THE WEEK THAT WAS

Working Women | Green TV, Wednesdays 8.00pm

While most commercial shows offer us a carefully sanitised version of life, scripts from writer Bee Gul show us a world with all the rough edges and inconsistencies intact.

Lucy aka Nusrat (Maria Wasti) is a wealthy real estate agent for urban elites. The first episode shows her pondering her fate as a lonely, single woman heading towards middle age, while her friends are comfortably married with children. By episode three, she has a disparate collection of women to keep her company as paying guests. The credit for making this set-up believable goes to director Yasra Rizvi and the actresses playing each paying guest character: Srha Asghar plays Amber, a bitter, poor little rich girl who has lost her home because of a boyfriend; Faiza Gilani plays Hashmat, a woman escaping sexual harassment; Ilsa Hareem is a runaway teenage bride; and there are more.

Anoushay Abbasi is the standout as the fast-talking Sadia, a girl from a beauty parlour who wants to be a model. Like a lot of Green TV serials, this story veers away from the sainted heroines prime time likes giving us. They are flawed protagonists we may not admire but can understand and perhaps like.

Fairytale 2 | Hum TV, Sundays 8.00pm

The adventures of straight-laced, serious businessman Farjaad Khan Bahadur (Hamza Sohail) and ditzy, unserious Umeed (Sehar Khan) continue into married life.

Since this is a rom-com, everything that can go wrong at the wedding does go wrong. Farjaad’s mother Niggoji (Saman Ansari) is busy watching terrible Indian soap operas in an attempt to cope with her new daughter-in-law’s clumsy ways and haphazard enthusiasm that continually unsettles her anxious nature. Farjaad’s constant complaints about Umeed in Season 1, and the natural insecurities a widow might feel in the transition to mother-in-law make her forget she was the one who first set on Umeed as her son’s bride. Niggo’s attempts at manipulation fall apart because Umeed is simply not interested in controlling, dominating or playing any kind of game.

Author Sarah Majeed takes a delightful swipe at the many trivial rules and unnecessary traditions that too often cause issues in family relationships, such as turning the kheer pakaiyay tradition into a happy game, where Farjaad learns how to make tea for his bride. Director Ali Hassan has really understood the assignment and keeps the action moving along at a good pace, creating a good balance between comedy and emotional scenes.

Mayi Ri | ARY, Daily 7.00pm

Surprising fans hoping the forced marriage of teenagers Ainy (Aina Asif) and Fakhir (Samar Jafri) would have a fairytale happy ending, the show closed, instead, on an amicable divorce. The purpose of this show was to illustrate the struggles of children pushed into adult relationships in the modern era.

As a girl, Ainy suffers the most, falling behind in her education as she is forced to take on the responsibilities of pregnancy, child-rearing and the household, to uphold tradition. Fakhir is also forced to put aside his carefree life of a game-playing, spoiled son to take on the role of a breadwinner, and negotiate with adults and professionals beyond his experience. The young couple does not fall in love, but form a friendly alliance, tackling the difficulties thrown their way by the greed and foolishness of their families.

With a strong supporting cast, including Maria Wasti and Naumaan Ijaz to back them, the young leads have given some strong performances, showing they have great potential as upcoming actors.

What To Watch Out For (or not)

Ishq Murshid | Hum TV, Wednesdays 8.00pm

A strong, captivating first episode of Ishq Murshid from director Farooq Rind promises an intriguing, storybook-style dark romance, starring Bilal Abbas and Durre Fishan Saleem..

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 15th, 2023