Episodes 11 and 12th dealt with Shireen and Safi Ullah’s wedding, heartbreaks and Shireen’s introduction ( once again ) to GK’s family. At the same time, we witnessed the family members dealing with their own demons and insecurities.
Till the last moment Shireen was under the illusion that she was marrying Aurang and it made all the insults bearable, she kept clinging to the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel, ” main Aurang say shikayet zaroor Karoun ge “; poor Shireen when at last she realized who she was actually getting married to, she didn’t even have time to protest. That was the moment when all hope was lost and she realized the gravity of her situation and it was heartbreaking.
Her new life began with becoming an outcast, with isolation, indifference and humiliation. Mustafa Afridi deserves full credit for discussing these ” Faislay ki shadi ” issues in details. When you read about ” khoon baha or faislay ki shadi ” the victims merely become Statistics but Mustafa Afridi has kept all the pain, agony and suffering very real for us to see and feel. Shireen was the sweet, innocent, naive and harmless girl who never harmed anyone but thanks to the culture she was born in, she could not escape the conspiracies of the people around her and now she has been used as a scapegoat to save her coward brothers’ life . It was her entrance in GK’s home and family which kind of jolted everyone, they woke up and their claws came out. The women in the family were all over Shireen and each other, the power dynamics and the politics was fascinating. Gulalie had been a very suppressed and bay-chari character up till now but now the change in her personality was unexpected and amazing . She hates Shireen from the core of her heart but now all her thoughts and desires are getting a voice. She is questioning why she was denied medical treatment and whether it was she who needed it or her husband. If only she had mustered up enough courage to say all this when Aurang took a stand for her, things could have been a lot different.
Shameem was the most surprising character in the entire scenario. She is still the grieving mother and I was expecting the tragedy of loosing her son to change her but she is still the same kindhearted person she has always been. It must have been hard for her welcoming Shireen into her home and her family but she tried to be fair and just to her and made sure everyone around her treated her well. Yes, it was a little surprising seeing her tell Gulalie ” Ager tum nay ussay bacha deya Hota ” to ussay doosri biwi nahi milti, her words were harsh and it was totally unlike but it made sense. She is experienced enough and wise enough to know that this was not a time to mince her words, she needed to be clear and make everyone realize to look at their own position before pointing fingers at others. It was important to keep peace in her house .Her action brought to light the fact why Bano is still childless. She is arrogant, stubborn and to some extent incapable of assessing the impact of her own actions and it was thanks to the mixture of these characteristics that she has refused to become Tora’s wife or to give birth to his children. A decision she made years ago and which I think has started to pinch her a little.
An Important point was Safi Ullah’s ordeal. We all know the women in these ” faislay ki shadiyaan ” are the victims but not all the men involved are the villains. Safi Ullah should have been man enough to say no to marrying Shireen but he could not muster up the courage to stand up to his father. At one point he was willing to marry Palwasha to please his father but now that the reality of the situation is staring him in the face, now he has to admit he is in love with his wife and the second marriage was perhaps not such a good idea. He is torn between his hatred for Saif Ur Rehman, his love for Gulaie and the pressure he is facing from all sides to be a good husband to Shireen .
In the midst of all the fighting, arguing, joining forces and making allies, the most heart wrenching scene was Shireen hiding and then reapplying her mehndi, poor girl was still fighting to save herself from another scandal. Even though she has suffered so much already, her problems don’t seem to be ending any time soon .
One more thing I have to discuss before I wind up this review; Shireen’s childhood memory of GK 🙂, that was so sweet; maybe he does have a softer side we haven’t seen yet.
Hats off to Mustafa Afridi and Saife Hassan for bringing us this addictive drama that has all of us at the edge of our seats week after week, waiting for more. The acting is brilliant, I can’t imagine this drama being such a hit without any of the actors involved in the project.
