THE WEEK THAT WAS

Pehchaan | Hum TV, Thurs-Fri 8.00pm

Author Rubina Kabir Khan takes a step outside the circle of comfortable stereotypes of patient, long suffering females by setting up a challenge: what if we found out we were living a lie? Sharmeen (Hiba Bukhari) wants a divorce from her seemingly ideal husband. Her sudden, implacable anger is so great that she refuses any reconciliation and even offers to give her husband their much-loved children in return for her freedom.

The shockwaves that reverberate after her declaration follow typical lines, but the writer and director make it compelling viewing by splicing in the memories that Sharmeen only understands now. Drenched in the yellowing tones of fading photos from the ’80s and ’90s, the flashbacks show us a naïve girl idealising her withdrawn, resentful husband Adnan (Syed Jibran) into a poetic hero from a novel.

Sharmeen’s escape to her abandoned aunt (Nadia Khan) are some of the most truthful scenes of television this year. The unmarried Phuppo, scrambling to survive without friends or money, yearns for a man and the promise of shelter, while Sharmeen ponders the precarious nature of that protection. Excellent performances from Syed Jibran, Nadia Khan and Hiba Bukhari combined with good direction from Asad Jabal make this great viewing.

Chauraha | Geo TV, Mon-Tue 8.00pm

Johnny/ Jamal’s (Mikaal Zulfikar) past has finally caught up with him and he begins to understand the lifetime of pain and damage his kidnapping and extortion racket caused the young women he trapped.

His meeting with a victim at a shrine is harrowing and shakes him to the core. Johnny’s self-doubt and need to repent would be reasonable, even believable, if they were not based on what looks like his attraction and guilt towards just one girl, Zoya (Madiha Imam). If he really wanted forgiveness, he should have started with the girl he met at the shrine whom he strung along. Instead, writer Eddison Masih disappoints with the insertion of what looks like a “star-crossed” love affair between victim and perpetrator. “You took her good name, so give her yours,” advises a random fakir at the shrine. How many women can Jamal marry to fix this?

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Bakhtawar | Hum TV, Coming soon

The first look for Hum TV’s new serial features (surprise!) an innocent young girl looking for an escape from her troubled home. The show stars Yumna Zaidi and provides yet another role for Zaviyar Naumaan Ijaz.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 17th, 2022