The 608-page book chronicles in meticulous detail, using never-before translated Afghan sources, the first Anglo-Afghan war in 1839 which was a colossal failure and resulted in a crushing defeat for the British.

In 1839, two great empires dominated the world, the British and the Russians. In explaining the operation of the British East India Company, Dalrymple said it was like any other corporation but with an army. The British controlled 40% of the world economy and as the Russians expanded further south, Afghanistan was seen as a crucial geo-strategic advantage. In order to gain a stronghold in Afghanistan, a crucial gateway into India, the British invaded the country.

However, the threat of Russian presence in Afghanistan, the basis of the invasion, was exaggerated, somewhat like the imaginary weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Dalrymple said. (There is a personal connection here as well; Dalrymple’s great-great-uncle Colin Mackenzie fought with the British army that invaded Afghanistan.) What follows is a chronicle of the unpreparedness, ignorance and arrogance of the British army as they marched into Afghanistan, and a war which ultimately resulted in an embarrassing withdrawal three years later.

“In both cases, the invaders thought they could walk in, perform regime change, and be out in a couple of years. In both cases they were unable to prevent themselves getting sucked into a much wider conflict,” Dalrymple writes, “While the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have lasted longer there are strong parallels to the events of the past decade and important lessons that ought to have been learnt form history.”

Guests mingled as drinks and hors d’oeuvres floated around. Dalrymple spoke for about an hour, providing a teaser of his book with irony and humour, frequently referencing 19th century equivalents of WMDs and George W Bush. He also used a slideshow of art to illustrate how misguided the British had been during the invasion.

Dalrymple explained that, having worked as a travel writer and historian in the Central Asian region for many years, it had become increasingly obvious to him that history was repeating itself as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq unfolded. He said, while speaking to The Express Tribune, that he was drawn to the idea of writing about “Britain’s worst [military] defeat” but was unsure about whether it was even possible to write this book. That was until he came across archives and source material in the Indian National Archives and Punjab archives in Lahore.

What makes this book stand out though is Dalrymple’s research into Persian and Dari material from the Afghan National Archives, which had surprisingly never been translated and was virtually unknown in the West.

This contemporariness is a huge part of what has made this book so well-received. “I wrote my fist book in 1989. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and this has been my most successful, best reviewed book,” Dalrymple said, speaking to The Express Tribune. When asked about what he plans to write next, he said he’s not sure yet but that he would love to write a cultural history of South Asia.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2013.

Although a few more restaurants, including Khiva in F-6 and Hujra in F-7 opened up in the city, Kabul Restaurant had created its niche well before them. People who go to this restaurant don’t care about its no-nonsense simplicity as the food remains the highlight of the place. Located on College Road, the restaurant, which is usually bustling with people during lunch and dinner hours, guarantees to serve your food on time as their grill is always on.

The number of items offered on the single-page menu at Kabul Restaurant might be limited , but the quality of food is extremely high. It’s a meat-lover’s heaven, you will mostly find beef and lamb dishes, while white meat does not feature prominently on the menu. I rarely eat red meat but the food is so delicious that I devour it without giving it a second thought.

One thing I love about Afghan cuisine is that it is incredibly flavourful without being too spicy. It is quite difficult to stop eating the salty Afghani tikkas, cubes of beef fat skewered alternately and cooked to perfection.

The Kabuli pulao is a complete meal in itself — a rice dish served with a portion of beef and topped with carrots and raisins. However, it can be eaten along with Afghani kofta (meatball) in a lentil curry. If I had to possibly pick one dish out of all, it is the Special Afghan Manto — dumplings stuffed with minced meat and topped with lentils and a thick yogurt-sour cream mixture.

The eatery does not only offer flavoursome Afghani food, but is also easy on your wallet, with an average price of Rs300 to Rs500 per person.

Sahar Habib works as a content writer and researcher at a communication design company and manages a blog at www.chaipluscake.com in her spare time.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2013.            

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Another reason could be that it hasn’t been done right yet. So when Salsa opened up in F-7 a month ago, I was curious to see what it had to offer, particularly in terms of Mexican cuisine.

