What a shocking twist in the story, I did not see it coming at all. When Attiya and Safiya Bi were looking at the old family photographs in the last episode and Safiya pointed out that there was only one little girl in the family pictures and there seemed to be no trace of Maya, I thought she was only trying to play mind games with Attiya to score points with her. But as it turns out there is much more to Shahzaib’s little household than what appears on the surface. Attiya was not the one to ignore what she noticed in the photographs and after thorough “research” came to the conclusion that Maya and Zarmina are step sisters.
Attiya felt no hesitation in sharing her new ‘discovery” in her own indirect way with Shahzaib but he was not willing to take any of it and warned her of dire consequences if she ever tried to delve further into the family secret or tell any of the girls about it. I really liked Shahzaib’s no nonsense attitude when Attiya talked to him about the matter and the way he made things very clear to Attiya. But unfortunately Attiya is set on doing things her way and she is not the least bit worried about the outcome. She goes ahead and shows Maya the birth certificates that clearly point out to the fact that Zarmina and Maya are not real sisters. Maya’s initital reaction of course is that of denial and she does not share the news with anyone.
Shahzaib is busy building his political career and is barely around which makes it very easy for Attiya to have things her way. When he is around he does his best to give Maya the emotional support she needs but it is certainly not enough. Shahzaib does not doubt her daughter for a second and is otherwise doing a fine job of keeping the balance between his new wife and daughter but things go haywire because he goes away a little too often.
Alam Ara and Safiya Bi make interesting characters, they are servants who are very involved with what is happening in the house but they don’t seem annoying or out of place. Safiya Bi manages to put a smile on one’s face and Alam Ara seems more of a motherly character who is very close to the girls and takes care of them. Maya does not rely too much on Alam Ara even with her father gone; she mostly shares what she wants to with Zarmina on the phone or spends time by herself.
Zarmina and Naima seem to be getting along very well and being tired of the quality of food in the hostel they decide to move to an apartment. While looking for the apartment the two friends meet Faizar?? (Danish Taimoor), this first meeting was meant to be cute and fun but the magic was lost particularly due to the acting by both the girls. Naima did not come across as cute at all and Zarmina’s guilt pangs seemed over done. Danish Taimoor was spot-on and I am looking forward to seeing more of him. I can’t help but feel that Zarmina was wrong in leaving the house; she should have stayed with Maya’s just like any other older sister would.
This was a very interesting episode with quite a few moving scenes to its credit. Except for the apartment scene, the scene where Shahzaib is addressing the gathering and Bindiya’s make-up everything else was perfectly executed. Bindiya really looks like she does not belong in this play and her make up just serves as a distraction and nothing else. I was hoping that the make up will be mellowed down gradually but it seems to be the other way around. Overall, this was a very entertaining episode and I am looking forward to how the story unfolds.
Author: Fatima Awan
