Forced marriage, shattered dreams, heartbreak, a communication breakdown between your parents and you – this is what Parwarish is about to serve up to Gen Zers, and while, as a parent, you might spot the signs, it is the young person in you who will truly resonate as the tell-tale trauma reveals itself.
A harmless phonecall, a toxic father and fiance, a desperate attempt to save your friend and land up in trouble yourself, all this with a backdrop to joint family dynamics that hit the spot, this week’s Parwarish episodes resonate.
Maya’s emotional meltdown tugged at the heartstrings, even the toughest among us couldn’t help but wipe a tear as she questions her life choices and how fate interfered to place her in a position not entirely of her making. Maya’s words transitioned from contemplating the messy life she’s caught up in, to shouldering the broken dreams of all the young girls who do not want their lives to be reduced to an existence in the kitchen. Her frustration was palpable and Aina Asif performed magnificently, whole-heartedly, to highlight the torments of a tortured soul.
Becoming a doctor, a life goal, and one she has great potential for, never seemed more difficult. Yet, amidst all the pain, her confidence shone through as she knew deep down inside that she had the potential to do it, all she needed was the support she was missing in a toxic family environment.
However, despite the flawless performance from Aina, one wondered why she blamed her mother for the engagement. Was she really saving her, or did that dialogue just step in to add more agony to her troubles. Maya’s dilemma is heartbreaking as it is, knowing that her father, the one person who should support her dreams, has forced her into an engagement not of her wanting, was enough to tug at our heartstrings, we didn’t need the extra ingredient, especially since this piece of information wasn’t mentioned at an earlier stage in the narrative.
But onwards to Wali and his dilemmas that are about to multiply in astronomical numbers. A young person in love will throw caution to the winds and embrace risky business like no other. Wali did the same and unfortunately, the accident, though thankfully not fatal, will cost him his father’s wrath and more trauma as police encounters take a toll on his mental health. This, added to the medical degree he’s forced into pursuing and a broken heart, will surely catapult into more disaster in coming episodes.
What was hugely heartening was Amal adding a compassionate dimension to Wali’s perspective by explaining Maya’s position to him. Not just that, but showing him that she is as helpless as he is in his life choices, made us, the audience realize that both sets of fathers – Wali’s and Maya’s are enforcing a life choice upon their children that will lead to pain, trauma and perhaps an emotionally scarred youth. This is the time that many of us cherish in our lives, the carefree college days where everyone is allowed to dream, but it is, after all that very thing, the most precious for any young person, Maya and wali’s dream, of pursuing medicine and music respectively, that is being taken away from them.
Dadi – the ever wise, yet often outspoken and petulant matriarch attempts to maintain harmony in a joint family household – is there even such a thing?
While the messages hit the spot, of sharing and caring in a joint family, one wonders when dadi will come round to letting go of the kitchen micro management, realizing that her bahus need a break and kitchen gadgets, hint, roti maker and helpers can do the job and ease the pain.
Anya’s allergies and the miracle healing was a bit of an eye roll. We would like the creators to handle food allergies with more awareness and sensitivity. If it is only animal fat that she is allergic to, and small amounts of it in her diet are helping her tolerate it better (case in point, dadi’s panjeeri laddus made with desi ghee), perhaps that needs to be explained in greater detail for a generation battling serious and often fatal food allergies.
As a final word, one wonders why Mahnoor and Jahangir’s characters have been offset as the troublesome, erring ones in a drama titled Parwarish. Is it intentional that these two hail from abroad, and the local couple – Sulaiman and Pannah are more sorted? Is it intentional that Anya and Wali seem to have all of Gen Z life problems poured into them – from rebellion to mental health issues while Amal and Sameer are more or less sorted? Is it intentional to show that families living abroad seem to fail at parenthood more than those living within joint family systems in Pakistan?
Jahangir’s character stands out as a thorn for sure. His present plan to plan an engagement between Wali and Amal is questionable for all his selfish reasons. Also, one wonders why he cannot appreciate the cousin support system that Amal and Wali have for each other (yeah we’re going to let the fact that Amal might have a thing for Wali go, for now), but that they are both too young and need to focus on their education and careers rather than shouldering the pressures of a possible engagement at such an impressionable age.
The question on our minds? How long can Amal keep Jahangir’s secret? And that’s all folks. Drop us a comment and your thoughts on Parwarish below.
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Parwarish is written by Kiran Siddiqui and directed by Meesam Naqvi. The drama airs every Monday and Tuesday at 8:00 PM only on ARY Digital. The cast includes Samar Jafri, Aina Asif, Naumaan Ijaz, Savera Nadeem, Shamim Hilaly, Saad Zameer Fareedi, Reham Rafiq, Nazr-ul-Hasan, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Nooray Zeeshan, Haleema Ali, Arshad Mehmood, Saman Ansari, Abul Hasan, and others.
