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Thank God for Qabacha!! His move, next door to Miss Sania and Madam Aani, has not only brought laughter back to his neighbors’ household, but also helped bring some closure for all of us viewers. At long last we got an unequivocal answer regarding Zara’s whereabouts – yes, indeed she had passed away. Furthermore, Qabacha’s direct questions left Aani no other choice but to come out and openly talk about why Farhan had turned into such a curmudgeon – he was involved in a corruption scandal and had to put in some jail time as well. Awww!! Feel so sorry for Farhan uncle now… but chalo koi gal nahin, have no fear Qabacha’s here… he will set things straight, and while he’s doing so, he’ll keep us viewers informed of all the other mysterious going on in that household. Think about it, its been five weeks since we’ve been asking arrey bhai Zara kahan hai? Farhan Uncle ko kiya hua? Koi seedha jawaab hi nahin… sab loagon ki apni gol gol baatein … Shabash Qabacha – aapne woh kar dikhaya jo hum paanch hafton main nahin kar sake!!!

Indeed, Qabacha was the star of the show today. His views on the be-sabaati of this faani duniya, and his afsos at the halat-e zaar of the dil girifta Miss Sania, bas kya kehne, yaani ke lafzon ka ek dariya tha jo sailab ki tarah behta chala jaa raha tha - that entire sequence was just too good. Behroze’s delivery and timing was just fabulous. Matching him at every step was Marina Khan, she was just great. The passing of the hot plate between them was a risky gag that could’ve seemed like overkill with other actors, but I thought these two worked it really well. The entire sequence concluded with the oddest but the cutest little jig from Qabacha, when he learns that Serena and Chandni are not Miss Sania’s daughters. Behroze Sabzwari is such a class act and his comedic timing is so fabulous that it is almost unfair to the other younger stars who have to stand in the same frame as him. Shahroz has his father’s flair for acting and is actually good here, but after having seen Qabacha Sr. in full form, its kinda hard to focus on Qabacha Jr. Sorry kiddo, but what to do – your father’s just too good!

Meanwhile, Zenia’s passport mystery – how it got to whose bag how – was amicably resolved, and we saw the continued breaking down of the communication barriers between Zenia and Zain. Though they still address each other in the third person, but at least they are talking. The chip on Zenia’s shoulder is still as huge as ever, but there are gradual signs of erosion there as well. At least she has now  started going to the Youth Center with her khala and sister. Speaking of the Youth Center, I almost want to start an inquiry into the finances of this Center – kaun deta hai iske paisey, kahan se aatey hain yeh paise?? This place is so huge and the decor is more suited to a mall atrium or a glitzy hotel lobby… I have yet to see such a fancy facility for the youth – but if such a place does exist in Pakistan, then bhai wah! kya kehne!

While at the Youth Center, Zenia runs into Zarak Khan again. Their’s were the scenes that I had really looked forward to – I wanted to see sparks fly between these two very opposite personalities, but sadly their scenes left absolutely no impact on me. Zarak’s lines were funny and the setting was just right, but Shehryar just could not deliver. Ordinarily, I would say he was passable, but after having watched a stalwart like Behroze Sahab in action, followed by the relatively more experienced Shahroz, I have to confess to being very disappointed. Shehryar has great screen presence and the requisite charm, but this kind of comedy requires experience and that will just come with time. Alishba was much better and gave a good account of herself, but the real scene stealer here was Salma Hasan. What an actress she is! She had no lines, but just her expressions, as she mimicked the actions of feuding pair, were too good, as close to a silent running commentary as you can get – loved it!

My “it girls,” Serena and Chandni were as cute as ever. Syra has nailed the breezy unaffected Serena to a T. Similarly Kaif plays the perky Chandni with such ease that even in that one scene with Zain she made her mark. Her hilarious translation of Haka’s gestures, as he tried to explain what happened to Zenia’s passport, left Zain completely befuddled. The poor chap, now how is he expected to make sense of passport-eating fish – pehle daku kiya kam the ke ab yeh nayee museebat! 

Amidst all the doom and gloom that we hear on our media 24/7, I am so glad for Coke Kahani and Tanhaiyan – two shows that always leave me with a smile on my face. Tanhaiyan is a simple but lovely story about a family for the family. There is nothing here that needs to be fast forwarded. The language is beautiful. There are no underlying agendas, except to promote good values, adab, adaab, tameez, lihaaz, basic stuff that should be intrinsic but isn’t, so I’m glad that there is a conscious effort to do so. All in all, another fun episode, some weak spots, but overall enjoyable!

Written by SZ~

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