Bashar Momin: episodes 30-31 Finale

After thirty episodes Bashar Momin’s transformative moment finally came and he became Rudaba’s “prince”, though like a lot of people I think the prince looked a lot better with the beard.

Bashar is in hiding while the police and government officers investigate his shady dealings as a money launderer. One clumsy scene after another of screaming policemen interrogating screaming members of the Momin family and then along comes our girl Tayaba. Tayaba denounces her brother in a public TV interview and Bashar watches in tears as the sister he was willing to destroy so many lives for denounces him in public. Then he sees Rudaba, who not only defends him but even manage reassure him saying he must do what is right for him and not worry about her or the family.

“ aurat do kisam ki Mohabbat karti hai aik hoti hai aurton wali Mohabbat khudgarz, leyyn deyn wali…… aur aik Mohabbat hoti hai jo Maa kay pyar ki tarha hoti hai selfless … bura hai bhalla hai mera hai”

This is perhaps the dialogue that most easily explains Rudaba’s feelings for Bashar. She has accepted him completely into her heart, for better or worse and whether he deserves it or not.This , unconditional love is a rare painfully bought gift which finally heals Bashar’s damaged psyche.

“Abb Mujhe koi nahi Hara sakta”

The fabulous script by Zanjabeel Shah has always been Bashar Momin’s strong point, well plotted, well-defined characters and some truly great dialogues it has kept this serial’s head above water even when the director was playing around with special effects. Episode 30 in particular was hard to sit through and her ladies and gentleman is the heart of the matter, why? After enduring some bad episodes, some good episodes this should have been drama at it’s most gripping, when the story moves to resolution. Instead the audience was forced to squint through the darkness in one badly lit scene after another.  Why do A&B productions have such a near pathological fear of light? Then to add insult to injury Rudaba visits Bashar in Jail , what could have been a magnificent scene and a rare moment in which Ushna Shah is actually concentrating hard enough to make her character work, is ruined by someone playing the ost so loud we can barely hear the actors speak.

Episode 31 looks as if it was 2 episodes pasted together but it was worth the wait. Faysal Qureshi is without doubt an amazing actor; his screen presence is so powerful that despite the Ushna’s inexperience he managed to carry most of the powerful scenes. Bashar knows exactly what he has done, he trembles every time he sees a glass of juice, weeps when he takes Tayaba and Bulund’s baby in his arms and the audience weeps with him.  Bashar’s Transformation is so complete that he does something totally amazing for most Pakistani dramas … he actually apologizes to his wife, tries to fix his mistakes, he even says sorry to Bulund.  Just loved, loved Faysal Qureshi in these scenes I just wish Faysal had kept some control on Bashar’s character and not been so loud in the beginning. Quiet power and a more controlled performance would have just as effective.

The men of Bashar Momin have mostly managed to make their characters believable. Yasirr Mazhar as Adil was a treat to watch: weak brother or walk over husband, he kept it real. I just loved it when he told Sairah off in the last episode. Sami Khan was the real surprise and stole the show completely in some of the episodes .Bulund is a character often seen on our screens, jealous, possessive and vindictive but ostensibly a “Sharif Admi” but after realizing his mistake he became a lot more likable. I wasn’t too sure about his transformation into accepting husband and there is a nasty part of me that wanted Tayaba to suffer.

The women of Bashar Momin were the weakest links. Maheen Rizvi deserves a prize for the worst acting I have seen in a long, long time. Sundas Tariq, the annoying Tayaba, was the only one who gave a consistently decent performance every episode and resisted any urge to overact. Ushna Shah was both the weakest link and paradoxically the strongest. To her credit she has great screen presence, exceptional good looks and manages to create a lot of on screen chemistry with her costars. However she really needs to work on her craft, hone her dialogue delivery skills and work on her expressions. Rudaba did not win Bashar easily, it was a very bittersweet victory yet that did not come across in a lot of the scenes.  The cascading curls certainly didn’t help either, It didn’t matter if the world was about to end, Rudaba never failed to have perfectly coiffed prom curls.

This serial had a very strong story and I was fully expecting it to be a block buster but I think the director was busy reading fifty shades of grey or something … if only he had concentrated on getting strong performances out of his cast and given the actual script some credit. I have to say I watched his Kash main teri beti na hoti and that was a fantastic, addictive soap which is actually playing on Zee Zindagi. However the same chiaroscuro style lighting and gothic atmosphere really didn’t fit in with Bashar Momin, which was a very emotional tale of transformation and redemption. Sometimes simpler is better and less really is more.

Talking of less is more, If Nabilas were the stylists for this drama, I think Faysal should ask for his money back. None of the clothes the actresses wore made any impact and the Men’s styling was just a distraction from their characters. For all their sharp business suites we never saw Bashar or Adil do a stroke of work. I think Bulund had the best look out of the entire cast and Sami Khan wore it really well.

Overall despite   some very good episodes and good performances by some of the actors, Bashar Momin did not realise the potential of its script. There were amazing scenes and dialogues but the execution was inconsistent at best. A lot of people tell me television is a writer’s medium but we see scripts ruined every other day by bad execution. At the same time no director can save an awful script. The best projects are always the ones where director and writer understand each other and try to stay on the same page.

Bashar Momin: episodes 28-29

it is really difficult to review Bashar Momin ,firstly because there are two episodes a week and secondly because it keeps twisting and turning . Episode 28 was so unbearable I could hardly watch. I am not sure what is wrong with Rudaba but it needs to be fixed quickly with heavy medication. All those unnatural smiles and desperate declarations of true love put me firmly on Bashar’s side. Episode 28 was full of badly joined romantic tableaus that had all the finesse of a badly knitted jumper. It almost seemed as if the tables had been turned and Bashar was afraid of this new assertive Rudaba, who was just not afraid of him anymore. 

