“Hum kuch logon se umeedein baandh lete hain, lekin jab woh umeedein toot-tti hain to bohut takleef hoti hai,” Episode 6 starts out with these very simple, yet very deep words said by ‘Faraan Sir’ when Khutbuddeen is begging for forgiveness for his past negligence of forgetting to call him back when he really needed him. It is true that when the people we trust the most aren’t there for us when we need them the most, it absolutely hurts…but when those people apologize so profusely, it’s time to forgive. Qabacha has already told Faraan Uncle that he was going through many issues with his (now ex) wife and in all his own troubles, he just forgot. That should be enough in my opinion. Qazi Wajid gives a very convincing performance of ‘the grumpy/bitter old guy.’ He finally (almost) forgives him by telling him to not go on that hunger strike. I do think that this scene was a little longer than really needed with Qabacha saying that ‘if he dies from the hunger strike than all of his property goes to his son, but his son will have to chalte phirte maafi maango’ to Faraan Sir. That was a little too much and really unnecessary.
While the above scene is happening, Serena is getting to know Kishmish (BTW, is it scary or sad that this morning I ate a cinnamon raisin bagel and thought about ‘Kishmish’?). He is here to make a movie and Serena is there to debut in his movie. How convenient :)? And apparently all Serena talks about is Kishmish to everyone since she wants to star in his movie. Both Syra Yousuf and Shehroz Sabzwari are doing a great job in their respective roles, however so far I haven’t seen their ‘off screen chemistry’ come into play on screen, the one I saw in the promos. But there are still 7 episodes left so I’m very hopeful.
We move onto the Youth Center where Zain comes in with Fozia, who is apparently a friend of his and they are now coincidentally in Pakistan at the same time and are thinking of starting a business together. He introduces her to Saaniya and the girls. Zeenia is visibly (and justifiably I think) upset. Seriously wouldn’t it have been better to tell the girls about this in the privacy of their own home rather than telling everyone at the Youth Center? We also learn that all of his business partners have been women in the past and that really angered Zara also. There is really no shortage of male businessmen in New York. I finally saw the reason why Zeenia stays upset with him. Especially since Zain doesn’t think he has done anything wrong. Fine, even if it is just business, he should have been sensitive to the fact the girls just lost their mother and he should have told them this in private. Even later in the episode when is grilling Zeenia about her behavior with Fozia, he doesn’t even try to understand her. We also learn then that he speaks to Zeenia in the same tone that he used to speak to Zara in. We are now slowly getting to know that Zain and Zara had marital issues prior to her death. Zain is definitely losing points in my book since he doesn’t even think hiding Zara’s death from her own family was wrong. I think Faraan Uncle needs to give Zain a little thrashing on his insensitivity!! Btw, when he tells Zeenia to wear a shalwar Kameez while she is there, he totally reminded me of my mom…every time I went back to KHI, I always got the ‘wahan jaaker jeans nahi pehenna!!’ Some things clearly never change :)
The next scene is of Saaniya telling Aani about everything that happened in the Youth Center that day. While this conversation is going on, Serena and Zeenia are in their room also talking and Serena tells her to call the person on that card that Zarak Khan gave her since her passport won’t just get done on its own. Zeenia calls the number and lo and behold, that is Zarak Khan’s number (shocking!!). Enter Parveen Akber…another lady that defies age and hold her own in any serial and in front of anyone! I’m not quite sure what her relationship to him is but I’m guessing she is either his mother or someone who raised him as he refers to her as ‘Gul Jaan.’ She answers Zeenia’s call and calls “Zarak Khan” to attend the phone. What’s with calling him with his first and last name? Are they Pashto? Also Zeeenia’s name comes on his caller ID…when did she give him her phone number? Khaire, ok, so I’ve said this before, this guys is really good looking, he seemed really expressionless in this episode. He’s supposed to be someone who likes Zeenia, but I wasn’t impressed in this episode. But it does look like there is rather a dark background to his story since Gul Jaan tells him to do whatever he needs to in a hurry; otherwise if his Taya chooses a girl for him in the gaon, he will not be able to do anything about that!
Next scene is Chandni cleaning the dining room to the awesome background track “tune o rangeele aisa jaadu kya…” I cannot get enough of Kaif Ghaanvi and her character as Chandni. She plays the 20 something Chandni as if she really is Chandni and not the character of. She is not only gorgeous, but also brilliant!! As soon as she learns Kishmish is here to make a movie she imagines playing the lead with Fawad Khan and/or Humayon Saeed (of course, who else?). She is more than thrilled when Aani gives her a file to take to Qabacha and eagerly gets ready to go. Looks like Kishmish was just standing there waiting for her since he very conveniently had his DSLR in video mode all ready. I find it funny that Kishmish really does video tape her as she sings and dances to ’kehti hai meri nazar,’ He doesn’t really protest. There are many many comical moments in this serial, but I do believe Chandni takes the cake!!
Alright, next we see Aani and Bibi at Qabacha’s discussing the file. There’s a phone number that Qabacha can’t trace so he calls a contact for help. All of a sudden, he turns into this powerful business man and his entire demeanor changes while he is speaking to his contact. I must say, it was nice to see Behroz Sabzwari take off the ‘Qabacha’ hat for a few seconds. While that is happening, Serena is visting Kishmish. She too is auditioning like Chandni did earlier and as soon as she finds out there movie is songless, she shoots that idea down. The best line in that entire scene was ‘tum to gaye kaam se Kishmish.’ It was just too cute J Oh and we also finally see the ‘Olper’s’ milk carton in this episode when Kishmish drinks milk before going for a jog. Awesome background music at that time by the way!
Next scene is with Saaniya and Zeenia when Saaniya convinces her niece to help out with the library project. She also tells Zeenia about how she joined the Youth Center. That she only grew up when Zara got married and left joined the youth center and has been running it since. We are than taken back to the Youth Center and we finally see Mona (who btw, really needs more air time)!! She is helping Zeenia with the library project and her chooza story was just awesome! Reminded me of the story “Eik tha raja, eik thi rani, dono mar gaye, khatam hui kahani.” Salma Hassan, even in the 1 minute she is there, makes her presence known.
The episode ends with a light fight between the sisters and Serena gets up and leaves. She seems to be very confused and also frustrated trying to talk some sense into her older sister. Like I said above this was one of the best episodes. Hats off to all the actors, director, editor, and of course the writer, without whom there would be no ‘Naye Silsile.’ The purane silsile were great, but time and things change so I’m glad we get to see the Naye Silsile in a nayi (yet just as bright) light with a naya (yet just as competent) writer!
My apologies for such a long review, but this was one of the best episodes so far and almost all the scenes needed to be written about. Also, this episode review is dedicated to my friend ZQ who messaged me before I was writing this saying ‘dil se likhna :).”
Written by Sheeba
