Last week was so hectic for me because of Eid preparations etc that I didn’t have time to even watch episode 8, let alone review it .So this week is going to be a double review. I will try to keep it short and sweet but this drama works on so many different levels that it is sometimes hard to limit myself . As is usual when I decide to give something a pass, the fates decree whatever I miss will be extra special , even if its only a bus . If I miss it ,it’s probably the one which had a winning lottery ticket lying on the seat I was going to sit on ..it’s simple physics. So naturally If I missed this episode of Aunn Zara it turns out to be one of the best ones yet . The opening sequence had me floating on air , as if I was watching one of my favorite movies . It was such a refreshingly uncomplicated depiction of the first sweet dawning of that deepest of human emotions …… love . The camera angles. the actor’s expressions,the framing of the scenes, all brought home that wonderful effervescent feeling :when we disconnect with everyone in order to connect with just that one . Osman was simply brilliant ,but I think Maya needs to work on underplaying some of her reactions.Full credit to Haissem Hussain for a seamless blend of images and background music.
Aunn and Zara have finally fallen for each other but with a whole parcel of well meaning but interfering relatives between them acknowledging this seems a herculean task. A desperate Aunn tries to follow Manzar’s advice and sing a romantic song or two for Zara but ends up singing a few cheap item numbers which might have sounded vaguely threatening if it weren’t for Osman’s angelic face and flat singing style. Thank you dear Manzar and Aunn for making me laugh so hard .You two have a rare talent .
Poor Zara is in the throws of first love , off her food and living in a dream which makes Dadi suspect she is pregnant . A quick visit to the doctor disproves a supposition the audience knows would be nothing short of a miracle.Zara also learns that this is her mother in laws’ 25th wedding anniversary and decides to hold a little family celebration . This is where I insert my one complaint about a wonderful episode . I am a great fan of dances but only good dances . Sabreen Hasbani looked gorgeous and danced really well everyone else should have just sat down and watched .I liked Hina Bayat’s little sequence too but really the whole dance thing should n’t have been so long.After a while it began to annoy me . Sometimes, less really is more .
All of the women in Aunn’s family have difficulties in their lives , Chachi is childless, Nighat is divorced, Husna is sadly separated from a husband who ignores her and Dadi has not seen her eldest son in years. However they refuse to let anyone of these things rule their lives or become tragedy queens and this is what makes these characters so watchable .I know this is a comedy but I wish other serials would show this more resilient attitude in women rather than wallowing in dialogues ….like ‘iss dunya mein akeli aurat ka maqam’ etc.. Episode 9 develops this theme further. Phupo Nighat is not as unaffected by her divorce as her happy go lucky demeanor might suggest. When Zara’s father tells her off and taunts her about her situation she doesn’t start reeling off dialogues about a woman’s place in society bu her expressions show she is hurting inside. Chachi has learned to cope with her infertility by sharing her love not just with Aunn but her other nieces and nephews as well. Husna’s sad relationship with Aunn’s father is further illustrated by the short , cold telephone conversation this episode . It is strange that a man willing to send so much money at such regular intervals to his family is at the same time so disinterested in them. Husna has put up such a front of stoic patience for so long in front of her son Aunn that he barely questions the strange arrangement of their family affairs. He happily accepts the money his father deposits in his account each month, without questioning his father’s absence in his or his mother’s life .
This episode Zara notices how sad Husna is behind her cheerful facade and begins to question why Aunn doesn’t try to heal the breach between his parents .Is he really that selfish? Speaking as someone who thought Khirad gave Asher a hard time with tooo many nakhras in the first 3 or 4 episodes of Humsafar :p I officially declare that Zara has too many nakhras as well . What does poor Aunn have to do to get this girls attenion ?Is she blind ? The looks Aunn was sending her way after their ahem ..’bargain”would have melted the iceberg that sank the Titanic but not miss prissy pather key sanam Zara .He sings her songs , endures primitive conditions in the provinces where the goats have more privacy than the humans and yet she still wont give him the time of day.Moonlit conversations and the kind of heart melting smiles thrown her way would leave most females of the species in a happily melting puddle of soppy romantic delight but Zara is made of sterner stuff. I fear she is now on some campaign to make our feckless but absolutely adorable Aunn a better man. Her first move is to make Aunn find a job , through her father’s recommendation but knowing Aunn things may not go quite as planned . SORRY the review turned out long despite my attempts at editing :(
Episode 9 was a little more serious than episode 8 but it moved the story along and provided a few more insights into the characters and their respective situations. Osman Khalid Butt is truly the star of this serial , each episode shines with his presence. Maya Ali was better in Aik Naeey Cinderella to my mind she is better in the more serious parts of AZ, she tends to go overboard in some of the comedy sequences . Having said that she is keeping up her end of the equation in most scenes . The ladies of AZ are simply the best Sabreen Hasbani , Nasreen Qureshi ,Hina Bayat and Chachi Shabana are wonderful. Zara’s father ,Major Jamshed is superb and just the right foil to Phupo Nighat . I hope their is more to their interaction than just sparring .
Written by sadaf
