Tags
Samina Peerzada, MD Productions, Umera Ahmed, Hum TV, Hina Bayat, Fawad Khan, Mehreen Raheal, Pakistani Drama Reviews, Sanam Saeed, Sultana Siddiqui, Shehryar Munawar, Behroze Sabzwari, Mansha Pasha, Shazia Afgan, Sana Sarfaraz, Javed Shaikh, Ayesha Omar, Waseem Abbas, Maheen Khalid, M. Asad, Fawad Afzal Khan, Momina Duraid, Zindagi Gulzar Hai, Shehzad Kashmiri, Khalid Ahmad, ZGH
We’ve crossed the halfway mark in this serial and apparently five to six years have passed since the story began. I am marking time by Hammad’s education, he was in ninth/tenth grade when we began. Since then he’s passed his Matric, Intermediate exams, and today we learnt that somewhere along the way he had passed his Bachelors as well. Given the passage of time, I’m surprised that its taken someone this long to hold the mirror up to Zaroon.
Khair, as they say dair aayed durust aayed, and finally Osama found the wherewithal to confront our hero sahab about his hypocrisy and double standards. Needless to say hero sahab has no answer. When asked about his ideal, he puts forth Kashaf’s name. I would’ve liked it even more, if rather than laughing at Zaroon, Osama had gone a little bit further and pointed out Zaroon’s own behavior towards Kashaf during their university days. Moreover, if Zaroon is now citing as the perfect wife material now, wasn’t it because Kashaf had rebuffed him then? And, if Kashaf’s standoffishness is being held up as the ideal now, then why is it that the moment he meets her after so many years, he picks up right where left off?
Mr. Zaroon, I so hope Kashaf pulls you down more than a peg or too- your ego is becoming a little more than huge! I continue having problems with Zaroon, but Fawad brings this contradictory character to life fabulously!
This episode revolved primarily around Zaroon’s family, and we saw and heard a lot more from Ghazala, Junaid and Sara. What was interesting here was that even though there was a lot of discussion about liberalism and conservatism, stay-at-home wives vs the working women, we are yet to be told about the real problem between Sara and Farhan. Yes, Sara is obstinate, headstrong and whatnot, but still a sentence or two about Farhan’s exact issue would’ve helped us understand the root cause. Also, given that time seems to have elapsed between this episode and the last one, has Sara been staying with her parents for all this time? If so, clearly the problems between the two are already insurmountable then why drag this track out?
Zaroon and Asmara’s is the other track being dragged out. Again, they’ve been friends forever, and engaged for at least two years, why are they still together? If we’ve figured it out in thirteen weeks, well, actually we knew it right away, surely Asmara should’ve gotten it by now? Zaroon is no catch – all his arguments, that he has put forth to her so far, have more holes than a sieve. What does she see in him? Surely there are other guys in her circle, who would be better matches for Asmara. Girl, I think for your own sanity, you should break off with him. If you need more convincing, just play back that dinner conversation from this latest episode and you will see his contradictions shine through. I thought Mehreen essayed Asmara’s feelings and frustrations really well here.
From Zaroon to Kashaf’s part of the family, here too time continues to pass in spurts. Shehnila is still studying? How long does an engineering degree take? Hadn’t she gone away to study? If so, why was she now living with Rafia? On the Nigar-Murtaza front, while there was once again talk of Hammad, the two daughters continued being MIA. Considering that this serial revolves around the issue of the girl-child, societal attitudes towards their education and empowerment etc, Murtaza’s other two daughters’ continued absence sticks out like a sore thumb.
In a more positive development, abba is now proudly acknowledging Rafia’s daughters’ accomplishments, and apparently Rafia has “forgiven” him. Like Kashaf, I too don’t know what forgiven means in this context, but I guess different strokes for different people. I like Kashaf’s stance on Murtaza,and agree that forgiveness does not happen overnight or at will. As for Kashaf, time is passing by just fine for her. She has finished her training, and has been posted in a small town, and is now happily living on her own. I really liked her confidence here. I think Sanam conveyed that change in Kashaf’s attitude very well.
