THE WEEK THAT WAS
Dar-i-Nijaat | ARY Digital, Fri-Sat 8.00pm
This blockbuster serial has become a worldwide hit, but with success comes criticism. While most are hooked on the romance, strong performances and expert storytelling from director Saqib Khan, social media is buzzing with debates over “preaching moments” that are writer Umera Ahmed’s signature.
Zaryab (Durefishan Saleem) is emerging from her anger and depression, but the guilt remains. For some reason, her husband, Abu Bakar (Sheheryar Munawar), does not know how to block calls. A sad and lonely Hamna (Romaisa Khan) keeps reaching out to him, creating division and suspicion in Zaryab. Zaryab is still afraid and insecure, but she is changing, understanding and accepting many things that she had instinctively disliked before. Will Zaryab go back to Harvard? Will she have the courage to face her memories of Boston? Sheheryar Munawar and Durefishan Saleem’s amazing screen chemistry has audiences rooting for the pair and cheering as they grow closer.
However, one flaw that has become too obvious is the heavy-handed “look” of a villain that has descended on Zamil (Nameer Khan). Hamna’s track is also becoming prop-like and fuzzy. The star of the show remains Sheheryar Munawar, whose restrained performance has won him many new fans.
Raqaas | Green Entertainment, Mon-Tues 8.00pm
After living a suffocating life controlled by her conservative father Dilawar Khan (Babar Ali), Arooj (Komal Meer) thought she had found freedom and love when she met her mysterious neighbour Hamza (Danyal Zafar).
Arooj now wants to fight for her relationship, but Hamza disappears and everyone doubts her story. After her father’s death (at her cousin’s hands), Arooj settles down to work as a doctor for the needy, but refuses to forget Hamza. Two years later, when an injured policeman is brought to her hospital, Arooj thinks she recognises him as Hamza, but he is a stranger called Bilal. Was that past an escapist fantasy she had cooked up in her imagination or is this police officer called Bilal deceiving her?
Radain Shah’s slow script finally gets to the point and Danyal Zafar gets a moustache! Komal Meer has carried this show even when it became a drag, but this mystery has its loyal fans hanging on. Like so many serials, this show could have been a super-hit if three or four episodes had been simply cut out. Danyal, as an undercover policeman, might finally be given some scope to perform and bring depth to the story.
Bano | Geo TV, Daily 9.00pm
Soaps are known for their over-the-top melodrama, but even that requires some internal logic, which is a missing element in this show. Lead protagonist Sheheryar (Haris Waheed) is so aimless and yet such a prize that his ambitious mother Noor (Saima Qureshi) has him forcibly married to two young women, and is now planning for a third bride!
His first arranged bride, the wealthy Mehrunissa (Rukhma Akhter), is portrayed as arrogant and rude, but the amount of low self-esteem she has and the violence she inflicts speaks more of mental illness. Now, the unwitting Sheheryar has been kidnapped and tortured by Shahab (Kamran Jeelani), the criminal-minded brother of his second wife Bano (Hina Tariq), as an act of revenge, leaving the audience wondering how the romance angle will continue after Shahab stabs Sheheryar in the thigh with a screwdriver!
Writer Atiq Inayat takes a leaf out of Turkish dramas with extreme, barely plausible plot twists which are hard to resolve rationally. Haris Waheed and Hina Tariq are believable, but the side tracks and villains are not.
What To Watch Out For (Or Not)
Mera Ghar | ARY Digital, Coming soon
Uzma Hassan stars as a woman so scarred by her past that she uses her illness as a tool to blackmail and manipulate her family. Shahroz Sabzwari and Zubab Rana play the main leads.
Published in Dawn, ICON, November 15th, 2026