The saving grace of this episode had to be Noman Ejaz and Hina Bayat ,who stole the show with just a few lines .In an unimaginative flashback Bashar’s beautiful mother Shagufta Jahan and her now husband Zafar walk into the fancy restaurant where teenage Bashar works as a waiter. The humiliation and confrontation scenes explain Bashar’s miserable background and psychological hang-ups perfectly. What I don’t understand is the nightly piano playing. Why not have Bashar actually do business in a restaurant and be reminded of this or perhaps sit in his garden and allow a memory to haunt him? Why belabor a point, why not underplay something for impact?
Hina Bayat was a treat to watch. Her character doesn’t regret leaving Bashar’s father for a minute but despite what Bashar thinks or says in her own selfish way she does care for her children just not enough to do anything for them which might take her away from Zafar. Similarly despite Zafar’s arrogance and conceit he cares enough about Shagufta to know she weeps for her children at night and forces Bashar to talk to her. Zanjabeel Asim’s script is again the best thing about this serial. Each character is well developed and every detail well plotted.

So Bashar decides to be a bigger “Kamina “than Zafar. As with all these kinds of dramas ,Bashar is ruthless so his rise is meteoric. As soon as he gets rich Bashar changes his persona ironically to be just like Zafar .Bashar has severe trust and commitment issues and is literally scared when he finds out Rudabba is pregnant. Despite all the threats and ample evidence Bashar gives her that he doesn’t want her or her child she believes him and ends up losing her child. This whole sequence was gut wrenching and very difficult to watch. Till now Ushna had been sleep walking or something but suddenly it seems she remembered how to act and actually did a pretty decent job as the heart broken Rudaba . Faysal Qureshi was fabulous as usual, frightening but very much afraid himself , tormenting but equally tormented , unforgiving but a pitiful mess of man. I had hoped for some kind of redemption for Bashar but after this he will have to find the cure for cancer or bring about world peace before this viewer can think well of him again.
Next week’s promo shows us Rudaba is once again the saint as she defends her husband from the police scrutiny. Rudaba’s is still proving her love is unconditional to Bashar while our old friend Bulund takes his revenge by bringing the full force of the law onto Bashar’s head. What ever happened to Rudaba’s father’s insistence on Halal Risq ?
This drama is supposedly based on Beauty and the beast  As far as I remember the beast only frightened Beauty , he never actually harmed her …although like Bashar he shows Beauty his heart (Basher’s weakness/past ) his mistake is allowing Beauty to leave him and return to her family because he is actually kind and caring enough to know she misses them .. This story reminds more of Sheherezaad whose husband was also convinced of the infidelity of women and would execute his wives . I just wonder whether such Men really are the glittering prizes worthy of all the effort these women have put in to win them ….?

Bashar Momin is a very different story to the family dramas weare used to seeing, the themes are dark but not so far removed from reality as we would like to think. I just feel a that the execution of this drama was some how lacking. I wonder who came up with the bright idea of making this drama so heavily stylised  when it could have been so amazing if kept along its original, authentic Pakistani lines .

Bashar Momin: episodes 26-27

Scenes of male dominance and female submission are as old as the hills and grist for the metaphoric mill in every other drama so why do I find Rudaba and Bashar so disturbing?

There were a lot of Bashar and Rudaba scenes this week, mostly carried by the brilliant Faysal Qureshi who gave each monologue a world of meaning and depth. A confused, desperately sad prisoner of his past; in the space of a minute he tells Rudaba how much she disgusts him and then how beautiful her hands are. I want to say poor Bashar but he is such a vindictive sort that my sympathy for him cannot last long. From this week’s episodes it seems Bashar may well be in love with Rudaba but would hate to admit to such a weakness. By the end of episode 27 it seems as if  Bashar the lion looked remarkably like Bashar the lamb , even telling his sister to leave Rudaba alone and “forgiving “ Rudaba on his father’s barsi .

So poor Rudaba is tortured in every way possible, given a room in the servant quarters, emotionally brow beaten and worst of all forced to eat fish while everyone else gets kebabs. Now don’t laugh it was cruel at the time .There is no timeline so I cannot judge exactly how long this psychological torment lasted but all humour aside, I found all that “bolo Bashar I love you” incredibly disturbing . Full credit to Ushna for that at least .So here is my quandary with Ms Shah: her incredible chemistry with Faysal Qureshi and sheer screen presence is what is keeping me tuned to this show every week despite its flaws but at the same time she has not brought the complexity and nuance that Rudaba’s character required. Sometimes she gets it perfect : the scene where Bashar asks Rudaba exactly how close she was to Bulund and she finally defends herself, or when Bashar asks her to “dabbao’ his head in a drunken stupor  but then there are so many other scenes where she misses mark.

For me the most fascinating thing this week was Rudaba’s explanation. Bulund was her fiancé, so she was duty bound to love him. Now Bashar is her husband so she is duty bound to take anything he chooses to dish out and sit in a room till dawn saying “Bashar I love you”. Her very obedience and virtue have been turned against her. Her brother has all but abandoned her to whims of fate and her father is dead. She has no one, but hopefully at some point she will remember she has herself. The day she stops trying to please people to gain self-worth she might find her strength and dignity.

The episodes are well edited and the story is moving at a good pace. Bar the ridiculous ‘piano playing Bashar’ sequences, this week’s episodes were riveting. The other weak points in the serial are Bashar’s awful sisters. Maheen Rizvi  bad acting (there is simply no other explanation for it )has turned her character into a cartoon and at least provides a good laugh now and then. Tayaba is the one who is really annoying the heck out of me. Is she really this blind or suffering from short term memory loss? Bashar is well……Bashar but Tayaba knows precisely what she did yet still thinks Rudaba and Bulund are bad people?

