What do you do or think when a family member (more specifically an unmarried professional girl in her 30s) says she hears whispers at night and feels like someone is always following her? What do you do when you see that she is afraid to even take a shower? Our desi society does one of two thing; either pretends she is acting because she is not married yet, or thinks there are some ‘asraat’ (black magic) on her. The third (and perhaps the most appropriate reasoning) that maybe she has a psychological imbalance or disorder and that she needs medication rarely crosses one’s mind. So a few days ago when I saw the Express Telefilm Tum, I was amazed at how well this topic was handled. Written by Syed Mohammed Ahmed and directed by Marina Khan, Tum is about a girl who has schizophrenia and the toll it takes on her and her family when she doesn’t get help.
Meena, (Salma Hassan) is an unmarried, 32 year old college professor who thinks that someone is always following her and whispering in her ears. She has nightmares and is very paranoid. She starts to just keep to herself and stops going to work also. Her mother (Shamim Hilali) blows it off by giving her ‘dum kya hua paani (of course), but her brother (Afraaz Rasool) realizes his sister is not well and wants to get her help. He goes to see a psychiatrist and there enters the ever so graceful Hina Bayat as Dr. Jahan Aara, who diagnoses Meena with Schizophrenia and tells him to bring her in as soon as possible. She says that with therapy and medication, she will be able to lead a normal life. In the midst of all this, enters Mikaal (Adnan Siddiqi). He was apparently Meena’s fiancé but called it off after moving to Germany and got married there for a Green Card. He is now back and will be staying with them for a week as he is very close to his Phuppo.
Somehow Adil convinces his family to go see Dr. Jahan Ara. The audience learns that all of this started with Meena after her engagement broke and at the same time her father took a job overseas. She speaks to the mother and tells her that Meena is not crazy, she just needs some help and with the support of her family, therapy sessions, and medications, Meena will be just fine. She also tells the mother not to say anything hurtful to Meena about still being single. With everyone’s help, Meena starts to normalize but all of a sudden stops taking her medication and going to therapy. When Meekal arrives, Meena also starts to get ‘intuitions.’ We hear a voice telling Meena that he is divorced with a 6 year old daughter. Upon confronting Meekal, he leaves the next day. Also when her maasi talks about her cousin’s mum-in-law Meena says after the 3rd heart attack she will die, and of course that is what happens. Meena now becomes a ‘peerni’ and the Maasi starts bringing all these ladies with problems to her. All of a sudden Meekal comes back wanting to marry Meena, but on the condition that she will continue her therapy and meds. Obviously Meena says yes and the play ends with a happy and normal Meena as she continues her therapy.
My take, Tum is a fabulous telefilm. I think this subject is very important to highlight and it is even more important to highlight it correctly, which this team does. Not everyone who is unmarried in their 30s (or otherwise) has ‘asraat’ or is acting out of frustration. People actually have chemical imbalances in their brain and getting them help is essential to them living a somewhat normal life. The other thing about Tum is that you can watch this with your entire family, which is becoming a rarity these days. There is no over the top anything. This family could literally be ‘the family next door.’ Syed Mohammed Ahmed is a veteran writer and at this point, I think he can write in his sleep and produce a script. However I do have a couple contentions with this play. When Aadil comes home one day to find a bunch of ladies that the maasi has brought for Salma to treat, he angrily tells his mother that if they don’t leave right away, ‘mein joote mar mar ke sab ko ghar se nikalonga.” Really? This family seems to be upper middle class and educated, so why the need for such language? I understand the point was to show him frustrated with the situation, but he could just have easily said ‘mein khud inhe ghar se nikal donga’ or something like that. There was no need for ‘joote mar mar ke’ as if he was living in conditions where this language is said. My other point of contention is that Dr. Jahan Ara is always explaining to Aadil or his mother that just because Meena is not married, it is not the end of the world. She is educated and is working. She is not a bojh and marriage is not the last step in life. She can be happy still while not married. Yet Meena only agrees to get treatment again when Meekal says he wants to marry her, but puts that condition in of getting treatment. To me it seemed like the entire time it is being relayed that it is ok for someone to not be married still at that age, but at the end, the only reason she gets better is the motivation to get married.
First of all, Salma Hassan owns Tum!! This lady has not been given her rightly dues. Her expressions, frustration with her situation and mother, and the way she portrays that extremely vulnerable Meena are above mark. I fail to understand why she hasn’t gotten lead roles before. We have actresses in their 40s playing roles of 20 year olds only because of the work they have had done on them. I’m sure they are all very nice in real life, but you can absolutely tell that they are acting on screen. But when you see Salma Hassan (aside from the fact that she has natural beauty), you don’t feel like you are watching someone act; you feel like this is happening right in front of you, live! I hope directors and producers take note of this soon!
Adnan Siddiqi is well, Adnan Siddiqi :) He plays Meekal with such ease that you can’t imagine any other actor doing this role. He is also one of the few actors who is aging very gracefully. Afraz Rasool is I believe new, but portrays Adil very nicely. He seemed a little hesitant in his acting, but he definitely has great potential. Shamim Hilali, as always, is great and Hina Bayat (again, grace personified) portrays Dr. Jahan Ara with great ease. Whether she’s a Peerni as ‘Shamshad Bibi,’ or plays a negative character like Zareena Aunty, Hina Bayat gives her all and makes it look as if it’s the easiest thing to do.
Marina Khan doesn’t direct much, but when she does, it is always fabulous! We need her to direct more as the plays these days are not worth watching. Directors like her, Mehreen Jabbar, Sarmad, and Farrukh Faiz need to get behind the camera more often if this industry is going to survive.
All in All I would give Tum 4.5/5. Fabulous job Team Tum!
Written by Sheeba
