Earth to earth; ashes to ashes; dust to dust.
In the eternal cycle of life we must always come full circle. Thus, I’m going to talk about this review in terms of words (obviously) but also in terms of a geometrical shape: the circle, and over the course of the next few paragraphs you will encounter quite a few circles.
Sadaf left us last week at a rather crucial juncture: Are Momina and Dawood on their way to a marital affair? Truth be told that’s what I thought too till this week’s events. As much as I want to talk about these two, I’ll start with the our “jhat say” couple Abdullah and Deeba.
If life is all about circles, then, these two certainly have come “full circle”. What began as an arranged marriage has now become an arranged-love-marriage. With these two finally in matrimonial bliss, I find that Zanjabeel Asim is weaving an interesting story by bringing both Deeba and Abdullah together, perhaps, as a gesture of reconciliation, maybe, even forgiveness on the parts of Gayati-ara and Seher-Bano. Even our couple seem to be willing to make things work, this change at least in Abdullah signifies a coming back – to his home, to his roots, and to his grandmother’s choices.
Similarly, Deeba after her “he loves me”, “he loves me not”, “he loves me maybe” dawdling is back where she started – in matrimony with Abdullah. I like how this track has played out, but I wonder if they’ve both really matured or are taking the easy way out(?).
They say though that one man’s happiness is another man’s sorrow and no where is this truer than with our star-crossed couple, Dawood and Momina, who happen to be in one very messy situation. As Dawood rightly notes the very people that kept them apart are now the ones that are happily married.
Destiny? Fate? Kismet? Which would you prefer?
Whether Dawood and Momina love each is not the question, in fact, I think they’re the only two people truly in love. Yet, life has dealt them a unlucky cards called Fahad and Nayab. The former isn’t all he’s cut out to be, I mean he’s certainly not as good looking as Dawood (let’s be real!), if nothing else, and as we’ve seen he’s certainly not as caring either. As for Nayab, my heart goes out to her.
At the expense of sidetracking a bit, as I watched Nayab pleading on her knees with Gayati-ara, I couldn’t help but think how easily I was swayed by a pretty, young Nayab as she broke down, yet, I never had similar sympathies for Fahad. Is it really true, as MM says, that pretty people illicit more of a response? Partly, I guess, but Nayab is helpless, Fahad isn’t. If Momina leaves Fahad he can always find another wife (in time), and he has a house, money, and resources, factors that are heavily stacked against Dawood’s majburan begum.
Now, I confess, I am not a fan of Urwa, but I am pleasantly surprised by her acting. Even though Nayab is weak and mazloom, I never feel Urwa giving us mazloomiyat. She seems to tackle the situation head on as best as she can and only now have we seen her in tears. Kudos Urwa for changing our definition of mazloom. Imagine if Sanam Jung was playing this role… here’s a sample.
Mazloomiyat aside, I wonder, where our circle will take Dawood and Momina? What about Gayati-ara and Seher Bano – back to bickering is it? If there’s anything that describes Marasim, much like life, it is circles. We all come back to places that we left, we all come back to points of departure, whether we like what we see is another story altogether.
For me, I definitely like what I see, as Marasim has gone from strength to strength these past fourteen weeks, of course, there are minor kinks but the overall narrative and flow is hardly impacted by them. The good thing about guest reviewing a drama midway is that you know how you feel. Marasim is firmly stuck somewhere between Pechan’s realist tendencies and Adhura Milan’s fantastical exaggerations giving A-Plus a good balance of dramas.
The acting is consistently good, the story remains on track, and the aesthetics (although not perfect) are easy on the eyes. Let’s hope I can toast to Team M at the end of this series, good work, guys!
Till Sadaf gets back,
This is RB signing off. (Tweet me!)