On a  parting note I wonder what Bulund is quietly cooking up …?

Bashar Momin: episodes 24-25

Bashar Momin is fast losing it’s admittedly tenuous grip on reality. So,the long awaited explanation or back story for Bashar and his sisters crazy behaviour is revealed . Bashar’s mother played by the beautiful Hina Bayat left his boring , much older and much poorer but oh so shareef father for her first love Zafar . who is a ‘shaandaar mard’. In fact Bashar’s Father Momin is so , so Shareef that he hangs himself in front of his desperate children because he cannot face the world…. leaving his innocent children to do it alone.Is it just me who sees this act as entirely egotistical and selfish ? Why not just divorce her and take care of your children ? Funnily enough I can’t scrape up any sympathy for Momin or anyone else in Bashar’s family. Last week I was worried about Rudaba’s lack of intelligence  but this week Bashar and Tayaba win the prize for an combined IQ of less than 10. After punching and kicking Bulund in the stomache in full view of their entire family ,both  brother and sister are shocked and surprised that Bulund is angry . Way to go Bulund for chucking Tayaba out and leaving ,at least you have some sense.  

Lack of IQ sey yaad aya , Adil is quite happy to send his sister off to be raped by Bashar. Similarly Rudaba suddenly decides to get into the spirit of things and whips out an admittedly beautiful bridal dress sans sleeves and an incredibly low neckline. Oh dear  ,was this really Zanjabeel Asim’s script ? Can this truly be the same writer who gave us Ek Nazar meri taraf ,Marasim and Saat pardon mein?

I really wanted the scene between Bashar and Rudaba on their wedding night  to be sensitive and full of pathos instead it was sadly predictable and unnecessarily sleazy. What a disappointment when both Faysal and Rudaba  looked so gorgeous. Here was Rudaba’s chance to act like a normal person , to show some kind of defiance , if she could not save her body at least save her soul. Sadly Rudaba has all the strength of a freshly made jelly and continued to appease and cower and of course weep in front of bad , bad Bashar. I have an idea that people like Bashar despise weakness and admire courage and strength. So Rudaba I have a message for you : He’s just not that into you dear and even if he was …your doing it wrong.

Hina Bayat was fabulous as the selfish mother obsessed with getting back to her true love Zafar . I ALMOST ( and I mean almost ) felt some kind of sympathy for  for her as she begged her husband for a divorce. Full marks to Hina and the young man playing the younger Bashar for great acting that saved these last two episodes from becoming a complete farce. Bashar’s mother was cold and cruel, abandoning her children . She doesn’t even care that Zafar has children and a wife either. Before dying Bashar’s father makes Bashar promise to never marry a woman who loves someone else which is I suppose  is Bashar’s excuse for his evil treatment of Rudaba. Sorry not buying it , not for minute. First of all Bashar forced Rudaba into this mess and most importantly Bashar really has no feelings for Rudaba in the first place.

Does anyone know when Bashar became a piano prodigy ? There were sweeping shots of him banging passionately away at the piano , watch out Van Cliburn is all I can say. The cutest moment had to be Bashar getting ready for his wedding , with his father’s voice in the background … yes Bashar you are handsome and you know it ;)

Annoying as this drama can be I still watch it with baited breath every week ( now I am worried about my IQ ) . Despite the awful , awful cinematography , senseless direction and regressive characterisations of women  it is still some how compelling enough to watch every week.

Bashar Momin: episodes 19-24

There are few things in life which make me embarrassed to be a woman but Rudaba’s character is pushing me close to the edge. There is truly such a thing as Beybasi ,translate it as desperation ,hopelessness or  complete dependence,  we can see it all around us in the eyes of many women ground down by circumstance , abuse , poverty , violence and a system which allows them no freedom of expression or movement. Rudaba , however ,is not one of those women . Rudaba seems to be an almost willing victim of abuse as if she enjoys the buzz it gives her .

From Episode 19 I had some hope of her growing or being something other than the generic “bholi Larki” : she seemed to be the only voice of reason in a bad situation . She wanted her brother happy , she was even willing to forget the Mr” Lay Lag special Snowflake”  Bulund and most importantly was quite happy to free herself from the Nikkah with Bashar . Sadly I had again overestimated her IQ which seems slightly less than my Cat Thomas who at least knows how to manipulate himself out of a bad situation.  Since learning of Rudaba’s innocence and perhaps more importantly exactly how Tayaba manipulated him into marriage  Bulund decided on a surprisingly (for him) quite intelligent plan . He would wait for his child to be born , divorce his lying wife and marry Rudaba as soon as her Khula came through . This much logic and sense nearly made Rudaba ill so she reverted to “bholi larki” mode …. so Bashar succumbs to the very real pressure of both his sisters losing their husbands and Adil again hands Rudaba over to Bashar like piece of meat at the dinner table .

I can only long for the proud , honourable  heroines of past dramas , Khirad , Kashaf baji , Durr e Shehwar , Zara,even the manipulative Momina would never have met a kameena like  Bashar at her brother’s door with the simpering looks Rudaba gave him in episode 23.  Kameena sey yaad aya ….Tayaba is doing a really bad Dur e Shehwar impression at Bulund’s house but it is giving  me a good laugh ….Bulund really does deserve her …

The rest of the story is grinding forward with a lot of time wasted on yawn inducing, long glances between Buland and Rudaba which only go to emphasise the director’s lack of imagination . At times one almost wishes for a picture of a cat or baby instead, I mean they would fill in the time just as well and might actually be more soothing.My dear readers ,pity the poor viewers who having seen some merit in this actually quite  well written story, who  are alternately blinded by glaring flood lights or forced to squint through darkness and fake smoke in order to get through each episode .

