THE WEEK THAT WAS

Mushkil | Geo TV, Mon-Sun 9.00pm

Mushkil is a conundrum, veering between typical kitchen politics to a well-written account of relationships and male privilege. Faraz (Khushhal Khan) and Sameen (Saboor Aly) are forced into a marriage of inconvenience after an innocent meeting between them is manipulated to go viral. In between the unnecessary slaps, verbal spats and pleading looks that keep the masses entertained, writer Adeel Razzaq gives us a detailed picture of two very different people trying to make sense of their disrupted lives. Faraz is a man, so despite having agreed to a nikkah, he can plan any number of escapes and as he wrestles with these new, unwelcome bindings, while staying blind to his new wife’s vulnerability and lack of agency. Sameen has very limited options because of the rigidity of her own family who has thrown her at the mercy of resentful strangers. The good parts of this show are the well-plotted character arcs and the strong portrayals from Khan and Aly, whose surprising chemistry makes this strange scenario believable. Zainab Shabbir is a satisfying villain and drives much of the plot forward with her weak husband played by Humayun Ashraf, but both are comparatively two-dimensional characters. The worst and least logical role is that of Faraz’s mother who jumps the entire gradient from disapproval to near psychopathic abuse, because this is a trending trope and nuance is not.

Mere Humsafar | ARY, Thursdays 8.00pm

Despite accusations of copying elements of the classic serial Humsafar, this show remains incredibly popular, bringing in audiences across borders. Hala’s (Hania Aamir) absentee father Nafees (Alyy Khan) finally understands the damage he has caused by abandoning Hala as a child to the whims and cruelties of his relatives, and tries to make amends.

Hala now has a choice to leave her husband Hamza (Farhan Saeed) and his toxic family or start a new life with her unborn child. Saba Hamid as the obsessive villain, Shah Jehan, remains superficial and unrepentant, if not bolder in her dehumanisation of the girl she has been terrorising since childhood. This, of course, is ratings’ magnet as is her son Hamza’s on/off defense of Hala. Interestingly, we finally get some meagre proof that Sameen (Zoya Nasir) might actually be as intelligent as the script keeps telling us when she uses some critical thinking to understand how her aunt has manipulated everyone, and that Hala is the real victim here.

Ibn-i-Hawwa | Hum TV, Finale

What started out as a strong show fizzled out towards the end as the focus shifted from the main characters to Nadia Afghan’s stint as Shabratan, the manipulative aunt. The script made some good points about the everyday misogyny that is woven into our social fabric, but got lost in a convoluted story. A young tailor Zahid (Shehzad Shaikh) hates and mistrusts women because of the mother that abandoned his family as a child When he agrees to marry the widow Mahjabeen (Hira Mani), he learns to open up his heart.

The show ended on a note of forgiveness and understanding but failed to connect with audiences as it should have, perhaps because Shehzad Shaikh seemed miscast in a role that required the nuances of vulnerability and likeability to balance the harsher elements of Zahid’s character.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Guddu | Hum TV, Coming soon

The disturbing teasers for this serial are showreels of terrifying violence and neglect perpetrated on a child that has somehow lost both his parents. Abuse of women has turned out to be a ratings’ grabber for producers. So is the next jump child abuse as entertainment?

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 28th, 2022