100 Din Ki Kahani - Episode 18 Update

Awesomeness continues in 100 Din Ki Kahani at a slow - but steady - pace. Here's a quick break down of why you need to be watching this drama!

Raheela baybaki se goes to Bilal's house to confront Samra and Bilal hurries and ushers her out before she can cause any damage...

...Not that it stops her from trying again. This time she answers his phone when Daddy dearest calls. Rest assured, Bilal manages to save the situation one more time. 

Bilal and Raheela duke it out until he breaks the Big News to her: If he divorces Samra, she gets half his jaidad. Now Raheela hates Samra's guts because she managed to out smart them all. 

For her part, Samra has come up with an answer to her own created problem. She and Bilal should run away to Europe for long enough to come back with a baby and claim it's theirs. Of course, Bilal is on to her, so it's fun watching him being snide to her andar he andar. 

Meanwhile, the achi wali choti behn has found out about Zeeshan's beemari and she is going to leave no stone unturned to help him get treated...

...Including getting the house evaluated in this scene which provides some comic relief in the form of a frustrated real estate agent. 

Zeeshan continues in his quest to be a jerk to Mariam - I mean, I get it, but I don't get it. It's just cruel the way he's treating the poor girl. Oh, also he has - by silent omission - agreed to marry his sister's nand (who of course plans to oust Mariam as soon as she walks into the house). So basically, Zeeshan will marry phone-stalker Afshan (then die, so no issues) basically ensuring his sister gets to return to his susral AND Mariam hates his guts so she won't be sad and miss him when he dies. Wah. Logic dekho. *taalian* 

Luckily, the drama has this cute child-star to help Zeeshan face the realities of the stupid decisions he is making.

In a rare moment of greatness, Mariam decides to tell her nand off and refuses to hand over a golden chain Zeeshan had given her... Unfortunately, the spurt of spunk lasts a total of 15 seconds, then she gets bullied by her nand and she gives in. Seriously, who wants to see Mariam kick some ass - Me! Me! Me! #TeamMariam

And now, for my MOST favorite twist: guess who's husband is busy playing hanky-panky behind her back? Safia's!! YAAASSSS!!!

As the premise of this drama proves, the writers sure do have a keen sense of irony. On the outside this is a story of how Zeeshan's life is ending where his child's is (and his as a parent should have been) beginning. But within this grand scheme are the side stories, all of which provide the same lesson: You get what you give. I can not wait to see how fate (or hopefully Mariam) kicks Safia's butt! #TeamMariam

Until next time...

Bay Qasoor - Episode 7 Update

Wow! I'm on a roll with these episode 7 updates! Today, we're talking about Bay Qasoor, starring Samina Peerzada. 

Bay Qasoor is the story of Sadaf, a naik single mom that remarries to help provide her and her infant daughter with a roof over their heads. Waseem, her second husband, literally provides little more than that roof. He has a daughter from a previous marriage, Sehr, who he has spoiled rotten and she has grand dreams of marrying into money, i.e. Sadaf's daughter is the good daughter and Waseem's daughter is the bad daughter. 

Sehr marries Shreyar, a man three times her age to achieve the monetary luxuries she has always dreamt of. Daddy dearest suffers a massive heart attack due to his daughter's foolish actions. To add injury to insult, Shehreyar is Sadaf's ex-husband and Hira's dad. 

Now you know why I'm so inexplicably absorbed by this drama. Because it's gross in a train wreck you can't look away kind of way. 

Let's explore what happened this week In the most current episode...

Hira confronts her slimy dad, who promptly calls his ex-wife an adulteress and she slams out of his office to run home and confront her mom. What follows is the most uncomfortable scene of screeching and crying that I've witnessed in a long time. 

The only saving grace of the meltdown scene is this miss: Waseem's talak yaafta behn that lives with them, who overheard the commotion. This is the second drama where we see a sister from hell, being played phenomenally well by Javeria Abassi. She's lazy and greedy and she's raising her boy to be a future ghunda. She's happiest that Sehr has married Shreyar because she gets to mooch off her brother and his daughter  (Sidenote: Her ex-husband was played by Aijaz Aslam. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out why he would play such a nonexistent role...Answers, anyone?)

Sehr is living the life. And nothing anyone can say is going to bring her down. I think Aiman Khan has done a good job portraying Sehr. She's very beleiveable and her character is well developed. She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to do what she must to get it. 

I'm sorry...I'm innocent...blah blah blah... 

Hira vows to avenge her mother and then storms into Shreyar's office to scream at him i.e. The quiet and suljhee hui Hira looses her mind. Maybe it's because we haven't seen her co-worker beau in this episode...?

