THE WEEK THAT WAS

Ruswai | ARY, Tuesdays 8.00pm

Despite meandering away for a while from its rape-survivor story to watta-satta marriages, the serial concluded with a couple of surprises. The story came full circle with rape survivor Samira (Sana Javed) going through all the stages of trauma, resolving to open her case in court and, with the support of her transformed ex-husband Salman (Mikaal Zulfiqar) and hubby-to-be Dr Feroze (Adnan Jaffer), Samira made sure the influential perpetrators of the gang rape were punished by law. The first surprise was Salman’s unnecessary death as he succumbs to a gunshot wound as per the trend these days in drama finales. The second and more impactful surprise was a cameo appearance by Mukhtaran Mai who arrives at the hospital to meet Sameera and wish her on her birthday. Tackling a pertinent social issue and with good performances throughout, the serial was certainly a feather in director Rubina Ashraf’s cap.

Kahin Deep Jalay | Geo TV, Thursdays 8.00pm

Instead of focusing on how the issue of impotence can lead to trust issues and badly impact marriages, which is why the lead couple Rida (Neelam Munir) and Zeeshan (Imran Ashraf) have split, the story continues to revolve round the cunning Shamila (Nazish Jehangir) who gets more lines and frames than the leads. And why is everyone so blind and gullible to Shamila’s evilness? Shamila has married her dead husband’s younger brother and also got their house as her haq-meher, only to later tell her new husband Hatim (Hammad Farooqi) that her brother pressurised her into it. This is one of the worst roles for Neelam Munir, where all the draped-in-white Rida does is mope around and stare into space. And perhaps also one of the worst performances by Imran Ashraf (because he so overacts), unfortunately right after his fabulous rendition of Bhola in Ranjha Ranjha Kardi.

What To Watch Out For

Jhooti | ARY, Saturdays 8.00pm

Real-life husband (Yasir Hussain as Ali) and wife (Iqra Aziz as Nimra) play the main leads in Ali Moeen’s story of greed and deceit. Material girl Nimra is greedy for money and status, and wants all her dreams to come true through her new husband, who she thinks is filthy rich, but in reality Ali is a con-artist. The fun begins when the treacherous Ali, posing as a real estate tycoon, receives a call from his boss to get his house ready for his return. Having nowhere to live, Ali ends up moving into Nimra’s parents’ house with a disgruntled Nimra. But that’s not enough, the low-life that he is, Ali also flirts with both her bhabhis Saman (Mariam Nafees) and Zubia (Madiha Rizvi) right under Nimra’s nose. Nimra is beginning to feel that something is majorly wrong, but is not ready to admit it just yet. The story is moving fast and each episode is paisa-vasool!

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 26th, 2020