Haroon Malik announcing that women who take on their husband’s name signal they are his property, Haroon Malik declaring a likeness towards pink and purple towels, Haroon Malik tending to his newly-wed wife’s daughter in the cutest onscreen “girl dad” interactions Pakistani dramas have witnessed not ever, and Haroon Malik moving into his wife’s house to support her career. Yes, he’s charming, irresistible, perhaps unreal, and we’re willing to settle for all that and more – but is he pushing the narrative to a point that hints at borderline mockery? Before you put on your boxing gloves, y’all Haroon fans, bear with me and read on…
And then these lines, credited to celebrated, and non-conformist, Urdu poet Jaun Elia…
“Buhat nuqs nikaalte hain wo is qadar hum mein
Jaisae unhain khuda chahiye tha
Aur hum insaan nikle…”
I started writing these thoughts when Haroon turned to the camera and addressed the audience with this verse. “Well done Haroon”, I mused, |you’ve shifted the blame from yourself – the man in the conversation, to the woman – it is not your flaws that are the problem, but the impossibly high standards of the woman (Khushbakht) you’re with who seeks perfection… sigh.”
The lines from Jaun Elia spoken just like a man, right, always the wronged?
But then the drama moved on and we got bits and pieces of Khushbakht finally opening up, seeming to care for Haroon, revealing that it was her past relationship that prevented her from letting go, from trusting, from believing that she really did have another chance at love. And I smiled as I said to myself: “So that’s where the story’s going.”And iI stopped getting on Haroon’s case. “Maybe, just maybe, I read the creators wrong?” After all, we’re talking about how a woman must learn to trust again – and how a man, the right man, shouldn’t judge her past, but instead, stay present in her life, empowering her to become the best version of herself.
But then came successive U-turns, when Khushbakht questioned Haroon’s sincerity and his work vs. relationship ethics, Khushbakht’s constant mistrust of Haroon – the events repeated themselves like a tired Spotify playlist on loop. And guess who came out on top every time – Haroon the perfect manifestation of the man we wished we had in our lives – albeit, too perfect?
Here’s the problem. If Haroon is showing men how it’s done, it seems too performative. If he’s telling the audience how hard it is to plaease a woman, it’s mocking, and if he’s genuinely all that he is, that’s great, except that the woman in the equation, namely Khushbakht, seems to be not matching up, despite repeated reminders.
Khushbakht seems to be getting it all wrong. From doubting Haroon’s relationship with Sonia, to questioning his work ethics, suspecting he had broken into her laptop to unlock her confidential plans so he could exploit the information for his podcast, to now not being able to take decisive steps towards releasing or at least trying to release Haroon on bail.
Side thought: It seems Pakistani drama characters are perfectly okay with their near and dear ones spending some jail time, almost as if it was the perfect rehab for lost souls. Although Khushbakht is notably conducting raids on Chaudhry’s drug dens, but then again, she’s not really proactive about holding an emergency meeting with Haroon’s lawyer about his multiple bail rejections. Not just that, but Sonia, our (not heroine, but supporting character) seems to be better at the role than our heroine.
Is it to show the vast contrast in Haroon’s amazing super powers, how calm, collected and effective he is at battling corruption, giving his all in a relationship and also, imbibing a unfazed, almost zen-like aura in jail as he calmly pets a kitten to show his swag.
As opposed to, Khushbakht, the lady for whom he sacrificed all, his career, reputation, and now, perhaps, life, is floundering outside, flustered and lost as Chaudhry threatens to destroy all.
Any guesses who will be her saviour? The saviour of a woman, who, before she met Haroon, was a calm, collected Assistant commisioner who did her job with the utmost diligence, is now not able to aid her husband out of a sticky situation, with the same smart moves he had helped her with earlier. Is it because women just aren’t as smart as men – the same flawed men they find imperfections in, and fail to trust or treat well?
That couplet from Jaun Elia above seems to be the central strategy of the narrative.
The difference between our heroine and hero is so stark, their superpower abilities so imbalanced, that one wonders if its even a fair play. Is Khushbakht being set up by the creators as a powerless woman who can never top her man because, well, he’s just too superior in every department – love, work, trustworthiness and even, parenting maybe (oh those melt in the heart girl-dad feels that softened the toughest hearts)!
Needless to say, Ahad Raza Mir is doing a splendid job at the perfect, nonchalant, giving hero who wants his woman to succeed at all costs. The problem is, too much positivity can be hard to digest, especially when the person with you ends up looking bad at your expense. And Haroon’s carefully curated character, (yes, there’s a plan) is doing just that.
Here’s what you missed: Too good to be true is not what women want. Try real, respectful and human minus the performative.
A note on the character: While it’s great to see positive male characters taking over Pakistani drama screens, one wonders if the creators need to forge a balance between Khushbakht and Haroon – Haroon being the perfect example of a husband who empowers his wife, and Khusbakht, reacting earlier with coldness, distance and even perhaps, rebutting Haroon’s advances beyond reason. It’s fair to say we moved on from there, but the game still plays unfair with our heroine – or is it because we take ourselves too seriously as women? Is Aik Mohabbat Aur a parody of our times, and we’re just too thick to see it?
There’s a time for everything but perhaps, now is not the time. To the creators, I have this to say: Read the room, your women characters need space to show themselves, so that real women like Khushbakht can relate to the onscreen version, and real men like Haroon are okay with a blue towel, a wife taking their name, or not, and a woman who matches upto them every step of the way.
So while we love positive characters; men onscreen checking all the boxes, flaunting a pink towel to rubber-stamp the green flag messaging is not really relatable, but rather, performative. Do you agree?
4 Shows I Almost Gave Up On Until They Became My Biggest TV Obsessions
Aik Mohabbat Aur is penned by Faiza Iftikhar and directed by Farooq Rind. The cast features Ahad Raza Mir, Maya Ali, Hajra Yamin, Saqib Sumeer, Samiya Mumtaz, Noor ul Hassan, Monazza Arif and more.
Follow us on Instagram