Meanwhile Let me congratulate the actors for pushing through all this nonsense and somehow making it work despite the minefield of cliches . Faysal Qureshi is as usual head and shoulders above the rest of the crowed  ,lighting up the screen every time he appears. Yasir Mazar is such a great brother except when he isn’t ;making him very  believable as a kind but ultimately weak man. Ushna needs some honing on those rough edges , there are times where she drives me mad but for the most part she has actually given Rudaba  more energy , strength and quite honestly charm than the character deserves.Similarly Sami Khan has made The awful Bulund a lot nicer than he deserves and  sstrangelyenough he actually has more screen chemistry with Sundas Tariq than Ushna.

Bashar Momin: episodes 14-19

..Sharafat ka certicate  …. proof of innocence is hard to come by for Rudaba 

Credit where credit is due , The entire Bashar Momin team had the simple minded amongst us ( aka Me) convinced he was in love with Rudaba. I personally found the whole idea nauseating and was fuming by the end of each episode : why should Rudaba fall in love or even try to love a Man who had used her and her family so badly ?I was just watching to see how far they would go with this stereotype.  Faysal Qureshi played  the obsessed lover trope for all it was worth ,only jolting the audience out of its romantic reverie after dropping Buland and Tayaba off at the airport .  All Bashar wanted was a good husband for his sister , nothing more. Who was it who said this serial should be called Bashar and his sisters ,?……you win a prize for getting it before anyone else .

So poor Rudaba knew the truth from day one , she tried to explain to her brother and Buland but no one listened because being the bholi larki they all want her to be, her words , her lifelong principled behaviour counted for nothing in their eyes. Buland crown prince of kaano kache managed to believe at  least ten impossible things before breakfast in one episode  . Ok maybe I am exaggerating but for a supposedly intelligent Man he seems to have very little common sense. He sits with Adil and notices things are wrong but deducts nothing. He visits Bashar and immediately reconvicts Rudaba of being a whore at worst and a tease at best. I notice in this conversation that he and has no problem believing Bashar Momin a notorious criminal and relative stranger over the people his own father recommended. Then when the servant Ramazan Chacha “reveals the truth” he changes his mind again . Nice to know Buland is back on the side of the angels but even then he never thinks he might owe Rudaba an apology.

The best scenes from the last couple of episodes have been between Adil and Rudaba . Ushna and Adil have that whole brother sister chemistry down pat and lookk great on screen. they always have the most honest conversations too. Rudaba is not anidiot and does not fall for Ramazan Chacha’s line about how Bashar will ..ahem ‘become ‘  the prince of her dreams . She tells Adil straight out how happy she would be to get a divorce as neither of them have any feeling for each other . Maheen Rizvi has suddenly improved , perhaps she does miserable better than chalaq , whatever it is ,it’s working .

That leaves Faysal Qureshi missing in action . Now I watched this serial on the premise that he was the main protagonist . So far he just looks like part of the side action in Rudaba and Buland’s sad little love story . If I had MY WAY ; Bulund would have been played by Faysal who might have brought more depth to Bulund and Sami khan for a change could have actually played a darker role , showing  his versatility as an actor .I loved Sami Khan in Dil Mohalley ki Haveli , where his role was older , and  much  more complex The only interesting scenes with Bashar were of him describing his ideal life partner in strangely Freudian terms … not sure if he was talking about his mother or what he wants in a wife … the description sounded like the dreams of a psychopath rather than a normal person’s wishes for a wife. We were teasesd with some interesting black and white (quelle surprise) but nothing substantial …. yet . So Bashar remains a bit two dimenional : one dimenion the batamees Don the other dimenion the caring brother …. still somewhat lacking.

No doubt Zanjabeel Shah wrote a fascinating story but I think the director and the writer’s vision are not the same . The way some of the scenes are executed and what the dialogues are saying seems to be at odds at times . Sometimes I wonder who exactly was directing  this drama …perhaps too many cooks spoiled the broth ?  Bashar Momin can be quite entertaining like Friday’s episode and then it can be mindboggling as it was this Saturday ….What on earth was the purpose of that never ending eye lock ( I refuse to call it a gaze) between Bulund and Rudaba ? if anyone won that show down it was Ushna Shah whose bitter smile summed up Rudaba’s feelings perfectly. My advice (always available ;) … is leave those things to Star plus , they have more practise .

Bashar Momin: Episode13

After a hiatus of almost three months , Geo and Bashar Momin are back. Last time we saw Bashar   he was manipulating and negotiating his way to  purchase  Rudaba. Let’s make no mistake that this was a transaction , like most modern day  bargains it involved a written contract  in this instance a Nikkah Nama and an exchange of goods and services. Rudaba’s brother Adil gets  fifty per cent of Bashar’s business ,and  a  happy life with his wife and child while Bashar gets Rudabba .  Rudaba had so many high hopes of her brother Adil , that it was sad to see how he let her down .And that my dears is the problem with bholi larkiya . Rudaba is a good girl , she listens to her father , he makes a bad decision for her in the shape of russi run Bulund . Rudaba is a good girl ,she listens to her brother he makes a bad decision for her in the form of Bashar Momin Criminal at large . For some reason she refuses to use the sense she was born with and run , instead she allows herself to be blackmailed and cornered into a quite frankly disgusting situation , which is only made palatable on screen by the fact that Bashar Momin is played by Faysal Qureshi.

