“Aurton ko samajney ki ghalat fehmi mein mat rehna” –Don’t fall into the delusion or trap of trying to understand women “, Barrey Saheb‘s advice to Wali. I couldn’t quit catch the other sage judgment Barrey Saheb passed in Womankind  other than there are two types of women ,one category being “funkaar”, translation: manipulator and the other kind being lost in the mumbles that every actor participating in Numm feels they are duty bound to produce at some point . Suffice to say the meaning is that some are obedient Heifers who are pleased with the money you throw at them and tolerate the bad behavior of their Men while the other sort may lead their men a merry dance if given half a chance. This is probably the attitude of a certain section of society and perhaps the feudal mindset the writer is trying to portray. For the moment it seems as if Wali really has gotten this advice too late. He is genuinely worried about Mahjabeen and finally tells Neelam that his relationship with his Vani is just none of his younger wife’s business. A wiser , older woman might leave things alone but Neelam is far from that and locks her door in a fit of anger .This definitely crosses a limit for our Wali whom Mahjabeen has trained to expect complete obedience from women. The way Neelam challenges him and expects rights and gasp…. a relationship is fast putting him off his food. Aren’t women supposed to become immediately compliant as soon as they see their lord and master’s ishara? Poor Wali life is hard enough wandering from room to room trying to pass the day without some mouthy woman asking him to think about things every ten minutes. Well he certainly makes Neelam play for it later, snatching his jacket from a Neelam’s hand, mumbling something totally unintelligible  as he walks out. If anyone has the telepathic skills or perhaps a clearer sound quality version of the episode …please for the love of all that is good tell us …?

For me, one of the better scenes this episode was the flashback between Alamgir and Mahjabeen. Here was a couple in trouble, they had made a grave, very foolish but all too human mistake and it is quite clear they are about to pay the price for it. There is no doubt they were very much in love and in a desperate situation .Sanya Saeed and Sarmad Khoosat actually made it believable ,and now that I have gotten used to the moustache on Sarmad’s baby face I actually felt for them .Considering the time and culture ,these two are literally in mortal danger. The other better scene is Neelam thinking on Wali’s words “ab agar aisa hai tho ab aisa hi rahey ga” and the focus shifting to the picture of two women behind her. It crystallized her situation very clearly. Neelam’s rational mind is slowly putting the pieces of her reality together: that she is the younger wife of a Man who may not care about her as much as she hopes and that her position in this feudal system might not be that far removed from Mahjabeen

. When Neelam overhears Barrey Saheb giving Judgments on local affairs with the local police sitting in respectful obedience by his side, she shakes her head in disgust but again does not connect herself or Wali with the status quo. The optimism that is youth won’t let her accept that she might be a victim or part of this system. Her feelings for Wali are clouding her judgment and she keeps imagining that Wali is different, that he would belong to her if not for the other woman’s presence.

While Wali And Neelam were  away , Mahjabeen seems to have recovered from her chest infection but has decided to prolong her coughing as an act to manipulate Wali into allowing her to stay in hospital for a few days. All this so she can spend more time with her son Qasim. Yes the curly headed one is her son and Wali‘s cousin. Neelam knows the truth, having spoken to the lady doctor and is dying to ‘expose’ Mahjabeen. I have to admit I don’t like Mahjabeen’s character much but in her defense I will say it is still better than the Bakht Khandan deserves. Who can blame her for manipulating these people in an effort to gain some temporary relief from this dreadful situation? Qasim does seem a bit old to want to be hand-fed at this point and one would hope that he was more interested in trying to help his mother’s sad situation at this point but I keep forgetting the Khandan he is actually from…. grandfather to grandsons, they are demanding ,selfish individuals .

This was an interesting episode and much better than last week’s because it finally gave an insight into the motivations of the characters. I think the writer took that typical concept of two competing wives that we often see in dramas and gave it a more realistic twist by putting it into this feudal setting. This could have been much better if the director’s vision had been clearer. There is still a big problem with mumbling but in general the sound is better. The scenes were a lot better edited and the whole episode seemed crisper and more finished. My main complaint is that I really cannot seem to connect with any of the characters. Characters don’t have to be noble or worthy to allow the audience to relate, infact it is more often a character’s flaws which humanize them. I remember watching the Godfather trilogy, a story about a murderous, pitiless crime family yet the characters were fascinating. The acting in this entire serial has been at best patchy, Kanza being the worst offender, though she seems to have improved quite a bit especially in these  later episodes ,it seems the director had the least time to guide her. What is surprising is even Sanya Saeed seems half asleep and as for Fawad, he just is not coming across as authentic in the last few episodes. He should have channeled his (I have heard in a recent interview) favorite character Asghar, who was as bad a boy as they come yet managed to keep our interest.

Going back to the quote from Barrey Saheb about the difference between women and Men ,I think this drama shows women in general to be dishonorable  . Perhaps because of their powerlessness in this feudal society they have to be manipulative  to survive However, there is a general lack of empathy for others ,a need to pull each other down to succeed and just a lack of any kind of dignity in any of them.

A WORD ABOUT OUR REVIEWS: After a few Queries I wanted to let people know the reviews we write at Dp are authentic, audience oriented and completely independent. We are not affiliated to any company or group, nor do we care to be. We love dramas in fact, we are passionate about them, we don’t write to please anyone so we don’t hesitate to call anyone out on the quality of their work. At the same time our love of Pakistani drama forces us to be fair and appreciate the level of work and dedication required to make even the worst serial so we try to accentuate the positive as much as we can. We are fans (crazy fans) of various artists but that will never blind us to evaluating anyone on anything other than actual merit. Yes, various directors, producers, artists etc. .. read our reviews  ( we often get their feedback and we love it …anytime anyone handsome and famous wishes to contact me ,feel free to follow that happy instinct;) ) just as they read many other blogs and sites too but our most important audience and the one that always keeps us on our toes are our everyday readers. The strength of our blog is not our reviewers ,the elegance of our English or the intellectual hoops we can jump but the rapport of trust and respect we share with our readers and commenters. So thanks for reading , your feedback is the most important part of the review .

Written by Sadaf