To nobody’s surprise, the Zaroon-Kashaf confrontation was left till the very end of the episode. In terms of Zaroon’s behavior it was more of the same old same old, except that now there is a conscious awareness that there is something appealing about Kashaf. Kashaf’s behavior, on the other hand, was a little strange. She was acting smug, which I can understand – she was finally talking to Zaroon as his equal. But what I couldn’t quite get was why was she acting coy around him? That smile on her face, didn’t it almost seem joyful/flirtatious? Also, when did they ever become such good friends that they were now addressing each other very familiarly as tum? I thought they left the university on barely speaking terms?
Overall, I thought this was interesting episode primarily because we finally saw Zaroon being brought face to face with his hypocrisies. Apart from this development, and the final two/three minutes between Zaroon and Kashaf, there was still a lot of beating about the bush on the Zaroon-Asmara and Sara-Farhan track. We really need some tighter editing here. Also, could the sound editor please fix the volume of background tracks, particularly during the Zaroon and Kashaf scenes. Thank you!
Written by SZ~
Again the time thingy means I am first to comment ….. not sur if that is good or not . I really liked this episode . It showed Mr Zaroon for the player he is . Gorgeous, charming but sadly player. In one scene he is complaining about asmara going around with guys he disapproves of and in the end he is over friendly with Kashaf whom I am sure Asmara does not approve of either. That easy smile and all that charm its only our Kashaf who does not believe in any kind of femininity, who can stand up to such an onslaught. was there a coy smile? I should hope so after making us wait 12 episodes …Maan bhi jaao meri maa……hum ghareebon nai kiya bigara hai aapka ? as to the other tracks …. hmmm i am not sure mere pass dimagh bucha hai bhi key nahin to analyse them .Thanks for an excellent review SZ
LOL@Sadaf at maan bhi jao meri maa!! I am so with you, but just b/c its Fawad and Sanam I think we want this to happpen .. otherwise Zaroon needs to be thrown overboard, preferably in the middle of an ocean somewhere (sorry, was watching Life of Pi recently)!
Yes, a huge thandi saans at the other tracks..
Lol at both of you!!! I’m in this time zone too so here I am!! I am also done dimagh kharabing all these never ending conflicts, have discussed them way too much. Osama said all I wanted, so happy with that scene….very well written!
Yes Zaroon can go jump.in the ocean, lekin phir kashaf uska button kaisa sew karegi or woh khush kaisa hoga or FK ka smile kaisay dekhenge…SZ don’t do that to us!!
LOL@SK!
yes indeed lol at the ocean drop
Tum ocean mein phenko, mein bachane keliye tyaar hoon
@Afia: LOL!! I think we are set for reality show type showdown entitled “Fawad Khan” ki sab se bari pankhi kaun?” I already have a few contestants in mind!
hahahaha!! Bechara Fawad Khan – burra phansa
LOL!! Sadaf!! Kashaf will never agree so easily. She’s never listened to her mom tow phir Zaroon kis khaith ki mooli hai?
I have a deep dislike of player types ..no matter how good looking ,. they never looked attractive to me …it could be just me but i always feel as if i need disinfectant around that kind of person..Even in college I used to admire the guys with Self control and who actually showed respect and kindness towards people.I loved life of Pi …(.remember Asher was reading it …uh oh Humsafar alert !!!). That suraj Kumar was great …Richard Parker turned out to be a very complex character …for a tiger …
Amen sista! LOL @ Ashar reading it! Did you notice Ghazala reading Jung Chang/Jon Halliday today? In Talkhiyan, Appo was reading Pamuk’s My Name is Red.. I wonder if these are Hina B’s personal choices? If so, we have similar tastes
you mean Orhan Pamuk , the Turkish one ? hmmm Man have i got to start reading more
I thought Ashar was reading a book by the same author as Life of Pi, ep 4? Or was Life of Pi in some other scene?
Fortunately today that I finished writing my review a bit early, I came here to finally read yours and I am giggling. We both loved FK in aviators and uhhh discussed time line which clearly does not exists! Awesome yaar but I have to say, I still enjoyed this episode like the last one. I am just so glad kashaf did not give in as easily as raffia aunty in forgiving aba ji!