A little too much chilli was used in their dishes. PHOTO: PUBLICITY

From the diverse menu offerings, it seems Salsa is playing it safe instead of risking a one-track Mexican restaurant — another Mexican restaurant, Loco Amigos, in F-10 actually had pretty good food but it closed down within a few months. You can pretty much get everything under the sun at Salsa, including pizza, sandwiches, burgers, steaks, seafood, Thai, Pakistani, and last but not least, Mexican.

I thought they may have bitten off a bit more than they can chew and the chefs in the kitchen, which you can see into from the dining room through a window, looked like they were scrambling to get orders out in time. However, service was good and the restaurant was packed with families on a Friday night.

The décor is quite minimal, and a bit confusing, so there is not really an ambience to speak of. The walls are painted in beige with strips of brownish-maroon here and there. My best guess was that these strips were meant to be wood panels. But why? Here again, the lack of theme works against the restaurant.

As for the food, the Nachos Supreme had potential but they could do with some improvement. The corn chips were deliciously crispy but this appetiser would benefit from more salsa and sour cream and less of the melted cheese (which didn’t taste very nice) and unnecessary showering of lettuce on top.

The chicken fajitas, on the other hand, were quite good, but very spicy. It’s a huge serving of peppery grilled chicken, green bell peppers and onions, served with two tortillas, salsa and sour cream. The fiery red salsa full of chili seeds coupled with the peppery fajitas is not for the faint of heart though.

The salmon with coriander rub and lime cream was good as well though not as tangy as I had expected. I felt it ought to have had a bit more of a citrus flavour. A big thumbs-down for this dish however, was the Chinese-style egg-and-vegetable fried rice served with it.

The salsa steak in beef was served with grilled carrots and green beans with your choice of baked potato, mashed potato or French fries. The steak itself was slathered in the same standard flaming hot salsa we had been served with everything else. It’s safe to say steak is not their strong suit and if you are going to order a steak at Salsa then chicken is probably a better option.

It’s quite possible that other offerings on the menu at Salsa taste much better, but the Mexican food left me disappointed. The restaurant didn’t leave much of an impression on me and it’s not likely that I’ll go there again.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2013.                

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I was at my aunt’s house in Irving, Texas watching the Cooking Channel on a lazy afternoon. The programme was “Eat Street” and they were showing a segment on a Los Angeles food truck, Jogasaki Sushi Burrito.

A sushi burrito? It sounded and looked amazing and delicious. And I was going to be in Los Angeles in a week! So all I had to do was check where the Jogasaki truck would be in the city while I was there and I could go eat this sushi burrito. The plan was made. My mind was set. I now had another reason to go to LA.

The night we landed in LA, I went to the Jogasaki website to see the schedule, and saw that the truck was going to be at The Yum Festival. Further googling revealed that The Yum Festival was a food truck festival taking place in Ontario. The foodie in me began to brim with excitement. Not one, but 50 of LA’s best food trucks. I had to go!

The Ontario Mills, an outlet mall, is about an hour’s drive from Los Angeles and if you get stuck in traffic, which we did, then it may take longer. However, I am going to maintain that it is completely worth the trip. So sort of by accident, without really planning to, I ended up at the first ever Yum Festival. And to think, until a few days ago I didn’t know such a thing even existed.

As you enter the festival area, after paying and getting your hand stamped, there are food trucks everywhere with long queues outside many of them. In the centre there is a dining area and the trucks are parked all around. It’s a bit difficult to decide which way to go first!

“The concept of the festival was to bring the community together to enjoy delicious food with their family and friends, shop and visit their favorite stores in Ontario Mills and at the same time help out a good cause,” Joey Moreno, CEO and owner of The Yum Festival, explained in an interview via email.

“I really do believe this is a win-win situation for all the parties involved and that is really what we are focused on; spreading positivity, providing a good time and great food for attendees and helping others at the same time.”

