THE WEEK THAT WAS

Hamari Kahani | Urdu1, Mon to Fri 9.00pm

Some 235 episodes down, through seasons 1 and 2, the viewers of the Turkish rendering of Shameless, felt like they were a part of the Elibol family. Now with the last episode, the five-day Elibol fix will be missed.

Although the first season was way more intriguing than the second, the characters remained lovable, the situations plausible and the story engaging. Two weddings and two babies made the best part of the last episode. Samra (Sahra Sas) marries Jamil (Mehmetcan Mincinozlu), while following an electric romance and taking a spur-of-the moment decision, Diya (Melisa Dongel) marries Rehmat (Yagiz Can Konyali). Fiza (Hazal Kaya), the main lead has a baby girl while a second baby is found at their doorstep, who turns out to be Fiza’s father Fakhri’s (Reha Ozcan). Fakhri, who was behind more than half of the crises that the Elibols suffered, finally turns a new leaf and the Elibols get some money, heralding a new and a more stable life for all of them. Thumbs up for binge-watching on YouTube.

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR (OR NOT)

Mohabbatein Chahatein | Hum TV, Tuesdays 8.00pm

There are two ways to watch this serial. You could go with the drift and worry about what is going to happen to Faraz (Junaid Khan) and Sneha’s (Hira Mani) lovey dovey marriage, or you can havea good laugh at how unintelligent the twists are. Sneha tells her best friend Mona (Fatima Zara Mallick) that she can’t meet her anymore because her hubby Faraz thinks that, instead of the vamp Tara (Armeena Khan), it is Mona who is creating misunderstandings between Sneha and Faraz. But Mona stalks Tara, who in turn stalks Sneha and Faraz. Mona takes photos of Tara, who takes photos of Sneha and Faraz, and why on earth is Tara doing that if her blood boils to see them together? While Tara is viciously lying and smartly trapping Faraz in her charms under the cover of a business plan, Mona tells Sneha that she has proof of how Faraz is lying to her. Faraz and Sneha keep poking fingers in each other’s faces to create some on-screen chemistry and it’s not working. Armeena Khan as the wicked Tara is fun to watch but all in all we had higher expectations from Samira Fazal’s story and Ali Hassan’s direction.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 20th, 2020