It is very rare that I get to watch a serial as consistently good as Marasim. It is not Hatkey , it is not on a higher intellectual plane and quite frankly I am not a big fan of the cast but it is compelling viewing. This simple story is beautifully written by Zanjabeel Asim, expertly directed by Owais Khan and produced By Humayoon Saeed and Shehzad Nasib.

Saba Hamid plays Gaythi Ara, who is traumatized by her past. Coming from a very poor family she spends her married life under the thumb of her dominating mother in law and manipulative younger sister in law Sheher Bano. I have heard that when some people die the earth heaves a sigh of relief, saying “dharti pey boj kam huwa”, but there are some who leave a legacy of hate and pain behind them, controlling the living from the grave. Gaythi Ara’s children are engaged (without her consent) to Sheher Bano’s children before her mother in law’s death. By the time Gaythi Ara achieves some semblance of respect and independence her children, have fallen in love with their grandmother’s choices. The story revolves around the fall out as these relationships are ripped apart when Sheher Bano’s son marries another girl and breaks off his engagement to Gaythi Ara’s daughter. This allows Gaythi Ara to finally break her beloved son Daud’s (Ahsan Khan) engagement to Momina (Sonia Hassan)

For once the older women involved are not played as one dimensional puppets. Their difficulties, their situations are shown with great nuance while staying true to their characters. Here is that rare event when director , writer ,producer and actors have actually done all the hard work so the viewer can actually sit back and enjoy the product ,without straining to understand the dialogues, confusing time lines and characterizations.

Saba Hamid and the actress who plays Sheher Bano are simply amazing. My entire sympathies are with Gaythi Ara; considering how chalak and self-centered Sheher Bano and her daughter Momina are, I think Daud and his family have had a lucky escape. Both Daud and Momina are devastated, but while he rails against his mother and is desperate for reconciliation Momina, true to character  takes her mother’s side. Ahsan Khan and Sonia Hassan share great chemistry and play their roles perfectly.

For four episodes I had no complaints but now and then Ahsan forgets he is an actor and becomes a star, ruining an otherwise super performance. This week’s episode had him spinning a pen knife in his desperate preoccupation with working out a way to get Momina back; but when he  finally speaks to her it’s all ” Yaar” ,this and “Yaar” that and I suddenly wonder when the teenager arrived and the grown Man left .

Despite being a typical, gharelu masley type plot this story has no Mazloom aurtein and constantly Zulm ki shikar victims. In fact Gaythi Ara seems like a thinking woman who has taken a calculated risk by separating herself from those who controlled her past. I find the characterization of Momina and her mother Sheher Bano particularly fascinating. Here are two women who have never faced any particular adversity in their lives and are used to commanding respect and admiration, especially by the men in their sphere. Momina might have a moment or two of introspection but her mother has absolutely no regrets about how she treated her Bhabi. Yet, most of the last four episodes show them lamenting their own victimization.

I have no doubt that if Gaythi Ara had not broken her son’s engagement she and her daughter would have been begging on the streets within two to three months of Momina and  Daud’s marriage. Now it remains to be seen if Gaythi Ara can avoid becoming the very type of Mother in law who oppressed her.

written by Sadaf