THE WEEK THAT WAS

Jannat Se Aagay | Geo TV, Fri-Sat 8.00pm

In between all the pulp fiction for the masses, 7th Sky Entertainment inserts an odd piece of quality work like this to keep its audience guessing. Author Umera Ahmed gives us a detailed exposition of the relentless consumerism and materialism that social media and traditional media — especially morning shows — are pushing.

Tabassum (Ramsha Khan) is obsessed with the lifestyle of morning show host Jannat (Kubra Khan). When she starts working for Jannat, she also starts stealing from her, and becomes disgusted with the very simple lower-middle class life she was once satisfied with. Busy with her own hectic schedule and troubled marriage, Jannat is only just picking up on the missing items in her home and Tabassum’s quiet avarice, but will she understand her own moral culpability?

Kubra Khan’s restrained, nuanced portrait of a woman who is living in a mirage and selling that same false image to the world is fantastic. Director Haseeb Hassan elicits excellent performances from Talha Chahour, Ramsha Khan and Gohar Rasheed. This is a great watch, but loses out at times because the director could have been tougher about editing the story, trimming episodes and honing the script for today’s less contemplative audience.

Sakoon | ARY, Thurs-Fri 8.00pm

As feared, the one beautifully shot, intriguing teaser for Sakoon was not a harbinger of innovation or quality. Sana Javed plays the beautiful, very sheltered, naïve heroine Aina, who comes from a strict, conservative family in Hyderabad. Her train-wreck of an engagement to her suspicious, controlling cousin is something she never questions, no matter how much he tries to dominate her.

Aina trusts her father and is at pains never to disappoint him. Her rich friend’s wedding throws her into the path of two men, the kind and responsible Hamaad (Ahsan Khan) and the good-for-nothing, lacking-in-morals Raza (Khaqan Shahnawaz). Black-and-white, almost cartoonish characterisations and a hero who walks into the office with sunglasses on should make this a purely commercial, mass-appeal project with little depth.

However, Sana Javed and Ahsan Khan are strong performers, so there is still hope that this show may manage to rise a little above the masala we have been served in the first two episodes.

Razia | Express TV, Thursdays 8.00pm

As this mini-serial is about to wind up, we have learned that everything happens to Razia because she is a girl. The writer gives a clear picture of the bias and handicaps women face in a conservative society, where honour-culture, lack of education and economic conditions can leave women voiceless and powerless.

Good performances from Mohib Mirza, Momal Sheikh, Shaheera Jalil Albasit and the rest of the cast are the highlights of a story that is told well, but has absolutely nothing new to offer. The addition of Mahira Khan, as narrator, adds little to the story, but pulls in a crowd who would otherwise be turned off by the lack of the usual markers of mass-market appeal.

With Razia always treated as second best, her education put aside and finally married to an abuser to protect her good-for-nothing brother, will she ever find fulfilment, and will writer-director Mohsin Ali give the audience something positive?

What To Watch Out For (or not)

Mein Beti Hoon | Geo TV, Coming soon

After exploring every trope and stereotype, Geo TV brings us a somewhat new(ish) twist to the saas-bahu trauma porn. After divorce, Eram Akhtar’s character marries a wealthy man and raises his son. Little does she know that the girl her stepson eventually marries is her own daughter. The daughter-in-law is played by Sumbul Iqbal.

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 22nd, 2023