You said it SZ! I got confused by that whole smile too. Have to give credit to someone on the reviewit site that maybe the smile was more “this guy has never changed and acting like we are best friends” smile. I wish Sanam would have acted it out a little better because it did come across as a bit of a sharmeeli si coy smile
Thanks for figuring on the timeline. I was thinking 3 years have passed since they graduated from MBA and a year has passed since the last episode because Kashaf went for training in epi 12 and now she’s working in epi 13. Boy that’s a LONG time to drag out 2 train wreck relationships – Sara and Asmara. I would have to go w/ SK – uff let’s move on already.
The Usama – Z scene was very well done. I wonder how many outtakes they had for that one where they had to probably tell SM not to smile and stay serious while he talked. Thank goodness he did well! That’s probably his longest scene in the whole drama.
Enjoyed Z’s messy hair during the ‘confused diary scene’ and the aviators are back from the college days lol but they look good on him so no complaints there
Well that smile was supposed to be Full of confidence -professional- and expression should be like kay Mr Z i am not Surprised to see you here, not sharmeeli aur flirty !! I guess yahan madame sanam ko margin of doubt dena paray ga otherwise shes portraying it well.
To me K’s smile was not coy it meant ” oh I am not going to be fooled by that smarmy charm again ” while Z’s looked as if all his Christmases and eids had come together .He had been shown to be thinking about Kashaf subliminally and he too had been in her thoughts lately as the conversation between the mother and daughter at the dining table shows when K says that some people don’t have to work hard to get everything in life.
yep they both have been in each other’s subconscious but I wish the smile was more “oh this creepy chipkoo guy is back!” vs. “ooh look how cute FK looks” Being a woman, my “creep” smile is different from my “cute” smile lol
@Annie – the timeline was the issue in the last episode as well. My issue is with the same ol same ol scenes. The entire episode was basically about relationship troubles between Zaroon/Asmara – Sarah/her husband… And woh bhi the same issues … wife wants her freedom and husband has set rules.. kya tamasha hai!!
We get the point, just move on with it already.
No surprise that the most awaited scene was the last scene of the episode. They think the viewers are fools, the promo is packed with with Zaroon/Kashaf scenes so we can once again wait for next Friday with the same excitement.
Kashaf had that “omG he is smoking hot in those aviators”. Not well played Ms. Kashaf!
LOL Ash – you totally crack me up!
If we go back to the OST that was heavily promoted, it was also filled with Z-K scenes which we know by now will show up around episode 20 and 21. So what can we say about Hum Tv and their previews. They’ve been messing with the viewers head since the Humsafar days. Most of us have grown to not pay attention to their ‘promotional’ cr@p.
As far as repetition, Umera Ahmed’s writing style and screenplays are generally filled with repetitive content. In most plays the Directors (Mehreen, Haissam, Sarmad) are smart enough to know what to keep and take out of a repetitive narrative. If we go back to Daam, SeZ, and DeS, we would find repetition galore but the the director and editors knew how to make the end product look good. Whereas Maat, MZZB, and Uraan were chalk full of repetition too but the directors and editors did not use their better judgement.
Unfortunately for Sultana Siddique, being friends with the writer led her to not see the screenplay from a critical director’s eye but rather from a good buddy’s eye. So we have what we have here in ZGH. The saga of Rafia’s bills continues for another 5-6 more epis. Stay tuned
I so agree with you @Annie…
I too agree @Annie true that
@ Annie; I agree with you 100%. UA should realize that her biggest hits & best plays have been with good directors, & a brilliant director is as important as a good, strong script.
thanks ladies!
@Mona – I don’t know how much say UA has in picking directors for her scripts. I am guessing not a whole lot? They probably give her 2 directors’ names based on availability and she gets to pick 1 of the 2..
I still think Mehreen knows how to manage an Umera script better than anyone else.
Shehrezaat was pretty good to. I think Sarmed did a great job with that script. I am sure the novella was full of lectures. O.o
@Ash: hehe…Sez novel was really balanced one and there were more naseehats in Drama in contrast to novel:)
yeah can you imagine Sultana Siddique or Baber Javed direction SeZ – *scary thought*
Don’t you guys remember Naani and her naseeyats in SEZ…the beginning was full of them! Agree withRehmat.
However we got a lot of other balanced scenes though, so Sarmad did do a good job. It is probably very challenging to do UA scripts though, admire all these directors…really. Even SS hasn’t done too bad, she is back after a long time and it is still one of the better dramas and a lot of the scenes have been done very well, for me except for the repetion the story is still good and the some of the dialogues esp Kashafs side have been amazing. Yes one of the three dire rpts Annie mentioned would ha e made it superb, but the general audience are still finding it brilliant. I meean even Mzzb was a hit and that was babar javaid!
