The cherry on top of today’s episode would have been, if Neelum started circling around baray sahib! Entertaining for us and pure punishment for all the deeds baray Sahib is instilling in name of izzat, honor or whatever nonsense of upholding medieval traditions he seeps Wali’s ears with! Neelum is exactly the type of bahoo the Baksh household needs. The wedding was swift and we were spared long drawn out scenes of sad rukhsatis. The narrative jumped to when the hyenas (Neelum) walked into the lion’s (Mahjabeen) territory. I am using this analogy in particular because the lions wait quietly and bade their time while the Hyena comes with all the noise and pompous of possible destruction.
If Neelum’s age is to be considered from last episode, she is no more then a child of 15 or 16 and as Sadaf pointed out, one with an obsessive borderline personality disorder. Baray Sahab, Wali, Mahjabeen and by now most of the servants in the haveli are acquainted with the odd behavior Neelum encompasses. Everyone is excusing her just because she is a child who was not warm to the idea of this marriage to begin with. While Mahjabeen has accepted her fate, Wali on the other hand still questions the authenticity of all the decisions made of his life from someone else. A much older women who he has a almost forbidden, taboo type relationship and another one who is already driving him and everyone else up the wall. Its also ironic to see, how Wali brings up the idea of self respect in front of Baray Sahab when he exactly sold his self respect to gain material comforts, little price to pay for the storm that was Neelum. For Wali, it was a choice he made himself. He could have easily walked away but he chained himself. Mehjabeen and Neelum on other hand had little or no choice. This is why my sympathies lie with Neelum as she only questions and fights to get answers. She is no Khirad that coldly ignores Ashar in a forced marriage sitiuation. She is Neelum and as annoying as VJ Kanzas voice and wild expressions seem, I think she did a pretty decent job in conveying her side of the story.
The highlight scene of today’s episode for me has to be between Mahjabeen and Wali. Not only because Sania Saeed and Fawad Khan are brilliant performers but they act their relationship and convey emotions through their voice and expressions. The loneliness, isolation and reclusiveness of Mejabeen could not have been more apparent when she says that “Neelum aadi ho jai gi, aahista aahista aadi ho jai gi.” She has already become part of the Haveli walls and a maqbara (as Atmul pointed out.) She is mysterious. We are still not sure as to what the crime her family committed and she was traded off as a payment. At first blink of an eye it seems like her and Wali have a cold relationship, however this scene proved beyond doubt that Mahjabeen for Wali is his solace and comfort. He does confines in her and she sees and understands his fears. Without saying much, he indirectly apologizes for Neelum’s behavior to Mahjabeen…”bachi hai who…,” as he puts it. How the equilibrium of their relationship is going to rattle or already is shaken is I feel the crux of the story.
Overall the second episode was a bit slow since we already have well-established motivations and personalities for most characters. There was little that stood out other then great performances by all actors but I feel we still have so many questions left unanswered. My biggest peeve was that there was nothing that made Neelum look like a bride for a minute in wedding night scenes. It almost seemed that she had a nice nap in her ammos lap and suddenly decided to walk to Wali’s room (which I am assuming really was not exactly the house next door). She even had the same duppata her mother tried unsuccessfully putting on her head during the initial visit in last episode. I wish some of these things had been paid attention to as well. However someone noticed our ear aches still fresh from last episode’s horrid background music, and toned it down a lot more! I cannot thank you enough for that! Please now get rid of most of it completely: D
Next weeks episode: what exactly does Wali wants to hear from Neelum…? And why is Baray Sahab so adamant about Neelum having a righteous place as Wali’s only wife and assuring her of this position? Who is Neelum then and why does she matter so much!
Please share your thoughts. Do you think the drama is still carrying the momentum or is it slow.
Written by Maria
