Finally! With(out) much ado, yet another drama serial concluded yesterday. Although in a nutshell, I am happy about the way Akbari Asghari ended, I am a little miffed that the drama ended just when it had actually gotten interesting. Yep, this was one of those dramas where the ‘story’ unfolds in the third or second LAST episode and when you finally heave a sigh of relief, and hope for more to come, it just ends. Sigh again!
I must say I had looked REALLY forward to Akbari Asghari – the promos had looked promising, Fawwad-Sanam duo were coming back after Dastaan and the star cast/script seemed commendable. However, from the very first episode, I was disappointed – to say the least. The story moved at a snail’s pace, most of the scenes were boring and dragged out, and the song/dance sequences were at best deserving of being forwarded promptly.
The serial had its share of some very interesting episodes – the wedding of Akbari-Asghar and Asghari-Akbar, the honeymoon with Bayji’s sagas, the Shabbo-Asghar-Akbari love triangle, and of course, the way peer-o-murshad was exposed by Asghari. Sheen and Batool’s scenes rocked all the way. However, there were also episodes in which there was too much pointless conversation and the ‘voices’ of characters thinking – why WHY do you want to have characters THINKING? The whole point of a drama serial is to show, not tell. Sigh!
In any case, the last episode was definitely excellent. The way Shabbo was put down by both Asghar and Sheen, the confessions of love by all the four main characters and a happy end to Bayji’s life of misery were all worth watching and brought a smile to my face. There are last episodes which drag one track of the story to death, but this one was action-packed and kept me hooked right up to the end.
I must say Faiza Iftikhar did a pretty decent job – again, I must reiterate that she raises the right issues, but the issues get lost within the span of 25 episodes. The script must be a little more crisp and put forward the messages more prominently.
Hats off also to Haissam Hussain – Akbari Asghari was definitely one of his better serials (I am thinking Ishq Gumshuda here which was totally pointless). I see a concerted effort on many Facebook pages to discredit him and his work; however, he is definitely one of the better directors around. Akbari Asghari had its share of directorial bloopers, but overall it brought much-needed comic relief to many viewers and conveyed many pertinent messages.
Before I sign off, here is a humble request to ALL script writers: please have the love story going in the background along with the main track of the serial; it is highly annoying when ‘confessions’ of love come in the last episode; I at least want to see more of Akbari-Asghar and Asghari-Akbar scenes and some conflicts post-confessions-of-love.
Written by HA
