THE WEEK THAT WAS

Hania | ARY, Thursdays 8.00pm

Rohaan’s (Osama Tahir) mum Saira (Atiqa Odho) had been suspicious all along of Rohaan spending so much time with Hania (Zoya Nasir). Herworst fears come true when he declares his love for Hania to his shattered fiance Sumbul (Aliza Gabol), to a surprised Hania, and to both his and Hania’s shocked parents. Later, he breaks off his engagement to Sumbul, and she too returns the engagement ring to Rohaan. Pressured by Rohaan, his father Fareed (Firdaus Jamal) agrees to get Hania and Rohaan married. The wedding takes place but, right after, mum-in-law Saira makes it clear to Hania that she will do her utmost to make her life miserable, and that she will never accept her as her daughter-in-law.

Yaarian | Geo TV, Fridays 8.00pm

A star cast in an absurd tale of two sisters: the good one Saadia (Moomal Sheikh) and the selfish one Zuby (Ayeza Khan). Their parents forcefully marry Saadia to Umair (Muneeb Butt), Zuby’s boyfriend, after a full-blown misunderstanding (created by Zuby when, caught by her parents, she pushes boyfriend Umair into Saadia’s arms and conveniently hits a table to land herself into a coma, from which she soon recovers). Umair promises Zuby that he will divorce Saadia and marry her soon but, later, in a drunken state, rapes Saadia so she is now pregnant. Zuby hates Saadia for being married to Umair, while Saadia is protective of her because she feels that Zuby should not trust Umair.

Meanwhile, Umair spends time with Saadia to obey his mum’s wishes, but continues to see Zuby according to his own wishes. Throw in Saadia’s very nice mum-in-law (Hina Bayat), who has cancer about which no one knows, and Saadia’s ex-husband who pines for her but didn’t take two seconds to divorce her after he saw her with Umair in the ‘great misunderstanding’ — and if this circus still makes sense to you, keep watching.

What To Watch Out For

Inkaar | Hum TV, Mondays 8.00pm

The team of writer Zafar Mairaj and director Kashif Nisar presents one of the best plays this season with the resonant story of a middle-class university student Hajra (Yumna Zaidi) who falls into the insidious trap of a fellow university student, her psychotic, feudal admirer Rehan Chaudhry (Imran Ashraf), and pays a heavy price for saying no to his advances. Adamant not to lose her to Shayan (Sami Khan), son of a powerful governmentofficial Rehan brutally stabs her with a pair of scissors at the salon where she is being dolled up as a bride.

Rehan has a car accident on the way back from the salon, but soon recovers. His affluent parents try their best to protect him from the law and send him straight to their village after being treated at the hospital. While Hajra slowly recovers, Shayan chases Rehan to the village and attempts to attack him with a pair of scissors. Rehan escapes the attack and Shayan ends up in a lock-up, only to be reprieved by his father Malik (Noor-ul-Hasan). Malik also warns Hajra’s family to break all ties with his son.

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 9th, 2019