Thursday, August 11, 2016

Teri Chah Mein


I have to temporarily revert to my bashing ways.  The praise will continue tomorrow, but I simply can't let this one slide.  

I was at the APPNA conference in D.C. this past weekend, where Pakistani celebrities were hanging out left and right.  I tried my best and despite my stalking capabilities, I was unable to hunt down Ahsan Khan for a picture! Haha.  I did, however, meet Jawad Ahmed and Todd Shea, so that was nice.

Maria Wasti was one of the celebrities at the venue and she hosted the entertainment night on Friday, where she referred to herself as a "dumb blonde" (her words, not mine).  I so desperately wanted to bump into Maria afterwards so I could ask her WHY she signed a show like "Teri Chah Mein."  Was it a "dumb blonde" moment (someone definitely needs to inform her that she's not a blonde, so that joke was probably not politically correct)?  I can't think of any other reason why she would've signed this awful, moral-less show.


I consider myself to tread the line between conservative and liberal pretty well.  Live and let live.  I can generally wrap my head around all sorts of themes.....but this one?  It's straight up classless!  The "based on a true story" is what captivated me. 


This is how the story goes (was about to break into the "Waqt" rap - E.P., haha.....anyone? Anyone?  No? Ok....):

Mariyam (Maria Wasti) is married to Salman Shahid, obviously a man much older than she is.  She was emotionally blackmailed into marrying him at a young age to "Chuka" some ehsaan done for her brother.  They have two children, Zara and Kashif. Kashif is a bit conservative and doesn't want Zara to talk to her fiancĂ© (Farhan Saeed - I can't remember his character's name).  Farhan is the son of SalmanShahid's younger brother.  Salman Shahid has always cared for his family and been a man to love and respect, though his wife never really seemed to have soft corner for him.  Farhan also has another younger brother, just a couple of years younger I suppose.


Farhan is basically the douchebag of the century, because while Zara (Saboor Ali) is in love with him, he's busy lusting after......wait for it.....her MOTHER.  Cue the gagging noises.  He takes this further though.  While the entire family is together, setting the date for Farhan and Zara's nikkah, he TELLS Mariyam that he can't marry Zara because he is in love with her (Mariyam).  BAM!  Salman Shahid (ahem, his Chacha!) overhears his prize of a nephew's love confession to his WIFE, has a massive heart attack and DIES.

The family is in mourning and then finds out what caused Salman's heart attack - or at least an appropriate version of it....Farhan doesn't want to marry Zara.  Farhan's dad throws a fit and kicks Farhan out of the house.

In the meantime, Mariyam's family has stabilized a little after Salman's death.  So re-enters Farhan to shake things up a bit and......convinces Mariyam to marry him?!  Yeah, yeah, I know, I had a hard time digesting that one as well.  Was there no other man on earth that Mariyam Could've married other than her husband's nephew and daughter's fiancĂ©?  I guess not! 


Now Mariyam and Farhan are sneaking around as husband and wife, but surprise!  Farhan's dad finds Farhan's nikkah papers in a file and confronts him - but hadn't Farhan already been kicked out?  Did he sneak back in to place his nikkah papers in that file?  Mmmhmm.  Anyways, the scene gets tense, because Kashif has just arrived and is standing in the doorway listening to the commotion.....when Farhan reveals that the nikkah was done with Mariyam and she's now his wife.  Yes, this is all as icky as you're feeling reading it.


While the rest of the family is having a shock fest at Farhan, Kashif bolts towards home, really not knowing what to do with himself.  He goes home, confronts Mariyam who is sitting with Zara and, in anger, pulls out a gun to shoot her.  She tells him to go ahead and do it.....and he shoots himself.  


I actually can't make any sort of mockery of that scene, because it was actually heart-wrenching.  I was in shock with tears in my eyes for a solid 5 minutes afterwards.  

So now at present, Mariyam and Farhan's relationship has killed two people.  They are off to a great start!  Also, we were treated to a scene where Mariyam's bother confronts her over the whole mess - and she blames him for the mess her life is in, because he emotionally blackmailed her into marrying Salman all those years ago.  She also more or less says that she deserves happiness, excusing her bad behavior and marriage to Farhan.


It's really hard for me to understand where this show is headed.  Is Maria's character supposed to evoke sympathy? Is she supposed to be negative?  Am I supposed to hate Farhan?  This show has dived headfirst into all this drama, but has not given the audience the slightest indication to what we are supposed to feel!  

At this point, this is not a show I enjoy watching.  I feel like I need a shower afterwards.  If you're watching, please leave a comment below!  I'll be back to my positivity posts tomorrow! Happy watching!

2 comments:

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  2. I totally agree with your comments on this show... I'ts such a terrible mess and really should not have been written in the first place. Things like this should get banned, not Udaari. When mariam confronted her brother, I actually found myself agreeing with the things she was saying. i feel though that if mariam had married a younger man who had NOT been her freaking nephew and fiance of her daughter, the message would have gotten across better.

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