Oooh I can see all you Suno Chanda Fans about to announce the death sentence on me… but hold on, it was just a random thought hehehe, let’s cut to the quick and get on with the topic at hand! I kid you not. Every time I catch Iqra Aziz deliver a mesmerizing 2 minutes on screen, I want to break into spontaneous applause! This, coming from someone who is not a die-hard Iqra fan (kill me not, Iqra Fandom) is a HUGE takeaway!
This drama season is mind-blowing-ly fantastic (so much so that I’m inventing words), but because it is so engaging, the competition onscreen is heating up too. Who to watch and who to drop? Ooops, I meant which, as in which drama to drop and which to watch! You see, try as we do to stretch time, we have 24 hours in a day, and that means, (unless you refuse to acknowledge you belong to a family. and a wider human race, and have responsibilities), you cannot spend your waking hours binge-watching every Pakistani drama – oh well, can you?
Rhetorical question that, but.
Ameera in Raqeeb Se & Mahi in Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3 have me glued to my TV screen twice a week because although both characters are vastly different they have been played to the utmost perfection! Iqra we can’t even hand it all to the director because you are working with both Wajahat Hussain (KAM3) and Kashif Nisar (Raqeeb Se) to gift us stellar performances.
Iqra has caught the finer nuances of Ameera with a maturity that defies her age
When we say an actor matures, like fine wine, we expect that her pinnacle will come at a later stage in her life. One needs to experience more of life to deliver the multitude of characters one portrays on screen, right? However, Iqra continues to defy this formula. She has aced every scene, every ada of Ameera, from the attempted seductress with Maqsood Sahib to the teasing village girl with Sakina.
Her moves could very well have crossed over to the ‘over acting’ ‘over done’ bit, BUT she has maintained the finest balance to keep it on point!
When she flirts with Maqsood Sahib, we see the young girl in her, crushing over an older man. When she teases Sakina, driving her absolutely insane, we see the petulant child in her, pushing a parent to the edge! When she blurts out the un-utterable at the dining table, we all go whaaat, eyes wide open, shaking our heads at her daring, blatant disregard of social propriety.
Iqra springs us a new surprise in every Raqeeb Se episode. Recall how she barred Kashif’s entry at the door and how her charming flirtation had us thinking, is she for real?
Innocent or too smart for the entire household?
Ameera keeps us guessing and full marks to Iqra for fitting into her slippers like she owned a role made entirely for her. Director Kashif Nisar, we give you full marks for casting a winner here!
But just as we are (NOT) done crushing over Ameera, we step into the grandiose world of Khuda Aur Mohabbat3
And you know what, up until the last episode, Mahi was just a young girl who flirts a little, wears pretty clothes, throws random tantrums and looks cute with her picture perfect hairdo and all! But then, we were gifted to the Mahi in the library and oh, she took our hearts away!
Pause. This is not a love note for Iqra but if it’s turning out to be, it’s because I fell head over heels in love with the way she addressed Farhad and ticked off all his expectations one by one.
Mahi struck a controlled balance between a heard-hearted woman who refuses to return love and a young girl who pleads freedom from the shackles of guilt (that Farhad wants to bind her in). I have to mention, Iqra’s tone here was so on point, so controlled, so lifelike that I could imagine any young girl standing before a love-lorn aashiq clarifying her position and explaining to him why he needs to ‘snap out of it’!
Why was I so surprised?
Because although I expected Iqra to do well, I did not expect to be so riveted to the scene that I forgot to take a sip of my post iftar chai (that turned cold btw), because every argument she threw at Farhad was well argued – kudos to writer Hashim Nadeem for scripting that superlative piece of genius – and because of this genius scripting, Iqra could have let up just a tiny notch, and perhaps, no one would have noticed?
But she didn’t! From:
Tum Samajh Kyun Nahi rahe Ho Farhad, Tumhaara paagal Pan Hai Yeh!
Till the end of the episode long mulaaqaat. Iqra held sway over audiences’ hearts and minds.
We might question the development of the story line (as many have) the one-sided ishq of Farhad (as many have) but we cannot question the smoothness with which Iqra delivered her lines and convinced every young girl that this is what they need to say to a bhoola bhatka aashiq – with the same conviction in her eyes and the same masked expressions that stayed unblinking under that penetrating Farhad aashiqi gaze!
Well done there Mahi, we’re rooting for you. Of course, the strength of the bad dua is another thing altogether, and how many of us would like to wish it away with the sway of a magic wand to let our princess live happily ever after!
