THE TUBE

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Shiddat | Geo TV, Mon-Tues 8.00pm

Previous shows on narcissistic, controlling men have used a lighter hand, with writers understanding this is a psychological issue, but Zanjabeel Asim’s script goes full masala.

Sultan (Muneeb Butt) is a master at manipulation. He has one girl in a mental asylum pining after him, and is well on his way to sending his new wife Asra (Anmol Baloch) there too. The happy, sheltered daughter of a wealthy family, Asra had developed a “limerence” or unhealthy obsession for Sultan, which she thinks is love. Where the script loses out on nuance, the sheer bluntness serves as a handbook of red flags for the audience, who are let in on Sultan’s thinking. This makes Asra and his other victims look just stupid and foolish, rather than normal people faced with an evil monster who is playing mind games with them.

Muneeb Butt seems to have taken some inspiration from the Hollywood film American Psycho in styling, but uses traditional patriarchal methods to dominate. He has the most meat to his character and is the hook for the show. The slow degradation of Asra’s character is frustrating to watch. Hopefully, Anmol Baloch can make her more interesting in the fightback to come.

Akkharra | Green Entertainment, Mondays 8.00pm

Dilsher (Feroze Khan) comes from a traditional family of Punjabi wrestlers. After losing his star elder brother Sultan through the cruel machinations of the arrogant Chaudhry Riyasat, Dilsher moves to Lahore. He finds that the elite-class Sitara (Sonya Hussyn), prefers him over Rustom (Kashif Hussain) — the son of Chaudhry Riyasat. The gap in education and wealth between them makes Dilsher back off, and Sitara ends up unhappily engaged to Rustom.

The intense rivalry between Dilsher and Rustom plays out in a series of confrontations and fights. While Sitara and Dilsher’s twin sister Reshma are sensible and try to cool the situation down, Sultan’s young widow (Srha Asghar) is the wild card pushing for revenge.

Akkharra is one of Shahid Dogar’s more consistent scripts as well as one of Green TV’s big hits. Feroze Khan brings on the intensity and bad boy swagger, mixed with all the quiet insecurities and bluntness the masses love. On the downside, Sonya Hussyn’s role is badly underwritten, and her ambivalent feelings for both men are confusing. Hina Afridi and Waseem Abbas give us some solid performances, but even they will lose impact if the story does not move on from endless fights.

Khushboo Mein Basay Khat | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

Amna Mufti’s amusing take on the Karachi literary scene is becoming more serious with each episode. Infidelity and selfishness are the least of the follies on display, with the greatest being unchecked desires and overweening egos.

Words matter and poetry, in particular, spins a captivating web, which explains why a petty-minded man such as Ahmed Zaryab (Adnan Siddiqui) has managed to live like a shadow in the hearts and minds of two generations of women. His wife, Dr Adeela (Nadia Jamil), has had enough and moved out, patiently waiting till he comes to his senses. Meanwhile, Zaryab’s levels of self-indulgence have reached new levels of narcissism, fuelled by the adoration of an ambitious girl such as Husna (Kinza Hashmi), who breaks her engagement less for Zaryab but more for the freedom he symbolises.

Adnan Siddiqui, Nadia Jamil, Sidra Niazi and Saleem Mairaj present us with some amazing performances, reminding us that life and real love, and our ideas of romance, are not all the same.