2014 was a huge year for Indian television as Pakistani serials made their debut in India and took everyone by storm. Thanks to the Zee group for taking the initiative and launching a new GEC Zindagi that airs syndicated content from Pakistan and will be airing content from other countries as well in future. Some serials were too good and were received very well by the audiences and some were thande. In this article, I will be discussing my favourite serials some of which I had already watched and some of which whose names I’d not even heard of before!
1. Aunn Zara – I had already watched it and what do I say? I love it! Osman Khalid Butt as Aunn was perfect and I don’t think anyone else could have done justice to the character. Maya Ali, Nasreen Qureshi, Hina Byat, Sabreen Hisbani were equally good! Faiza Ifthikar, Haissam Hussain take a bow!
2. Zindagi Gulzar Hai – I had watched this one too and I was over the moon when I found out that ZGH is one of the two (the other one being Aunn Zara) serial that will be aired in India alongside Aunn Zara. Fawad as Zaroon & Sanam as Kashaf were fantastic. I had an issue with Zaroon being such a chauvinist but then having said I think it’s a good thing to not portray Zaroon as a perfect man with no flaws because that would have been too superficial.
3. Humsafar – Iss serial ke bare mein kuch kehne ki zaroorat nahi hai, hai naa? I had watched it two years ago before it was aired in India. It garnered positive response here and interestingly some of my Pakistani friends were sceptical about the reception it will receive in India as Humsafar was aired before ZGH in Pakistan and it was the other way round here. Fawad Khan had already become a household name post ZGH in India and it did help Humsafar in some way or the other.
4. Tere Ishq Mein (Mann-o-Salwa) – I am thankful to Zindagi channel for airing lesser known serials in India other than the popular ones. I had not even heard of this serial before. Initially I didn’t like it but it slowly grew on me! I couldn’t even recognise Faisal Qureshi because I hadn’t seen him before Bashar Momin and he looked so different in it. Resham stole the show, I’d say! Her portrayal of Zainab/Parizad was effortless and she did justice to her character. Not to mention Nauman Ijaz supported the cast very well and heck, my mother has become a huge fan of him after watching this one!
5. Maat – Saba Qamar as bitchy Saman was fantastic! I don’t like pushovers hence the character of Aiman gets no sympathy from me but I did feel bad for her on an occasion or two. The serial started off really well but went downhill towards the end in my opinion. Faisal played by Adnan Siddiqui was such an idiot!! Actually he and Saman deserved each other. The story was ordinary but the execution was good.
6. Kahi Unkahi – I truly enjoyed the serial! I am fond of Sheheryar Munnawar Siddiqui and I think he was too cute as Sherry in the serial. Ayeza Khan for the character of Zoya was a good choice and she made a cute couple with Sheheryar.
7. Dhoop Chaaon (Durr-e-Shehwar) – Such a beautiful serial. Samina Peerzada and Sanam Baloch were brilliant as older and younger Shehwar respectively. The story was so beautiful played out on screen. Haissam Hussain and Umera Ahmed, take a bow!!
8. Mera Saaya (Parchaiyan) – I am confused about this serial. I mean it started off very very well but then towards the end it deteriorated. The story was very nice but wish the writer didn’t screw the end. The direction, the cast everything were perfect.
9. Mera Naseeb – I had seen it earlier and I really really liked it. I think everyone did a fab job and the story and direction were good as well.
10. Aaina Dulhan Ka (Mirat–ul-Uroos) – I have mixed opinion about this serial, the theme and all was pretty good but the story was dragged. The makers could have winded up the serial in 23-24 episodes, if it weren’t dragged it would have been much much better. But I have to give it to Aamina Sheikh and Mehwish Hayat for playing Ayeza and Ayema effortlessly respectively.
These were my favourite serials that were aired on Zindagi channel in 2014. I omitted Thakan, Mastana Mahi, Yeh Shaadi Nahi Ho Sakti, Ishq Gumshuda as I thought they were pretty average. I skipped watching Madiha Maliha, Mere Qatil Mere Dildaar, Kaash Main Teri Beti Naa Hoti and Noorpur Ki Rani as the promos didn’t quite appeal me. I have also not included Gauhar (Goher-e-Nayab), Bezubaan (Mere Dard Ko Jo Zubaan Mile) and Kaisi Ye Qayamat (Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan) as they are still airing.
~~Written by Deepika
