Once upon a time there was a guy who cheated to his heart's content. Then one day fate struck him hard, and guess what — he was cheated upon. Thori Si Wafa Chahiye (TSWC) is worth watching in this context. A wealthy man and his pretty wife are more often than not the envy of many, but what happens in the lives of the seemingly perfect couple often makes for good observation. Written by Syed Wasi Shah, produced by Hasan Ziafresh and directed by Yasir Nawaz, TSWC is a play about trophy wives and mistresses, evil guys and good men, and finally instant karma delivered TV-style.The story revolves round the happily married Rania (Iffat Rahim) and Sheraz (Sajid Hasan), or so it seems. While Sheraz's wife is pretty and articulate and in short a woman that any man would want, his adulterous heart makes him go after Mehreen (Mahwish Hayat), a low-brow hottie who will do anything to get to the top (in this case getting pregnant). Soon Rania finds out about Sheraz's affair and confronts him, and as a result ends up being subjected to physical abuse.
After frequent rows, Rania leaves her husband's house and moves in with her parents, unwittingly paving way for Sheraz to settle down with Mehreen. Rania also moves on with her life and ties the knot with the caring and sensitive Jasim (Adnan Siddiqi). But their children, Arsal and Mahim, end up confused and face continuous emotional trauma.
Time goes by and eventually Sheraz is charged with corruption. While he is in the lockup, Mehreen gets in touch with her paramour, Raheel (Shamoon Abassi), and gains hold of Sheraz's financial assets. Once out of jail, he realises his mistake and his world starts to collapse around him.
TSWC strikes a chord with women who have been through the trauma of being cheated upon, and also conveys the message that what goes around comes around. Acting-wise Hasan and Rahim fit their characters Sheraz and Rania perfectly. As Ramiz in Sitara aur Mehrunisa, Sajid became an unlikely heartthrob. Here, he epitomises meanness. The way he breaks down, from being a man full himself to someone who has no self-confidence, Hasan is excellent. Iffat Rahim, on the other hand, acts well and given that this is a comeback of sorts for her as far as acting goes, she has come a long way from the wooden-faced moaning nymph in Nangay Paon. While she beautifully captures the feelings of woman in crisis, the most irritating part is her perfect appearance as her mascara never smudges nor does her blow dry fall flat while she cries her heart out.
However, the real showstopper in TSWC is Hayat. Acting out the typical role of the other woman, she was voted as the '9th sexiest Asian woman in the world' by Eastern Eye's 2008 list, makes the most of her role. She leaves no stone unturned when it comes to raising the oomph factor and adding masala to the play. Be it her revealing gowns or her lovers, Hayat is perfect as the 'other' woman and acts well as the manipulative social climber.
Though the plays aims to depict how a relation can be strengthened or weakened due to trust and love or the lack of it thereof, it has its misogynist moments well. Quite a few scenes show the suffering wife slapped around and abused so often. Though Rania is educated and has a strong character, she takes the beating hands down. While some might say that this shows reality, this is not the case. Watching such scenes on TV makes women feel that it's ok to be beaten and hence at times get subdued when their spouses hit them. Also, why must the failure of a relationship be blamed on the other woman? A man who cheats is equally responsible for the pain. If you can get pass these nifty faults, apart from the dragging scenes that could have been edited better, then TSWC makes for a good time-pass on a week night.