I was actually quite pleased to see Bulund at the wedding , guys like him deserve all they get and hopefully more . Supposedly Bulund is a  well educated man , who has seen the world ; yet since day one of his interactions with Rudaba he has given her nothing but trouble . At any point when Rudabba needed his trust or help, he let her down . Not only would he withdraw in a rage but would spend time ‘punishing ” her by giving her the cold shoulder and ignoring her even when she cut her hand. When Adil says , that he could hardly trust a Man  who ran off  to America ,abandoning his sister  in a fit of anger , it had an undeniable ring of truth to it . 

The star of the show was again Zanjabeel Asim’s fabulous well written script. The scene between  Rudabba and Adil was well written and well acted . Yasirr Mazar is impressive at every turn in this drama while Ushna Shah seems to carry her scenes with enthusiasm rather than skill . She has a lot of raw ,  talent which with some control and right director will  make her an even better actress one day. The highlight of the episode was not Bashar and Rudabba’s Shadi ,but Bulund’s confrontation with Tayyaba. Somwhere along the line Rudabba had used some common sense and sent Bulund an email explaining her situation . So when Tayyab follows him home after the wedding scene to dig her claws in , Bulund is forwarned and for-armed. Sami Khan did complete justice to this  well written scene that made me suddenly like  his character again.  I suppose we should have expected the wet towel that is Tayyaba to get herself into an accident only moments later ; she can’t cross a road without a  bridge collapsing on her . Again in the final scene between Sami Khan , Yasirr Mazar and Maheen Rizvi , Sami Khan stole the show just by listening . There was sense of acknowledgement , of acceptance and even understanding in his expressions that  communicated more than words could.

Over all this was your typical Bashar Momin episode : high on melodrama , strange camera shots filled with mist and darkness and/ or candle light and overt styling  and a badly used  background score which sometimes distracts from the actual story. Some how it works , somehow it is entertaining but it could have been so much more . I wish they really had not spent so much money on the sets and the annoying hairstyles and especially not on the candles . Bashar Momin has a strong script , good actors and a competent director but it is all being drowned out by too many bells and whistles . Hopefully we will see more of Bashar next week  but one last point : women are not goats or sheep  who , if tied to something for long enough will eventually grow to like it . I truly worry when I see story lines where a women is forced to marry by an obsessive lover then grows to ..ahem like him …. that we are promoting a rape culture , a culture which almost justifies forcing women into a situation that they will supposedly get to like later . That is wrong and patently untrue.

I am covering for RB who will be reviewing next week

Bashar Momin Episode 13

Real man or no real man, I’m this close to being done with Bashar Momin.

I get the filmi, in fact, I like the filmi but filmi doesn’t mean trashy. It doesn’t mean blackmail, emotional or otherwise. And it certainly doesn’t mean rape.

Week after week I’ve come here trying to spice up these reviews as much for your reading pleasure as for my own sanity. I assure you my intellectual calibre is far higher than enjoying the likes of Bashar Mominbut like a bad Bollywood film it became a guilty pleasure. Alas, all guilty pleasures leave you with a profound sense of guilt, but they should never leave you with disgust, and so before I torture myself further I’m going to need some time to reconsider my own thoughts. Mull over them, if you will.

Emotional atyachar, blackmail, fear-mongering, rape or at least attempts to undermine the victim in matters of agency (whatever those might be), and copious amounts of subdued violence have left me in revolt. Yes, Zanjabeel Asim and Syed Ali Raza Usman you have baaghi on your hands. I revolt! I revolt! I revolt!

Till (and if) we meet again.

Bashar Momin Episode 12

Cheap thrills.

Cheap, cheap, cheap. Did you miss that? Here I’ll say it again: CHEAP!

Bashar is what Bashar does. As many of us guessed at the start of this rather downhill ride Bashar is indeed a chichora gunda who’ll stoop to whatever level to get what he wants. My question though is does he really want Rudaba or is it just a matter of a game? Is he in it just to “delete” Buland from their conversation? Is he really in love with her? If yes, yeh kaisi mohabbat hai yaar?

In a quick flick of an eyelash Rudaba welcomes back Adil Bhai and simultaneously bids Buland adieu via Ramzan Chacha of course.

Bechari Rudaba. Bashar ka khauf has finally started to sink in on this pretty girl.

If Adhura Milan is like Bashar Momin, then, Bashar Momin is like the worst Balaji Productions soap opera. Theatrics. Hysterics. Melodrama. Of course, the saving grace here is that the camera doesn’t jump in quick jerks with some heightened music thrown in to turn up the emotional quotient a few notches!

If I was a gora with no knowledge of Pakistani dramas I would easily think this is some trashy Balaji-inspired serial.

But I’m not, even though I see many similarities with our cinematic cousins across the Bahr-al-‘Arab, I can say without doubt that Bashar Momin is definitely homegrown. It is Pakistani through and through and comes with Pakistani good, Pakistani bad, and Pakistani ugly. Our ugly is that we blindly want to copy what we see in India, Turkey, or the West, our bad is that we don’t have the common sense to see the difference, but our good is that we have such a strong sense of narrative, of the importance of (a logical) story, which often times saves our disasters from being gigantic. Case in point, Bashar Momin.

This has been a up and down ride. I hate it but I watch it. I like it but I can’t stand it. Confused much anyone? And I know I’m not the only one.

Seeing Rudaba run down those stairs and hug a figure that we obviously couldn’t see (HELLO?! What’re the odds that’s NOT Buland?) was a tribute to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s chandelier-doused work. Those words, that confession and, oh wait, what is it that I hear: “I love you, Buland.” Alas Rudaba too little, too late.

Buland’s up, up, up and away leaving our damsel in the hands of a darinda, haivan, shaitan!

