I take one week off and so much happens. Shams gets married, Elyas gets married and Ghoshi is left standing high and dry. In last week’s episode Shams and Ghoshi go to the school picnic and just as Ghoshi hoped they become a lot more familiar. On the way back their bus is held up by goondas, one of whom has the nerve to touch Ghoshi. Where any normal man would have kept quiet, action man Shams Syal grabs the Daku’s hand (not the gun ), outraged that the robber had dared to touch her. Shams Syal is a traditional Punjabi male, brought up with very old fashioned values and notions of chivalry about protecting women. The way he subdues the Daku , rescues the bus, then drops Ghoshi home seem to confirm her every romantic hope but I am guessing Shams’ chivalry is a generic sort and not really a symptom of deep unrequited love.

To prove my point Shams goes home for a day and ends up marrying his bhabie’s sister, Zarina, because she is constantly suffering violence at the hands of Sham’s own sister . Shams hardly speaks to her except to say “qabool hai” and can barely remember her name . I suppose this is where I start my the jokes about Pakistani’s thinking a marriage will fix everything and again to prove my point viola ! There is another wedding this week. The Patang Baaz haseena Maryam is in love with Elyas and asks for him as a prize for winning the kite flying contest. The elders are quite rightly outraged, and Elyas’s mother calls Maryam a “kota tapni”( the type who jumps from kota to kota- whatever that means ??) ..an epithet my Lahori aunts reserve for especially forward girls ;).Ghoshi however sees an opportunity to escape her annoying engagement and rather too triumphantly pushes Elyas and Maryam’s marriage to free herself without blame . Poor Ghoshi has all the confidence and naiveté of youth. I thought her a little fast, a little too chalaq but really she is just headstrong and spoilt …a crime she will pay for soon enough.

When Ghoshi learns of Shams’s marriage she attempts suicide and leaves a note incriminating Shams and from next week’s promos she will get her way and marry Shams. They say that when the Gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers . Ghoshi may get Shams but who exactly is Shams Syal and is he worth all the heart and soul Ghoshi is investing in him? Shams main aim in life is to enter politics and though he may like Ghoshi whereas he hardly knows who his wife is, that still may not mean much. Shams may have a benevolent patriarchal view of women but he doesn’t see them as individuals with needs and wants, at least not yet. Ghoshi is blindly infatuated with him; she has never been denied anything in her life so why shouldn’t she get him too? I am also wondering how the first wife and their intermarried family will react to Ghoshi, who for them is just as unwanted as Maryam was to Ghoshi’s family. I felt the most for her father and Chachi but in the end it is her life not theirs.

I think this looks like one of those serials where Ahsan Khan shines. Here is a fabulous, controlled performance from Ahsan Khan as Shams .I love how he has not gone overboard with a character that might invite a lot of unnecessary swagger. That subtlety, that obtuse well-meaning paindupan is what is saving Shams from being thoroughly annoying. Ahsan’s scenes are the best and are the backbone of this serial.  Hira Salman is quite a surprise, she too is doing an excellent job as the willful Ghoshi. I think Hira could have softened her a little more but perhaps that just is Ghoshi’s character – a woman who thinks she knows what she wants. I love the way the women are in this serial. Apart from the unfortunate Zarina everyone is a strong and unafraid, perhaps foolishly so ..

Hassan Noman as Elyas has completely stolen everyone’s heart. He may be weak, he maybe childish but bless him he means no harm to anyone.  Hassan Noman has the accent and all the mannerisms of that specific area of Lahore down perfectly and is a pleasure to watch. Mira Sethi is great as Maryam and this is a welcome change from the generic femme fatal second bivi she has been playing lately.  The crown for acting goes of course to the ever adorable Irfan Khoosat. Ghoshi’s father rings so beautifully true, he reminds me of so many dear and sweet older relatives. I could watch this entire serial just to catch Irfan Khoosat’s scenes.

I really was not expecting to like this drama and to tell the truth watched it out of boredom at first .Amna Mufti is an intelligent writer, even her comedies have depth .  I love the way she has revealed the characters layer by layer with each episode. Last week’s episode showed me I had misjudged Elyas and Shams . Elyas maybe a teddy bear but he is frivolous and unreliable, while Shams maybe a bit rough but he is at heart a kind and honorable man. I am just hoping Amna Mufti has plotted out the length of the serial with equal care. UBFN deserved every award it received but it got too long and complicated at the end. I even loved her Dil Mohalley ki haveli and watched it religiously but it got confusing in the last two episodes. Please, please a solid end this time

Now a special word for Ehtashamuddin: Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you for bringing the beautiful, authentic atmosphere and culture of that part of Lahore so beautifully and vividly to life. Bas Kamal hogaya! The lighting in itself deserves several paragraphs of praise and the way everything is framed make the old city a fairytale. The editing and the performances elicited are all worth our attention every Tuesday. I wish it was a little faster but this serial just isn’t written that way.

written by Sadaf

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