THE WEEK THAT WAS

Taana Baana | Hum TV, Everyday 7.30pm

The horoscope-crazy Zain (Seriously! Which millennial man is into horoscopes?) falls for the studious and career-minded Zoya, even though he believes that their stars don’t match. Zoya goes with her parents’ wishes and marries Zain. Zain’s mother Fauzia (Javeria Abbasi) wants a daughter-in-law who is thoroughly domesticated, and has a chip on her shoulder. Post-wedding follow shenanigans around how the young married couple adjust not only with each other but with each other’s families. Written by Hasaan Imam and directed by Saife Hasan, this daily Ramazan fare is not as exciting as the hype that the leads Daniyal Zafar (Ali Zafar’s brother making his debut as Zain) and Alizeh Shah, as Zoya, created. Daniyal Zafar makes his mark but Alizeh Shah, as an entitled millennial, is lacklustre — either because she is unable to own the role or the character isn’t written well.

Fitoor | Geo TV, Thursdays 9.00pm

The financially well-off and middle-aged Haider (Faysal Quraishi) is completely exposed now as an MCP — male chauvinist for the uninitiated. Despite repeatedly telling his young and stunning wife Dilnasheen (Hiba Bukhari) how he cannot bear the thought of another man in her past or present, he spends hours of quality time with ex-flame and cousin Mehmal (Kiran Haq), who desperately wants Haider to marry her. Mehmal thinks she got lucky when Haider’s mother (Ismat Zaidi) brings Mehmal back to the house where Haider lives with Dilnasheen. While Haider’s mum tells Dilnasheen to make sure no one can steal Haider from her, she probably prefers to keep an eye on the developments between Haider and Mehmal. Enough of Haider and Mehmal, we need Hamza (Wahaj Ali) to come back from Dilnasheen’s past and shake things up in her pathetic married life.

What To Watch Out For

Dunk | ARY, Wednesdays 9.00pm

From the deadpan expression that she maintains most of the time to show her in-laws how cool and tolerant she is despite the difficult circumstances in her life, Sana Javed glides into the evil person that Amal is, and renders her lines and expressions flawlessly. Haider (Bilal Abbas) tackles his guilt issue with dead professor Humayun’s family by apologising to his little daughter Ghana (Eman Ahmed), but he doesn’t know yet that Amal has told his brother and her husband Safeer (Fahad Sheikh) that Haider is the one behind the reopening of the harrassment case at the university, and that his purpose is to defame and hurt Amal. Creating sympathy for herself, Amal has succeeded in creating a rift between the two loving brothers. Mohsin Ali’s story takes an interesting turn as Amal’s solid manipulative step will destroy the peace for her previously close-knit in-laws.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 9th, 2021