THE WEEK THAT WAS

Raaz-i-Ulfat | Geo TV, Tuesdays 8.00 pm

The story of Mushk (Yumna Zaidi), a girl from a conservative family going against her family’s wishes to marry Irtiza (Shahzad Sheikh), a rich man of her choice, and later getting disillusioned with him and having to deal with her treacherous friends such as Sehba (Komal Aziz), may not be an extraordinary one. Nor did it have exceptional treatment but, as it progressed, the story grew on the viewers. The writer Maha Malik must be commended for approaching some bold and taboo social aspects in the serial. In one of the most highly-anticipated finales of this year, Mushk leaves husband Ismail’s (Gohar Rasheed) house for her first love Irtiza, but an unprecedented turn in the story brings her back to Ismail’s house. And after bringing an appropriate closure to her relationship with Irtiza, she chooses the more sincere and emotionally stable Ismail for herself. Mushk’s decision was lauded by viewers across social media.

What To Watch Out For

Ghissi Piti Mohabbat | ARY, Thursdays 8.00 pm

Samia (Ramsha Khan) the main lead of GPM, is bold, practical, sarcastic, funny, smart and beautiful — a character through which writer Fasih Bari Khan speaks to society about how strong a woman can be. This character needs to be mirrored a few times in our plays. Her third marriage to her quirky, middle-class colleague Basharat (Ali Abbas) is not a bed of roses, and all because of Basharat’s bhabhi Amtul (Javeria Abbasi). Amtul first tries her best to dissuade Basharat from marrying Samia, then tries to hang herself on his wedding night and now manipulates situations to compete against Samia who, much to her surprise, is quite a force to contend with. Amtul’s stupidity in ignoring her mobile-snatcher son Salman’s (Zuhab Khan) criminal activities results in him getting killed in a police encounter. This was predicted by Basharat earlier in the story but came as an unprecedented turn in the episode. Whether Amtul will become even more insecure and make things more difficult for Samia, and more intriguingly, how will Samia deal with this development in her newly-married life, will be fun to see, as scenes between Amtul and Samia are electric. Ramsha Khan and Javeria Abbasi shine in their respective roles. After doing several run-of-the-mill-roles, it’s a treat to see Ali Abbas as Basharat, a role that is also breaking stereotypes.

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 3rd, 2021