We are now into second episode of the drama and I would describe the current pace of the drama as: na doob raha hai na ubhar raha hai. I am hoping it’s not one of those dramas that take 10 episodes for the real story to begin. Today’s episode was character driven rather than narrative driven settling onto stark contrast between Haleema and Shumaila and further shed light on Saim’s frustrations into a marriage he is trapped in. We also got a glimpse of Sabhi has a over protective old brother who suspects Shumaila’s is involved in some different “extracurricular activities” at college which is very unsettling for him.
Positives:
-No blaring OST or over the top dramatic music that distracts from the dialogues.
-crisp editing, the transition between the different scenes is smooth and well placed
-I have not seen Mawra in any other dramas but if she can get me to absolutely dislike her character; she is definitely doing something right with her acting. The chichorapan attitude or the “eye rolling” is definite addition to Mawara’s dialogue delivery. Saba Qamar was spot on as usual and you could see the pain and subtle indifference in Haleema’s expressions as Saim constantly insulted her. Junaid Khan also has improved quite a bit from last episode but he is still not there yet (Junaid needs to improve his ability to vary his voice with his expressions so they all his emotions don’t seem flat or same)
-One character that I have come to absolutely love is Kiran Khan’s portrayal of Zunairah. Although I didn’t really like her in the first episode, I was struck by her charm and personality. Her character influences Saim without coming off as dominating, nor does she asserts her opinions on him. I also liked how she points out that he is jealous of his wife’s close relationship with his mother and she fails to understand why he would think that is the problem. From a reviewers perspective, she is the only character (in my opinion) that stands out from the rest in terms of authenticity because the rest of the characters are placed at extreme end of spectrums (either they are too holier than thou or too irrational). I know now why Saim must have been very infatuated by her aurora and personality. Excellent work Ms. Khan!
Negatives
-There weren’t many negatives that I could find in the episode BUT my big issue is the with placement of the narrative. There is really no mystery and the story just seems very flat at times. In this world of hypermedia where we can forward through most of the episodes, I think our directors and writers really need to understand that they can lose many viewers within the first 3 episodes if the story doesn’t picks up.
-My praise for Mawara’s performance aside, but her character is someone that should be on DB’s list of top smack attack female characters. Woman you are in medical school, yet you manage to act worse than a 5 year old. A guy clearly tells you that he is after your money and sugar coats it with love and you believe him with closed eyes. No wonder your brother doesn’t trust you.
-The repeated use of dialogues is also a major turn off for the viewers. Like Haleema my ears are becoming indifferent to the constant taunts (e.g. jahil gawar aurat) thrown over and over again by Siam. The whole time I was thinking, why he couldn’t enroll her in university or college when she got married to him?
It seems from next week’s preview that we finally see a showdown between Shumaila and her brother and I am waiting to see what was it that compelled a very assertive Saim to bow down to his mother’s wish to marry Haleema. How will Haleema view Zunairah with regards to her and Saim’s shaky marriage?
Written by Maria Khan
PS: I don’t know but is it a fashion statement in Pakistan to go out for a drink with your lab coat on? : P
