Pehli Si Mohabbat
In a drama, you can spend a day together and bid farewell, in real life, ummm…not happening! To err is human, and it will be left to poor Bushra to be divine if she had to forgive!
As I watched Rakshi & Aslam spend a day together, a planned date with a person who’s not your spouse (and you are, at least one of you, is still married), I smiled at the rocking chemistry that is Maya Ali & Sheheryar. I mean, if anyone were to match Sajal & Ahad, Fawad & Mahira onscreen, I would give a shout out to these two – yes, it’s THAT perfect!
But…
Onscreen couples do not (and should not) real life stories make
And I had to pinch myself many times during the very cutely played out dialogues and scenes that, if Aslam were my husband, I wouldn’t want to be the Bushra in his life. You see, I am a woman, and a wife first. And so are many of the women who were watching the drama – married, I mean.
And Bushra, as a wife, was wronged.
In showing that Aslam did the right thing eventually, that Rakshi walked away, in a dignified manner, we forget where we left our dear Bushra – with no self respect, in fact zero, if I may say…just a compromise she has to live with. And she’s used to the compromise, to being the second woman in his life, that she doesn’t even feel the need to exercise her marital rights anymore?
Now, think for a moment. Let’s change places.
Had it been Mushk in Raaz e Ulfat, we would, and we did, blame her. Although Mushk had no say in her marriage and Mushk was abandoned by Irtiza so maybe, the parallel doesn’t stand. But my point is, if Bushra were to meet her ex love after bearing a child and being locked in marriage to a seemingly decent husband – Aslam, we would have never, and I mean never, as a very ‘judgement calling awam‘, allowed her the same ooh and aah and ‘it was a beautiful ending’ bit that we did for Rakshi & Aslam.
Why? What went wrong here?
Did we allow Rakshi & Aslam to share sweet moments because they were Maya & Sheheryar in disguise? Did we forgive Haider in Fitoor because it was Faysal Quraishi we saw behind the very opinionated, archaic thinking Haider?
Or did we just savour the poetic ending because, it was not our husband who was spending a day out with his ex?
They say Pakistani dramas have the power to influence mindsets. But is this really a mindset we want to change? While not being too didactic, one must say that certain relationships have rules, and marriage is right up there for us all. It is a legal contract, a religious binding, a mutual commitment that must be respected from both sides. By showing one partner to be so giving, so generous and accepting, are we making it harder for others who are (unapologetically) more territorial about their husbands, and should be!
Even though Rakshi & Aslam decided to head back to their respective lives, every man (in fact most), is not an Aslam
Also, every couple will not meet in a socially acceptable setting when love, and that too, unfulfilled love, is in the air. Trusting our spouses is one thing, but taking advantage of that trust by the other is another.
Let’s clarify, dramas are allowed to omit real life, makers are allowed creative license too, and not taking away from any of that, but in a story that sent out very social strong messages about women, relationships and marriage, this particular twist didn’t quite tie up for me.
Which brings me to my other point.
Is our love for our celebrities clouding our better judgement?
Did the opportunity to see Maya & Sheheryar play out a romantic episode so we can satisfy our craving for a love story really fit into the jigsaw that is Aslam & Bushra’s real life? Would we allow it to fit into ours?
In fact, the fact that the ‘day out’ was so well played out, so beautifully conceptualized and, like I said, the chemistry between them gold – made it all the more palatable? Kinda like disguising that karwa cough syrup with a spoonful of sugar, if I may say so.
Are we creating more Bushras in our society? And are we telling the Aslam’s, you can still have your day out with your pehli mohabbat … you can have closure, not in a conversation, but in an entire day … and come home to a loving wife?
Where do we draw the line? You tell me!