Even Qaid e tanhai was by Baber Javed and i liked that drama of Umera!! But some of umera scripts despite being average are considered excellent only because director have done it beautifully..
I don’t agree that it’s the big directors with whom umera ahmed has given her biggest hits. She has given hits with Amna nawaz khan in Maat and sakina samo in wujood e laraib and both these stories were not novel based either. Whether we call her work repetitive, didactic, monotonous or whatever the fact is that her serials click with the audience like no other writer and she has given hits consistently with every director. Mehreen could not make neeyat or coke kahani a hit. She even failed to make Farhat’ block buster novel mej a super hit. Sarmad failed to make ashk a hit which was aired along with SeZ. He also flopped with mera yaqeen. Haissam’s des was a hit after two flop serials asghari aur Akbari and kpkpbt. As a devoted ua fan I feel that reviewers on this blog and on dramapakistani always have a biased and uneven approach for analysing umera ahmed’s serials which is frustrating for a viewer like me. If she is such a bad writer why does she has a better success rate than other writers. You should give credit to her for the merits of her work too while assessing her work. One sided bashing of her work is so disappointing.
So thats not only me who’s cofused with this time thingy… LOLs. Only Kashafs track is going well in all respects. I dont know whats the problem with zaroon and his family. I am afraid do such families in real drag such matters so long!!! Aur mujhe tu ye bhe samjh nahe aa raha kay CSS nay akhir Zaroon ka kuch kion nahe bigara!! still no changes in his lifestyle , in his attitude, in his dressing -after training and Foreign services woh abhe tak asmaara aur sara aur farhaan bhai k problems he solve kiye jaa raha hai. Anyways, one thing I am sure thats not my favourite writers fault, thats poor editing n probably direction!! Sanam Saeed is doing full justice with the “Umera’s Kashafs role”, AND THAT LAST EXPRESSION when he was noting her number -simply Wow!!
Btw SZ i often read your reviews. Your doing a brilliant job.
Saman.
@Saman: Thanks! So glad u decided to comment – always great to hear from one of our silent readers
Yeah, we’re all confused 
Hopefully time will pass more smoothly from hereon! As they say umeed pay dunya qaim hai 
Hammad cleared his Intermediate Exams with 2nd Division and it was then Nigaar sent Sweet meats to Rafia’s house…
@Hasan: Hi! great to hear from you! Thanks for clarifying
Perhaps you could also explain about Murtaza and Nigar’s daughters??
maybe hassan can also shed light on the rest of the timeline as well? please do elaborate how long has it been since Asmara and Zaroon have been engaged?
sweet meats sounds gross! No wonder Nigaar is a bit out there. This is the kinda stuff she eats.. =\
The number of years gone by for each track seems to be different. I’m still trying to do the math, but 2 + 2 is giving me a 5 digit answer.
And agree with your review on every aspect. Well written.
LOL Geetika. so true every track of the story has a different timeline
@Geetika: LOL! please do share your answers whenever you find one!
Oh love this reviews! Yes our most awaited scene showed that our apprehensions had taken the form of reality. It was the last scene but I was glad to see FK in his aviators and ‘that’ smile. I loved him there. FK was wonderful as Zaroon. Though, I really want Kashaf to brush him off real bad but the story has moved forward, pleasantly though. I hope this sequence brings us some nice and memorable scenes. I really am looking forward to that.
I am Kashaf’s side now. I was put off by Rafia Aunty’s bara dil. What if Murtaza has started acknowledging their efforts? It is still not a good enough excuse to get his boarding pass to the family. They can’t certainly forget what he had been doing through out their teens and early years? !
I would appreciate it if Asmara and Zaroon break off in the next episode. Zaroon has a lot if issues and Asmara is wasting time. Bus Sarah and Farhan should get separated too so that the real story resumes. Please!
iA next episode will be fun. I am really interested in Zaroon’s reaction to Osama’s meet-up with Kashaf. If he reacts to this too tou he will qualify your sentence keh he should be thrown in the middle of the sea. REALLY!
