“And so, when a person meets the half that is his very own, whatever his orientation, whether it\’s to young men or not, then something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another, and by desire, and they don\’t want to be separated from one another, not even for a moment.”
― Plato, The Symposium
In my opinion, Khalil ur rehman Qamar has based his story of Mera Naam Yousaf Hai on this age old philosophy about soul mates, therefore when Yousaf meets Zulekha, their souls recognize each other and they are unconsciously drawn towards each other. Obviously we cannot ignore the historical significance of their names as well implying that Yousaf and Zulekha are meant to be together. Though this theme of love and soul mates in the films and plays is not something new, in fact it is overly used but the best thing about such stories is that they never become redundant and manage to attract huge audience no matter what.
In the second episode, nothing much happened except that Zulekha’s Khaala arrives at her place, asking for Zulekha’s hand in marriage for her son Ali Hamza who is nothing but a milksop. She is out rightly rejected by Zulekha’s father who announces his final decision regarding Zulekha’s marriage with his nephew Imran Moughees. Throughout the episode, Zulekha is seen caught up in the dilemma of choosing either Imran Moughees or Ali Hamza and is engrossed in weighing the pros and cons for both the proposals as she doesn’t have any other alternative. On the other hand, Yousaf is unwittingly becoming obsessed with Zulekha.
For me the highlight of this episode was the dream they both had about each other which could be interpreted as some third force working towards their union. We are also introduced to Madiha in this episode. She is playing a very repetitive character of a lovesick sister of protagonist’s best friend who is trying really hard to lure the hero into marrying her; however, the development of this character is yet to be seen.
I particularly like Zulekha’s who has been portrayed as a very strong and vocal girl so far. She isn’t the kind who is desperate for marriage for the sake of marriage. Despite having been raised in a very strict household, she has her own very strong identity and a rebellious streak that would surely be seen at its peak in the future episodes.
I really liked this episode. The plot is gradually building up and it is not difficult to predict that it will become very intense in the coming episodes. I like the smooth and coherent flow of the play so far. There is nothing forcefully juxtaposed, all the characters are well crafted and developing gradually. Everything seems to be well placed and the writer and the director seem to be in full control of the play till now. The background music and the ost are quite addictive. I just can’t wait to watch the third episode.
Written by Humaria
