THE WEEK THAT WAS
Yunhi | Hum TV, Sundays 8.00pm
When Dr Naveed Ali finds out his American daughter Kim (Maya Ali) is planning to marry a non-Muslim, his liberal values fly out the window and he persuades her to take a trip with him to his homeland Pakistan in a last-ditch effort to introduce her to his culture. Their arrival opens up old wounds but also brings some healing for Dr Naveed and the family he left behind.
The rest of the story is about how Kim’s “Western ways” shock her extended family’s old-fashioned household. Kim is rude to everyone and calls her cousin Dr Daud (Bilal Ashraf) a terrorist for wearing shalwar qameez. After repeatedly saying she has Googled how terrible Pakistan is towards women, she immediately accepts a ride from two complete strangers. While most of the clashes between Kim and her traditionalist second cousin Dr Daud are amusing, it’s obvious Kim is not a well-thought out character, betraying the writer’s lack of familiarity with Pakistani-American culture.
The Pakistanis are not spared either: all the extended family can think of is rishtas (proposals), never taking a minute to get to know about Kim or her father’s life. This spoils what could have been an interesting comedy of manners, contrasting the images and realities of culture and the gap between the homeland and its diasporas.
Munn Aangan | ARY, Daily 7.00pm
Despite following a daily soap format, Munn Aangan has a more innovative plot and detailed characterisations than many prime time shows. Seemi Pasha plays Saira, the widowed mother of three daughters, whose lack of confidence in herself and her daughters leaves her heavily reliant on her manipulative son-in-law Saqlain (Imran Aslam). His wife Areeba (Aliya Ali), the eldest daughter, cannot conceive, so she slavishly serves her husband over the interests of her sisters to preserve her marriage. Even the youngest, Rimsha (Shazeal Shoukat), is bought off by Saqlain’s trickery.
The middle sister, Mahnoor (Anmol Baloch), works at a large company and is a more analytical thinker, which makes her suspicious of discrepancies in the family finances. When she challenges Saqlain over his handling of their affairs, he uses honour culture and other techniques to keep the lives and wealth of the three sisters under his influence.
Writer Nadia Ahmed has given us a fascinating portrait of psychological control, facilitated by a patriarchal socio-economic system. Will Mahnoor break her family free of Saqlain’s influence, or will it take a disaster to awaken her mother?
Tere Bin | Geo TV, Wed-Thurs 8.00pm
The slow burn, hate-to-love story of Tere Bin has caught fire on social media, and keeps topping the ratings chart. Urban, liberal firebrand Meerab (Yumna Zaidi) is forced into a marriage of convenience with the heir to her power-extended family, Murtasim (Wahaj Ali), who believes in upholding traditions. But after some initial clashes, Murtasim is supportive and understanding of his new wife’s difficulty in accepting the new lifestyle.
Wahaj Ali and Yumna Zaidi are known for their authentic performances in much deeper stories, but have modified their technique just enough to accommodate the melodramatic genre of this show. Their intense chemistry and determination to take their work deadly seriously has allowed them to rise above some of the flimsier elements of the script, and enthral viewers. Bushra Ansari as Maa Begum is in great form, but the rest of the supporting cast has little to do. In true soap opera-style, the villain Haya (Sabeena Farooq), is written with zero nuance, and her only job is to throw herself at Murtasim in every fourth scene.
What To Watch Out For (or not)
Ibn-i-Adam | Aur Life, Coming soon
The pair of Faysal Quraishi and Hiba Bukhari from the hit serial Fitoor return to the screen on the Aur Life channel with a drama focusing on rural educational issues.
Published in Dawn, ICON, March 12th, 2023