While the first festival supported the McKinley Children’s Centre in San Dimas, the second will benefit the Chaffey High School Arts Program, one of the largest public schools in California. The tickets are reasonably priced at $7, and presale $5, with a free entry for children under four.

Often food festivals are held annually but the second Yum Festival will take place just three months after the first. “There was never a plan to hold the festival annually. We did the first one in June, we feel it went well and people had a great time and most of the feedback was, “When is the next one?” So we figured why not make it happen as soon as possible. If we didn’t do it before October we would have had to wait until after the winter season and we wanted to give the people something before then. We’re shooting for four times a year,” Moreno said.

The first truck I got in line for is Jogasaki.  I got the Jogasaki 4A, which is made with spicy tuna, shrimp tempura and avocado, all wrapped up in soy paper; it was divine and the seafood tasted so fresh. I found that even people who don’t like sushi liked the sushi burrito.

If you are planning to travel to Los Angeles you can visit their website to find out where the truck will be parked whenever you are in town. In fact all the trucks have websites, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds so you can see what you might like to order beforehand and save time.

The trucks returning for festival number two include The Grilled Cheese Truck, which serves creative spins on the classic grilled cheese sandwich like the Caprese melt with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes in roasted garlic bread; Cool Haus, which offers gourmet ice cream sandwiches; The Lime Truck, where the goal is to “create fresh, healthy food that is convenient and accessible”; My Delight Cupcakery, which has some delicious hand-crafted cupcakes; Lobsta Truck, lobster in bread rolls; OG Tempura, tempura every which way; The Fry Girl, everybody’s favorite classic (Fish and Chips) and not-so-classic (Deep Fried Mac N’ Cheese Balls) fried foods; India Jones Chow Truck, Indian food; Meet N’ Potatoes, hearty meat sandwiches stuffed with fries.

If you need more yum in your life, then keep a look out for the Yum festival the next time you are in LA.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 6^th, 2013.

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Hum Network

Episode 10 (Aug 31)

Falak has a nasty fall and suffers a miscarriage. She is devastated and her grandmother tells her to have faith in Allah, that she should trust in His plan for her and tells her to always ask for Allah’s forgiveness and mercy. Falak doesn’t understand why she should ask for forgiveness. It wasn’t her fault that she fell and miscarried. Why did this have to happen to her?

Slowly she gets past the incident, and her second wedding anniversary is approaching. Salman hasn’t mentioned anything to her and she’s sure he’s going to surprise her. Her friend and mother-in-law jokingly suggest he might have forgotten, but she says she knows Salman and that he must have something planned. Even when he says he’s going to Hyderabad the morning of their anniversary, she thinks he’s pretending to have forgotten.

Later though, instead of the dream surprise party she thought she was getting, Falak ends up celebrating her wedding anniversary with just her parents. When he finally calls her, she is upset that he forgot but he yells at her for not reminding him and making a big fuss about it.

Her view of Salman is still so narrow. Whenever Salman does something hurtful or insensitive, something the audience totally expects from him, Falak is always so surprised at Salman’s behaviour. She thinks he’s changing when he’s being inconsiderate or short-tempered, but really he’s been this guy all along.

‘Emaan’

Express Entertainment,

Episode 15 (Aug 29)

Maulvi escorts Sumbal back to her parents’ house after she learns of her father’s death. However, her brother says she must leave. She is as good as dead to them.

Aazi is still trying to convince Emaan that they should go to America. He did a lot of questionable things in the run up to his wedding and did not care much about the consequences because he thought he’d be leaving the country. He owes a lot of people money, including his best friend Sajid, and now it looks like he might be stuck here to face their wrath.

Devolving into bitterness, frustration, resentment and also fear, he starts lashing out at everybody. He tells his father his relationship with Emaan is inappropriate. Aazi’s father slaps him and Aazi strikes back.

Abba jee’s daughters-in-law rise up to defend him, but he leaves home and goes back to the senior citizens’ home.

Emaan comes to visit Abba and refuses to go back home without him. In an odd turn of events, Abba’s friend Pasha takes them both to his house where he intends for the three of them to live happily ever after and turn it from a house into a home. In next week’s episode, the neighbours are gossiping about Emaan running off with Aazi’s father and there’s no telling what an already panicked Aazi might do.

