Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha, Aik Thi Laila, Pinjra, Meri Shehzadi and what ever else you will, bring on the week in dramas!
Hiya folks! This is an ode to new dramas and may they keep coming. You see, when a new drama hits the screens, we have hope! And as they say, Umeed pe dunya qayem hai, drama lovers get a new lease on life after lamenting their millions of minutes of life lost watching stories that behave both erratically and regressively – do we wish we could leave the watch halfway? Yes, we do, but then, we have to know what happens in the end, and there begins the wrestle with the fast forward button, the watch at 1.5 or even 2 speed on YouTube and the ultimate grief of an ending that begs to be rewritten, but not in our lives, we say!
Okay, okay, enough of that. I said I would speak of the new shows and so I will! Beginning with our dare devil creation (just like Tom Cruise’s stunt just now, catch it here) – Aik Thi Laila!
Aik Thi Laila – A New & Improved Version On A New & Improved Story Line
Aik Thi Laila is an experience in refreshing direction, breaking the mould camera angles and a story line that is as innovative as it is (un)regressive. We watch from the lens of multiple characters, the story of a girl, her demeanour, her behaviour and what we are made to believe that she’s like from everyone except the girl herself. Love that Laila is being painted with a different brush (all colorful) by all the men who claim to know her. None of them seem to have a story that matches the other and Laila aka Iqra Aziz defies logic as she continues to entertain at every one else’s expense. But, interesting to note, we know zilch, zero about Laila except what we’ve been told by others! Faiza Iftikhar and Yasir Hussain are telling a story in a super engaging manner and who better but Iqra to bring it to life. Our man of the moment – Faysal Quraishi aka Azeem has woes of his own, just like all the other men, and though his story seems credible, we have to pinch ourselves to remind us that this too, is a ‘version’ spun on us to confound us even further. Add to that, inspector Ruqia not letting the alleged Nikah Nama out of the bag and you have multiple mysteries to tackle!
Aik Thi Laila is definitely one to watch esp. in a sea of KTKs and Tinkay ka Saharas – original story line and execution is the umeed ki kiran in our Drama Dunya, as mentioned above, and this one is hitting it out of the park! And that brings us to the second new show on the block and the person who’s hitting it out of the park – yet again!
Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha & the Tragic Hero Feels Of Wahaj Ali
It would be safe to say that if Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha had no Saad aka Wahaj Ali, the Hania Aamir x Zaviyaar Naumaan fledgling romance would not make our hearts shatter into a million pieces. You see, such is the performance of Saad, the sad eyes, the tragic hero feels, the sensitivity behind his expressions, tone and feels for Maheer, that we’re only into episode 2 but already feel the pain as if Maheer has walked though nikah, rukhsati and all! Wahaj is killing Saad, just like he killed Rumi in Jo Bichar Gaye. I bet if he were to play Romeo in a Pakistani spinoff of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, he’ll nail the act! Such is his track record of never getting the girl, that he must be feeling the pressure – just like our master batsmen who get out on a duck when they attempt to hit a six – but Wahaj picks these roles, and he’s getting so good at them that we can’t even complain, His walk to the crease, his jazba to hit that six and his sense of loss when he doesn’t, makes us root for him at every step as he walks back to the pavilion – but just once, Wahaj, just once, as an ode to the new year, 2023 dramas, please get the girl! In his words, endings are not always happy and I think he’s taken that one a bit too seriously!
Okay but onwards from Wahaj, yeah you can see I’m sulking, I have to say Hania is pulling off a performance. Her chemistry with Wahaj is warming up and though Zaviyaar aka Abeer has his heart set on Maheer, I wondered at the stalking-like behaviour, the uninvited phone call, the obsessive love at first sight, the hand holding at the first meeting – could have taken it a bit easy only because – it’s more real then. I want you to get the girl because of some meaningful exchange of dialogues and shared experiences rather than the love stare and badgering phone calls! Am I an old soul who doesn’t want to have fun? No, I just feel that Maheer’s connection with Saad is so much more than the other bloke in the story, and I want to be convinced as to why she’d fall for him, not because it’s part of the story but because he represents a real person she’d fall for! Did I make myself clear enough? I hope so! If not, y’all can root for Abeer, I’m just waiting on the side lines for Saad’s life to be wrecked very soon and not taking it lightly!
