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Flavour of the season
Here we go again — another drama serial about the lives of expatriates which seems to be the in thing this season. At the moment it seems that every other play on every second channel is cashing in on expatriates and their problems — a recent case in point being Pehchaan the theme of which revolved round Asians who have set up home in the US.
And now Sard Aag on Hum TV is shot entirely on location in Manchester, England and zooms in on the lives of expatriates in the UK. With concept, screenplay and direction by Yasir Akhtar (of Arid Zone fame) the serial is written by Peerzada Salman and produced by Lubna Akhtar. The story revolves around Ameer (Abid Ali) a divorcee who has a grown-up son Yousuf (Yasir), a free lance photographer and daughter Aasia (Nargis Khan) from his first wife Faryal (Shalaka Ranadive). He remarries and the woman Zainab (Zaib Shah) faces the problems that come with adjusting to life in a foreign country.
To add to her worries is Nargis (Neha Shah), Ameer’s close friend and business partner who is responsible for the breakup of his first marriage and is determined to destroy his second one, too. Along with elements of romance and suspense and apart from portraying the cultural problems which immigrants face, Sard Aag also exposes the effects of drugs on the younger generation and the bias of the British government after the so-called War on Terrorism.
Along with elements of romance and suspense and apart from portraying the cultural problems which immigrants face, ‘Sard Aag’ also exposes the effects of drugs on the younger generation and the bias of the British government after the so-called War on Terrorism
However, watching a play on television these days requires a lot of patience what with a zillion advertisements running which takes away one’s focus from any given production. This is exactly what is happening in the case of Sard Aag aired every Saturday at 8pm.So what is Sard Aag all about? For one, it comes across as a well-shot play capturing the beautiful and picturesque city of Manchester in all its grandeur. With a somewhat predictable storyline, Abid Ali convincingly portrays his character as an alcoholic and a man torn between his family and his new life. In some scenes he looks quite haggard and tired for reasons unknown to this writer.
The other main character is that of Yasir Akhtar who plays a son who grows up hating his father and doesn’t approve of his mother’s ongoing relationship with her ex-husband. Although Yasir manages to portray his role with aplomb, to this writer he has and always will remain a far better musician than actor.
In a bid to give a drama truly international flavour, every other drama running on Pakistani channels has its usual share of foreign actors, and understandably Sard Aag is no exception to the rule. In an interview given to a local newspaper, Yasir Akthar said that it is for the very first time that in any Pakistani serial 80 per cent actors are from England. Finding good actors was a difficult task and he says that it took him a long time to find the right people. Some of the actors who are proving to be the right choice include the leading lady Jessica Bath who plays Yasir’s love interest Fifi and is currently studying at Cambridge University.Fifi appears confident and speaks Urdu quite fluently. According to Yasir she was not only tutored by him but she also has exposure to the Indian culture as she has lived in Delhi as a student. The other two actresses who snared this writer’s attention are Shalaka Ranadive (a senior artiste last seen in Astitva on Zee TV) playing Abid’s estranged wife and Neha Shah, the vamp. Shalaka plays the role of an emotionally torn woman very subtly without getting melodramatic. As for Neha, she plays her role quite well for which one feels viewers will love to hate her.
As for the other actors in Sard Aag, they are doing justice to their respective roles for which Yasir Akhtar deserves due credit. However, a well-directed drama is the key to good audience response and here he seems to be riding two boats as he plays the lead role as well whereas ideally he should be diverting his energies solely to direction.
Another integral part of the serial is its music. Not only the title song Sun re pawan jalta hai munn (the song will also feature in Yasir’s upcoming album) sums up the story of Sard Aag quite well but the ghazal Jhuki jhuki si nazar sung by Jagjit Singh running in the background enhances the emotional value of the scene.
So far the serial unfolds emotionally entangled relationships. The story does raise some serious issues like getting daughters married off to older men and sending them abroad where they do not find the necessary support system. Or the emotional trauma one goes through when one is forced to keep up with a broken relationship because of the children. Here, one must also admit that with the kind of plays that are on air these days — high on glam and gloss — Sard Aag with its share of beautiful bungalows and big cars does have a capturing story to tell.Only two episodes of Sard Aag have gone on air till the printing of this review and to be fair to the serial, at the moment it is in the process of establishing its story and characters. Hopefully, as the serial progresses, it will catch the attention of the viewers who literally speaking have precious few options available when it comes to entertaining fare.
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