Sunday, October 30, 2016

Tum Kon Piya and Intezaar Came to an End.....

I know, I promised a Dramas I'm Currently Watching post, but my life is moving fast and these dramas are slipping by me even faster, before I can get to my laptop, so this all feels very haphazard to me.  Haha.  Bear with me!  Let's discuss a couple of shows that have ended!

Tum Kon Piya



This was a show that, despite a slow storyline, gripped at your heartstrings from beginning to end.  Tum Kon Piya encompassed that "knight in shining armor" story, where we all hoped with all our hearts that Ramish would step in and save Elma from her horrible life and give her the happiness she deserved.  It hurt my heart to watch the last 3 episodes, because I could see that those wishes would not be fulfilled.  But despite that, I still wasn't prepared for what happened in the last episode.

For an otherwise beautiful show, I couldn't really wrap my head around the last episode.  It simply brought my heart down to reality with a brutal THUD.  It depicted everything that's wrong with Pakistani society.



 The situation in which our beloved heroine, Elma, found herself in was a brutal test for someone so "good."  She was a saint, but without being annoyingly so.  We saw her moments of depression, her moments of anger, her grief at her personal betrayals towards her own family and the grief they felt at her expense.  The last episode only increased the misery, making me furious that a girl like Elma would, in fact, NOT be getting her happy ending.

In order to avoid spoilers, please do not read further than this line.

In my mind, I believed that, true to Pakistani drama girls-should-stay-with-their-husbands-no-matter-how-rotten-they-once-were fashion, that Elma would forgive Zarbaab, come back to the world of the laughing and walking and carry out her life in a "happy" fashion with Zarbaab and her child.  Ramish would stay with Neha and build a life with her, always having that beautiful connect with Elma of respect.  But NO.  While I wouldn't have agreed with that ending entirely, it would've been preferable to what we actually got.


Instead, we were treated to Zarbaab's realization coming a little to late, triggering a reaction from Elma's comatose self and eventually.....dying.  Why?  WHY?  WHYYYYY?!  Someone explain the madness to me!  Why did such a GOOD character have to endure so much tragedy, simply because her father and Ramish's father made the wrong choice in life for her marriage?!  WHY?!  Why do dramas have to show such weakness?  Why couldn't Elma simply come back for her SON?!  WHY?!  It's infuriating!

Coming to the second point that infuriated me - Ramish and Neha had been raising Affan as their own son, giving him all the love he needed to thrive.....SINCE HE WAS A BABY.  That was easily at least 5-6 years.  Suddenly, Zarbaab, failed father of the century and failed husband of the century, steps in and says "I want my son".....and that's it?  The boy belongs with his "father"?  Forget that Ramish and Neha are financially more stable, emotionally more stable, better people and have done everything for this child?



Arif's conclusion was just too "easy."  It would've been preferable had he, in a moment of guilt in later years, confessed what he had done as it had affected his ability to have a relationship with his siblings.  The "crazy" angle just didn't WORK. WHY did that happen?  It didn't make any sense.

Unfortunately, I was not happy with the conclusion of Tum Kon Piya.  What was a beautiful, well-written show with a lot of soul somehow ended on a cliched note that didn't strike any sort of chord with me.  It will still go down as one of the best shows of 2016 for me, but it would've had an ending worthy of the beauty of the show.


Intezaar




Oh boy.  What should I say about this show?  I have no words.  I don't understand what happened here - did they hit episode 17 and realize that they've run out of the budget for the show?  I have not seen such a strange ending in a while.  Basically, this show is encouraging lying - you know, for the "better good."

I really loved Intezaar.  I loved the themes.  I loved that a girl who had already found true love learned to move on with another man.  I loved that the man was so accepting of her child and her past.  I loved that the man was torn between his love and his obligation to do right by his mentally and emotionally scarred cousin (and wife).  I loved that Saba and Zoya (initially) had such a good relationship.  I loved that Shariq's mother was not a typical saas, hating her new bahu, but rather supporting her through the situation.



What I hated?  How the show suddenly turned into a cliched Dusri Biwi drama.  How a mentally messed up girl with zero care for her husband SUDDENLY had to, in the span of five minutes, start caring about her husband.  How?  Why?  Because her mother said so?  Since when was she so easily influenced?  I don't think so.  It didn't make any sense.  Why didn't Zoya and Shariq scream from the rooftops that Saba tried to burn Zoya's hand on the stove?  Why weren't these things important to mention when dealing with someone so unstable?

Why did Shariq suddenly, in one random as hell moment, yell at Zoya to go away, because SHE was the cause of his problems?  Was she?  Really Shariq?  WAS SHE?  He was the one who brought her as his wife!  She had left his home!  These male characters get written in such a way that the beauty of the character gets stripped due to completely illogical behavior for the necessary five minutes that the writer deems necessary to "move the story along."



And the ENDING?  I can't believe that ending.  Zoya leaves.  Shariq wonders where she's gone.  He builds a life with Saba, who is now "normal."  Saba wonders aloud to her mother about Shariq's long work trips.  Her mother comforts her.  Shariq ends up at Zoya's home - OH.  WAIT.  THEIR HOME.  Because Shariq found Zoya five years ago and is now bouncing back and forth between two wives.  Zoya is aware of this arrangement, but Saba and her mother are not.  BUT WAIT.  Shariq's mother and Shariq's Mamoon ARE aware of this situation.  Wait....what?