Although the story was slow, in fact, dragged at a snail’s pace what I liked were the scenes between Bashar and Rudaba. Well acted and well-scripted.

Bashar ko apni ungleeyon par loogon ko nachana aata hai.

Accha, to aab aap Rudaba ko nachanay ki baat bhi kar gaye, Bashar Bhai. Did I say this before: CHEAP!

Come morning and we are still stuck on convincing Rudaba (she herself more so than us!) that Mr. Two-ex-girlfriends is gone. Again, the scene especially the framing on the landing was well executed (no, one can compete with the staircase from BILU!). I actually liked that A&B finally decided to use natural lighting along with their trademark angelic white waves! Rudaba’s face as it caught the first hints of sunlight: beautiful!

With Adil back and Rudaba distraught is Bashar finally on a winning streak?

No, no, no we’re yet to see Sahira in action. I love how Sahira says: “You should have offered an explanation”, since when do men listen to explanations especially when they’re angry, Sahira? (If desidramas are to be believed!) Aur bohtan it seems has become the de facto way to malign a woman in our dramas. Bohtan, bohtan, bohtan.

Truth be told Rudaba you’re better off without Buland. Can you imagine being married to a man who’d threaten to leave you for no fault of yours? Another piece of advice: SPEAK UP!

I’m wondering if Buland will be back. Gone so soon? Ab kya?

Bashar Momin Episode 9, 10, & 11

Between “kya filmi scene hai yaar” and “mehzbaan say mehmaan ka safar“, I can sum this (un)holy triad as a road frequently traveled in our cinematic journeys.

The good thing about reviewing three episodes together is that it gives you (much needed) clarity. One can see odds and ends otherwise missed week-to-week. What I saw in these three episodes was the need for tighter editing because episode nine and ten could be clubbed together. The story would have moved quicker, faster, and left us (the audience) wanting: “Yeh dil mangay more” (too bad Bashar isn’t a drink of Pepsi!).

In a nut shell, Rudaba and Buland fight and make-up, Rudaba finally lashes out at the Despicable Me Duo (aka Tayyaba and Bashar), Bashar succeeds in firmly re-enforcing doubts in Buland’s head, and Rudaba is on her way to mazloomiyat or so it seems. Kya hua? Too much to handle, array abhi to kahani start hui hai.

We begin with Buland being more a jerk to his fiancé, Rudaba. What surprises me is that this is the guy who promised to uphold and honour the commitment his father made on his behalf. Was this end of your patience, Buland, because as an audience you’re really trying ours. Do you see us giving up? At least not momentarily.

Tayyaba being all-over creepy was a bit shocking. I can see Bashar doing this (for some reason not that it justifies it!) but Tayyaba, I don’t know, it just seems wrong-wrong-wrong! How far will this woman stoop for a maangni, mehndi, and a man? She was creepier than Bashar, mind you – teasing Rudaba by clinging on to Buland, watching films together, calling him incessantly, showing up unannounced, annnnnnd making pudina-wala nimbu paani for him! Seriously?

Events in episode nine took a firm segue into the splitting Buland-Rudaba track. With jealousy firmly on the rise in all fards of this topsy-turvy house (no, not Pari she’s perhaps the only sane one around!).

With Rudaba’s cutting her hand open on a piece of Baccarat crystal (aur kya hoga?) events are quickly set into motion that our lovers hoped/prayed/wished against. As Bashar drives Rudaba to the hospital, I cannot help but wonder why must they go down this path, but hey, as dramaland’s favourite villain akaKhizer from Humsafar says: “All’s fair in love and war.”

If this is battle then lines are firmly drawn. Buland can’t stand Bashar anywhere near Rudaba, our bhooli feels the same way yet Bashar Bhai gets his cake and eats it too!

In a series of events leading to the climactic “Main tumhe chood kar ja raja hoon” scene, Rudaba comes to Mr. Bakhtiar’s residence (in the dead of night!) to return her maangni ki  angoothi not as Rudaba but as Tayyaba’s elder sister’s nand. ::insert eye roll here::

Accused of “emotionally blackmailing” her man-to-be  she quickly retreats back to her pinjara, a la Maison Momin.

What I find rather interesting is if Rudaba’s allowed to go unaccompanied, unattended, ek-dum tanha and akelay to return her ring then why the fuss when she’s there at 9:30 especially when Buland took permission to take her with him? Last time I checked an engaged couple have a right to privacy.

Although I’m not sure Buland’s iradas were as nek as I think they might be. There are only two times when a house is lit up with candles and one of them involves praying, which Buland obviously didn’t have in mind. So, to add a pinch of salt to their rendezvous, I was surprised that Rudaba didn’t pick up on BB’s intentions. Thanks to Sahira though, talk about opportune timing, she quickly comes to her senses.

Here, I’ll momentarily dive into psychoanalysing Rudaba. She’s not a bad girl, definitely not the Donna Summer kind, she’s charming, sweet, and overall plain nice, which makes her an easy target or shall I say “sitting duck” for people to manipulate and take advantage of. No, no, khawateen aur hazrat be under no illusions, every single person in this series be it Adil, Buland, or Bashar has at some point used Rudaba’s innocence against her. Sadly, for you Rudaba there’s no way out.

Now, coming to the actress, Ushna Shah surprises me. There are moments when I think she’s perfectly cast and then there are others when I find her lacking (for lack of a better word). And I guess there’s something about playing innocent that only Khirad could pull off, and as much as I like you Ms. Shah (after all you’re a Canuck!) Khirad you ain’t.

Toot, toot, beep, beep!