Recap, the love story needs to run deeper to get us into real conversations, but so far, so good, keep watching and waiting to see where this one turns!
Onwards to the drama that’s giving us the chills, yet, it is perhaps, the most significant self help show on parenting in the 21st century that you’ll ever watch in a long time!
PINJRA – Hitting it out of the park every time!
Pinjra has a take on teen life, drugs, schools, parenting, single parenting, couple relationships, father-son relationships, father-daughter relationships, mother-son and mother-daughter relationships, single mom families – whew! Pinjra has it all in just under 50 minutes of gripping story telling. For those who tell me, Pinjra is too heavy on the senses, I say. better a drama than real life. Please watch, so that this drama doesn’t creep into your life – coz that will be real heavy on the senses. Performances especially from the child actors are mind blowing.
Javed in his thorough lack of self awareness and bigoted mindset. he harbours prejudices against single mom, divorced families and a self proclaimed, unwavering belief in his own authoritarian style of parenting. Perhaps it can be said rightly that by not being whom we want him to be, Javed teaches us in unimaginable ways. Sometimes, watching someone get it all wrong teaches us how not to err, and Javed’s journey is packed with reminders of how NOT to parent. Obviously, he got something right with Azaan, so we can’t relegate him to the gallows completely, though his actions, and reactions to Abaan and Abeer might just be his final undoing! When men like Javed marry women like Khadija, the children fall prey to a home where communication means stoic obedience, good grades and even better behaviour. There is no margin of error, as young Abeer protested silently – we were never allowed to make a mistake. better to make small mistakes now, that big mistakes later on in life.
Parenting is tough. And Pinjra teaches us that it’s okay to not have all the answers – parent from the heart, it just might work.
Meri Shehzadi – The drama that takes you to the edge and then, pulls you back!
Just when I thought Dania’s learnt her lesson, she does a double take on me and slips again. But then, isn’t that what real life is all about? Very hard for a person suffering the kinda emotional and psychological abuse Dania is exposed to and then, expect her to climb out of it, in a few episodes – at least she tries. I grant her that. I would really love for Meri Shehzadi to get another Shehzada please. Do we have one lurking in the shadows? Coz she sure needs one. Shehroze and Shahana have combined troops along with Almas, to give her an innings defeat, even before she started batting. Mr. Salauddin is zero help. Here he peps up his daughter and there he is, seated in the garden, not batting an eyelid when when Dania is forced to apologize. Salauddin is perhaps, the biggest let down of all because he pretends to be more than he is. At least the rest of the black characters are pure black and we know it. Even Shehroze pretending to cuddle up to Dania is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and we know it =but Salauddin just isn’t cutting it for me.
Meri Shehzadi needs to step on the accelerator now and I’m hoping the story unfolds faster, much as Dania has my sympathies, I want her to see the light and fast! And where are you Cam? I suspect you’ll emerge soon now that Mr. Shehroze is back in foreign territory.
Agar is handing out Farrukh goals as the husband who’s showing us how it’s done!
Usama Khan as Farrukh and Hooriya aka Hina Altaf are just love in dramas that often suck out the life from happy couples. It’s so refreshing to see a love story continue beyond marriage, a young husband who’s juggling his mom and wife with good humour, patience and love, and a husband who makes us believe in the fairy tale happily ever after. As one cynical viewer put it, they’re going to kill him now! Let’s hope not! We wouldn’t want Farrukh relegated to the same destiny as Hammad in Tinkay Ka Sahara. On another note, Annie and Shahwez don’t seem to be acting very smart! Now that the Nikah is done and dusted, isn’t it about time they spill the beans? This covert honeymoon story can land them in baby land, not kidding, and that, my dear friends will be a difficult one to hide! What say you?
Agar is telling a story with grey characters which is half the win for the drama. Just hope Annie’s mom can be made to see Behram’s side of the story too, and Chandni develops into more than just a Cinderella clone!
And that’s all folks! Looking forward to Pyaari Mona starring Sanam Jung and of course, Kuch Ankahi starring our very own Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan. and Yunhi with Bilal Ashraf and Maya Ali. The year is not over of course till Wahaj Ali and Yumna Zaidi dropped another teaser, though the teaser was quite the teaser, if you know what I mean. More on that later!
Till next week then, adios and happy watching.
“We Shared Dil Chahta Vibes On The Sets Of Mujhe Pyaar Hua Tha” – Wahaj Ali
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