From the highs of last week to the frustrations of today’s episode.
Mostly because the audio was flaky in parts, silenced in moments that were probably not as racy as the censors scissors would like us to believe but had the ability to mute the characters when they were truly speaking their minds.
Frustrating as well was seeing someone like Mansoor use both Laila and Kuku. Laila by crushing her romantic dreams underfoot with his piecemeal honesty and cutting words – hum pe na kaar deegiyega, ya toh bitterness par aiye ya toh bhool jayein, and his steely glaze at her innocent efforts as a shy, young, desirable bride.
Kuku can see through his games and at least questions his motives. Though, even then, he still manages to worm into the crevices of her vulnerabilities and keep a hold on her, to keep her waiting, keep her guessing.
By turns using them, charming them, being shifty and malleable in their presence he knows exactly how to get under their skin. And stay there. His words alternately shattering and enduring. One they crush, and the other, they help to stay afloat.
I can buy Sohail Sameer as the charmer (as can Mrs Khan – but then again who isn’t charmed by Ava Gardner and Clake Gable comparisons?) but less credible are his reasons for keeping Kuku in his life. For her sake. There is nothing magnanimous about his words – I am doing this for you – for us. No Mansoor – for you. Only for you.
Perhaps it wasn’t a mask after all. Mansoor is quite adept at playing this game. His cruel behavior towards both Laila and Kuku shows him to be a seasoned veteran dealing in hearts and heartbreak and keeping his cards close to his chest.
Laila continues to be walked on the plank, by her mother no less, wryly observed by her loving father, but why does Kuku keep hanging on? Though she has moved on with the business of living, she is still in a delicate frame of mind. Clinging onto the hope of a better, rather, different future is all she has.
Even though she tried to give Khurram a chance – kya pata roti hi rahi hoon?- his immaturity and her hurt reflected in just that split second as she turns away made her pain so raw, so real. The dreams that Khurram spins she knows are pure fantasy but why then does she cling to Mansoor’s lies? Is the mirage of hope really that powerful?
Noteworthy was also her face to face meeting with Laila which played out in a warm and professional conversation (but um, 50% off? How you going to feed the fires and that freeloader of a husband?) Kuku’s moral compass turns out to be working just fine and she sees in Laila, a young, innocent girl, being hurt by her husband and his wandering affections. But as with any mirage, it still beckons and shimmers with brilliant promise.
Pehchan still manages to amaze from the wonderful cinematography, interesting use of mise en scène, the beautifully lit compositions, carefully considered transitions, to the worldly wisdom in a turn of a phrase – sar uttane nahin dete, and the pitch perfect acting by the entire cast, and despite my wanting to place a switch blade in Laila’s hands, I’m still enthralled.
I just hope that Kuku realizes before its too late that mirages remains slippery illusions and crossing the desert, towards that vision, she discovers there was nothing there in the first place.
MM (aka A musing Muslim)
