Everything seems to be happening so fast in this drama that I’m regretting not writing a review for last week’s episode. So much has happened in just 2 episodes!

I have to say that I feel really bad for Nazia (Syra Yusuf) after watching episode 7. The poor girl is getting bud-duaein from just about everyone, even from Shazia (Sanam Saeed), her best friend!

And all of the misfortune being wished upon her aside, she’s just found out some mind blowing information about her mother (Samina Peerzada). I can’t imagine how she must be feeling right now. The guy she’s in love with hates her, her best friend is convinced that it’s Nazia’s fault that her marriage is ruined, and her mother turns out to have such a horrible personality that Nazia can’t even stand to talk to her. Oh, and the anxiety from getting married is there too.The most traumatic event I think has happened to her so far is what she has found out about her mother. It must be horrible to realize that the mother who was supposedly so pious that she couldn’t even stand the thought of her daughter talking to a man is really the exact opposite of what she appears to be. To find out that the people you thought were your parents really aren’t, that you’re illegitimate, is just like finding out that your whole life is a lie, which in Nazia’s case, it sort of is. And she can’t even defend herself in front of Shazia because it would break her best friend come half-sister’s heart. And on top of all that, Nazia is feeling really unloved. Her Phoppo Ammi (Sakina Sammo) told her this shocking saga of her mother’s bud-kirdari without even stopping to care what effect this would have on Nazia.

But putting Nazia’s turmoil aside, Shazia isn’t faring too well either. The man she’s engaged to, who, by the end of the episode has become her husband, is in love with Nazia. As Shazia said, “Agar mein jaa ke Fahad se kahoon ke tum Shebaz ko pasand karti ho, tou kya woh yeh bardasht kar pae ga? Koi bhi nahin karta. Tou mein kyun karoon?” Her life is in shatters, and though none of this is Nazia’s fault, Shazia is justified in blaming her. “Aisi bhi kya baat hai tum mein? Kya mein itni hi buri hoon?” For the first time in her life, Shazia is realizing what the difference in beauty between the two of them means, and it’s certainly not a pleasant experience.

And there are the three heroes. Moiz (Imran Abbas), Shehbaz (Adeel Hussain), and Fahad (Imran Aslam).

Moiz is just stupid. He’s seemingly in love with Nazia just because of one look at her, while he accepted Shazia after talking to her and getting to know her. It seems incredibly dumb that he would ask Nazia to marry him during the maiyon of his wedding to Shazia. However, as he said after the nikah and during the mun dikhai, he doesn’t want whatever mistakes he’s made before his wedding to interfere with his and Shazia’s married life. After hearing this, Shazia doesn’t go through with all things she wanted to say to him. She’s satisfied in knowing that he’s not going to let his liking of Nazia’s bother them, and hopefully he’ll stand by this decision in the coming episodes.

Poor Shehbaz is suffering because of Nazia too. However, unlike in Moiz’s case, he actually has a reason to be angry. He had wanted to marry her. She had agreed to run away with him. And then she goes and says no and gets married to someone else. This isn’t her fault, but Shehbaz can’t know that. All he knows is that Nazia agreed to marry him and then backed out, and he’s depressed and infuriated that she would do this to him. His rage was boiling out in this episode, but hopefully he will have calmed down as the story progresses. If he doesn’t…well, Nazia has another problem to deal with.

And finally there’s Fahad. He’s awe-struck at his good fortune, but he also realizes that Nazia doesn’t care for him, which is why he makes an agreement with her that she doesn’t have to accept him until she’s ready to. Fahad’s character I like, simply because he’s a seeda-saada guy who doesn’t really have any hidden motives or unnecessary  drama going on. He’s married to Nazia, and he wants a nice life with her. That’s really all there is to it.

And finally let’s get onto the acting. I really think that Syra Yusuf’s acting has picked up in this episode. She’s a new actress, pretty inexperienced, so her tone of voice and expressions haven’t really been meeting the requirements of the character. However, I must say that she did a good job with her acting in today’s episode. Shazia, Moiz, Fahad and Shehbaz’s characters all did a great job as well, particularly Sanam Saeed with her expressions when she was dressed as a dulhan and sitting on the bed.

I haven’t really seen anything extraordinary in directing though. The director, Adnan Ahmed, is good, but nothing special in my opinion. However, I have to admit that I liked the ending scene of this episode, and how we were shown the expressions of all the ammis after their daughters were married off. And the lighting, camera work and overall technical aspects of this drama have been marvelous. We need more dramas like this in Pakistan. Our image is being ruined with low budget soap operas with just about the worst directing and technical details. If we have Mera Naseeb type talent in Pakistan, we might as well show it.

Lastly, I’ve heard a lot of people saying that Mera Naseeb is too filmy and seems like some sort of a Bollywood movie. I’d have to disagree on this. We’ve gotten used to seeing drama with messages like Mein Abdul Qadir Hoon, Daam, Meri Zaat and Samira Fazal’s own Dastaan. We’ve forgotten that the main purpose of dramas is just that, drama. I’m sure this drama will have a moral thrown in somewhere, because all good stories do. However, the drama isn’t centered around the message. It’s about entertainment, and I am certainly entertained when I watch it.

Overall, I good episode, and I can’t wait for the twists and turns about to take place in this story. A salute to Samira Fazal, and all the cast and crew. You’ve created a masterpiece!

—Noorie