THE WEEK THAT WAS

Dushman | PTV, Mondays 8.00pm

Bold, brash and unapologetically filmi, Dushman is a tale that might appeal to an audience missing that old style Lollywood touch. The first episode begins with a 10-minute conversation between Ayub Khoso (Munshi) and a snake he has secretly been training; retelling a terrible history of murder and vengeance.

Sassi (Sabeeka Imam) and Waris (Hassan Niazi) want to end the legacy of blood and honour that has killed off most of the males in their families. With such entrenched enmity and a history of the same tactic making things worse, a secret marriage might not have been the best tool to end this war, but the brisk pace of action leaves little time for such awkward questions or logic.

Two generations on, Durri (the late Naila Jaffry) and Malhar (Mohsin Gilani) are still paying the price for trying to defy this feud. Nadia Afghan and Saman Ansari play the battling matriarchs who refuse to let the past go in memory of their lost husbands. Now that Sassi is pregnant, will Waris find a way to escape this bitter feud or will their child become another pawn in this game?

Kaisi Teri Khudgharzi | ARY, Wednesdays 8.00pm

A chance meeting at a traffic stop between wealthy Shamsher (Danish Taimoor) and the middle class Mehak (Durrefishan Saleem) leads to what is now the seasonal appearance by Taimoor in a story about obsessive love. Shamsher uses his apparently endless power and influence as the spoiled, younger son of the cruel Nawabzada Dilawer (Naumaan Ijaz) to harass Mehak’s family, and blackmail them into handing over their daughter to him.

Social media has been a buzz about scenes that show emotional and physical violence being romanticised by sentimental background music, and a main character who threatens rape and kidnapping being presented in a heroic light. This trope is yet another play on disturbing stories such as Muqaddar, Deewangi and Ishq Hai, which blur important lines between abuse and love. Soft pedalling such behaviour for most of the episodes, one episode of “poetic” but redeeming punishment does not resolve the issue, as the creators seem to think.

Dilawaiz | Geo TV, Daily 9.00pm

Seventh Sky productions have become masters at making this kind of hybrid, Indian-style daily drama. While soap operas are usually static, this melodrama has a plot turn each episode and story progression that keeps the masses tuning in to see Dilawaiz (Kinza Hashmi).

Reluctant husband Sikandar (Affan Waheed) has finally begun to accept the replacement bride, but the return of Faria (Sabeena Farooq), the runaway fiancé, may change everything. Like a lot of low-content shows, the story depends on the unending machinations of the villains. While the main leads are doing their parts well, the other half of the credit for this show’s watchability goes to solid performances from good actors such as Kashif Mehmood, Javeria Abbasi, Ayesha Gul and Seemi Raheel.

Now that Dilawaiz’s manipulative aunt has entered the story, will the naïve Cinderella believe a complete stranger, who is obviously the “Madam” that exploited her mother, or the abusive family she has always known?

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Wehem | Hum TV, Coming Soon

The teasers and title of this show hint at a psychological thriller, based on the mental state of Savera Nadeem’s character. Nadeem’s mind is filled with conjecture and suspicion about her daughter-in-law (Kinza Hashmi) and father (Babar Ali) whom she accuses of being the reason for her husband’s death. An angry, resentful mother-in-law secretly plotting against her hapless daughter-in-law is nothing new but, as this serial has shown, execution can make an old story fresh.

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 5th, 2022