Talking about bad, I absolutely loved how Rudaba FINALLY stood up for herself. Thank you GEO, aap jug, jug geo! Seeing her put Tayyaba and Buland in their place if only for a few, fleeting moments made me go: “Yeh dil mangay more!”

Alas, for you, Lady R, and for us that happiness was short-lived. Bashar schemes his way out of Rudaba’s bedroom or was it bathroom in a scene that can only be pat-down filmi. Bye-Bye Buland, hello Bashar Bhai! Who knew “Bahi hoga tera baap” would be this literal an interpretation?

To chidko namak on this zakham, Bashar pops on over to be Tayyaba’s himayti. With the deed done, words can only do so much, yet Bashar’s words hold up better than Rudaba’s. Why? Buland miyan aap apni manghaytar ki nahi lekin kisi awaara gunday ki baatein maan lain gay? Aisa kyun? It’s not like you haven’t been around the block. Nor does Rudaba constantly need to a testimonial. Are we six years old? Grow up and grow a pair, Buland, my advice to you.

Somewhere in Basharland, Adil and Sahira are on a world tour, from NYC to London Town, whatever happened to Toronto – I guess we’re just not as appealing. Those ninety crores are one lucky makhluq not only do they get to travel the world they also have Yasir Mazhar managing them. Oh the joy!

Finally, here’s tidbit for GEO TV. Don’t run two episodes a week, you’ll ruin the pace and momentum of this series. It’s filmi, it’s good, and taken in the right dosage like a cup of aged apple cider (I’m keeping ithalal y’all!) it’s perfect entertainment. Don’t ruin a (reasonably) good thing.

Until next week,

Bashar Momin Episode 8

Right on point, Rudaba, right on point! Those of you familiar with the mechanics of our dramas whetherfilmi or not will concur with me when I say “Uff teri ada“! Bashar sahab I like the way you move, I like to see you move, and uff teri nazar it says I want to dance with you! Now if only Rudaba will jump on that bandwagon. If only…

Jogi naachlay… raang rach day… Bashar aur Tayyaba ki aadaon ka raang to abhi jalwa-firouz hua hai(right usage, RJ, bata dain?!)

Bashar Momin is like Tayyaba rightly says: “Same kahani, same takleefain” but in a completely differentandaaz! When you come to think of it Bashar could be Khizer, Tayyaba could be Sara, and our lovebirds Rudaba and Buland could pass of for some version of Khirad-Ashar (sorry boys, ladies first!) yet the stylistic difference between the two is like zameen-asmaan.

In a rather dismal creative atmosphere, yes, HUM TV I’m looking squarely at you (in the eye too!), I’m pleasantly impressed with Syed Ali Raza’s chatpatta and masala inspired rendition of desi dons andromeos without resorting to the default mazloom status quo. Is it any wonder that this man directed Main Hoon Shahid Afridi, a film meant to usher the revival of Pakistani cinema (more on Pakistani Cinema shortly peeps keep reading)?! His filmi aadyaein have one deewana in me, khawateen and hazrat.

Would Rudaba and Bashar’s seven minute pizza sequence with voiceovers included be anything other thanfilmi? Could Tayyaba and Bashar’s plotting not be filmi? Don’t Buland and his insecurity ka shikar dil aur dimagh inspire a thousand filmi-romeos? And does Adira’s (Adil-Sahira) sudden disappearance not reek of many a filmi plot line? Okay, okay, you get the filmi! Let’s move on.

Buland miyan aap to chaa gaye ho what with that t-shirt: “I Make My Own Word Record”. May I politely ask kaun sa record? ::insert bemused eyebrow raise here::

Records or no records our ishq ka shikarbanker is having his first lovers tiff all inspired by his own insecurity. As much as I understand where you’re coming from Buland, I cannot help but be on Rudaba’s side (and no there’s no bro-code when it comes to doing the right thing!). You’re the one with the past – those two girlfriends, those flirty gestures with Tayyaba, that boyish charm, which clouds your judgment on our mashriqi ladki.

As for said ladki you need a BFF! What, what, what were you thinking? No matter what he says DO NOT enter his room, DO NOT concede to him, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT engage him. What really got to me was Bashar saying: “Nahi, tumhay mera saath jana hai”, yaar, yeh acchi zabardasti hai! Why is it so hard for our women to put their foot down? Clearly our drama makers don’t have mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters. Kyun Asif Raza Mir sahab…? ::insert knowing smile here::

With more of the same, same – jealousy, anger, hushed whispers – this episode was like going in a circle. Rudaba and Buland ek doosaray say naraaz hain, ab sula ho rahee hai, ab phir naraaz hain, same track, back to back.

What was different though was Tayyaba’s shift. If last week I had any doubts about her involvement in this despicable scheme, this week I know for sure she’s on board. The scene in her bedroom with dark shadows was well done! The way the camera frames Bashar and Tayyaba as they seal their dastardly bond worked very well.

In the same vein, the camerawork is getting better with each episode. For instance, the scene at the Momin mansion with Buland waiting and Tayyaba scheming was beautifully framed. Tayyaba in front of a Hussain-inspired painting, Buland next to the verandah door, with the entire room flooded with light. I, for one, absolutely loved it! Do I sense Hamdardi in action? I guess Adeel isn’t the only one who succumbs to it.

BUT, BUT, BUT Faysal Quraishi in a red silk gown and pyjamas with some variation of Greek sandals (no, they’re not Birkenstocks!) with his hipster haircut and black banyan all coupled with a tabiz around his neck stole the show for me. Not to mention his OTT acting all eyebrow raise, climactic music, especially as he spouts to the camera: “Murday ko soong kay bata daita hoon…” Wah kya talent hai!

Faysal bhai aapki aadaon par yeh gaana nazar karta hoon: Uff teri ada!

