THE WEEK THAT WAS

Aik Aur Pakeezah | Geo TV, Wed-Thurs 8.00pm

A slow pace and long scenes set back what is mostly a good serial.

Yaseen (Ali Jan) takes a fancy to the girl next door, Pakeezah (Sehar Khan), but she rejects his advances because she is in love with her fiancé Faraz (Nameer Khan). Yaseen is an evil, disturbed individual who traps the young lovers at a hotel and makes an explicit video of them at gunpoint. The viral video destroys Faraz and Pakeezah’s lives, but after all the pain and humiliation, Pakeezah gathers the courage to fight back with the encouragement of Barrister Amna (Amna Ilyas).

Writer Bee Gul explores each character’s feelings and the insensitivity of investigating officers in detail. While this raw and accurate storytelling makes for uncomfortable but captivating viewing, it has lost the impact and shock value for the mass audience this script deserved. To the team’s credit, each character has been sketched out with authenticity and nuance: Sehar Khan, Nameer Khan and Hina Bayat’s performances have been a delight to watch. The parallel track between lawyers played by Amna Ilyas and Gohar Rasheed is another intriguing puzzle that holds our attention.

Dekh Zara Pyar Se | Hum TV, Daily 9.00pm

The formula for Ramazan romcoms is pretty set: two individuals at odds and two benign but dictatorial families that are not above some emotional blackmail.

Raised by her grandfather, Rumi (Yumna Zaidi) has no wish to become a pawn in her divorced parents’ existential competitions. The love and attention of her grandfather, friends and extended family have protected her from much of her parents’ dysfunction, but left her deeply suspicious of commitment and romance. On the flip side, Zoraiz (Hamza Sohail) is an orphan, also raised by his grandfather (Arshad Mehmood) and somewhat immunised against the extremes of loss and loneliness by his extended family. He is also leery of marriage and more focused on his career as an advertising executive. Afraid that their grandchildren will never settle down, the two grandfathers hatch a plan to bring these two together.

As expected, the first few episodes were information heavy, establishing context and characters, but director Ali Hasan gave us a smooth introduction with a fast pace. While Hamza Sohail has become a skilled player in comedy, Yumna Zaidi was the standout, anchoring the breezy storytelling style with a little angst. The other artists to watch out for are Romaisa Khan and the inimitable Bushra Ansari.

Ghulam Bashah Sundri | Green TV, Mon-Tue 8.00pm

Zanjabeel Asim’s script is a gothic tale of cruelty, generational trauma and rampant abuse of the poor by unchecked feudals.

By episode 13, we learn Ghulam (Imran Ashraf) is the actual legitimate elder son and heir of powerful landlord Jahandad (Shahzad Nawaz), but treated as a servant because he was born of a lowly, young maid. Jahandad’s sister, Khursheed (Tazeen Hussain), is also a victim of the system, forcibly divorced and with her daughter stolen. The winds of change are blowing and fate brings her daughter, now called Sundri (Hina Afridi), back to the haveli.

Ghulam helps Sundri when she loses her “father” and they develop feelings for each other. The spoiled heir-apparent Bashah (Zaviyar Ijaz) has also developed an obsession with Sundri. Sundri and Ghulam know only their simple backgrounds, but Bashah has learned the truth of all their intertwined histories. This filmi-style melodrama is another sleeper hit for Green Entertainment.

What To Watch Out For (Or Not)

Tum Larrkay Bhi Na | Hum TV, Coming soon

Faseeh Bari Khan is an expert satirist, poking fun at society’s pretensions and cultural hypocrisy. This time, he writes a romcom with a sharp eye for humour and fakery, starring Aina Asif and Ali Dayyan.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 1st, 2026