This has to be one of my favourite episodes so far. Finally Umama realizes she put her trust in the wrong man. The saddest dialogues were from Umama, when she asked herself why her love for Murad wouldn’t die even after all his mistreatment and neglect. Sad she may be but this was a much stronger, purposeful woman before us, not the plaster saint of previous episodes. This strong woman does not wait for permission from anyone but takes her daughter Soha back from her sister in law Rehana who, to her credit does not stand in the way. This same woman is now strong enough to stand up to Murad when he finally drags himself to her Father’s house and returns the money he is going to leave in lieu of taking his daughter’s responsibly as a Father should.
My sense of the ridiculous is so keen it usually won’t allow me to take a “crazy “ scene seriously but Mehar Bano did such an outstanding job in the opening dream sequence that I forgot to laugh . This is how any mother would feel after having her child literally taken from her arms. This entire episode was hers; she gets so lost in her character she really does not care about anything else. All the actors in this serial have simply been wonderful bringing great sincerity to what are basically stock characters .Not much was seen of Deeba Baji except a couple of I must say enjoyable truth telling moments to her Khala and threats to Murad that if Umama came back she would leave with his sons.
Murad is the most baffling character I have come across in a long time; he is quite simply beyond my understanding. Last week I wondered where his moral compass had disappeared and now he was showing all the classic signs of a hypocrite described by religious tradition. He was lying when he told his mother Umama wanted a separate house before she would return, he breaks his promises to Umama and betrays the trust of his daughters. Perhaps it is an exaggeration on my part but as I said he is beyond my ken. He keeps telling Deeba Baji he cannot live without his children and the viewer is left asking and what about you daughters? I am pretty sure he used to love and care for them, how can he forget them? I am not sure how Fahad Mustapha manages to carry off such a conflicted character but he makes it seem possible.
Mr. Haseeb enjoys his time with his grandchildren but looks rather sad and fake trying to convince Murad of the value of daughters after he himself treated Umama and her sisters so badly. Still he was a better man than Murad and in his regret he puts his house in Umama’s name so she feels more secure. Umama has made the decision to complete her degree, no easy task with three children and so many years out of college. This is a pointed lesson for a lot of people no one should give up their education for marriage or indeed anything else.
I realise the message of this drama is that we should value our daughters and as such I would like to thank Sarwat Nazir for writing it. I wish there was a more positive way of bringing home this message. The ratio of males to females has risen to unprecedented levels in The Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Female infanticide and simply denying food to girl children already born has meant there are simply going to be a lot more men than women in the coming generation. This is going to have untold consequences on society and if we read between the headlines we can already see the effects.
Written by Sadaf
