There are few things in life which make me embarrassed to be a woman but Rudaba’s character is pushing me close to the edge. There is truly such a thing as Beybasi ,translate it as desperation ,hopelessness or complete dependence, we can see it all around us in the eyes of many women ground down by circumstance , abuse , poverty , violence and a system which allows them no freedom of expression or movement. Rudaba , however ,is not one of those women . Rudaba seems to be an almost willing victim of abuse as if she enjoys the buzz it gives her .
From Episode 19 I had some hope of her growing or being something other than the generic “bholi Larki” : she seemed to be the only voice of reason in a bad situation . She wanted her brother happy , she was even willing to forget the Mr” Lay Lag special Snowflake” Bulund and most importantly was quite happy to free herself from the Nikkah with Bashar . Sadly I had again overestimated her IQ which seems slightly less than my Cat Thomas who at least knows how to manipulate himself out of a bad situation. Since learning of Rudaba’s innocence and perhaps more importantly exactly how Tayaba manipulated him into marriage Bulund decided on a surprisingly (for him) quite intelligent plan . He would wait for his child to be born , divorce his lying wife and marry Rudaba as soon as her Khula came through . This much logic and sense nearly made Rudaba ill so she reverted to “bholi larki” mode …. so Bashar succumbs to the very real pressure of both his sisters losing their husbands and Adil again hands Rudaba over to Bashar like piece of meat at the dinner table .
I can only long for the proud , honourable heroines of past dramas , Khirad , Kashaf baji , Durr e Shehwar , Zara,even the manipulative Momina would never have met a kameena like Bashar at her brother’s door with the simpering looks Rudaba gave him in episode 23. Kameena sey yaad aya ….Tayaba is doing a really bad Dur e Shehwar impression at Bulund’s house but it is giving me a good laugh ….Bulund really does deserve her …
The rest of the story is grinding forward with a lot of time wasted on yawn inducing, long glances between Buland and Rudaba which only go to emphasise the director’s lack of imagination . At times one almost wishes for a picture of a cat or baby instead, I mean they would fill in the time just as well and might actually be more soothing.My dear readers ,pity the poor viewers who having seen some merit in this actually quite well written story, who are alternately blinded by glaring flood lights or forced to squint through darkness and fake smoke in order to get through each episode .
Meanwhile Let me congratulate the actors for pushing through all this nonsense and somehow making it work despite the minefield of cliches . Faysal Qureshi is as usual head and shoulders above the rest of the crowed ,lighting up the screen every time he appears. Yasir Mazar is such a great brother except when he isn’t ;making him very believable as a kind but ultimately weak man. Ushna needs some honing on those rough edges , there are times where she drives me mad but for the most part she has actually given Rudaba more energy , strength and quite honestly charm than the character deserves.Similarly Sami Khan has made The awful Bulund a lot nicer than he deserves and sstrangelyenough he actually has more screen chemistry with Sundas Tariq than Ushna.
Written by Sadaf
( I am thinking of proposing a drinking game with BM : every time Bashar uses a chess Board we take a sip of Coca cola and everytime Rudaba flings herself somewhere to cry a sip of Seven up . You get a pakora everytime Buland and Rudaba stare at each other over five seconds :p all suggestions welcome )
written by SADAF
