THE WEEK THAT WAS

Qarar | Hum TV, Sundays 8.00pm

The nooze tightening around horrible Maya’s (Sanam Jung) neck is her own doing. Busy with her extra-marital affair with ex-husband Salman (Ali Safina) and being nasty to people, Maya doesn’t quite realise that husband Junaid (Mikaal Zulfiqar) had already smelt a rat and was closely watching her. Allured by Salman’s promise of a wealthy lifestyle, she asks Junaid to divorce her while the selfish Salman, who is not prepared to be a father to Junaid’s child, pressurises Maya to abort the baby. With a speck of sense in her head, Maya refuses to abort her baby and walks out of the clinic in a huff, but the villainous Salman actually trips her and Maya falls flat on her snooty face. If that doesn’t make you LOL, Ali Safina’s evil smile certainly will.

Ishq Jalebi | Geo TV, Everyday 9.00pm

A light-hearted drama, written by Saima Akram Chaudhry, revolves around family shenanigans, love bonding and mithai. The central character Muhammad Boota (Qavi Khan) frets that his sons, Rafaqat (Mehmood Aslam) and Sadaqat (Kashif Mehmood), settled abroad, are unable to run the family’s sweetmeat business. Boota’s only son-in-law, Ashiq Hussain (Noor ul Hassan) and Boota’s grandson Basim (Wahaj Ali), look after Boota’s business. Basim’s angelic cousin Bela (Madiha Imam) is an orphan and lives in their house. She likes Basim but he would rather go abroad like his uncles. As Rafaqat and Sadaqat arrive with their families, politics, intrigue, funny situations and realisations materialise. Qavi, as a Punjabi old man, is a delight to watch. It also makes us realise just how much we need Ramazan-type entertainment throughout the year.

What To Watch Out For

Chupke Chupke | Hum TV, Everyday 9.00pm

Suno Chanda writer Saima Akram Chaudhry is on a roll. This time she teams up with director Danish Nawaz to bring to us an effervescent Ramazan rom-com, very much on the popular format of her previous success. With a plethora of characters, a slightly complicated angle of a dead grandfather who married twice and similar sounding names such as Fadi (Osman Khalid Butt) and Hadi (Arslan Naseer making his debut), CC might have been a bit confusing to begin with. Grandmother one, Bebe (Asma Abbas), is Punjabi while grandmother two Bakhto (Uzma Beg) is Saraiki. Farhan Ali Agha is Bebe’s son who has two daughters, Meenu (Ayeza Khan) and Mirchi (Areesha Sultan). Fadi and Gul (Mira Sethi) are Bakhto’s grandchildren. Bakhto and Bebe, who are also neighbours, are forever bickering. The leads Meenu and Fadi are also neighbours and cousins, and they have well-depicted, completely opposite personalities. Also making her debut is Aymen Saleem, the late singer Nazia Hassan’s neice, as Mishi. The cast is a treat, lines punchy and contemporary, the comic timing of most actors is at par, and the overall ambience is pacey, fun, entertaining and perfect for Ramazan.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 2nd, 2021