My interest was piqued when I read favorable comments about this serial; several people were praising it for its “touchy” and “powerful” story. Intrigued, I decided to try it out, and here’s my take on Meri Laadli as it has played out so far ….
Written by Maha Malik, directed by Nadeem Siddique, and produced by A&B Productions, the story begins with Aarfa, who elopes with Sajid. Given the loser Sajid is, it is very hard to imagine what was it about him that attracted Aarfa, so much so that she defied her parents. She is punished for her misdeed by a stereotypical mother-in-law, who hates her and berates her at every turn. Adding to the clichéd scenario, she gives birth to a daughter, providing her mother-in-law with enough ammunition to convince her son to divorce her and re-marry.
With no other options, Aarfa returns with her daughter Esha to her parental home, where her mother lives with her younger brother Ahsaan, his wife Fakhra, and their daughter Rafia. Here, one does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the rest of the story. Fakhra is the beyond evil bhabhi, who is coached every step of the way by her equally nasty mother. Ahsaan is as much of a wimp as Sajid was, except he listens to his wife, not his mother. The mother can only weep helplessly as Aarfa is turned into a maid, just for the privilege of having a roof over her head. Over time, the two cousins grow up and, much to Fakhra’s consternation, are good friends. Not surprisingly Esha is the prettier of the two. Episode seven concludes with Fakhra’s friend showing interest in Esha, causing Fakhra’s mind to go into overdrive as she fears similar scenarios playing out time and again.
Here’s what I don’t understand: Why tell this ghisi-piti story one more time? What’s new here? Why are all the characters either black or white? Why are all the male characters such losers? If Sajid has the gumption to love and elope, surely he has the guts to stand up to his mother and defend his wife, not just be a complete wimp and re-marry? Why can’t Ahsaan stand up to Fakhra and defend Aarfa’s right to live in her father’s house? Why do we need one more heroine who can only sob and weep? Why can’t Aarfa go find a job as teacher in a primary school or something else, rather than becoming a servant? Why? Why?
For the fans, Aarfa is a strong character, who gives up her life to bring up her daughter, but I do not see it that way. What kind of a role model is Aarfa for her daughter? There is no way that children will not be affected by the going-ons in the family. Is this how one goes about teaching their children about empowerment – by playing the victim and putting up with abuse themselves? Rather than using the story as a valuable tool to teach our as yet immature audience a solution to these kinds of unfortunate situations, we are in fact shown that her one mistake will haunt a woman forever; one misstep and she is doomed, with no right to live a normal life – she should suffer.
For me, Maria Wasti was the only hook; she is very good here – although what is an intelligent woman like her doing in this serial is beyond my comprehension. As for the others, Farah Nadeem is too young to be a grandmother. Tehreem Zubairi too does not look like the mother of an eighteen year old. Sajal plays the central role of Esha, and she too did not look and act convincing. Moreover, it is tiring seeing her on TV every day, sometimes twice a day; there’s a lot to be said for taking on selective projects. Nadeem Siddique’s direction is fine and the story moves along, but the hackneyed plot and the cumbersome dialogues make it very hard to look beyond and find redeeming qualities.
Overall, I have to say that I was disappointed. I started, thinking I would be entertained, but found myself fast-forwarding through pretty much everything – the mother-in-law’s corny lines, the spineless Ahsaan’s whining, the victimized Aarfa vs the evil Fakhra confrontations, and the oh not so precocious Esha moments – all a bit too much to digest.
Sadly, yet another cliché ridden serial from A&B Productions …
Written by SZ~ [email protected]
Follow me on Twitter: SZ_DramaPakistani (@sz_dp)
