Akbar becomes unhinged as we see his gradual transformation from a loving elder brother to an angry young man who cannot be persuaded to comprehend that Pakeezah is a victim, not a perpetrator of the crime that has taken over their lives.
“Badal gaya hai bhai Akbar… Har larki buri lagne lagi hai unko…”
Akbar’s sad and startling transformation from the loving brother who sponsored Pakeezah’s education and specially brought her khasta namak paray on her birthday is now not only ashamed of her but carries a burning rage inside him.
What will this anger make him do? Can anyone calm the storm raging inside Akbar, or is this the ‘ghairat’ we see so often in men – the rage that forces them to defend their ‘honour’ and take an innocent life?
Akbar’s thoughts reflect those of true-to-life incidents where men – brothers, fathers, husband, close male relatives feel their honour is at stake because of the actions of a woman or young girl in their household. The woman could be a sister, daughter, wife or even a mother. The pressure to defend that honour makes them turn against the women they once loved dearly. The recent episode of Aik Aur Pakeezah shows Akbar to be in this unhinged state where his rage is directed towards Pakeezah and the sense of shame he feels, one that has been multiplied by Yasin’s cleverly chosen (and evil words) about Pakeezah and are making him see red.
Younger brother Asghar is taken aback by the hatred in Akbar’s tone, not just for Pakeezah but all women. Akbar seems to share the same sentiments for Aarzoo as he does for Pakeezah, calling her a ‘bazaari aurat’ – the same woman he had loved and planned to spend the rest of his life with at one time, but whom he blames now for corrupting him with her charms. The self-loathing he feels for himself, the sense of shame he felt over the leaked video of his sister, and the sentiments that he is not able to convert into anger towards Yasin, but instead, direct inwards towards himself, have been unleashed on all women now. In essence, that anger and loathing is directed towards the people he can blame and fight, rather than Yasin, the main culprit of the crime, who is too strong for Akbar to battle on his own.
Is it because Akbar knows he has a better chance to win against the women, but not Yasin? Is it because he feels he can reclaim his lost honour in society by punishing the victim of a crime whose fallout has damaged everyone around him? Just because society blames Pakeezah, she must be the one in the wrong. Just because society does not blame Yasin, the real perpetrator of the crime, but it has already pronounced a guilty verdict for Pakeezah – hence she must be punished. And all women like her, who lure pure men like him (Akbar), into sinful acts, must be shunned – just like Akbar did with Aarzoo. He has distanced himself from the relationship as he now feels that any romantic relationship between a man and a woman is subject to shame – and the fault of the woman, who is morally loose and corrupt and the sole culprit of the crime – a leaked video that went viral. One that was shot under coercion and leaked without her consent.
Akbar’s thoughts possibly represent the thoughts of every man who feels shamed, his honour tainted, when a woman in his life is subjected to a cyber crime, a leaked video or public harassment.
And that, dear folks, is the story of honour killing – what Akbar seems capable of committing now, and for what his family might forgive him, granting him impunity for the crime. Because, well, no family can afford to lose two family members in the hosuehold, especially when one of them has helped reclaim their honour.
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Written by Bee Gul and directed by Kashif Nisar, the drama stars Sehar Khan in the titular role alongside Nameer Khan, Amna Ilyas, Gohar Rasheed, Hina Bayat, Nadia Afgan, Namra Shahid, Umer Darr, Davar Mahfooz, Ali Jan, Yusra Jan, and Noor Ul Hassan. The drama is presented by GEO Entertainment in collaboration with Kashf Foundation, with production backed by Kashf Foundation.
Written by Bee Gul and directed by Kashif Nisar, the drama stars Sehar Khan in the titular role alongside Nameer Khan, Amna Ilyas, Gohar Rasheed, Hina Bayat, Nadia Afgan, and Noor Ul Hassan. The drama is presented by GEO Entertainment in collaboration with Kashf Foundation, with production backed by Kashf Foundation.
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