THE WEEK THAT WAS

Mohabbatein Chahatein | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

Now that Tara (Armeena Khan) has manipulated Sneha (Hira Mani) into a bet, that all men are waiting for an opportunity to cheat on their wives, Tara is all set to go about her dangerously wicked plan of stealing Sneha’s husband Faraz (Junaid Khan) from right under Sneha’s nose. From creating situations to get physical with him to cooking him breakfast, from creating dramatics to get his attention to scaring their poor little son Shehroz as the wolf lady, the wicked Tara is in full swing. Apart from a couple of loosely-built situations, the story is gaining momentum, and Hira Mani and Armeena Khan are at par and owning their roles — where Sneha and Tara mark their territory called Faraz — who is Sneha’s husband but Tara’s new mission in life.

Bandhay Ek Dor Se | Geo TV, Thursdays 8.00pm

Convinced that she has nothing to lose or gain in a marriage where her husband Umar (Ahsan Khan) has been in love with another woman Roshni (Hina Altaf) right from the beginning, Maheen (Ushna Shah) requests her parents-in-law to help Umar get married to the woman he loves. But they are not the only ones perplexed at her courage to be able to do that. Umar is confused too, as to why Maheen is supporting him, especially after the wicked Roshni suggests that Maheen may have an ulterior motive — that she may be in love with someone else. And that, somehow, is quite unpalatable for Umar. An interesting twist, and who knows if this evil step might backfire on Roshni.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Mushk | Hum TV, Saturdays 8.00pm

While Roshni’s (Sehar Khan) mother Zulekha (Zara Tareen) rejoices as Adam (Imran Ashraf) the superhero, rescues Roshni from Ruby Aunty’s brothel, Guddi (Urwa Hocane), who helped her run away, is enraged. Adam and Roshni escape with the help of one of Ruby Aunty’s girls, who escapes too, but only after she gets her hands on a stash of easily accessible cash and jewellery. Why would someone as sharp as Ruby Aunty leave her valuables up for grabs? Following that in slo-mo was a dishum-dishum scene with Ruby Aunty’s sleepy guards, and Adam firing his pistol in the air. You can get over that piece-of-cake situation for Adam but you simply can’t get over the ultra-dramatic and unrealistic lines that Momal Sheikh reels off in 1950s’ cinema-style as Mehek, in complete contrast to her London-returned character.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 6th, 2020