it is really difficult to review Bashar Momin ,firstly because there are two episodes a week and secondly because it keeps twisting and turning . Episode 28 was so unbearable I could hardly watch. I am not sure what is wrong with Rudaba but it needs to be fixed quickly with heavy medication. All those unnatural smiles and desperate declarations of true love put me firmly on Bashar’s side. Episode 28 was full of badly joined romantic tableaus that had all the finesse of a badly knitted jumper. It almost seemed as if the tables had been turned and Bashar was afraid of this new assertive Rudaba, who was just not afraid of him anymore. 

The saving grace of this episode had to be Noman Ejaz and Hina Bayat ,who stole the show with just a few lines .In an unimaginative flashback Bashar’s beautiful mother Shagufta Jahan and her now husband Zafar walk into the fancy restaurant where teenage Bashar works as a waiter. The humiliation and confrontation scenes explain Bashar’s miserable background and psychological hang-ups perfectly. What I don’t understand is the nightly piano playing. Why not have Bashar actually do business in a restaurant and be reminded of this or perhaps sit in his garden and allow a memory to haunt him? Why belabor a point, why not underplay something for impact?
Hina Bayat was a treat to watch. Her character doesn’t regret leaving Bashar’s father for a minute but despite what Bashar thinks or says in her own selfish way she does care for her children just not enough to do anything for them which might take her away from Zafar. Similarly despite Zafar’s arrogance and conceit he cares enough about Shagufta to know she weeps for her children at night and forces Bashar to talk to her. Zanjabeel Asim’s script is again the best thing about this serial. Each character is well developed and every detail well plotted.

So Bashar decides to be a bigger “Kamina “than Zafar. As with all these kinds of dramas ,Bashar is ruthless so his rise is meteoric. As soon as he gets rich Bashar changes his persona ironically to be just like Zafar .Bashar has severe trust and commitment issues and is literally scared when he finds out Rudabba is pregnant. Despite all the threats and ample evidence Bashar gives her that he doesn’t want her or her child she believes him and ends up losing her child. This whole sequence was gut wrenching and very difficult to watch. Till now Ushna had been sleep walking or something but suddenly it seems she remembered how to act and actually did a pretty decent job as the heart broken Rudaba . Faysal Qureshi was fabulous as usual, frightening but very much afraid himself , tormenting but equally tormented , unforgiving but a pitiful mess of man. I had hoped for some kind of redemption for Bashar but after this he will have to find the cure for cancer or bring about world peace before this viewer can think well of him again.
Next week’s promo shows us Rudaba is once again the saint as she defends her husband from the police scrutiny. Rudaba’s is still proving her love is unconditional to Bashar while our old friend Bulund takes his revenge by bringing the full force of the law onto Bashar’s head. What ever happened to Rudaba’s father’s insistence on Halal Risq ?
This drama is supposedly based on Beauty and the beast  As far as I remember the beast only frightened Beauty , he never actually harmed her …although like Bashar he shows Beauty his heart (Basher’s weakness/past ) his mistake is allowing Beauty to leave him and return to her family because he is actually kind and caring enough to know she misses them .. This story reminds more of Sheherezaad whose husband was also convinced of the infidelity of women and would execute his wives . I just wonder whether such Men really are the glittering prizes worthy of all the effort these women have put in to win them ….?

Bashar Momin is a very different story to the family dramas weare used to seeing, the themes are dark but not so far removed from reality as we would like to think. I just feel a that the execution of this drama was some how lacking. I wonder who came up with the bright idea of making this drama so heavily stylised  when it could have been so amazing if kept along its original, authentic Pakistani lines .

Written By SADAF