THE WEEK THAT WAS

Kashf | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

Kashf’s (Hira Mani) father Imtiaz (Waseem Abbas) does exactly what she had dreamt of. He greedily accepts a down payment of 50,000 rupees from a middle-aged man to marry Kashf off to him, but later breaks the deal because Matiullah (Salim Mairaj), the fake pir, offers Imtiaz partnership in all the earnings he would make if Kashf could sit at Matiullah’s astaana and boost his dwindling income with her spiritual powers. An interplay of short scenes and crisp editing keeps you hooked to Imran Nazeer’s somewhat realistic story, while Danish Nawaz at the helm has been commendably experimenting with different genres, and dishing out some quality entertainment.

Deewangi | Geo TV, Wednesdays 8.00pm

After finding out that wife Narmeen (Zoya Nasir) had conspired with husband Sultan’s (Danish Taimoor) manager to defame him, Sultan pushes and shoves the pregnant Narmeen around, who trips over and falls. Later, in critical condition, she gives birth to a baby girl, and dies. But there are still more filmi turns in just one episode! Narmeen’s father Mujaddid (Mehmood Aslam) eavesdrops on Sultan being reprimanded by his martriarchal grandmother Bi Jan (Ismat Zaidi), and discovers that Sultan had been violent to Narmeen. He quickly gets a gun and shoots at Sultan but, of course, Bi Jan sticks her head in front and voila, Mujaddid kills her instead! With Narmeen out of the way, Sultan, who still loves his ex-wife Nageen (Hiba Bukhari), is now a widower with a daughter. Incidentally, Nageen wants to have a baby but new hubby Haroon (Ali Abbas) disagrees. Wonder how many more episodes to go before Nageen bumps into Sultan!

What To Watch Out For

Pyar Ke Sadqay | Hum TV, Thursdays 8.00pm

A love triangle and an unpredictable twist makes Zanjabeel Asim Shah’s powerful story an intriguing watch. Abdullah’s (Bilal Abbas) first love Shanzay (Yashma Gill) is back on the scene. Abdullah’s step-father Sarwar (Omair Rana) encourages Abdullah to visit her, and when he does, Abdullah discovers a totally transformed and a more grounded and unhappy Shanzay who has ended up in a bad marriage. Shanzay now realises what a nice person she has lost in Abdullah by rejecting his love. While Abdullah’s wife Mahjabeen (Yumna Zaidi) places Abdullah on a pedestal, Abdullah places Shanzay on one of his own, and his heart still beats for her. On the other hand, Mahjabeen irritates him and Sarwar eggs him on towards this because he wants Mahjabeen for himself.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 24th, 2020