Emaan, tu agayi badnaseeb? What an absolutely fitting statement to sum up Emaan in a nutshell. 20 weeks ago, I took up Mol. I had no expectations when I began but a few episodes into the drama, I started appreciating Mol for being different. Emaan and Shereyaar brought forth a union of intellectuals from different schools of thought- a dreamer vs a realist, their married life had a spark that stood out. But as they say, all good things must come to end and just like that, they did. Emaan ceased to make sense altogether- her character spun out of control so rapidly, I felt like I was riding the Leviathon on a repeated loop. Shereyaar felt cornered and gave in to Emaan’s obscure demands and married Sajjal who, bless her soul , did her duty of surrogacy and moved on to a better place. Mol was essentially Emaan’s story- her desire to be loved by her husband, her struggle to cope with her inadequateness, her obsession with Shahnaam and her silent philosophical musings. That said, I feel her character presented so many missed opportunities for personal growth. It’s almost like from start to end, Emaan was the chosen one, the writer’s pet, the one who just had to have her happy ending irrespective of her actions and consequences. After sabotaging her marriage, being labelled as a psychopath, confusing the living day lights out of Rohail and giving him mixed signals, Emaan ended up with her happy ending with Sajjal conveniently out of the way and her Anmol baby in her arms…
Whatever Emaan did, was driven by her desires- when she felt unloved, she focused her attention on Shahnaam, when she felt pressured, she demanded a divorce, when she couldn’t get away with a divorce, she manipulated her husband into a second marriage hoping that would signal her exit and pave her way to become Shahnaam’s mother… When Shahnaam’s biological mother returned, she planted the seed of doubt into Rohail and when Rohail confronted her upon his return, she suddenly remembered that Shereyaar was the only man she loved? Pyaar ka koi Mol nahin hota but somehow Emaan always insisted that Shereyaar had to pay a price for his love by repeatedly dancing to her tunes! The irony is unmistakeable. Emaan’s pursuit of happiness was a never ending quest for self actualization.
I don’t know what was the point of Mol or if it had a point at all. From the time Emaan found out she couldn’t conceive, she completely went cuckoo. Emaan had us fooled into thinking she was a self assured, strong woman who was determined to make her own identity independent of her relationships. But that was far from true. Emaan was a woman cradled with issues who jumped from person to person like a parasite seeking a host. To ensure our sympathies remain with Emaan, all the other characters were painted with a mean streak be it Chachi 420, Schizophrenic Sajjal, Shreiking Sanobar or Hitler Humayoun whose strong feminine side confused me till the very end.
It took two weddings and a funeral for the rest of the characters to realize their zabardasti ka sauda ghatey ka sauda nikla… Shereyaar never looked back to check up on Sajjal who was pregnant with his child. Sajjal spent her pregnancy in isolation. Emaan returned to her roots and spent six months undergoing existential water therapy- staring into the river until Shereyaar came and handed her the naulakha haar… As for me, I gained 2 lbs since I resorted to chocolate as a coping mechanism!
Kanwal Murtaza
