THE WEEK THAT WAS

Kashf | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

At last, Kashf — the obedient daughter-turned-peerni-turned-dutiful wife (Hira Mani) — gets gutsy and stands up for herself. When her greedy father Imtiaz (Waseem Abbas) pressurises her to take care of the astaana, which is an ultra-lucrative venture for him and the rest of Kashf’s family, Kashf declares that she would not be a part of Imtiaz’s circus anymore, and walks away with her husband Wajdaan (Junaid Khan). So what’s going to happen to Kashf’s family, whose lifestyle had been transformed with oodles of money coming in from the astaana? Writer Imran Nazeer’s attempt at showing how daughters are exploited by their families, and treated as cash cows, is commendable. Since Kashf got married, she is not dreaming anymore, so the dreams and their interpretations are no longer the focal point of the story. Then what is?

Ghisi Pitti Mohabbat | ARY, Thursdays 8.00pm

All the wedding jewellery vanishing from the newly-married Samia’s (Ramsha Khan) closet could have been a disastrous situation in a run-of-the-mill domestic saga, but writer Faseeh Bari makes it a clever turn in the story. Samia thinks her mother-in-law Aziza Sultana (Saba Pervaiz) has nicked the jewellery and vice versa, whereas it’s Samia’s husband Riz (Wahaj Khan) who has stolen it, and sold it to help the older woman Noor (Arjumand Rahim) whom he is smitten with. Since Aziza Sultana wanted to use Samia’s jewellery to wed off her daughter Farhat Parveen (Sana Askari), together they fume and fret about the missing jewellery. Meanwhile, Farhat Parveen’s father-in-law Khalil’s (Shahood Alvi) roving eye has settled on Samia. He explains to Aziza Sultana that, as Farhat Parveen’s in-laws, they don’t want any jewellery, and this topic need not be discussed ever again. To him, much more precious is just a glimpse of Samia.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Sabaat | Hum TV, Sundays 8.00pm

Wrapped in her own egotistical behavior and, under the mistaken impression that she has everything under control, the mad Miraal (an OTT western-styled Sarah Khan in ill-fitting, waist-high trouser suits) is now pitching two men against each other, and steadily destroying her marriage. Ali (Jahanzeb Khan), her ex-fiance is back on the scene and plans on marrying Miraal after she gets a divorce from current husband Haaris (Usman Mukhtar), the loser psychiatrist who couldn’t figure out just how insane his wife is. Meanwhile, Haaris can’t believe that Miraal is seeing Ali after dumping him and moving to her parents’ house. The other track in the story is oh-so-miserable where Miraal’s pregnant sister-in-law Anaya (Mawra Hocane) is separated from her husband Hasan (Ameer Gilani) over a misunderstanding created by Miraal. On top of this, her father passes away and now the mother and daughter confront a major financial crisis. Despite a shining cast, the serial remains lacklustre.

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 11th, 2020