Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Dusri Bivi - A Change in Thoughts

If I wrote positively about Zidd in my last post, then of course you can expect that this post will be a "bashing" post.

Unfortunately, my feelings about Pakistani dramas these days is that it's becoming increasingly difficult for writers/production houses/directors to maintain the quality of their product.  If a show like "Firaaq" started off on a fascinating note with great performances, it fell flat on its face and took the typical "two women, one man" route in the last few episodes and completed its run as a pitiful show.  Likewise with other big-budget shows like "Laa" and "Tum Meray Hi Rehna."  These days, even a great quality show like "Digest Writer" is repeating the same happenings and occurrences in the last few episodes and has become repetitive.

That's why shows like "Zidd," "Goyaa," "Jackson Heights" and "Sadqay Tumharay" receive so much praise from me - regardless of whether the pace is slow or fast, the content is solid.  You know where the show is headed.  You understand the characters.  You appreciate the concrete writing.  These shows are quality shows.

With such an intro, now we come to Dusri Bivi, specifically.



This show started with grandeur.  It came with expectations.  A big-budget show starring Fahad Mustafa and reportedly touching upon the concept of two wives in a way that the audience would be able to sympathize with all the involved parties - it sounded like a show that could be greatly successful.

Unfortunately, the show has failed to meet those expectations entirely.  The biggest problem?  Well, let's just say that the promise of making all 3 parties relatable is where the show suffers the most.

We have Hassan (Fahad) and Aashi (Hareem), a beautiful married couple together in a beautiful, happy marriage with their adorable daughter that they both dote on.  Suddenly, for no reason at all, Hassan becomes overly invested in Farah's life (Maha Warsi) and gets caught up in her problems to the point of having to marry her.  BUT.....did he really have to marry her?  No.  Not in my eyes.  If anything, Hassan progressively threw himself more and more into Farah's life in a very "Maan na maan, main tera mehmaan" sort of way.  The lack of decency was oozing from the situation as soon as Hassan began hiding the situation from Aashi.



Now at present, Aashi has suffered a miscarriage due to her stress and high blood pressure (also caused by Hassan's distance and neglect).  On the other end, Farah is also pregnant and looming/lurking all around Hassan in an effort to "protect" him, which causes Aashi's brother and Bhabi to discover Hassan's secret (of his 2nd marriage).  Rather than be apologetic and sincere, Hassan turns around and throws his second marriage in Bhai and Bhabi's face and tells them that if Aashi finds out and is unhappy, that will be on their heads.  TORTURE.  If there's a moment where I could say Hassan's character literally became unlikable, I would say this was the moment.  How men like this are able to take their mistakes and throw them on others is something that is almost unbelievable in a situation like this.



In the current episodes, we are now seeing Hassan trying to balance his two wives.  What makes this all the more irritating is that two women who should be mildly confident and independent are becoming more and more dependent on Hassan.  Farah is unable to lock her front door, so she gets robbed.  This is a woman who was fighting to build her career - and now suddenly she's a housewife, pregnant within a month of marriage and needy to the point of no return.  On the other end, we have Aashi who is becoming increasingly needier - high blood pressure, depression from a miscarriage, stress from Hassan not being around....and then we're treated to a scene where Aashi is suddenly unable to handle her daughter having a fever?  Why does a good mother need her husband to be there in order to take care of a sick child?

The situations being created in this drama are not only making Hassan unlikble, they are making his wives equally as unlikable.  If anyone in this show is looking GOOD, it's the characters of Bhai and Bhabi, who are the voices of logic and truth, the characters that react the way anyone would in reality.



It's unfortunate that a show that started off so well has sunk to this level within 9 episodes!  I am holding out hope that this show could possibly pick up and somehow mend itself in future episodes - but I'm not hoping too high.

Happy watching!

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