Pamaal finally draws to a close. And with it, a story that was a definite tear jerker, yet as real as it gets. With standout performances from the entire cast, and sensitive storytelling to match, Malika’s life journey in Pamaal can be held up as a message to young girls and their parents, and as Malika would have it, not just husbands but fathers, brothers and even sons.
Pamaal will go down in 2025 as a drama that did not shy away from a story that wasn’t just tragic, it was phenomenally tragic. Characters were fleshed out unapologetically, from Raza’s charming eligible bachelor to demanding, overpowering husband and Malika’s dreamy young girl to rebellious and finally submissive, almost broken-in wife portrayal. Pamaal delivered disturbing relatability to onlookers’ real life experiences. Women gave a quiet nod to Malika’s experience and men possibly recognized the red flags albeit cloaked in protectiveness rather than a controlling and insecure nature.
But what matters is that Pamaal drove conversations. When does a husband’s love and care become unduly restrictive, when do women like Malika need to discern between love and submission, when does a relationship lose a person’s identity and become a contract of compliance and obedience – a contract that requires one person to perpetually live in the shadow of the other?
But Pamaal didn’t stop at that. It also delivered moving performances in characters that tread a fine grey line. From Raza who, despite his dominating nature, garnered deep sympathy, Malika who walked the journey of pure love, heartbreak and then a coming of age, mammoo who led by example, Anni who gave out exemplary non-toxic love feels, Geeti who sought wisdom and compassion in all life experiences, mumani who tried hard to be human, yet also remembered she was after all, a mother, Shahood and Safia who reminded us of the bitter reality that those closest to us might fail us at times and then Zamin, a stellar example of how people can surprise you in unexpected ways.
Pamaal was a woman’s life journey that resonated with countless other women who felt lost when a partner tragically left them midway in their life journey. It was a call to our male companions that love does not mean suffocation, and ensuring financial independence for the women we love is a sign of caring for them, not a standard of how little we care for them. To let a woman live and love alongside you, is a sign that you respect her as a life partner. That life is finite and you might go before her, unexpectedly, at a time you had never imagined.
While Pamaal handed out these life lessons, it also showed us the mirror in how society views single or divorced working women, how mentally and emotionally strong one must be in Malika’s position, in order to become independent and not look towards family members for lifelong support.
Additionally, in showing Malika’s journey, Pamaal did not let go of the part of a woman who continues to love the man she had really and truly fallen for. Malika gave hope without being bitter. She refrained from seeking support in Anni or any other man for the mere reason of lightening her burden, thus giving out messages that just maybe, it is okay for a woman to go it alone. That she in fact, might just be enough.
Did Pamaal blur the lines between a controlling kind of love and protectiveness? Perhaps it did. But in Raza’s character, we witnessed a transformation. It was in how he taught his daughter to operate an atm, or his wife to drive.
So while we wonder if Malika’s “no’ to Anni was her own decision or an ode to her past husband who wanted her to stay single for Hadia’s sake, we glimpsed a woman who is perhaps still midway in her journey. We also wondered if Malika would have ever achieved all the success she earned if Raza had stayed in her life?
These are life questions that might never have a simple answer. And because the story is so close to real life, one cannot and perhaps should not expect clear and perfect answers from a narrative that sends out life lessons by merely telling a story.
Malika might never have made it this far with Raza, but then again, she might not have done it without Raza being a huge part of who she became.
And in this very truth lies the message of Pamaal – to not wait for tragedy to strike to accomplish all we are capable of, but to trust that the person we marry or the young girl we bring up to become a woman, a mother, a wife, must be able to stand tall even when she stands alone, without you.
Because that is after all, true love, unchained, and without conditions – celebrating the spirit of a woman for everything she is and everything she can one day become!
Pamaal is a Multiverse Entertainment production, written by Zanjabeel Asim and directed by Khizer Idrees, with Tehreem Chaudhary serving as producer. The cast includes Saba Qamar, Usman Mukhtar, Haris Waheed, Salma Asim, Adnan Jaffar, Faiza Gillani, Naima Khan, Shahnawaz Zaidi, and Fatiq.
