First thing’s first, out of all the plays that are on air at the moment the reason I thought I just could not totally miss out on Maya was that it has been written by Amna Mufti. She is an exceptionally talented writer who always focuses on important social issues in a way which is extremely educational. Watching Sabz Paree Laal Kabooter was always an educational experience for me because it aroused so much curiosity about people who we would normally not even give a second glance, let alone think about. Too bad that not to many people watch such plays for obvious reasons and it is for this reason that I would like to request Amna Mufti to please write scripts for long plays and telefilms as well, so that more and more people get educated through dramas. The play has been directed by Nadeem siddique and produced by A & B Productions.
Due to the ban on You Tube I was unable to find the first episode of Maya online but thankfully the rest of them were available and I am glad I decided to watch this play. Maya is the story of very interesting family dynamics. It shows how money effects relations and how superstition can lead a mother to believe that one of her daughters could be a threat to her only son’s life. Komal is the youngest of Saleha’s three daughters, when she was born a “wise” woman declared that if she stayed in the same house as her brother Zaheer (Waseem Abbas), it may bring very bad omen for her brother. Her mother who treasured her only son could not allow “this girl” to stay in the same house as Zaheer, therefore Komal was sent away to Murree where she was brought up by her mother’s best friend Zuhra. Despite of being away from her real family for such along time, Komal got all the love she needed from her aunty and grew up to be a strong, confident and happy-go-lucky girl. Her character is very interesting and things get even more interesting when Aunty Zuhra’s relative Wasif (Shahood Alvi) comes to visit. Komal and Wasif are poles apart and after having a lot of arguments they finally decide to declare peace!
Sajal (Farhana Maqsood) is the oldest daughter who is married to a man who feels no shame taking whatever monetary help he can from Sajal’s family…it is easy money and he does not mind that Sajal’s father gives away money to his daughters with great generosity. Sumbul(Adila Khan) the third sister is in love with Zeeshan and wants to marry him. The most interesting character is that of Shafaq (Nadia Afgjan) who is Zaheer[s wife. She feels that her kids are deprived and their living standard is not equal to that of the daughters of the house. Zaheer’s father (Asim Bukhari) for some reason does not trust his only son with his money and decides to transfer his assets in his daughters name because he holds them dearer. He believes that sons should carve their future with their own hands, his wife strongly disagrees and considers that her son deserves more than the daughters. Shafaq finds out about Sumbals’ affair and makes the most of it, it turns into an ugly confrontation between the father and son.
I am very interested in finding out the reason behind Zaheer’s father’s lack of trust in him. Does he think that all sons are like that or was it something that happened in the past that led him to believe that sons cannot be trusted? Even though he appears to be very strong on the outside, the fact is that he is a weak old man who cannot afford to live without his son at this age. Zaheer knows that only too well and wants his share in the father’s asset if he is expected to stay with him.
Maya is a very well-scripted and well-directed play. I will definitely be following it because I am very curious to find out where the story is leading and what Amna Mufti has in store.
Fatima Awan.
