Hmm … this was a relatively ho-hum episode, nothing new really happened…rather this seemed more like a continuation of the previous episode, 5b let’s say. Like the previous episode, this was a narration of events taking place within a span of twenty-four hours. Bilqees is still recuperating; Sultan is still checking out girls; Sobia remains as oblivious as ever to her husband’s incestuous intentions towards Soha; Farooq carries on with his creepiest behnoi of the year act; Shafaq and Hasan are still in the process of getting married; and not having learnt from his near miss, Inayat tries to steal yet again; and Anjuman and Faraz are still trying to figure out how to get their families to agree to their match. In short, though there was nothing really wrong here, but the slow pace and lack of progression in the story meant that this latest chapter fell slightly short of the benchmark set by the previous five episodes.
The one new revelation today, if I may call it that, was the first real hint of the deep-seated hatred Peeno has for her mother-in-law. Wow! Talk about serious saas-bahu issues!! Though she is clearly off-kilter, there is certainly nothing wrong with her as far as her response to Bilqees’ high-handedness is concerned. This, however, does raise the question: Why has she never voiced her resentment? Why is she so visibly intimidated by Bilqees and Inayat? Peeno is such a multifaceted character – excellently written and superbly directed. I love the way each layer is being gradually peeled back to reveal yet another nuance of this very complex character. Sadia Imam is simply brilliant.
Another scene that stood out today was the conversation between Hasan and Sultan. More often than not, friends are treated like minor characters, floating in and out of storylines; we know nothing about them as individual people. But here, Hasan is a fully fleshed out character, and for once it is nice to see a leading man having fun, laughing, sharing his inner-most feelings with a close friend, so very refreshing and close to reality. Their camaraderie reminds me so much of Marina Khan and Kehkashan Awan’s friendship in Dhoop Kinare. This is a combination that would’ve definitely made my list of out-of-the-box pairings in recent dramas. Ahsan Khan and Fawad Jalal are very good here.
Other than these two standouts, nothing much really caught my attention. I thought the scene where Sultan goes to meet the Mahi Munda Saima was funny, but again, since this was almost a repeat of his earlier meeting with Nuchi in the last episode, the joke kinda felt flat the second time around.
So yeah, though a good episode, it was not a great one. I didn’t fast-forward anything, but didn’t rewind to go back and re-watch a scene either. I hope the pace picks up and we have more to discuss and share next week.
Written by SZ~ [email protected]
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