THE WEEK THAT WAS

Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi | ARY, Wednesdays 8.00pm

Had this show been written intelligently, we may have understood that Shamsher (Danish Taimoor) is a symbol of divine retribution — the amalgamation of all of his family’s unchecked privilege, cruelty and criminality that will eventually destroy them. Since depth of writing is out of fashion, we can only see him through the lens of a nakaam ashiq [failed lover], which has been enough to garner this serial huge ratings, despite the low production values and lack of character development.

In a tiresome repetition of scenes from Taimoor’s previous drama, Ishq Hai, his character threatens people and points a gun at his own head to get to the truth of who was behind the attempt on his reluctant bride Mehak’s (Durrefishan Saleem) life. The clash between Shamsher and his family over his choice of wife has reached a critical phase.

Meanwhile, his victim Mehak continues to tremble and gape at the camera with a helpless expression to maintain her status as a bholi larrki [innocent girl]. Now and then, she pipes up with a few passive aggressive lines about hating her situation, but expressing anger or resentment at the situation is beyond either the actress or the script.

Chauraha | Geo TV, Mon & Tues 8.00pm

Junaid (Mikaal Zulfikar) ran a kidnapping and extortion racket, blackmailing his victims into giving him hush money. When he kidnaps Zoya (Madiha Imam), things get out of hand and Junaid has to save the naïve girl from his gang members. Zoya escapes but the shadow of the abduction ruins her reputation, leaving her simple family shattered. Junaid wants to change and become a better person, but the criminal gang he belonged to will not let him go.

Fate brings the protagonists to a full circle as Zoya sees Junaid publicly humiliated by the gang just the way she was. This is a well-written story, with some good performances from Zulfikar and Imam, whose characters are written with detail and nuance, but it is slow-paced. Asad Siddiqui plays Arsal, a rare reasonable man on our screens, who actually believes and trusts Zoya when nobody does. The only jarring note is Ayesha Gull who plays the same terrible, loud character in every second drama.

Kala Doriya | Hum TV, Fridays 8.00pm

A family divided, becomes neighbours again and rekindles their feud over who inherits the family shops. Like most Saima Akram Chaudhry stories, all the disagreements could be resolved if the middle generation of parents would put their anger and egos aside, instead of revelling in their bitterness.

Farhan Aly Agha, Osman Khalid Butt and Nadia Afghan are familiar faces from blockbuster Ramazan serials Suno Chanda and Chupke Chupke — while this might be confusing at times, they fit their roles well. Sana Javed is the fresh addition, fighting it out with Osman Khalid Butt from home to the college campus. As usual for Hum TV comedies, zero effort has been put into sets, production values or wardrobe, but the star cast carries the show on a wave of one-liners and the kind of loving, joint family relationships idealised in traditional culture.

There may be nothing particularly new, but it is a much-needed, entertaining alternative to the depressing parade of bholi larrkiyaan [innocent girls] crying in kitchens, psychotic mothers-in-law and obsessive lovers that infest the rest of the primetime slot.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Betiyaan | ARY, Thursdays 9.00pm

This is another drama that refuses to see women as individuals and reinforces the idea that daughters are a ‘burden’ on their parents. Mohammad Ahmed plays the typical weeping father figure whose ‘honour’ is shattered when one daughter runs away, leaving the next in line (Fatima Effendi) to fill in the ‘dulhan gap’.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 25th, 2022