For a serial that has had me teary-eyed for the past month or so, I loved that it concluded so that I was left with a smile on my face and hope in my heart. All my anger at Mr. Uzair, once my nominee for the most insanely egotistical husband/dad of the year award, quietly seeped away as I watched him finally lay bare his soul, first in front of Haniya and then Hajra. So much was said and so much happened – past mistakes acknowledged, pent-up anger and frustrations aired, forgiveness begged and granted, relationships recognized, old chapters closed, and promises of new beginnings – but, underlying all this was a sense of serenity, a sense of wrongs righted, a sense of order finally being restored to Aabi’s world. Congratulations Team MeJ – you guys hit it out of the park – loved the finale!
Mataa-e Jaan began on a very rocky note. The overt nods to Mr. Huntington’s tired old thesis of the clash of civilizations had many of us grinding our teeth. The Born-in-the-USA but dil-hai-desi Haniya’s characterization as the holier than thou bearer of mashriqi values, her perfect Urdu diction, and her lovely, but oh not so tomboy-ish, wardrobe, became another bone of contention. Add to that the lack of palpable sizzle between the lead pair, and it seemed impossible to see the serial leaving its mark. What kept it going though, or at least kept me hooked through the first few episodes, apart from the beyond gorgeous cinematography, was the Adam/Yamina track. I loved the fact that after such a long time a very important issue was being highlighted on our TV screens. For too long we’ve treated spousal abuse as an issue specific to the illiterate, lower/lower-middle class households. Here we saw an upper-middle class, supremely confident, and highly educated Yamina being abused by Adam, her equally successful and ostensibly charming husband. Sanam Saeed and Junaid Khan were fabulous.
By the mid-point, as Aabi made his choice known, the seemingly suave Mr. Uzair and his gorgeous wife Hajra, along with their dutiful son, got me so involved in their family dynamics, that initial aggravations were reduced to minor irritants. The scene at the breakfast table, where Aabi tried to reason with his dad, while the former blustered on regardless, with Hajra playing the role of a silent referee, is one that remains a favorite of mine. So much was conveyed with so little said. The bond between the mother and son was beautifully illustrated. Hajra’s was a character that said so little but conveyed so much through her eyes. Watching her today, first with Uzair, and then with Haniya, when she discovered the latter’s true identity was truly special. Hina Bayat rocked as Hajra.
A lot has been said about the too-good-to-be-true Aabi. To begin with, I too was not a fan of this seemingly perfect guy. But, with the extension to the original story, Aabi grew on me. This was no longer a flat one-dimensional character. Adeel Husain did full justice to his role as he brought Aabi alive. His chemistry with Hina Bayat was magical. I liked him in Mora Piya, and after Mataa-e Jaan I’m a huge fan.
As annoyed as I was with her in New York, I fell in love with Haniya after she moved to Pakistan. Starting with the office scene, where she bamboozled Uzair, to the despair the she portrayed after losing Aabi, her contemplated suicide, and finally today, her lovely smile as she saw Aabi watching down on his finally united family, Sarwat Gilani was fantastic as Haniya.
I never thought I’d be writing this, but Uzair did finally win me over today. Javed Shaikh was excellent as he successfully essayed the various shades of Uzair’s character. I was very moved by his confessions and the graveyard scene. Similarly, his conversation with Adeel today, was very well-done. I appreciated the way Adeel’s character was extended, and we saw the growing relationship between Adeel and Haniya. Nonetheless, I enjoyed that their future was left open-ended. Ahsan Khan was very good throughout as Adeel. I just wish he would invest in a non-blue wardrobe for a change.
The addition of new tracks, extensions to existing characters, and new twists in the story kept viewers like me coming back week after week. Farhat Ishtiaq, yes, you did it again! True, we had issues with the maghribi vs mashriqi, and the romantic lines felt cheesy, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this adaptation. I loved Farhat’s grey characterizations, and thoroughly enjoyed the superb play with time, the way the story moved back and forth, easy to write on paper, but obviously difficult to convey on screen, and for this a huge round of applause for Mehreen Jabbar. The accident scene will remain with me for a while. Ladies, take a bow!!
It would not be fair to end without acknowledging Shahzad Kashmiri’s brilliant cinematography, Bilal Khan’s melodious rendition of the haunting OST, and the efforts of rest of the cast and the technical team. Yes, Mataa-e Jaan is another feather in MD Productions’ hat.
Finally, as we close the book on Mataa-e Jaan, a heartfelt thank you to all the committed followers of this thread. It’s been quite a journey and I appreciate your taking the time to read my reviews and sharing your thoughts. I’ve loved our at times intense and heated discussions – whether we loved it or hated it MeJ was kinda hard to ignore!
A special thank you to Mehreen Jabbar, and a huge shout out to Sarwat Gilani for being a fantastic sport and a regular commentator on the thread; we’ve loved having you guys join us.
Gonna miss you MeJ!!
Written by SZ~ [email protected]
Follow me on Twitter: SZ_DramaPakistani (@sz_dp)