So in the end, basically what the show promoted was that if you have a conflict, separate the conflict from your life by living a double life with both your wives!



I don't know.  The ending of this show really distorted my view of what had started off as a really great, unusual and different show.  All the actors involved did a great job and the writing was great for the first 2/3 of the show, but that last 1/3 really took a hit.

Overall, it was a good show, but I'm not sure about whether I'd recommend it or not.

Judaai



This show also came to an end, but I feel like I have absolutely nothing to say about that show other than this: I'm glad Neelam Munir's character was a "progressive woman" and did NOT go back to Affan Waheed after all the crap he put her through.  That was a disgusting situation and terrible behavior on his part and it was refreshing to see him lose out to his own stupidity.  Otherwise, the show was interesting, but became too over the top and dragged out in the end.

I have another blog post coming up soon, as I'm already working on it (no, it's not the current drama list just yet!  I need to catch up!  Haha).  See you soon!  Until then, happy watching!

*  Disclaimer:  All Images are Courtesy of Google.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Thoughts on Some New Shows

OK, writing will definitely be a struggle with the loss of my blogger phone application, but we will just have to make the most of it (and by that, I just mean I'll have to open my laptop more often).

I am definitely planning to write a "Dramas I'm Currently Watching" post next, but until then, I just want to discuss a few new shows briefly.  I'm watching many more and have picked up a good number (including great ones like Sang e Mar Mar),but these are the shows currently floating around in my head..

Bin Roye


Unlike some of you, I did not get the opportunity to watch the film "Bin Roye," so the drama experience is a new one for me.  Yes, thanks to spoilers, I do know the story and how this will play out, but despite that, I am genuinely enjoying this ride.  According to a friend who has seen the movie, this show is much more in depth than the movie was and I'm glad.  I have fallen in love with this show from the first scene, as it has a cast of stellar performers, beautiful production values (I have never seen a drama on this scale!), a sweet story with depth and, most of all, I am loving that the songs have been retained!  It's a visual treat with a story that keeps you hooked.  So far, I am in love.

Sanam


I can only describe this show as a disappointment.  I expect better from Osmaan Khalid Butt.  Hareem has made errors before and Maya is a mess in my mind now after Mann Mayal, plus she does not have the best track record with her shows.  But I had yet to see an Osmaan show I didn't love.  That might very well change with this one.  Hareem's character is irritating, Osmaan's character lacks backbone, Maya's character is too meek (unnecessarily) and Emad's character is unbelievably manipulative).  The only character that I'm loving is Hina Biyat's, because she is playing the role of the lovable, cujte, muun-phat mother perfectly.  Otherwise, let's just wait and watch....this may get better, but it may just continue to get worse.

Dil Banjara


How an incredible actress like Sanam Saeed can act in such an OTT drama is actually boggling my mind.  How an actor like Adnan Malik, who has given such a beautiful performance in Sadqay Tumhare, can say silly things like "Main banjara hoon" with a straight face is beyond my comprehension.  How this show's dialogue writer wrote these lines like "Main udna chahti hoon" while not writing a comedy is hurting my ears.  I could not believe how terrible the first episode of this show was.  I am going to admit that I've had a busy week and have not seen the second episode as yet, but I'm not expecting great things. This is a let-down so far.  I'm hoping it improves and transforms into something worth watching.

Intezaar


A once beautiful show has taken the beaten path of a typical two wives storyline.  Why Shariq doesn't just tell off his Mamoon and evil Maami is actually incomprehensible.  Saba is a psychotic case, a girl who can't control or understand her emotions, a girl who tried to burn Sana's hand on the stove.....and a girl who I would never trust alone in a room with my child.  Despite all this, Shariq and his mother continue to make excuses for her and expect Zoya to just deal with the situation.  They were the ones who hounded her into marrying Shariq for his happiness and now Shariq is telling her to leave.  Zoya's character had enough misery in her life without Shariq adding to it.  This show is becoming unbearable to watch, simply due to stupidity.  Up until now, this was a must-watch for me, because the main characters were logical.  Now, the show has become a senseless two-wives drama.  Boring.

Alright, that's all for now!  I will start working on my next post and will try to write more frequently!  Happy watching!

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

MIA

I haven't written for 3 weeks!  A lot has happened since then, like the ending of Udaari and Zara Yaad Kar, as well as the start of great shows like Sang E Mar Mar and Bin Roye, as well as the highly anticipated (but fairly annoying) Sanam.  I know all this and more!

I want to express my displeasure at Google's actions.  I've wanted to write this post for Zara Yaad Kar for a week now, but my Blogger app on my phone kept shutting down.  I decided to delete and reinstall it....only to discover that Google has completely removed the app from iPhone app stores, so I can no longer have the app on my phone.  As someone who actively blogs from my phone, I'm incredibly agitated by this development.  I now have to make the active effort to turn on my laptop (which is difficult when you have a toddler) in order to compose a blog post.  So I apologize in advance if my posts are even more delayed than usual from this point on.

OK, having said that, I have been visiting my parents for the last month and failed to bring my laptop with me, not for seeing this horrible glitch.  I will be back home in 3 days and we will have a lot of catching up to do.  Until then, thanks for always supporting me and reading, despite my uncommitted ways!  I appreciate you all!  Happy  watching!