THE WEEK THAT WAS

Tu Ishq Hai | Hum TV, Wed-Thurs 9.10 pm

When a marriage proposal from Affan (Ali Kazmi) comes for the bold and beautiful Nazia (Sonia Mishal), she falls for his younger brother Fawad (Faizan Khwaja) who is terribly in love with Amal (Kinza Hashmi) who loves him back. First she resolves to break Fawad and Amal apart but before that she decides to put her life in order. This she does by boldly refusing to marry Affan even while her nikah is being solemnised with Affan, who is shocked at the revelation.

Next she starts to actively chase Fawad but behind the front she also makes prank calls to him to get him talking to her when she pretends to be a stranger ardently in love with him. Nazia manipulates the situation so that she can flirt with him whenever possible. One could buy the bold role with Sonia Mishal’s convincing histrionics only if she wouldn’t keep saying the totally unnecessary and tacky sounding line ‘qasam hai meri masoomiyat ki’ (I swear on my innocence)!

What To Watch Out For

Balaa | ARY, Mondays 8.00-10.00 pm

After her brother Junaid (Asad Siddiqui) kills his second wife Batul (Mehrunnisa), the physically-challenged, manipulative and evil Nigar (Ushna Shah) has quite a situation to tackle. To save her brother, first she makes the cold-blooded murder look like an accident by inventing a story around Junaid discovering Batul meeting her ex, at which Junaid became angry and fired at him but Batul intervened trying to save her lover and accidently got shot dead.

Secondly, to create an alibi, Nigar had to find the ex Dr Afzal and make him disappear so she meets his mum and invents another story that Batul committed suicide by shooting herself and now Junaid wants to kill her son and that the mother should arrange for him to leave the country on top priority. So far it has worked out for her but what she seems to be losing her grip on is her husband Taimur (Bilal Abbas) who, while coming to terms with his sister Batul’s murder, discovers his wife’s antics in the kitchen such as rationing food and supplies to his mum and sister. However much Nigar covers up Junaid’s misdemeanors and crime, Junaid is fast becoming neurotic and feels guilty at the murders he committed. Once that is out, Nigar’s marriage will be in a shambles.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 16th, 2018