THE WEEK THAT WAS

Aatish | Hum TV, Mondays 8.00pm

A poor girl-rich boy love story that somewhat defines our social attitudes towards domestic help. The bubbly Asma (Hina Altaf) is the daughter of some long-gone old servant who abandoned her as a child. Asma now lives with Ammi Jan’s (Bigul Hussain) family and takes care of everyone and the house but is often treated like Cinderella by the guests. Ammi Jan’s daughter Noreen (Saba Parvaiz) arrives from the US to be with her two sons.

One of the sons Sheheryar (Azfar Rehman) teases Asma about being a maid and pairs her off with the driver’s son Saadatmand. What begins as a joke materialises with Ammi Jan’s family arranging the nikah of Asma and Saadatmand. Asma is unhappy about the arrangement and Saadatmand opts out on the pretext of Asma’s dubious origins. Sheheryar is drawn to her misery and declares his love for her and promises to marry her against all odds.

Baba Jani | Geo TV, Saturdays 8.00pm

Written by Faiza Iftikhar and directed by Ali Faizan, this family drama is the debut serial of Faysal Qureshi’s production company. For a change, this time it is not a woman but a man, Asfand (Faysal Qureshi), who panders to his family’s needs and expectations, sacrificing his own wishes. He has looked after them since his parents passed away when he was quite young.

Asfand’s two manipulative, greedy, grudgy sisters are Najiba (Saba Hameed) and Naila (Jinaan Hussain), who pressurise him emotionally and financially. At his third and youngest sister Nabila’s (Adla Khan) wedding, the middle sister Naila refuses to attend the ceremony at the very last minute by creating a fuss that she didn’t get as much gold on her wedding (as Nabila is given) and is therefore being taunted by her in-laws. Asfand promises to fulfil her wishes the very next day only if she attends the wedding. Asfand is engaged to his maternal cousin Mehwish (Faryal Mahmood) but Asfand’s sisters fear that if Asfand gets married to her, they might have to contend against someone who has a mind so they manipulate the situation, causing a rift between Asfand and Mehwish. The submissive girl they will probably pick for their brother is Nabila’s friend Nimra (Madiha Imam) whose mother Sadia (Savera Nadeem) is an ailing widow.

What To Watch Out For

Balaa | ARY, Mondays 8.00-10.00pm

The story revolves around a handicapped girl Nigar (Ushna Shah), a character that does not evoke sympathy as she is two-faced, viciously manipulative and evil. Her father Zafar (Sajid Hassan) thinks she is lucky for him and spoils her to the point that he subjects his son Junaid (Asad Siddiqui) to humiliation just to make Nigar feel good. Junaid’s wife Zeba (Ammara Chaudhry) who had eloped to marry him and is victimised to no end by Nigar, completes the sad family picture.

Nigar likes her handsome cousin Taimoor (Bilal Abbas) but he likes and gets engaged to his cousin Noor-us-Saba (Azekah Daniel) while Nigar’s proposal is rejected. Zafar, being the family elder, feels scorned and threatens to sever ties with Taimoor’s family. Taimoor’s mother Shama (Samina Peerzada) tries to pacify Zafar, but he refuses to attend the wedding. Much to everyone’s surprise and going against her father’s wishes, Nigar declares that she will attend the ceremony. Of course she wouldn’t want to lose an opportunity to manipulate the situation in her favour. The bride runs away on the wedding day with someone she fancies, leaving Taimoor behind to be patched up with, who else but, Nigar.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 23rd, 2018