, and himself with zero expectations.
I say this beacuse the real life Tabish would have probably chosen to kill Beena by now, he would have conspired with the police officials to fake an encounter, or shunned Beena’s extended and very powerful monologue which we welcomed in our tired souls as a reward for all the words and feelings that go unsaid. And while the onscreen Tabish listened patiently to his Beena, the real world one would have dismissed her words for a woman who is out of control, needs to be reined in and punished for daring to cross a red line.
The real life Tabish would have lived, married Naz and possibly won the election.
The real life Beena would be no more. Died a quiet death and perhaps, become a justice for hastag on X.
And that is why Beena has become such an exalted character for all the women who cannot speak, and she lived. And that is also exactly why Tabish too, needs a pat on the back – because he let her live and have her say. Even though it made him seem so small, even though it reduced his ‘izzat’ to practically nothing, even though he had to appear humbled, ashamed and very much in the wrong. Because onscreen drama characters can live our best dreams and allow us to be the best version of ourselves.
They can also show us the way.
Pakistani drama heroes and heroines need to be just that, characters who do and say the unthinkable – because in some magical dream world, they exist, so we can carry on our lives once the episode ends, because just for a moment, we were allowed to be them.
Disney Princesses have the same effect, so does Spider-man and all of the Marvel Universe. It’s about the moment, not the whole life story.
But on another note, let’s hope for a moment that we let that onscreen moment guide us to maybe see yourself as the heroine of your own story, and the hero too. May the Beenas and Tabish’s we see onscreen help send out messages that empower and change lives?
Maybe a Tabish will turn back and look at how the woman who stands by him today is also the one who still needs his attention, his love and tenderness, now more than ever before. And maybe, that woman doesn’t have to become a Beena.
But they do say: Dramas can do only so much, the rest is real life. Now imagine if all the Beena’s we know set out to take revenge – what a ‘marvellous’ universe that would be – or not?
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Aap Ki Izzat is penend by Umera Ahmed and directed by Saife Hassan. The drama is produced by Momina Duraid productions and Nine Kashif and airs on HUM TV every Friday and Saturday evening. The cast features Urwa Hocane, Ahsan Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sania Saeed among others.
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