There was a bit of a disconnect from where the previous episode ended and how this one started. I knew Mannu was destined to a mismatched marriage but there was a slight glimmer of hope that there was more drama coming our way after Salahuddin took a stand for Mannu. However, just like most stories, the impact fizzled out and fast forward to Mannu being married off in a hurry and Salahuddin escaping to Karachi.
The biggest flaw in both Mannu and Salahuddin’s character is a lack of consistency and depth. Mannu took over her wifely duties in a matter of seconds. She made peace with her husband’s mistreatment of her and general negligence of her existence. As I predicted in one of my earlier reviews, Mikael turned out to be yet another cliched husband who has no interest in Mannu. Which begs the question- why was there such a push towards marrying Mannu? Is this his mother’s hope that her spoilt son will turn over a new leaf with a seedhi saadhi larki like Mannu? Why is it such a norm to portray rich well-to-do people without any hint of family values and religious beliefs? The snub remarks over namaaz were totally uncalled for. And I found it odd that even after finding out about Mikael’s behaviour, Mannu’s mother didn’t bother to inform her husband and check up on their daughter.
Mannu and Salahuddin are both too nice for their own good- I can appreciate the fact that they grew up in a small town but surely they can’t be completely oblivious of what’s going on around the world. Okay, maybe I can cut Mannu some slack but not Salahuddin- wasn’t he studying for his CSS exams? It’s not like he never stepped out of his home that he can’t understand when someone is trying to exploit him. Salahuddin was happy that his friend offered him a job- the same friend who’s paying him a third of what he would pay any other guy. Didn’t Salahuddin bother to do some research about the kind of package to expect? Vasay Chaudhary’s entry as Salahuddin’s friend (Ifteqar) was yet another reminder of Pyarey Afzal. His wife Kooki was simply annoying and their house help Jamil got on my nerves. Why can’t Salahuddin pick up what’s left of his dignity and go elsewhere? He may be a simpleton but he’s not stupid- at least I hope he isn’t!
From this point on, we will see the hardships that these two face and it’ll be a while before either of them actually take a stand. Mannu is prepared to stick around despite the emotional atyachaar and Salahuddin has lost the will to be happy and continues living like a grumpy old soul. I’ve started to notice a pattern in Samira Fazal’s script- she builds up a climax and then introduces a plot twist and flips the story to a completely different narrative altogether. It’s like watching different seasons/ chapters. Knowing that Ayesha Khan has yet to make an appearance, I think she’ll continue with the exploitation of these two leads a little longer until she’s ready to introduce Ayesha Khan…
What did you make of tonight’s episode?
Kanwal Murtaza
