TV shows: Dishing it out

An in-depth look at your favourite drama serials.

ISLAMABAD:

“Mata e Jaan Hai Tu”

Episode: 12

Aired: May 18

Channel: Hum TV

Ibad (Adeel Hussain) returns to Karachi to set things right with his family. But without even consulting him, his father Uzair (Javed Sheikh) had already arranged his marriage to his cousin Anoushey. On a previous visit to Pakistan, Ibad had gone through with his engagement to Anoushey. However, after Haniya’s dying grandmother’s request, Ibad married Haniya in New York.

Ibad has no choice but to go to his uncle’s house and come clean about Haniya. As expected, his uncle, aunt and Anoushey are furious. But when he goes to his own house, his father kicks him out. On the other side, Haniya realises something is wrong with Ibad and hops onto the first flight to Pakistan and shows up at Ibad’s father’s firm for a job, taking advantage of the fact that he doesn’t know what who she is and what she looks like. Haniya turns on her charm and gets hired immediately.

In retrospect, this episode was more dynamic than the last few and perhaps the drama will now finally start moving at a faster pace. However, considering its track record, we may just be in for a dragged out bonding phase between Haniya and Ibad’s father.

 

“Thakan”

Episode: 2

Aired: May 17

Channel: ARY Digital

It’s amazing how everybody in protagonist Sadaf’s family manages to make everything about them. Even though Sadaf is the sole breadwinner for her family, every one manages to find faults in her. From her sister Deeba to brother Fareed, everyone finds a reason to complain. There’s a subtle tension in Sadaf’s relationship with her mother because whenever she talks to Sadaf, it seems that she is indebted to Sadaf. Sadaf’s mother is in a difficult position, not only does she have to pacify everybody else and defend Sadaf, she also has to manage the house and stall Sadaf’s marriage until her children get jobs.

In this episode, Sadaf quits her day job at the factory as her evening job pays better, allowing her to spend more time at home and resume her studies as well. A colleague at the store tells her that she should try looking “fresh and attractive”, for customers. Sadaf disagrees strongly and argues that their job was to attract customers to the products not to themselves. But, eventually she agrees. The next evening, Sadaf has an encounter with a sleazy customer at the store who says many inappropriate things and for now gets only a verbal rebuke.  Next week, Sadaf gives this guy a well-deserved slap but that will probably only make things worse for her.

 

“Emaan”

Episode: 1

Aired: May 1

Channel: Express Entertainment

Usually first episodes of any serial can be a bit slow but “Emaan” was much better than expected. It opened with Aazi (Ahsan Khan), wearing a star-spangled bandana and cruising to a James Blunt song. Aazi has a love for all things American. He has met a girl online from the US and plans to marry her. Since she is coming to see him for the first time, he has his whole family practising their English as much as possible in order to impress Kathy.

His sister-in-law Bushra (Sabreen Hisbani) is the only one who seems to be taking his instructions seriously. She mixes a little too much of her English with Urdu and manages to make the character funny and endearing. Then there’s his best friend Sajid (Hassan Niazi) and another friend Maulvi (Jibran) whose incessant anti-American, anti-West rants are hilarious. His mother (Samina Ahmad) is more supportive of her son’s impending nuptials, but his father is angry about having to give up his room in order to accomdate the newlyweds. During a rehearsal of what Kathy’s welcoming committee must say upon her arrival, Aazi gets a phone call from the bride-to-be who tells him that she won’t be coming after all.

Overall, the first episode was well-written and light-hearted but the promos seemed to indicate that the drama will get darker as it progresses. Also, there is a mysterious blonde in the previews who hasn’t made an appearance yet. I’m not sure where the story will go but the engaging characters made me want to keep watching to find out.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2012.