Meesha Shafi was loveable in her debut role as Changez’s sister and also contributed to the soundtrack with ‘Bijli Aaye Ya Na Aaye

Lyrics, Composed By: Ifti
Produced By: A&B Entertainment
Directed By: Ahmed Kamran

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The trend of translating novels into dramas continues. The audience is always on the lookout for a love story no matter how unbelievable it is and producers and directors make it a point to serve us our daily dose of mush!
The latest entry into the world of rebellious romance is Shab-e-Aarzoo Ka Aalam. Adapted from a novel of the same name by Aneeza Syed, the drama has been directed by Sohail Javed. It is the story of a rebellious man and a girl full of life whose paths cross. I will not share what happens in the novel but it does not have a happy ending. The cast includes Mohib Mirza, Armeena Rana Khan, Danial Raheel, Qazi Wajid and others. This is Armeena Rana Khan’s first step in drama acting and to be honest, she doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job. Khan might be a pretty face to look at, she might look good selling flowy lawn but when it comes to acting, there’s not much she can do. I wonder how her Bollywood film will do at the box office!

Film Seedlings was premiered at New York City International Film Festival 2012 and bagged two international awards: People Choice for Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role ‘Aamina Sheikh’. Now the movie is scheduled to be screened as feature film on Day 3 of SAARC Film Festival 2013 in Colombo which aims to promote best feature and documentary films from 2010 – 2012 of SAARC Region.

The film has not been released in Pakistan yet but it has honored Pakistan at international platforms so as we wish for SAARC Film Festival 2013.

Ullu Barae Farokht Nahi. However odd its name sounds and however creepy the brown owl shown in the title looks, the first episode was extremely powerful.
The story is about rivalry between two brothers; however there seem to be multiple tracks to the plot. The younger brother has vowed not to step in the elder ones house before he dies but at the same time, he keeps his promise of bringing his brothers daughter into his family as his son’s wife and send his own daughter to the elder one’s home.
The bone of contention is an accident that happened years ago. The younger brother’s son was shot dead and he blames his older brother who denies the allegation and insists the shot was fired by a third person.
The cast of Ullu Barae Farokht Nahi is a strong one. It stars Noman Ejaz, Saba Qamar, Sohail Ahmed, Irsa Ghazal and many others. Sohail Ahmed and Noman Ejaz are brilliant as ever. Ahmed fits the rigid, unmoving Chaudhry avatar perfectly and Ejaz plays a conniving, deceiving son with panache.
I must say, there were instances where some of the scenes got a bit awkward. For all those wishing to follow this drama, keep the kids out or you’re in for a lot of questions that you might not know how to answer. For one, the sexual tension between Noman Ejaz and a maid of the house was very disturbing. They were convincing no doubt but such bold scenes call for a PG warning before the show airs. Prime time is family time and not everyone can watch such scenes with ease when the whole family is glued in front of the television set.
I wonder how an owl will be incorporated within the story. It’s an old wives tale that owls bring bad luck and misfortune but there is also a tradition of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) that says, “No disease comes on its own, taking something as ill omen is prohibited and there is no inauspiciousness in owl or in the month of Safar”. (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 5380)
If the drama shows an owl as an ill omen, it might make people believe that the poor bird brings misfortune. I will however keep my critique to myself until the story becomes clearer.
I hope the rest of the drama can match the very intense first episode, otherwise, it wouldn’t be long before the first impression falters. I will be watching out for Ullu Barae Farokht Nahi.

Meera arriving Shaukat Khanum Hospital here called on Imran Khan and inquired about his health.

Later talking to media on this occasion, Meera said that she inquired about the health of Imran Khan, expressed her well wishes and congratulated him on his victory in the elections.

 Written By Fatima Manzoor Ellahi

When ZGH started, I expected it to be a love story where the leading lady goes through the process of growing up with the passage of time and towards the end, learns to have faith in God. That was all I was expecting from the drama but leave it to Umera Ahmed to add that little something extra to give the story an entirely different perspective than the novel.

What started off as your typical college, poles apart couple, who are constantly butting heads and hate each other to the core are bound together in marriage, the story that could have been a very average one that we have all seen repeatedly . But Umera has given it her special touch, instead of the young couple learning to get to know and then gradually falling in love with each other, she has made it a kind of much needed marriage tutorial. The love story is what the audiences love to watch, but the point that perhaps is often ignored by others and is brough to the audiences’ attention by Umera is that there is more than just love what makes any marriage work, you have to have compatibility, adjustments and compromises. And it has to be done by both sides, more input is required by women than men.

Although Kashaf and Zaroon are both well educated, mature and sensible people who knew each other well before they got married, still as soon as the honeymoon period is over,they are facing marital issues like any other couple. Adjustment with each other becomes whole lot difficult where there are egos involved , throw in an ex- fiancé, a very concerned mother in law ; all combine together to make the perfect recipe for a rocky marriage. But even in these troubled conditions, while dealing with their insecurities, both Kashaf and Zaroon are trying whole heatedly to make their marriage work. They fight, they argue and after every fight, they come up with a new rule to reduce the chance of the same problem occurring again. That seems like a mature approach but as soon as the issue of ex-finances n marriage proposals arises, all the maturity vanishes into thin air and the green eyed monster swallows all the rules, trust, understanding and rationality. But hopefully this newly married couple will come out of this problem as well. The issues they both fight about are petty, so trivial that it surprises the audiences as to why these two are acting so silly but hey, in a marriage even the slightest problem escalate if not handled properly and newly weds cannot be sagacious or experienced enough to know every trick of the trade.

When one looks at the divorce rate in our society and the irresponsible attitude of the media and the indifferent attitude of our society, the value of marriage tutorials increases many folds. Drama is a highly popular form of entertainment and is,watched by people of all ages and backgrounds, so using it as a means of educating the masses is a great idea and also using it to highlight the sanctity of marriage and the role it plays in keeping the society healthy and functional cannot be stressed upon enough. Dramas these days are perhaps portraying the situation in society like a mirror, people rush into marriages and then rush out of them, no one is willing to put in any time or effort, no one is willing to make compromises or adjustments. Sara and Farhan’s marriage is a perfect example of how the young people are affectuated with the idea of falling in love, marriage and a happily ever after but what they perhaps forget is that a marriage needs loads of patience, tolerance and work. If looks and money were all that it took for a marriage to be considered a success, then Zaroon and Asmara would have had a successful relationship but ego, stubbornness and bad attitude is a disastrous start for any marriage.

Umera has as always done a fabulous job with the storyline and ZGH is no exception. The idea that a marriage is constant work in progress is something that most writers ignore, at no point in time is it too late to start working on your marriage, Zaroon’s parents are a perfect example. While most other shows love to show the leading pair part ways and move in separate directions after a fight, Umera’s leading pairs work things out. That’s the message, we need to get through to the young generation, it’s easy to get a divorce and end a relationship but no relationship no marriage is as perfect as a fairy tale, it’s a lifelong work in progress.

Even in the hardest conditions Kashaf’s father has kept both his marriages intact, he is by no means an examplary husband or father but even he, the weakest character in the entire drama has not dissolved either one of his marriages and eventually towards the end is trying to make amends ( no matter how trivial or late ) to his first wife. Rafia who is a strong , independent working woman and has raised her kids all by herself although resented her husband but still she always tried her best to keep the relationship between herself and her husband as smooth as possible.

Sara has learnt her lesson the hard way, hopefully Kashaf and Zaroon will also work things out and let’s be optimistic that there will be more dramas that emphasize on making relationships work and not taking the easy way out.