THE WEEK THAT WAS

Meri Zindagi Hai Tu | ARY, Fri-Sat 8.00pm

This phenom­enally popular show takes a detour into humour before swinging back to angst-filled trauma bond at breakneck speed.

Kaamyar (Bilal Abbas) cannot forgive Ayra (Hania Aamir) for not believing him when an explicit video of him went viral on the eve of their wedding. Curiously, he does forgive his clingy ex, Faria (Warda Saleem), who drugged him, and orchestrated his sexual assault and release of the video. In fact, he regularly hangs out with her and rejoins their circle of friends, while snubbing and sniping at Ayra, his wife. Writer Radain Shah uses a highly sensitive and painful issue as a clumsy plot point, and is rewarded with commercial success.

As Pakistani dramas have gained a foothold with Indian audiences, the ethical and cultural underpinnings of scripts are shifting for a more generalised, secular gaze, with a thin veneer of family values. Ayra may be an empowered, educated heroine but she has fallen into the traditional role of the “fix-it” daughter-in-law — not only healing Kaamyar and taking care of his grandmother, but talking sense into his bickering parents. The show remains superficially entertaining but, even for its genre, strains the limits of credibility.

Sara Appi | Geo TV, Mon-Tues 8.00pm

This is a story reminiscent of the recent blockbuster, Noor Jehan. Savera Nadeem plays Sara, an elder sister who puts aside hopes of marriage and children to raise her three orphaned brothers. Their happy family is a myth the brothers have forced themselves to believe in.

Sara Appi’s control gave them safety as children, but stifles them as adults. Sara uses emotional blackmail and maintains financial authority over her brothers for complete control. The eldest, Burhan (Sami Khan), is a weak man but somehow persuades a girl (Sidra Niazi) into a secret marriage. The angry matriarch Sara is forced to accept the new bride but humiliates and punishes her to assert dominance and power over the family. The youngest, Usman (Khaqan Shahnawaz), is in love with an independent-minded girl from a wealthy family, and is also afraid to speak up.

All three brothers have stunted personalities and live in constant fear of their older sister, who owns their family business. While this is a reasonably entertaining look at a recurring motif in our cultural fabric, the depth of writing is missing in places. Savera Nadeem performs well as the regal Sara, but has failed to show the vulnerable or feminine side of her character as yet.

Ishq Mein Tere Sadqay | Geo TV, Daily 9.00pm

Two beautiful women who look alike, Hoor and Noor (both played by Anika Zulfikar), and one obsessed lover, Zulfikar Shah (Muneeb Butt), are at the centre of this story from writer Rehana Aftab.

Despite wealth, status and education, Zulfikar is an angry, impulsive man, for whom violence is second nature. He fought his disapproving family to marry Hoor, the one person who loves him and tries to get him into therapy to resolve his issues. On a parallel track, Noor looks just like Hoor, but lives the life of Cinderella as the unpaid servant of her stepmother and quarrelsome stepsisters.

When tragedy strikes Zulfikar, he loses his beloved wife but, to his amazement, he meets her lookalike Noor. Is this a second chance at happiness or more misery for the unfortunate Noor, who is already married to an abusive man? This is a commercial masala-type serial, full of black-and-white characters and lots of melodrama.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Hamrahi | Geo TV, Coming soon

After playing an array of toxic, angry heroes, Danish Taimoor takes the character up a couple of notches with machine guns blazing in the upcoming Hamrahi.

Published in Dawn, ICON, February 22nd, 2026