LAA Kalima Sharif Ka Pehla Harf ..is ka matlab hai Nahi …Laa hasb e Nasab, Laa Manafaqat, Laa Jhoot …Laa Darog …Laa Jhoot… laa Havs”————– Laa is the first word of the Islamic declaration of faith …there is no God But God ..it means “not ‘ or “ without” like the French term Sans… without family status , without hypocrisy , without falsehood, without greed. My Urdu may have let me down so if someone has a better translation you are welcome to add to the conversation.
Laa begins in the manner of a thriller with a swirl of images from past and present, deliberately intriguing the viewer into the hope that there might be more to this drama serial than just the simple romance between Danyal Malik and Sayeda Naina Razzi. Danyal Malik is a cheerful idiot who has somehow managed to complete an MBA and qualify for an American University, without gaining an iota of sense or maturity on the way. He fancies himself a master marksman and we are introduced to him trying to shoot some defenseless animal for fun. I am a Mikaal Zulfikar fan but he just did not look young enough for this. Danyal and his silly friends egging him on to patao some girl really looked forced and I think unnecessary. Sadia Khan’s introduction seemed equally forced; with her pro forma fight with Danyal at their first meeting. Having said that the scenes of them alone and their other conversations were good to watch and they seem to share a certain chemistry right from the beginning.
Naina’s parents are Sayyads (for those who don’t know this term they can trace their ancestry back to the Prophet Mohammed’s family) and are in Lahore to see an equally ‘well born’ young man for their daughter. Danyal is a Malik (landowning feudals) …….or is he? There is a stranger who waits to speak to Danyal, one who may put all of Danyal’s background into question. That stranger is Naimat Khan who we see in the beginning sequence as peasant whose precious daughter Amina has died, possibly murdered, after being threatened by some Feudal Malkani.
This serial is written by Sarmad Sehbai and seems to be an interesting story. The script is well written, aiming for a depth that we seem to have lost in recent times. I like the fact that the cast system in Pakistan is being addressed, often times we brush this under the rug using code words and sleights of expression to cover what is plainly distasteful to say out loud yet exerts such influence on our lives. More importantly I get the feeling this story maybe about self-discovery and how we perceive our identity. The Saieen Baba who sells a taweez to Danyal hints at this deeper meaning: who are we without our names, our family histories and all the lies we tell ourselves ? Farooq Rind’s directing is just passable in this episode at least .There should have been a lot more editing and at times it seemed a little disjointed. I have high hopes of this serial, Mikaal and Sadia look good together and Mikaal at least is a good actor. Most of all , finally a story which addresses deeper societal issues without lecturing or condescending to it’s audience.
written by SADAF