‘Thakan’

ARY Digital

Episode 17 (Aug 30)

The bahu power play in the Azmat house heats up when Roheena slaps Kashan’s daughter for calling her a witch. Up until now Sadaf has been quiet, reserved and hesitant whenever Roheena has tried to intimidate or manipulate her, but she finally asserts herself as bari bahu to defend her step-daughter and makes it clear she’s not to be messed with. As Kashan has become more accepting of her, she seems to be getting increasingly confident in her new role.

Zubeida had Khursheed marry Mehak because she thought that the solution to many of her problems; Mehak would come to her senses after getting married and the two women would have the security of a man in the house. However, it hasn’t turned out to be much better for them.

Mehak is still her own worst enemy, she hates the position she’s in married to her elder sister’s widower and forced to care for his four children, but she keeps doing things that only make Khursheed angrier.Khursheed has taken it very personally that Sadaf didn’t attend the wedding, even though Zubeida explained to him that she was kept away because Kashan was in a car accident. Zubeida and Mehak become the objects of his anger and he forbids them from having any sort of contact with Sadaf until she comes over with her husband and apologizes for her absence.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2012.

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Fridays on Hum TV

Episode 9 (August 24)

Last week, the haze of Falak’s infatuation seemed to lift a bit as she questioned her decision to be with Salman. After the way he treated her when she told him that her father wanted him to join their family business raised some apprehensions in Falak’s mind. However, just when it seems that she might come to her senses, the episode ends with her getting married to him after all. One month later, Falak is extremely happy and Salman surprises us by being uncharacteristically good to her. We see them in a store with Salman seemingly buying her the entire perfume section, almost like he’s trying to make up for something. Moreover, Falak’s grandmother keeps trying to tell her she doesn’t have her priorities straight, but she really thinks she does — she’s happily married to a man she’s madly in love with, she’s working with her father and she’s about to have a baby. But as the crazy man at the beach says to her, it takes getting knocked down and losing something to realise one’s place in the grand scheme of things. Right now, Falak doesn’t see beyond her own little world and nobody can make her. Nani also comes to stay with Falak for a few days and it will be amusing to hear what she has to say about how Falak keeps her house, as some of the best scenes in the serial are between Falak and her grandmother.

‘Emaan’

Wednesdays on Express Entertainment

Episode 14 (August 15)

There were a lot of big moments in this episode. Aazi’s entire life plan backfires when Kathy, who has become a Muslim and adopted the name Emaan, tells him after their wedding that she’s decided to stay in Pakistan with him and his family instead of returning to America. Additionally, Aazi’s sister Sakina learns that her husband has married another woman and Sumbal finally finds out that her father has passed away. Since Aazi is only nice to people when he needs something from them, let’s see how long his undying love for Emaan lasts now that she’s no longer his ticket to America. Emaan keeps insisting that life in US is really lonely. She says there is technology and corporate culture in America but no humanity, making it sound like people there are heartless robots. Her character’s view seems quite skewed about the United States and its people, so if we complain that the portrayal of Pakistanis in foreign media is narrow, we should try not to make the same mistake ourselves.

‘Thakan’

Thursdays on ARY Digital

Episode 16 (August 23)

In this episode Kashan is slowly warming up to Sadaf, though not enough to accompany her to Mehak’s wedding to Khursheed. With Sadaf’s super-human patience, kindness and fortitude, this had to happen eventually. Mehak had to learn her lesson the hard way, after being stupid enough to show up alone at Haseeb’s house to ‘meet his parents’. But the lesson seems lost on her and instead of taking responsibility and accepting her mistake, she believes everything that happened to her is all Sadaf’s fault. Also, Kashan seems to hate everyone and everything and initially it’s easy to assume that it’s because he thinks he is above everybody else. However, it is learnt that his attitude comes not from a sense of superiority but from a deep-seated sense of insecurity and inadequacy. Sadaf learns this after a minor car accident when she hears him talking in his drugged state. She finds out that he thinks he’s not good enough and is afraid Sadaf may leave him too, just like his first wife Nargis. In his drug-induced sleep, he somehow made Sadaf promise to never leave him.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2012.

