THE TUBE

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Sher | ARY, Wed-Thurs 8.00pm

Fantasy revenge serials are all the rage at Geo TV and ARY, and Danish Taimoor seems to be cashing in on the “intense alpha male” combination that has made him popular with the masses.

According to the formula, Sher Zaman (Danish Taimoor) and Fajar (Sarah Khan) belong to two wealthy families embroiled in a deadly feud, where the hatred crosses generations and all common sense. Despite being a doctor of psychology, naïve Fajar is tricked into running away with Sher’s evil cousin on her wedding day, and presented to his family as a trophy. Sher is a deeply honorable man who immediately protects the foolish girl and, at great risk to his own life, returns Fajar to her family. Filled with anger and shame, Fajar’s father forces the guilty young woman to drink poison. Fajar somehow survives and is taken by her mother to the hospital, where another victim of this rivalry lies fighting for survival.

If the melodrama were not enough, Taimoor resorts to shouting his lines in the confrontation scenes, where a more controlled, nuanced dialogue-delivery would be more impactful and would have matched his character. The only standout in this show so far is Arjumand Rahim as the evil, twisted Taj Bibi, who makes a chilling female villain.

Behroopiya | Green Entertainment, Thurs-Fri 8.00pm

Zara (Madiha Imam) is heartbroken when her cousin Saim (Nabeel Zuberi) suddenly rejects her because his focus is on his mother and on his sister’s wedding. The vulnerable Zara is cleverly targeted by Mikail (Faysal Quraishi), an uber-wealthy businessman with deep psychological issues.

After facing severe childhood abuse, Mikail has developed a “split personality” where, at moments of stress, he takes on the characteristics of different personas. Mikail manipulates and pursues Zara and, despite her parents’ refusal, he eventually convinces her to marry him. Mikail does not love Zara, rather he wants her as another decorative trophy to admire, like a prized piece of art.

Writer Rida Bilal has given us a stunning picture of a man with a wounded psyche and the coping mechanisms of those around him. Faysal Quraishi gives a stellar performance, rotating through each aspect of Mikail’s disorder with ease and conviction. Madiha Imam is good as the broken young woman slowly understanding how she has been trapped, but her styling is distracting rather than complimenting her role. The star of the show is director Shaqille Khan who has knitted this layered story together without dulling the nuances of mental illness.

Mann Mast Malang | Geo TV, Fri, Sat & Sun 8.00pm

This is another story about a feud between wealthy families who have no other objective in life except extracting generational revenge. Danish Taimoor repeats his ratings-grabbing formula of the broody, determined man fighting for that one girl against the will of the world.

Rhea (Sehar Khan) agrees to marry Kabir (Danish Taimoor) but, in a plan of revenge that erases Pakistan’s reputation as a deeply patriarchal society, leaves him the next morning while asking for a divorce. The vanishing bride is a public embarrassment for Kabir’s family but alpha males always have an answer; and he drags her back with police help.

Writer Nooran Makhdoom’s ideas of romance go against the grain of traditional norms, favouring forced intimacy and misogynistic scenes bordering on the criminal. Danish Taimoor plays to the gallery without the slightest effort to differentiate or define this character, while Sehar Khan somehow achieves the feat of making her role look even shallower than it is written.