THE WEEK THAT WAS

Badshah Begum | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

The struggle for the throne of Piranpura continues, as the ruling family fights over who will be the power behind the throne. This is an entertaining, intelligently written serial, which has lost some of its lustre because of the amount of time spent on the sister rivalry sidetrack.

Ali Rehman as Bakhtiyar is the unconvincing college boy who plays with both sisters’ feelings before becoming a mureed (devotee) to the eldest, Jehan Ara (Zara Noor). Pir Shahzeb (Farhan Saeed) forces the khalifa’s daughter Zuleykha (Tanya Hussain) into marriage to shore up his power base. When Pir Shahmir tries to “right” the wrong done to Gulnar by marrying her, even after her false accusation against him, the tide of public opinion rises against him.

In a world of shifting loyalties, the family seeks help from the barbaric Pir Qaiser, who demands a price. For fans of history, this story resonates with the history of the Mughal succession battles, but its strongest suit is the detailed exposition of the feudal mindset. It is a mindset that resists change and remains unaffected by a liberal education or any ideal because of a deep spiritual bankruptcy, and a belief in its divine right to power.

Woh Pagal Si | ARY, Mon-Thurs 9.00pm

Despite running a business empire Ahsan (Babar Ali) naively trusts everyone at face value, which allows his secretary Shazma (Zubab Rana) to manipulate him into marriage. Shazma and her lover Wahaj (Omar Shehzad) plan to steal Ahsan’s money and run away to a better life, but their seeing Ahsan’s spoiled daughter Sarah (Hira Khan) opens up another avenue for them to exploit Ahsan.

Wahaj works his way into the businessman’s good graces with fake degrees and a fake family, while Shazma easily discredits the headstrong young girl in her father’s eyes. The only one who seems to understand or care about Sarah is her driver’s son, Zaheen (Saad Qureshi), who also works as an economist in the business set-up. Omar Shehzad excels as the villain, while Saad Qureshi ups the romance quotient as the hopeless lover who knows he will never be noticed.

Hira Khan as the oblivious, rebellious Sarah provides a welcome change to the usual good girl trope, making it easy to see why her situation goes downhill. This is an uncomplicated masala entertainer that makes up for its lack of depth or detail with well-sketched out characters, good performances and a twist-a-minute plot that has audiences hooked.

Daraar | Geo TV, Wed-Thurs 8.00pm

Wealthy Shaheer Ahmed (Syed Jibran) is impressed by Ira’s (Amar Khan) self-respect and confidence at a business meeting. Fate keeps bringing them together and he ends up helping her, first to get a promotion at her office and, then, when her greedy cousin Sajal (Momal Shaikh) is arrested for stealing a diamond ring.

Shaheer sends a proposal for Ira but, unluckily for him, he is not aware of the amount of dysfunction in her household, where her jealous aunt and cousin do their best to destroy the relationship before it begins. The story is a rehash of the good girl-bad girl formula that channels know will be a surefire hit. Full of stereotypes and ridiculous coincidences, this show does not rise above potboiler level. Momal Shaikh does not look like a college student at all, but Amal Khan and Syed Jibran play their roles well.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Sitam Shaar | Geo TV, Coming soon

Teasers from Geo present us with yet another materialistic girl trapping a rich fool into marriage. Anmol Baloch stars as the manipulative Kiran, with Mohsin Abbas as the scion of a wealthy family, who will marry her at any cost.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 4th, 2022