@Heela: Yes! Those aviators were indeed mighty fine! Btw, did you check out the Armaan pics in the HS thread?!
Am I the only one who had hoped that Osman and Kashaf would become an item!?
Oops, meant Usama
@Asaka – you are not the only one! MY sister thinks they should hook up as well. She claims that he’s liked her since day one and he is serious about her. LOL, well we all know that wont happen.
YEs I think so :0
Is it just me who feels that this episode really clarified why Zaroon is the way he is – his insecurities, his confusion, his ego, his mannerisms, etc. His message was clear about what and why he was being difficult, or had changed his views on what he wanted from his wife-to-be. I found his reasoning to be very clear – he didn’t want a wife who would follow in the footsteps of the lifestyle of his mother and sister, because that simply disturbed the family life.
Unfortunately, none of the people he conveyed that message to understood his point of view and thought he was being too conservative and a hypocrite.
I actually have a lot of respect for Zaroon because he is voicing his confusion and insecurities.
He was never so in love with Asmara anyway, which is why he was full of doubts saying YES to her and even after his engagement he wrote about why he was still feeling confused and thought he might have made a mistake.
His issue with Asmara is not that she cannot befriend men, but the fact that she is overly frank and too comfortable with them, post their engagement. I see it as him being protective of her.
Farhan has the same issue with Sara.
ZGH has made me realize that maybe women do take freedom too objectively these days, and use that to dictate their marriage. I didn’t see Sara or Asmara showing any level of flexibility towards their relationship. Seems like its now more a fight for basic rights!
I don’t feel this issue is about Zaroon’s double standards, et all, but different perspectives on relationships and how to nurture them so they are healthy – whether you belong to a middle class or an upper class!
How would you think Zaroon is acting with Kashaf post his engagement…he was literally breathing down her neck. I don’t think he has changed at all since uni, and he himself said men can do anything its ok. So he has admitted he has double standards.
I don’t think men or women should be overly frank with non mahrams, and obviously more so when engaged or married, but why are women only looked down upon? He was a total flirt in college and used to drive asmara home at night late, is that right? I do not agree with what asmara and Sara are supposedly doing either but our society stinks in that a man can get away with everything and still be respected and considered great.
He has no justification whatsoever for his behavior. When Osama was asking him why he’e like that and what reason he has, he had nothing to say to him. So quite frankly I still fail to understand his problem.
And he if does not like Asmara why can he not break it off. His parents are supposedly so liberal and open minded so how can they force him into this relationship. Ghazala is having such a tough time letting this go, as if usko koi rishta nahi milne wala?!?! The woman has lost her mind!
For more reviews of Zindagi Gulzar Hai:
http://somethinghaute.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/zindagi-gulzar-hai-13/
I for one am not so bothered by Zaroon’s double standards. The reason might be that I’ve lived in Pak all my life and these standards are a part of life. All boys however ‘modern’ they are ultimately want a girl who listens to them. Or is atleast in sync with him. In ZGH both Z and K are unable to listen to each other’s POV. In our culture generally (good or bad) the wife succumbs to the husband’s wishes, or relents to a degree. But Asmara is unwilling to do even that. Garbar toh honi hi hai.
The writer shouldn’t have had two identical tracks running for so long- has become tedious and boring- but yes- the last 3 mins were great!.
SK, I am SO glad I found your blog! I look forward to reading your commentary as much as I do watching the actual episode. Finally reviews that are more than just reiterations of each scene. Your writing is so refreshing nd then the discussion that ensues is too!
The dramas view on what liberties taken by women vs. men are acceptable is interesting and confusing. I can’t figure out if they’re trying to say men (i.e. Zaroon) are truly chauvinists and hypocrites (which he at least admits he is) or wether women’s expectations of “freedom” are unrealistic, or both. Or wether they’re just depicting the way society is moving – women become liberal faster than men without actually giving an opinion on it.
My own take is that no matter where you go, or how “progressive” one becomes, there will always be a double standard – or at least some degree of inequality. That doesn’t mean society should be unjust or unfair…just admit that woman and man will never be exactly the same (i.e. equals). It’s not rocket science. It’s biology. For example, pregnancy and maternity leave for a working woman can never be addressed the same way as the nine months a man’s wife is pregnant and his paternity leave. Not pertinent to the Asmaara/Zaroon or Sara/Farhan issue, but just a concrete example that both women and men need to acknowledge there are differences and that certain situations will require inequality, but should not compromise justice.
