THE TUBE

Published December 22, 2019

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Bewafa | ARY, Mondays 8.00pm

If Ahaan’s (Ali Rehman) son Hashir (Abdul Muqeet) had not started to irritate Shireen (Ushna Shah), whom she had previously pretended to mollycoddle, and if Shireen’s sister Sharmeen (Maira Khan) had not told Kinza (Naveen Waqar) that Shireen’s sweet and innocent nature was completely fake, the inane message of the story coming across so far was to become best friends with your husband’s new wife, and co-exist happily as one big family. But now with Shireen’s mean and manipulative personality exposed to Kinza, the dynamics between first wife Kinza, second wife Shireen and husband Ahaan will change, and bring us some juicy episodes to watch.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Alif | Geo TV, Saturdays 8.00pm

It is easy to drift away from Umera Ahmad’s mish-mash of sufism in a story spun around three generations of characters who have spiritual awakenings, and who find their connections with the Creator at different points in time. The only thing not connecting here is the audience looking for a substantial, gripping story.

Instead of moving forward with the characters, we are stuck in a time warp with Qalb-i-Momin’s (Hamza Ali Abbasi) grandfather Abdul Alla’s (Manzar Sehbai) philosophic rants in the backdrop of visually appealing shots of Turkey. They occupy more time than one character doing calligraphy and a swirling dervish who turns out to be Ahsan Khan playing Qalb-i-Momin’s father Taha, who falls madly in love with Husn-i-Jehan (Kubra Khan), a Pakistani actress in Turkey! Abdul Alla apprises Momin of how his parents fell in love and how Abdul Alla made their lives miserable. Keep watching if you like slow, artsy stuff that you keep hoping will soon make sense.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 22nd, 2019

Opinion

Who bears the cost?

Who bears the cost?

This small window of low inflation should compel a rethink of how the authorities and employers understand the average household’s

Editorial

Internet restrictions
Updated 23 Dec, 2024

Internet restrictions

Notion that Pakistan enjoys unprecedented freedom of expression difficult to reconcile with the reality of restrictions.
Bangladesh reset
23 Dec, 2024

Bangladesh reset

THE vibes were positive during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent meeting with Bangladesh interim leader Dr...
Leaving home
23 Dec, 2024

Leaving home

FROM asylum seekers to economic migrants, the continuing exodus from Pakistan shows mass disillusionment with the...
Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...