Shreyar isn't about to let his ex-wife or estranged daughter mess up his life - he promptly storms to Sadaf's house and enlightens everyone of their previous relationship, the one secret Sadaf was trying so vainly to keep.  

Speak of the devil (or angel in this case)... Meet Hira's Mr. Wonderful. He is - duh - perfect. Of course Hira's stupid stepdad can't see that, and he has all but rejected Babar's marriage proposal for Hira. #Jerkface

Ok. Maybe Sadaf didn't think that. Maybe it was just me. But it's worth repeating: Stepdad has lost his mind.

And with this, all the cards are now on the table. How will Sehr react? Aiman (and Javeria, who I suspect will help Aiman's character plot her next move) has done such a great job playing this spoiled - yet naive - brat, that I'm excited to see what will happen next. 

On the down side, I'm disappointed Samina Peerzada is playing such a wishy-washy role when she is capable of so much more...and the fact that Sajid Hasan and Waseem Abbas are playing the same old same old is just that - same old, same old. #Snooze

At any rate, Bay Qasoor remains my favorite guilty pleasure at the moment. And if anyone else is enjoying this drama too, don't worry - this is a judgement-free zone! *smirk smirk*

Happy watching!

Gul E Rana - Episode 7 Update

Hmmm...another lucky episode 7! Let's talk about *Drumroll* Gul E Rana!

So here's a recap of what's happening up til now in a nutshell: Gul-e-Rana is this perfect being (i.e. Cliched Pakistani drama heroine) whose loving father dies and she, her mother and younger sister, come to live with their dad's super duper rich, estranged step brother. Uncle is a nice enough guy, he genuinely cares for his brother's kids, and his sister's kids (more on that in a while). He has a wife (who either has a medical condition that makes her fragile as glass or she's scared of her own shadow, not sure which yet) and an obnoxious, ultimate bad boy, waiting to be reformed by the right woman, son (more Pakistani drama cliched characters), Adeel. Uncle also has two, money hungry, leechy sisters who have a daughter each, both fighting to win the coveted Adeel in marriage. Adeel - the ultimate dreamboat that he is - has gotten it into his head that he should marry GuleRana. And that is where we find ourselves at the beginning of the episode, Adeel telling his elder Phuppo off on how there is no way GuleRana will marry her son, Zafri. 

What I like about this drama is that the evil characters aren't as blood thirsty as we have seen them to be in the past (*cough* #MohabbatAagSi #Humsafar *cough*), for the most part they provide comic relief and make sure there is more to this drama then watching how perfect GuleRana is and what a big flirt Adeel is. Zafri is one of my favorite characters. He's a good for nothing, lazy nincompoop, and his scenes with Adeel are always amusing. 

I think the whole secretary coming to complain the boss "toyed with her emotions" bit is completely unnessary. We know Adeel is a jerk. Rana knows Adeel is a jerk. So I'm assuming this bit is just thrown in to prove to us that Rana can stand up for a cause and she has a backbone. Yay. 

Rana's younger sister is definitely the more gullible and seedhi-saadhi one. In an inexplicable way, Adeel's being 'nice' to her and her friendliness towards him, provides the false sense of security that deep-down-inside Adeel has a good guy inside of him. You know, like the Grinch. 

Auntie, I hope your tarbiat isn't about to backfire...

Stepmom's reaction to Adeel declaring he plans to marry Rana are priceless and spot on. Though, as pointed out earlier, I don't know why Farah Shah is playing such a muted character. It seems like such a waste of her talent. 

Let's talk about Rana's khala ka beta, Asher bhai. It's quite obvious that he has a thing for Rana, tu why he is getting engaged to someone else is anyone's guess. As for Rana, of course she's completely oblivious, as a shareef lardki should be. Just in case you were wondering, in my humble opinion, Imran Ashraf that shines like no other in Mohabbat Aag Si, is also wasted as the khala ka beta in this drama.  

As you can see, everyone's goofy smiles of joy were left biting the dust when Rana flat out rejected Adeel and any marriage plans to him. 

Predictably, Adeel ain't taking no for an answer. When he confronts Rana, she says no and slaps him. The look on Adeel's face post-slap was scary enough to have me quaking in my boots. 

But, lucky us, Adeel has a plan B: kidnap Rana to force her to do his bidding. Lord help us all...

Quite honestly, I think Hum TV basically banked on the star power of Feroze Khan and Sajjal Ali together for viewers to watch this drama. The drama is watchable - so far - but Adeel's aggressiveness may prove to be a deal breaker. Sajjal Ali is doing what she does second best: looking pretty and giving occasional glimpses of what her true acting capabilities are. Feroze Khan teeters dangerously between good acting and trying too hard. When he's in polished duds, he looks the part quite well. When he goes casual he becomes more trashy and less classy -- the skin tight, cap sleeve t-shirts (a size too small) need to be ditched. And set on fire. As soon as humanly possible. Just sayin.