Fridays on Hum Network

Episode 3 (July 13), Episode 4 (July 20)

Falak wonders whether her many run-ins with Salman are coincidence or fate. She is always talking or thinking about him and all that makes one wonder if there’s an idol worship allegory here. In a previous episode, Nani had reprimanded her about making sculptures, likening them to stone idols. Nani keeps reproaching her daughter Mehrun Nisa and granddaughter Falak about something or the other: wastage of food, what they wear, staying out late, Falak’s upbringing and how much freedom she’s been given. When Falak returns from a friend’s mehndi at the time her grandmother is up to pray tahajjud, she disapproves of the fact that Falak returned home so late with the driver. Furthermore, Falak is frustrated that Salman doesn’t remember her name or recognise her because she’s never come across a man so disinterested in her. Hamza tries to tell Falak that Salman is ignoring her on purpose and just messing with her, but she won’t hear it. Hamza abruptly asks Falak to marry him, taking her by surprise. She refuses and tells him that they’re friends; Hamza thinks it’s because of Salman, but she says she couldn’t marry him even if there was no Salman. Salman is still such a vague character, and not in a charmingly mysterious way; there’s just no depth or breadth to him yet. But maybe he’s not supposed to have any depth, the whole point being that it doesn’t matter to Falak, who is blinded by her obsession with him.

Emaan

Wednesdays on Express Entertainment

Episode 9 (July 11), Episode 10 (July 18)

Aazi’s father’s blatant favouritism for Kathy is getting annoying. During a shopping trip, Kathy keeps asking his opinion on clothes and jewelry like he’s the ultimate authority on women’s fashion and everyone at home is quite surprised at his interest in the matter. Later, Abba makes a stop at the mosque to pray, but news of a bomb blast in the mosque leaves everyone at home terrified that he may have been killed. Aazi’s brother-in-law and then Aazi himself, turn against Kathy, blaming the bombing on ‘the Americans’. “Hum musalmaano ka kaam nahin hai aik doosre ko marna,” says Aazi, reflecting a common view that all our problems are caused by America. However, Abba jee soon walks in, unharmed. He recounts what happened at the mosque and how he saw a young boy get hit and die in front of him. Afterwards, Kathy forgives Aazi for what he had said; saying that it showed his love for his father but her distress over the mosque incident causes her to postpone the wedding. It’s interesting to see that it barely affects everybody else in the house as they have become desensitised to incidents of terrorism. Kathy, however, experienced this kind of proximity to terror for the first time. Aazi insists these things happen all the time, bombings, protests, etc, so how long can they keep postponing the wedding? Kathy then confesses to Aazi that people in the West don’t care about others and are very self-absorbed, and she came to Pakistan to escape the loneliness that comes with that.

Thakan

Thursdays on ARY

Episode 10 (July 12), Episode 11 (July 19)

Sadaf’s boss, Mrs Azmat tells her that the solution to all her problems is to marry well and she should reconsider a previously mentioned proposal. What Sadaf doesn’t know is that the man her boss has in mind is her inconsiderate, neglectful, self-absorbed son, Kashan. Meanwhile Sadaf’s mother Zubeida now has to care for Deeba’s four children, and her husband Khursheed suggests that he marry Sadaf, only because the children need a mother. However, Sadaf flatly refuses and Khursheed is mortally offended when he learns that Sadaf doesn’t want to marry him. As payback for rejection, Khursheed tells Sadaf about how her mother has been turning away proposals for Sadaf to keep her from leaving home. Sadaf confronts her mother and is devastated when Zubeida doesn’t deny it. Sadaf says her mother should have trusted her enough, that she would have turned the proposals down herself and would have never abandoned her family. Zubeida asks Sadaf to give her a chance to explain but Sadaf won’t speak or even look at her mother. Jawad also reveals that his proposal to Sadaf was a practical decision, not an emotional one. He thought that Sadaf would become a second earner for his a family and help him out financially. Even though he hasn’t said it, that’s probably why Khursheed wants to marry her too. Feeling hurt and betrayed, Sadaf calls her boss to accept the proposal. Though, Sadaf has agreed to marry the man her boss has chosen for her but she has no idea what she’s getting in to. She will no longer have to worry about money and being financially responsible for her household, but she will have to take on the responsibility of a mentally handicapped woman, two children who probably won’t take kindly to a new step-mother and will have to keep house for a man who has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with her.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2012.

