Rozy died. This sad news was delivered to Mumtaz by a stranger who found an unnamed dead woman, her body marked all over by cigarette burns. The only way of identifying her was by calling a telephone number found on her person. Such was the horrific ending to the life of a dancing girl, one who had been abandoned by her husband and conveniently forgotten by a society that judges the worth of its members on the basis of their social standing. With no one to shed tears on her demise, except for the girls she lived with, those sharing her unfortunate circumstances, her story brings much needed attention to the sad lives of such women, so easily dismissed as gandi aurtain doing gande kaam.
Beginning on a somber note, the episode quickly gathered speed as Mumtaz readies Sanjha to go dance for the as yet unnamed seth. Drawing a lesson from Rozy’s death, Sanjha tries to convince Mumtaz to not let her go beyond the confines of the kothi, however Mumtaz remains adamant. Weedu continues to experience settling-in pains at the art school. He seems to have found himself an uninvited friend in an extremely irritating Ishita (did she really need to wear that horrendous flower clip on her head – ugh!), nonetheless, in spite of her best intentions, her unthinking behavior draws further unwanted attention to him. However, even as his classmates continue to make fun of his name, Weedu’s talent has already begun to garner praise from his teachers. I wonder how long before he lets go of the chip on his shoulder? At the other side of the metaphoric railroad tracks, Dr. Ammar works on various plans to free Sanjha from Mumtaz’s clutches. How far he succeeds in this mission remains to be seen. Concurrently, he and his mother also break it to Naseem that Sanjha is indeed Reshmi, and that she now lives in “that” part of the city. Sabreen Hisbani’s expressions were just exquisite, tears gently rolling down her cheeks as she lovingly caressed Sanjha’s face in the pictures on Shabana’s computer. Great stuff!
The acting honors for this episode were equally split between Sabreen and Resham. Sabreen has been consistent so far, but in that particular scene, where she is told about Sanjha, she was absolutely superb. As for Resham, I’ve said this before, but need to reiterate it– she is brilliant as Mumtaz. From her garish makeup, her loud and gaudy clothes, the constant scratching, the ease with which she uses words like saandh, the way she slaps her girls with gay abandon, threatens to beat up Sanjha at every little excuse, and her constant manipulation of Weeda’s feelings for Sanjha, Resham is simply a delight to watch. Excellent job by the people in charge of casting. Finally, Samira ji, you deserve a big round of applause for writing on such a sensitive issue ever so beautifully. Bravo!!
Written by S Z ~
