Technically Sheher e Zaat has always been marvelous; shot in a way that almost makes you forget there is a screen between the viewer and the actors, as if we are all sitting in the same room sharing the same space. Falak followed her Naani’s bad (in my opinion) advice to go back to “her” house or rather the one that she had shared with Salman and meet her rival. Rival or “Souten/Soken” is a bad word it implies a competition where there is none. Tabinda has already won this game. I am reminded Of Aiman and Faysal from Maath and although it seems harsh I am not that disappointed .Salman is deserving of Tabinda , Falak deserves much better.
The conversation between the two women was very interesting. This is Umera Ahmed writing, so no vulgar shouting or accusations, instead a subdued almost detached Falak while Tabinda carries on like a steam roller. The best exchange had to be when Falak asks Tabinda if she knows the value of a painting which the latter has put to dust in a corner. Tabinda whose unsavory background has been mentioned in a previous episode and who had an affair with Salman while he was still married to Falak ,declares she doesn’t like the immodesty (behayaiee) of the pictures subject. Falak replies quietly that modesty and immodesty are in a person’s eyes and we see that which our inner heart reveals to us. When Salman arrives Falak witnesses firsthand the rapport he and Tabinda share and through a thankfully judicious use of flashbacks she realizes the lack of any real intimacy she had had with Salman. Still she has to ask Salman one more time why he prefers Tabinda to her and he says in that, cold unyeilding way Mikaal is such an expert in; that he felt Falak had not taken care of him , that she was not as invested in him as she should have been. Falak and the viewer are amazed but we are all fools if we had expected a different answer. The contrast with Salman’s relaxed and loving attitude towards Tabinda and his cold indifference towards Falak could not have been more pronounced.
In the rest of the episode we see Mehurunissa’s arrogant facade finally begin to crumble a little as she too realizes that no matter how perfect she thinks her daughter is Salman values Tabinda more. This is the first time we see her pray, something we should have seen much earlier.What balanced out this episode was Falaks wandering in to the servant Quarters and seeing for the first time how they lived. The servant Imam Deen lives a much harder life than Falak but is always grateful to Allah and again Falak is made to realize that she is still in better circumstances than many.Although repititious I actually liked this, because it reminds us all to put our problems in perspective. On a lighter note,what it is to meet the “worthy poor”. Call me a socialist but I always thought rich and poor were subject to the same vices and temptations. By a stroke of great luck though, all the poor people Falak ever meets are God fearing grateful sorts. ;)
What I did find strange was Tabinda accusing Falak of having no Amal (good deeds) what so ever. Now I know Falak was vain and self obsessed but she had no affair before her marriage,she was by all accounts respectful to her parents and loving to her Naani . She even had quite loyal friends and Hamza her college friend had been desperate to marry her. Can she really, can any human being really be that devoid of any small goodness? Strangely, Tabinda, who has conducted an illicit affair, given away Falak’s belongings and been rude to Salman’s father, feels herself morally superior to Falak. But I suppose that too is human nature , justify our worst actions by picking holes in the other person to produce some kind of dubious moral equivilancy to quiet our consciences. The promos for next weeks episode leave little room for hope of a reconciliation, in fact they show Tabinda and Salman proudly announcing a pregnancy. I hope that the writer allows our (yes she is our Falak,) a little grace before we bid her adieu .That little scene in front of a mirror she passes was so sad and shows how good an actress Mahira has become. I end with hope that next week Falak moves on to something better.
Written by Sadaf~