ISLAMABAD: “Emaan”

Episode: 7 and 8

Aired: June 27 and July 7

Channel: Express Entertainment

Aazi and Kathy’s nuptials seem doomed as Aazi has no money for the wedding and Aazi’s brother-in-law won’t give his sister Sakina permission to attend. Sajid’s wife Naheed goes about trying to trick Kathy by fooling her that in Pakistan, the bride has to pay for everything: outfit, jewellry, valima, etc. The innocent and gullible Kathy duly dishes out $2,000. Now with the money in hand, it seems like everything is set until the ghosts of girlfriends past come back to haunt Aazi as Sumbal is not giving up and runs away from home to be with him. Aazi’s friends then get stuck in the mess he made after Sumbal needs to be taken to the hospital, and circumstances push Sajid to fabricate a story about Sumbal being Maulvi’s wife. It’s a little implausible that Aazi’s father warmed up to Kathy the moment they met (at the end of episode 5). He keeps saying “meri beti ki shaadi hai” and is offended when Kathy gives money for the wedding because it’s his responsibility to pay for his “daughter’s” wedding. Interestingly, earlier in the episode when Aazi (his actual son), needed money for this same wedding he said he didn’t have any! I get that Kathy is much more loving than his own children have ever been but it would be more believable if their relationship had developed over some time.

“Thakan”

Episode: 8 and 9

Aired: June 28 and July 5

Channel: ARY Digital

Sadaf’s sister Deeba is in the hospital and requires a blood donation from Fareed but he’s unreachable. We then learn that he’s been leeching money off of Sadaf to pay a friend who has promised to help him get to Australia. Sadaf is completely devastated by her brother’s betrayal when she finally learns he got expelled from university seven months ago and she’s been paying for his fees and other expenses this whole time. We knew Fareed and Mehak are beyond selfish, but Fareed hit a new low when he stole the money meant for Deeba’s operation and practically murdered his grandfather, who tried to stop him from doing so in the process.

Two major deaths in one episode! In one day, Sadaf loses her sister and her grandfather, and Fareed is pretty much responsible for both. First he wasn’t available when his sister needed blood and then he stole the money needed for her surgery because he couldn’t see past his own myopic desire to escape the difficulties of living in Pakistan and move to Australia.  It’s clear that the motivation behind each character’s actions, good or bad, is the harshness of poverty, and this drama serial underlines how extreme circumstances can potentially distort one’s morality, ethics and humanity. However, I feel like most of the characters are too black-and-white, like Sadaf who never wavers in her principles and Mehak and Fareed, who are always inconsiderate and selfish.  Their mother is the only character who seems genuinely conflicted, as she tries to balance and consider the best interests of all her children.

“Shehr e Zaat”

Episode: 1 and 2

Aired: June 29 and July 6

Channel: Hum TV

Following the phenomenal success of “Humsafar”, director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat and actor Mahira Khan reunite once again for “Shehr e Zaat”. Written by Umaira Ahmed, it tells the story of Falak, played by Mahira, a headstrong free-spirited young woman who is also a bit of a spoilt brat. Hina Khwaja Bayat plays her socialite mother and Samina Peerzada plays her grandmother. Falak is materialistic, self-centered and often rude and unkind. She’s usually at odds with her grandmother about how to treat others, how to behave and ones religious matters. Falak is an art student and her best friend at college is Hamza (Mohib Mirza). She is enamoured when, at a friend’s party, she meets Salman (Mekaal) who funnily looks just like the sculpture she’s been working on. As a callback to “Humsafar”, in the first episode, a potential suitor played by Sarmad Khoosat himself, is rejected by Falak because he watches ‘cheap’ Pakistani dramas and his ringtone was the “Humsafar” song! It seems from the promos that Falak will go through an existential and spiritual crisis and change through the course of the series and it will be interesting to see how and why. Regardless of the plot, Khoosat has established himself as a really good director, so it’s safe to assume “Shehr e Zaat” will be worth watching.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2012.