I hope as the drama goes on, Rana can start doing her magic on Adeel and we viewers are spared endless snooze fest episodes of zulm and sitam on Rana. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's reaction to Adeel's ingenious plan.

Until the next drama...

Naraaz - Episode 7 Update and Recommendation

I know, I know. It's been a while. Sorry folks. Life is moving at the speed of light and sometimes it's just easier to enjoy a weekly episode then to stop and try to write a review...However, we set out for a cause and review dramas we shall! So today, let's talk about Naraaz...

Airing on ARY Digital - who let's not forget has a stellar record of taking great storylines and then shooting them to heck - Naraaz is the story of Azlan (Faisal Qureshi) who is a self-made success story. He's a stock broker that has made a fortune trading stocks and has quite the opinion of himself. Azlan is married to Fariha (Sara Khan), and I, for one, would love to find out how these two hooked up because whereas Azlan is an egotistical jerk, Fariha comes from a middle class background and has a good head on her shoulders. They also have a son, who in spite of Azlan's shameless spoiling has turned out a good boy. 

The story begins when Azlan makes a crazy investment in stock that fails, leaving him bankrupt and at the mercy of halaat. And this is where we find ourselves at this episode: Azlan unable to pay rent on a small apartment is being forced to move in with his in-laws. And he is not liking this one little bit...cue all kinds of dialogues about ghairat...

Ok, let's move on to the episode, and I'll fill you in on any additional details...

Let's start with this biggie: Fariha has just found out that she has a brain tumor. The doctor hasn't declared it fatal, but has told her she has to start treatment pronto. Will Fariha tell her family and Azlan or will she sacrifice her life and stay silent (because if your husband is broke it makes so much sense to just die?!)? **Spoiler Alert: The OST does not provide much hope that Fariha will get a happy ending...**

Fariha's parents are nothing if not sincere. However, no matter how nice they are, Azlan always manages to twist their words and read something negative for himself in it. It's sad really, but a beautiful detail that this drama has managed to capture about damad-mehka relations. 

*Sigh* No, Fariha, no! Bad Fariha!

Drumroll - let me introduce you to Fariha's bitchy elder sister, Sara. She couldn't stand Fariha when she had money and she can't stand her now that she doesn't have money. You can just imagine Azlan's reaction to her barbs. #CueTheFireworks

Meet Asad - Azlan's one and only sincere friend. He has stuck with him through his downfall and has helped be the voice of reason. Asad's wife is nice too - but her over enthusiasm about Aazar is a bit concerning...

Honestly - the parents, especially Fariha's dad, are such amazing characters you just want to take them home and claim them as your own. Once more, we see the susar accepting the nuances that are hereditary amoungst Pakistani damads and counseling his wife on how best to deal with the situation. 

😫 Waaah! She was this close to telling him the truth!!

Because Sara thinks from her butt and not her head, she has decided that while her nand's wedding is taking place, it's the perfect time to go stay at her mehka. Seriously? Seriously?!

This is Aisha - Azlan's ex-coworker and close pal. It's pretty obvious that she's in love with Azlan, which is probably why I have the urge to strangle Azlan and Aisha when he is sweet to her but uses Fariha as a punching bag for his frustrations. 

Honestly, calling her the sister from hell is an understatement! 

Jobless, homeless, sheesh bedless, laykin Azlan ka ego khatam he nahi hokay de ra. #RealityCheck

Alrighty...now that we're all up to speed about the going-ons of this drama, let's talk about some pros and cons...

The biggest issue for me, right now, is the logic behind Fariha not telling her family or husband that she's sick. Hello. Money or no money, ilaaj tu karana hei na? It's not just me, right? 

The second biggest issue, is the lack of attention to details like how dolled up Fariha (and her mom) always are, and am I the only one who noticed the accessories? Let me present my proof, exhibit A:

Fariha's like 200 karat diamond, Azlan's Apple Watch and iPhone 6 Plus (which he pulls out at a dhaba and it doesn't get snatched. Like, for reals?) Do theen mahinay ka flat ka kiraya tu sirf phone aur watch baich kar nikal aata. 

If you can get past these issues, the drama ranks high on my watch list these days. The storyline is different, Faisal Qureshi is at his best and Sara Khan is meeting him head on. Also, the chemistry between these two is phenomenal (which I find unnerving when I think about the age difference...but, I digress...). Lastly, the child star playing Aazar is such a wonderful addition to the cast! He's cute as a button and I love watching his moments with his nana abbu. 

Do leave a comment below if you're watching Naraaz too!