So, back to the relevant – I wish the writers would be a little clearer on what their message is. Asmaara and Sara’s need for independence seems a little unrealistic and pathological. I don’t know many (if any) women who would insist on hanging out with their guy friends, who partake in habits that are questionable, at the dismay of their husbands – not even my ghori friends. Is it reaction to being “suppressed” for so long or is it simply an exaggeration of what types of liberties women are fighting for to prove a point?
Sorry. Meant SZ!
@zoyaiman: Hey! Thanks for your kind words ..great to have you join in our crazy conversations
I totally agree with your comment .. you’ve articulated my thoughts really well! I’ve been asking similar questions al along as well .. lets hope that we get some answers by the time this journey ends. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the following weeks!
I agree Zoya that the drama is sending out a very confusing and mixed message. I am unable to swallow the fact that “rich girl being stubborn” is not ok while “poor/middle class girl being stubborn” is completely ok. If they had stayed away from the Sara/Asmara track then there would be less confusion regarding what is trying to be conveyed here.
exactly
Now I’m confused…are you referring to Kashaf being stubborn? I don’t feel she’s been stubborn, more thankless in everything and a lot of people hate that…no one praised her for it.
she has a stubborn streak to her. She hasn’t been put into a similar situation as Asmara but for example she didn’t want to wish Asmara on her birthday, never gave Maria much respect, didn’t want to share her notes w/ Z, didn’t want to wake up when her father came to visit. Her stubbornness has been shown from a mellow-er perspective because as viewers we are supposed to sympathize with her cause and only blame her for being thankless. Otherwise she’s a shoe-in for the woman of the year award!
I agree with you. But okay Asmara’s character is a lil farfetched in my opinion. First shes dying to marry this man and when he finally agrees to getting engaged to her, she cannot even compromise just a little bit for the sake of their relationship? so clearly she doesnt care much for it if she cannot even take out the time to work on it.
I have no idea what Sara and Farhans problem is bc we never hear Farhan’s side of the story but seems she has the same issues as Asmara.
The writer has it all wrong.. I am sure when someone’s speaks of liberal women they are not speaking with people like Asmara and Sara in mind. These two women don’t really exist in the real world.
This whole drama is an insult to anyone’s intelligence and reeks of bigotry particulary against privileged women or privileged “working” women . The author needs to take a break from writing and step outside the four walls of her home. That might help with her cardboard,confused,and confusing characters. SZ you are far too intelligent to be giving so much space to something so medicore
Agreed – lets sponsor the writer’s next vacation so she can get some exposure to the real world!
haha! Actually she goes to England for vacations that’s why I fail to understand why she has such a vendetta against upper class working women.
I am guessing that like most desi’s her annual trip to England is to actually visit relatives. Uss say behtar hai that she take hiking trip up in hunza valley or smth. Let’s all please suggest that on her fb page :p
Thats rude. You are not suppose to get personal!!
You are on!
Wow… amazing discussion going on here guys
Z-K meeting scene was nice, but i didn’t find Kashaf’s smille a coy one.. i found it rather Professional, she can’t be that arrogant to pass smile on two of the guests and not the third one! Seems like gulzaar days are coming 
I just saw last 18 mins.. and that were thankfully good to watch.. much needed scene between Osama and Zaroon.. we finally get to know about what Z thinks… and during these i miss the actual Zaroon from novel.. anyways since i am not following it rigorously so shouldn’t be saying that much
Yes Rehmat I loved the osama Zaroon scene. Those dialogues were very important for the viewers that Zaroon has,issues too, and I think Umera Ahmed has to be credited for that ,that Zaroon was challenged for his behaviour. We may not like his character, but it has to be shown that society does have people like that and a lot of them.
@SK… Yes agreed! But it was must to throw light on Z character as much it was thrown on K character…. Just one scene will not balance Z chacracter…
@Rehmat – good call on the last 18 minutes. Pehle 22 minutes were a rehash of the first 12 episodes!
