Wah! I was so cheering for Shumaila today as she fired her loser of a boyfriend. Yes! Girl, you made up for your earlier idiocies by sternly informing that wannabe lover of yours that you were legally an adult and would have no compunctions in reporting him to the authorities if he tried to pull any underhanded stunts. You then were gutsy enough to remorsefully acknowledge your mistakes and return home and apologize. That took a lot of courage, and for that I commend you! Mawra was good as Shumaila today.
If Shumaila’s realization and her repentance made me applaud, Halima’s depression really saddened me. She, who had been so happy in the last episode, was down in the dumps. Her burgeoning self-confidence shattered yet again, after listening to her mother-n-law’s well-intentioned but ultimately self-serving advice. Here, I must commend Faiza Iftikhar for writing such a nuanced character. Ostensibly very supportive of her daughter-in-law, before the last episode we would’ve had no problems seeing her as the whiter than white mother-in-law, but as was beautifully shown last week, this as a character who is very grey. She is not a bad person, in fact she loves her daughter-in-law and has no problems defending her against her son, BUT, as long as neither of these threatens her sense of self. If anything appears to even remotely upset the status quo, then she will go to any lengths to restore order to her universe. Humaira Zaheer is excellent as the subconsciously conniving mother-in-law. Having sensed the unwelcome changes in Halima, she first subtly turned her against Zunaira and then hit the final blow by telling her about Saim’s infatuation.
Saba Qamar has truly impressed me in this serial. I loved her in Dastaan, but after seeing her in a spate of negative roles, I was really turned off, but here she is fantastic as the subdued, browbeaten spouse. While everything appears glittery on the surface, the big house, successful husband, fabulous mother-in-law, the perfect children, nonetheless Halima is hiding a dirty secret – her seemingly charming husband is emotionally abusive, leaving no stone unturned in making her feel unworthy and useless. She is clearly not stupid, because we see her with her children, decorating Zunaira’s house, and offering very mature advice to her uncle and aunt, but Saim has done such a wonderful job of decimating her self-confidence that she really thinks she’s unworthy. Hopefully, Shumaila’s move to their house and Saim’s roving eye will be the jolt she needs to wake up and stand up for herself. This episode ended on a very interesting note and I’m waiting to see whether Shumaila has matured enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
Although I really feel for her character, I have one big peeve against Halima: why the heck doesn’t she change clothes?? Today she was wearing a brown kurta the entire time, even in bed, and changed only when she went to her uncle’s house – no wonder Saim can’t stand her! I really hope somebody takes pity on her and gives her the memo that the most important thing in any relationship is to shower and wear fresh clothes on a daily basis!!
And, finally Saim … Junaid Khan is really good as the seemingly soft, cultured, sophisticated man of the world, but behind closed doors he’s an arrogant, crass bully. I am looking forward to seeing if/how Saim tempers his natural boorishness to impress Shumaila.
Overall, this serial seems to have (hopefully) overcome its initial hiccups and is now unfolding smoothly as a well-told story of the stark realities of Halima’s seemingly perfect life.
Written by SZ~ [email protected]
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