THE WEEK THAT WAS

Jaan Se Pyara Juni | Hum TV, Wednesdays 8.00pm

Junaid (Zahid Ahmed) is a man ‘left on the shelf’ — a younger brother whose parents have died, he is forced to rely on his greedy older sister to find him a match. Used to her brother’s full attention and access to his money, Safina (Faiza Hassan) has no intention of allowing his resources to be diverted to any stranger who might become his wife.

Junaid waits patiently, because he has his heart set on a local ‘it’ girl, Husan Ara (Hira Salman). Glamorous, confident and career-oriented, Husan Ara finds Junaid and most men around her under-achievers, while she is looking for an upgrade to her lifestyle. From the teasers, we see that Husan Ara’s rejection will prick Junaid into a hurried marriage to another desperate person, Meena (Mammiya Shajafar), who has also been rejected by her high-flying fiancé.

This sweet little story tells us, in writer Aliya Bukhari’s words, that “your first love does not have to be your last love.” Zahid Ahmed has an intense screen presence and suppressing it for nice guy roles can backfire, but the first episode works really well, promising an entertaining show to watch out for.

Beyhad | Geo TV, Wed-Thurs 8.00pm

This is a commercial project with very little nuance or effort put into any of the characters, except the negative Jugnu (Saboor Aly) and male lead Hamza (Affan Waheed). The youngest in her family, Jugnu has always been a favourite with her Hamza “bhai”, and while her crush has grown into love or even obsession, Hamza has always considered her his baby sister.

Hamza is a hardworking, sensible man who has fallen in love with Soniya (Madiha Imam), who is a standard good girl with no particular aim except Hamza. She has no hopes or goals and is unaffected by wealth or education. Her terrible, materialistic mother, played by Rubina Ashraf, is another walking cliche of elite snobbery — instead of her raising a practical objection, the author has her pushing her daughter towards a wealthy psychopath (Osama Tahir).

The story seems inspired from the wonderful classic Doraha, but without the emotional subtlety of the original. A restrained and generally good actor, Affan Waheed is relatable and anchors the story to reality. Like a lot of negative characters, Saboor Aly’s Jugnu provides the energy but Aly is also smart enough to initially soften the tez larrki (cunning) vibes, allowing us to see her character’s vulnerable side too.

Let’s Try Mohabbat | Green TV, Saturdays 8.00pm

Wind machines and a staged “romantic” set-up on the beach seem like a signal from the new management at Green Entertainment that they are pivoting to easy, mass appeal projects.

Zohan (Danyal Zafar) is afraid to tell his parents that he is in love with Fizza (Mawra Hocane) because his dictatorial father (Shehzad Nawaz) is dead set against love marriages. Fizza is made of stronger stuff and hatches a plan to “arrange” their marriage with the aid of his long-suffering mother Samiya (Tazeen Hussain).

This important conversation, about a relationship going nowhere for five long years, would have been a confrontation in the normal world; instead, we are given unthinking, easygoing romance. On the plus side, focusing on the way family trauma and dysfunction can effectively stunt the growth of a younger sibling is interesting and relatable. Shallow execution aside, the screen presence of Danyal Zafar, Gohar Rasheed and Tazeen Hussain holds our attention well beyond the commercial cliches.

What To Watch Out For (or not)

Zard Patton Ka Ban | Hum TV, Coming soon

Sajal Aly and Hamza Sohail team up for a message-oriented script written by Mustafa Afridi and co-sponsored by the Kashf Foundation.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 5th, 2024