@Ash: lol… Yeah thanks to early reviews n comments:d
Also someone explain to me how an unfriendly, rude, and almost-obnxious kashaf, who is also a “working woman” is Zaroon’s ideal? is he seriously expecting to get love and affection from such a ‘sukht dil” girl who has so many issues including biases against men and the rich. Or is she his ideal because of all those reasons? match made in breakup heaven
@Sonia: I think that’s exactly what many of us are waiting to find out. Without knowing Kashaf personally, he’s turned her into some kind of an ideal woman … lets see what happens when the two very opposite but equally strong-headed personalities meet…
I don’t agree that it’s the big directors with whom umera ahmed has given her biggest hits. She has given hits with Amna nawaz khan in Maat and sakina samo in wujood e laraib and both these stories were not novel based either. Whether we call her work repetitive, didactic, monotonous or whatever the fact is that her serials click with the audience like no other writer and she has given hits consistently with every director. Mehreen could not make neeyat or coke kahani a hit. She even failed to make Farhat’ block buster novel mej a super hit. Sarmad failed to make ashk a hit which was aired along with SeZ. He also flopped with mera yaqeen. Haissam’s des was a hit after two flop serials asghari aur Akbari and kpkpbt. As a devoted ua fan I feel that reviewers on this blog and on dramapakistani always have a biased and uneven approach for analysing umera ahmed’s serials which is frustrating for a viewer like me. If she is such a bad writer why does she has a better success rate than other writers. You should give credit to her for the merits of her work too while assessing her work. One sided bashing of her work is so disappointing.
@Rameen: Lovely as always to hear from you … You are absolutely right in that all writers and directors have given hits as well as flops, but then we’ve criticized and praised each one in turn. As far as picking specifically on Umera, I can only speak on my own behalf, and say that you’ve read my reviews of SeZ and know that I unequivocally loved it. In the case of Ashk, it annoyed me no end, to the extent that I wrote [not] reviews of the latter half of that serial. Similarly Daagh, also, did not garner any rave reviews from me … So its unfair to say that I have picked on one director/writer/ over another. Also failures and hits are ultimately matters of personal choice. For many KPKP and AA were very successful, whereas there are others who could not understand the fuss about Humsafar.
As far as ZGH is concerned, we had all looked forward to it with great anticipation, and my early reviews are an indication of that excitement. Yes, there are issues that Umera has handled well, and I have made note of those. But as the story has progressed there are severe problems with repetition and time etc, that make it very hard to praise this one as a great serial. That said, I am hopeful that the writer and director will gain control of the story sooner rather than later.
All this is to say that there is no drama or story or book or artwork that is universally loved and appreciated. The same glass of water can be seen as either half empty or half full, all depends on the perspective .. neither is right or wrong!
I hope you don’t mind me also answering Rameen as she specifically pointed out Drama Pakistani. I have to disagree with your reading of the situation Rameen . I cannot read Urdu as well as perhaps you can but as far as drama serials go I greatly admire Umera Ahmed’s work. I am totally in love with Durr e Shehwar and would defend it to the death as one of the great classics of Pakistani Drama, similarly I adored Sheher e Zaat though not as much as SZ ( I had a few caveats). I loved Humsafar but Mata e Jaan was not spared my complaints (read the comment section of SZ’s wonderful reviews at DP).. I am really enjoying Daagh but You are welcome to read my reviews of ASHK anytime at DP and you will realise I have no blind devotion to anyone .
As to ZGH ,I had high in the sky hopes because I admire Umera Ahmed’s work and I am a crazy Fawad fan. There are obvious flaws to ZGH but hey it is no.1 in the ratings and I watch it every week despite that . Read the reviews of Humsafar , there were (blasphemy alert !!) a few minor points people were annoyed with there ,too. I can understand you feeling frustrated , I am frustrated with the portrayal of upper class,well educated ,working women as as uncaring, cold blooded egoists but at some point I have to accept that this is the writers vision for the story. I too am frustrated with the way the story was promoted raising expectations of something different from what it actually is. Half my objections vanished when I realised when I realised the actual framework of the story. I know here any point of view is viewed with respect and I can guarantee it is at DP too. So if you disagree say so I am all ears. BTW I loved Akbari Asghari and Kuch Pyaar ka pagalpan so much I refer to the characters and if i am bored resort to watching clips of them ,they may be flops as far as TRPs or what ever you think is important but they were hits to me