ISLAMABAD: ‘Emaan’

Express Entertainment

Episode 4, 5, 6

June 6, 13, 21

Kathy and Aazi are at a crossroads. Aazi and his family were under the impression that Kathy would convert to Islam soon after her arrival in Pakistan, before marrying Aazi. But she says she needs time before she can make such a huge decision. Can’t a Muslim man and a Christian woman be married? They can, but not where Aazi’s from.

Aazi’s mother’s attempt to convince Kathy was funny but poignant at the same time. That is the way many people in Pakistan would reason with someone about religion and Islam. If you become a Muslim you’ll go to heaven otherwise you’ll burn in hell!

Sometimes you can get away with an average plot if you have a good script with witty dialogues and good pacing. “Emaan” has all of the above, in addition to the fresh plot. Aazi’s father is the character who has to reason with and talk sense into everybody. He is the character that voices the moral of the story, to focus on the bigger picture rather than the small things. Kathy is a good kind person who believes in God, the problem is she’s not Muslim. He calmly explains to his wife that they shouldn’t try to scare Kathy into converting to Islam, but should simply show by example, what good values Islam preaches and allow her to make her decision in her own time.

‘Thakan’

ARY Digital

Episode 5, 6, 7

June 7, 14, 21

Thakan” is actually getting quite boring and pretty predictable for the audience. The plot and characters both are stagnant and repetitive. Sadaf, a prominent character, is an incredibly strong and resilient woman but the way she keeps hitting obstacles over and over and always getting knocked down ultimately is getting monotonous and no longer captivating for the audience. You can very quickly figure out what’s going to happen with her in each episode which makes the drama predictable and not much fun to watch. In the latest episode Sadaf is falsely accused of theft by her sleazy employer while her brother and sister are as selfish as ever and her mother does her best to delay Sadaf’s marriage.

It’s clear what “Thakan” is trying to say and do. It is difficult for a woman who has to venture out of her house to earn money, even more so for somebody from a poor background. It is true that some women in certain fields have a harder time making their way, but it’s about time something really great happened to Sadaf, even if it doesn’t last very long.

‘Mata e Jaan Hai Tu’

Hum Network

Episode 15, 16, 17

June 8, 15, 22

In a twist, I certainly didn’t see coming, Ibad is killed in a car accident. Haniya breaks down while his parents are in shock. Javed Sheikh and Hina Bayat give brilliant performances in episode 15 as parents reacting to the death of their son.

On the whole “Mata e Jaan Hai Tu” is a tragic story that had a constant underlying sadness and it’s really harsh on the writer’s part to kill Haniya’s husband the same way her parents died. However, in the last episode, after all Haniya has been through, she does get a somewhat happy ending.

It’s a bit risky to go for a non-linear narrative towards the end, but the final three episodes were the best of the serial. Even though the audience was quite confused for a couple of episodes about why Ibad was suddenly missing in the episodes, where Haniya goes to Pakistan to work for Uzair’s firm and how she’s suddenly back in America when Ibad dies. But after the final episode, it all makes sense. Sheikh and Bayat’s performance in the scene where Uzair asks Hajra to forgive him is heartbreaking.

Even though the final episodes were an improvement, by that time one had lost interest in the story and the lead characters. The serial was badly scripted and directed, and the lead actors Sarwat Gillani and Adeel Hussain had no chemistry. Haniya’s sister Yameena seemed to have a pretty significant storyline earlier on but that just got lost along the way somewhere.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2012.