This week we pick up exactly where we left off (no, not at the staircase) with Dania walking into her bedroom huffing and puffing. As if Amir’s return wasn’t stressful enough she suddenly spots an envelope from her marhoom husband, Mehtab Patel. Call me a sucker for voiceovers coupled with flashbacks but I absolutely loved Patel reading the letter that Dania’s reading. The pace was slow but it picked up and boy was that some monologue, most of it wasn’t actually half bad! Even the background music worked well here, not too annoying and rather mellow sounding, but then again voiceovers can accommodate music as opposed to dialogue sequences.
With over four minutes devoted to the letter we can be fairly certain that it is an important part of the narrative otherwise we know what happens to letters (Humsafar anyone?!). It was actually uncanny how Patel managed to speak from the grave to his young wife explaining himself, his actions, why he did what he did, and asking for forgiveness for anything that might have ever caused her any suffering. It’s not one of those heartbreaking moments but it adds to the emotional quotient of the series. Some of the prose penned was spectacular (correct me if I’m wrong) but two parts really caught my attention. First, was when Patel admits: “Mohabbat ko baichnay aur mohabbat karnay wali ko kharidanay ka ya tarika mujhe ajeeb lagta hai lekin iss tarhan ka wyapar (?) mein shayad issi tarhan hota hai.” These are words of dying man acknowledging the mistakes he made and it is finally(!) revealed who Abdul Samad really is! Yes, you guessed it a detective to track Dania’s every activity. After all, mard to mard hi rehta hai na.
The other was Patel’s astute observation that “Par jee kay pata chala ki koi chain say jee lay to woh chain say mar nahi sakta.” These confessions of a husband to his wife are all the more poignant when Patel admits that he never told anyone including Chauhan (whom as we last saw he trusts blindly) who Samad was. I have to admit this part was well done, from the camera work to the editing, from the background score to the prose: seamless!
But letters are never one sided, if someone’s writing them, then there’s obviously someone reading them. And we are brought back to Dania, who in a span of twenty-four hours has been betrayed by the two men she trusted the most. Amir, who left her for chaand paisay, and Patel, who never believed her. She is a woman again and a strong one at that, no longer the scared girl on the staircase. Perhaps, she needed a reality check if only to prepare her for what she has to do next. Here the episode veered towards the melodramatic.
Yes, we are yet again subjected to the video of Amir taking money to abandon his naive fiancé but I wish it was as simple as that. In a long, drawn out fashion Dania keeps Amir waiting to see her and then has Qutub (leader of the minions) escort him to the basement media room so that he can watch what he did twelve years ago. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed, that saying is very apt for our heroine. She calmly enjoys her dinner as Amir screams at the top of his lungs to be let out, that his daam is ghootoing, ki woh aab wahan nahi rahe sakta. Cut to Amir running up the stairs in a state of shock mixed with fear and embarrassment. So bitter is Dania’s anger that she runs after Amir only to fling her shoe at him. Even though I recognise and understand the magnitude of emotions such a meeting would engender, I found the acting a bit lack-lustre. Dania fails to impress and one is left with an impression that her anger governs her, which is surprising given that she isn’t controlled by her emotions.
Where she does impress is during her short monologue. Talking to Patel’s picture, Dania admits to him that she no longer harbours any feelings for Amir, that she’s a changed woman, and changed she has. I have three words for you Mrs. Patel: Love always betrays.
Betrayal and trust seem to be recurring themes in this episode (and I’m sure in the series as well). Bunty tells Dania he’s trusting her for the last time, Patels heartbreaking revelations, Dania’s transformation, are all part and parcel to the people each of these characters has decided to trust.
Speaking of Bunty, Noman Hassan does a decent job of holding his own in front of Saba Qamar, as is very evident during their car ride. At first, and I admit I was rather quick, I dismissed Bunty as a male Kanza (those of you who lived through Numm know what I mean), but I was pleasantly surprised by the turn in events. Qamar tries very hard to make her on-screen chemistry work with Bunty and it shows, for instance, the smiles they exchange, as Bunty describes how he stole a phone right before his bike was hit, suggest genuine acting. Slowly as they become more comfortable with each other it’ll show in screen.
As the episode comes to a close Dania strikes a deal with Bunty’s father and literally buys him for Rs. 50,000/month. Surprisingly, for someone who’s been used as a commodity (by Amir, by Patel) it would seem unlikely that she’d indulge in something similar yet she does. Something tells me that she has sinter motives for this young man but we’ll just have to wait and see.
A special mention to the costume designer because Ms. Qamar looks ravishing in red. Her sarees are minimal and yet definitely eye-catching. Although I would like to see her dressed up differently, I guess, the saree refers to her less than innocent nature. A decent episode, it could have moved the plot further than Bunty’s arrival in her life. Less time on Amir, perhaps. The editing was good and I hope the trend continues because continuity (both of narrative and of our own thoughts) rests with the editors. The question I’m left with is whether this is the last we’ve seen of Amir? I guess, we’ll just have to wait till next week.
Until then, happy reading!
RB (Tweet me!)
