THE WEEK THAT WAS
Ghair | ARY, Fri-Sat 8.00pm

With all the family secrets revealed, this story should be winding up but, as with any successful serial, the temptation to stretch it out for more episodes and ratings is just too great.
Director Yasir Nawaz has padded out the last few episodes with flashbacks and an empty revenge track from the now-jilted Shiffa (Yashmira Jan). While this trick may make money, it ruins any credibility the main lead Saalis (Usama Khan) had built up as a man worth fighting for. Ushna Shah shines in the last few episodes as a stronger, mature woman who is deciding her own fate, where she was less-than-believable in earlier episodes. Her character’s father Usman (Babar Ali) finally understands he was tricked by his jealous sister Tehreem (Madiha Iftikhar) but fails to show any self-reflection and accountability for his own actions.
While an excellent Madiha as Tehreem may have been the match that lit the fire, the other characters needed some introspection about enabling her. Similarly, his nephew Saalis has no deep scenes of growth or introspection, revealing a shallowness in the script that has been covered by Yasir Nawaz’s sharp execution.
Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel | Hum TV, Sat 8.00pm

This serial touches on incredibly serious subjects, such as lynching, rape culture and corruption, yet manages to maintain a light mood without losing any impact or depth.
When Moon (Ammar Ali) finally gains the courage to report that he has been sexually assaulted to the police, they immediately use the information as an extortion tool. However, the rapist, local gangster-cum-politician Bao Qaiser (Saleem Mairaj) is an old hand at manipulation, and slips through the net of blackmail. The vengeful policeman then slips the information to his political rival Rao Kashif (Saife Hasan), who hires the rent-a-mob run by Kami (Usman Zia). Kami’s obsession with Rabi (Seher Khan) illustrates the one-sidedness of honour culture, where only women carry this responsibility.
There is a mysterious track connecting Rabi’s father to Sonu’s (Shuja Asad) mother played by the excellent Samiya Mumtaz that will tie a lot of loose ends together. Excellent performances from the entire cast combined with an intelligent, purposeful script make this a must-watch every week.
Faraar | Green Entertainment, Sundays 8.00pm

An electric, fast-moving story with a strong star cast, filmed in a wide-open cinematic style, this is the kind of male-oriented show that should be a super-hit. After nine episodes, author Mustafa Afridi begins to consolidate the bafflingly disparate tracks of his protagonists into a story of corruption, politics and the sheer randomness of violence that haunts the headlines of the news cycles.
Hamza Ali Abbasi is brilliant as the unthinking hit man on the run. We should hate him but his matter-of-fact simplicity makes it impossible. Afridi gives us a fascinating array of characters, all beautifully played — from Haroon Shahid as the cynical “last friend” to the seriously earnest policeman Fasi (Ahmed Ali Akbar) — then sprinkles in the swaggering conmen and criminals of a rather familiar gangster-style political party. If this were not enough, we are treated to some deliciously vicious Punjabi politicians who murder their brother-in-law to please their evil sister Shakila (Nadia Jamil).
This action-packed thriller is a fantastic alternative to the usual romances and kitchen politics of TV drama, and looks like an ideal Netflix-style binge-watch rather than a saga unfolding week to week.
What To Watch Out For (or not)
Mann Marzi | Geo TV, Coming soon

Writer Rabia Razzaque has made her mark with Qarz-i-Jaan, but her latest offering for Geo TV is a more commercial project. Fatima Effendi, Haroon Shahid and Humayun Ashraf star in a story moulded around the popular “materialistic girl” trope that warns against ambition and middle class overreach.
Published in Dawn, ICON, January 12th, 2025
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