After this week’s episode I think either Wali watches too many spy thrillers or that study tour of Stanford included a side trip to Langley, Virginia. Using classic CIA tactics, Wali kidnaps his target and brings her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere to soften her up. Geneva Convention be damned, he even has a dog ready to threaten her, except that `poor old Caesar looks about as threatening as stuffed toy. Understandably Faraa is not having any of it. I half expected Faraa to stand her ground and spend the night at the “ haunted” guest house but someone in the story department took pity on me and cut it short . There were a lot of cute scenes this episode but Wali dragging Faraa around and throwing her around left a bad taste in my mouth. Ok let’s be honest here , I really am in two minds about this whole thing : the higher functioning part of my brain that deals with sorting hat quizzes and has long imaginary fights with CIF columns in the Guardian was horrified at a young girl being kidnapped and confined in such a manner. However my ancient lizard brain which deals with road rage and people who jump queues was literally cackling with glee as Faraa was brought down a peg or two.
If I look at most of the romcoms I have watched most of them now look like borderline cases of abuse and stalking, especially the Bollywood ones. So how do we draw this fine distinction, if there is one at all? I think the fact that despite being “contained” Faraa did not seem to lose agency, in fact she seemed afraid of being alone and followed Wali to the house then when it all became too much as in her failed escape attempt and the prospect of a night in that haunted house, she called his name for help rather than out of fear. The lizard brain is called primitive because it relies on instinct and gut feeling rather that reason or evidence and it was working overtime analyzing the number of times Faraa said Wali’s name and then when she literally fell into his arms it hissed , “ I told you she fancied him “. Osman Khalid Butt and Maya Ali have an effortless screen chemistry which made this whole thing work, with endless supplies of unresolved attraction between the characters they play. I have to say I am again disappointed with the director who should have made these scenes a lot more impactful with some sharper editing and perhaps a close up of the actor’s faces so we could gauge their feelings. Still this was the cutest scene and it made me laugh when Wali almost threw Faraa off after pulling her around without her permission for more than a day. Again I think the point was made: this is about Agha Jaan not about the marriage. The part that didn’t work about this whole scenario was that a medical student would be scared of a corpse covered in blood. I mean really?
OKB and Maya Ali are a pleasure to watch, they don’t have to say anything their expressions and body language are enough. Wali had the best lines though,all delivered in OKB’ signature sarcastic style while Faraa refused to be the one who blinked first in this contest of wills. This is part of that whole Osmaya charm, we may be impressed with Wali’s looks, smart answers etc but it’s all water off a duck’s back for Faraa till she actually sees something concretely worthwhile.
While Faraa has built up a wall of obstinacy and bravado to keep her safe from any interaction with Wali she is very sad and vulnerable talking to her mother. Roohi seems to have been told that Faraa went willingly to the Haveli, so either Tajamul is covering his back by manipulating his sister or (conspiracy theory kicking in) this whole kidnapping thing was a late addition to spice things up? I really felt bad for poor Faraa crying on the way to the Haveli, it’s as if her father’s death has left her friendless and unprotected .In a way Behroz chose Wali to protect Faraa but because of her mother even that has turned into a threat . Arjumand and Zarminey’s frosty reception was to be expected but I still felt bad for Faraa, she seemed even more alone. Meanwhile, Wali is subconsciously following her around like a protective mother hen. The look on his face when Arjumand told him to let a servant take Faraa to her room looked suspiciously like the over enthusiastic Dulha caught short by his mother.
Faraa’s doesn’t want to be manipulated by anyone anymore but she is doing some of her own, by convincing Wali she wants her inheritance when she took a stand against asking for the money in front of her mother and Tajamul et al. My question is why? She has enough reasons for Wali to hate her already, so why this extra one?
Meanwhile Tajamul and Zuhra are consistently greedy, manipulative and awful this week they deserved a prize for sheer nauseatingly wickedness. Both witnessed their niece’s’ forced abduction and do nothing to help her but wait for a way to twist things to their advantage. I cannot wait for Roohi to wake up to these people’s true natures but that would mean facing up to her own failings too.
Zarminey and Arjumand cannot believe Wali has brought Faraa to the Haveli and this led to one of the most powerful scenes this week Empress Arjumand demanded to know where her boy’s self-respect has gone. Wali’s definition of honesty is very different to mine at this point. His promises that he has not done anything to shame his family rings a bit hollow. This is where I become double minded, perhaps it really wasn’t ALL about Agha Jaan, and perhaps his grandfather is just a very plausible, convenient sop to Wali’s conscience? As always Hareem Farooq and Maryam Nafees, and Abid Ali are wonderful to watch and I hope we get to see more of them .
written by Sadaf
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