laiyan laiyan mein tere naal dholna

ve laiyaaan laiyaaan main tere naal dholna

Eik dil si ve rea mere kolna

ve main lutti gayi, dholna ve main lutti gayi

With this beautiful OST, we finally got to see the debut of Jackson Heights tonight. The first episode starts with a beautifully penned epilogue in Noman Ejaz’s voice describing the city Jackson Heights, (very reminiscent of ‘Tanhaiyan 2, NayeSilsile.’). The last part of the epilogue,  “…in sab mein eik cheez common hai, majobori…kisi ki majboori behter zindagi, to kisi ki majboori unke khawb. Koi apne baron ki wajeh se, to koi apne bachon ki,”  really sets the tone of the entire drama.  The fools paradise some people live in back home, thinking that as soon as you land at an airport in the USA, money greets you with open arms and your life is just set now.

Immediately afterwards you are taken to Haseena Beauty parlour, where Salma (Amina Sheikh) is high in demand. I’m not even going to comment on ‘Mrs. Khan’ and her ‘aap bohut naughty hain, mujhe to Salma he chahiye’ type dialogues (although for a second there I thought I was watching Bobby D in Annie ki Ayegi Baraat). Salma goes from one house to another before Eid to take care of desi Auntys’ waxing and threading.  Moving past that, we are introduced to Marina Khan (Michelle)’s restaurant. Michelle clearly has issues with Desis and she does nothing to hide it. The only desis she doesn’t seem to  have an issue with are Imran Bhatti (Noman Ejaz as the ever reliable cab driver) and Rizwan, a banker from India who has been put in the ‘friend zone’ by Michelle, but he is clearly trying to change that with time and (great) patience. Michelle and Rizwan share great chemistry and we learn that Michelle has a daughter who is married in London and the rest of her extended family is in Pakistan. These two I have decided are already my favorite people in JH. I especially loved the India vs. Pak cricket banter.

We are then introduced to Imran Bhatti, and really, 80% of episode 1 is about him. Imran came to the US about 15 years ago and is clearly supporting his entire family back home. He is a big brother to the younger cab drivers, overtly friendly with strangers in his cab (to the point that he voluteers the translation of ‘Kameez teri kaali’ to a passenger), and upon meeting Salma, feels the need to protect her also. Imran’s mother, (laalchi) brother, and family live in Pakistan and he has been supporting them (and apparently his bhabi’s brother also) for years now. Imran also  has a nephew Jamshed (Adeel Hussain) who’s only dream is to get to the US. When his mother tells him that Junaid has applied for a visa, Imran is adamant in telling her that he shouldn’t come here. He has now graduated and should find a job there. We see Junaid arrogantly turning down a ‘sarkari nokri‘ without even getting a visa, because he is sure he will be going to the US.  Junaid of course also has a girlfriend and  ‘chat ki kahani’ is still going strong in Pakistan in the year 2014. The episode ends with Imran going home and a lady looking at her watch with annoyance saying ‘wow, welcome home honey!’

There you have it guys…that was the first episode of Jackson Heights. In my opinion, a great distraction from saas bahu drama, extra marital affairs (although this might actually be there), conniving sisters, and all the other mazloom aurat dramas that are on air right now. The cast is absolutely brilliant and they  have all done justice to their roles. There are no over the top clothes, make up, mansions, or even dialogues. Mehreen Jabbar can clearly do no wrong in direction. She moves flawlessly between takes and even countries. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Ataullah Khan’s ‘Kameez teri kaali’ in the cab. I also very much enjoyed Salma trying to bribe Imran with an extra $10 dollars to drop her to the appointment and Imran says ‘desi kabhi bhi rishwat dene se baaz nahi ata.’  Brilliantly done Vasey Chaudhery! There were some editing issues, but I think that happens in every drama in the first couple episodes and in my opinion weren’t really a big deal. I think when we see so many positives, we should ignore the couple mishaps.

All in all, I think this is going to be a great play and a refreshing change from whats on air right now.