Aadaaon say yaad aaya next week is Basant (Hello filmi!) and I, for one, am curious to see what happens next.

Bashar Momin Episode 7

I’ll be using this expression another time, rest assured, given what lies ahead.
Soooooo… where do I start? Since last week was all about desi inspired dons (and no, I’m not done on that front!) this week we’ll talk about desi romeos. What’s a Desi Romeo, you ask, read on, my lovelies.
If our leading women oscillate between sultry and sullen, can our men be far behind? They might not be helpless, they are certainly not sultry, but they pack copious amounts of chichora charm circa the 90s and à la Govinda at least in Bashar Momin they do. Let’s start with Buland, since I’ve hardly paid any attention to him, yeah I wonder why (?). Our man Buland is best expressed as quelle mysterious (or however the French say it!) – a brooding, possessive, solemn, and serious  creature, he’s far from the lover boy that’ll mesmerise you just by the way he looks at you, talks to you, or smiles at you.
Then why is Rudaba smitten like a fourteen-year-old school girl? As Mr. Bakhtiar waves his magic wand he mesmerises not one but two of our very pretty leading ladies. With rather cliched and cringe worthy pick up lines (yes, I still haven’t gotten over open heart surgery and tattoos) he’s smooth-talked his way into their hearts as Monsieur Magnetique. Beware,  all ye prey, he’s a devil in disguise, and you’d be wise to smarten up!

Bashar Momin is a Pakistani Drama watch Episode 07 Online at Bathak.com

A banker by profession (talk about cliches!), Mr. BB is Casanova Brown personified and here’s how I came to this conclusion: the charminator works his killer stare on you subtly flashing his expensive smile coupled with a (not-so-)friendly touch at an oddly unexpected moment all the while accompanied by a cocky, well-educated accent. Ring a bell?
I’m not done yet.
On the other hand we have the scruff & gruff, always angry, perpetually shouting Bashar sahab. Desi takes on a whole new meaning with this man! Now, I confess, I don’t know any mafia dons nor am I intimate with what I can best describe as the “super-elite” of Pakistani society – after all if Buland and Rudaba are upper middle class, (right??!) – but I am hard pressed to find a desi man with all shades of NO plastered over him. Yes, listen up ladies, if you encounter this one RUN immediately.
Where Buland wins every price in charm, courtesy, manners, and etiquette, Bashar only elicits our instinctive disdain, perhaps, even hatred. Which is exactly what this episode should have been called: How to hate Bashar in ten days!

If hate is where we’re moving as an audience then let me begin by saying how cringe-worthy the first seven minutes of this episode were. Rudaba’s crying: absolutely horrible, Buland’s poochkaooing: equally horrible, Bashar’s Nancy-Drewing (yes that’s a verb now!): definitely creepy. As I was about to concede to my fate that this would be a lack lustre episode with bad acting, bad writing, bad directing (we’re on a roll here), Tayyaba gave me the laugh I’ve been waiting for all week!
“Bashar bhai, upper-middle-class gharoon mein log ek-doosray kay kitnay kareeb hotly hain na sabko sabki khabar hoti hai.“
This was my O.M.A. moment. First up, who’s writing these dialogues. Second, why are they being given to the cast. And finally, how can you regurgitate ^^ verbatim without once breaking into a fit of giggles. Seriously?! What does upper-middle class or middle-class have to do with anything? The subtle art and exact science of script-writing just went to die in a corner.
Kisi shayar nay farmaya hai: “Chita kaghazon ki hai kya khojatay ho, bhuji raakh mein ab kisay dhondtay ho.” Samajh aayee? If there’s something meaningful we’re looking for we won’t find it here. What we will find is tons and tons of entertainment!
And on that count this episode doesn’t disappoint. Every aspect of the story from the eighth minute refused to fall flat. Bashar’s scheming began pretty early in the episode, so much so, that he now insists Tayyaba and Pari accompany our lovebirds, talk about kebab mein haddi (this one’s for you Disqus!). Ice cream proved a challenge in itself with a contest between (desi) mango and (pardesi) chocolate, subtle Team BM, very subtle!
Who’s the mango, then, I wonder. Hmmm… any guesses?
And right on cue enter the Momin mansion, with Bashar firmly fixated on Buland’s car and Rudaba in it. Was it just me or did Mr. Quraishi have pink/salmon-ish eye shadow in this episode? Not a good look of you, FQ, we like you manly and rugged. We really do! In a world full of Zains, ‘Shams, and Bulands we need a (dare I say it) real-man. Aap to aatayat karein agar make-up wala/i nahi karta/i.
With our lovebirds bidding adieu it’s time for Bashar Bhai’s plans to spring into action. Yes, this means poor Rudaba will feign a few more epileptic shocks and pass them off as Bashar ka khauf. The fact that Rudaba was honest about being scared by Bashar is definitely important and personally, I think, that scene was done very well. That Syed Usman decided to end with it was even better! The smooth transition from Beauty and the Beast (talk about literal!) to Beauty and the Handsome still leaves our damsel in distress. Aab kya hoga?
I’m not a betting kind of guy but if I was I’d bet on Bashar and his plan. What say you?

Bashar Momin Episode 6

This week I realised what Bashar meant when he said those infamous words. If only they could go down in cinematic history like these: “Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai.” Perhaps, they will…
Desi-inspired “Dons” are a difficult act to pull off. Amitabh Bachchan in Don (1978), Shahrukh Khan in yet another Don (2006), Saif Ali Khan in Omkara (2006), Miyan Maqbool aka Irfan Khan in Maqbool (2003) or the man who started this ominous trend Manoj Bajpai in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998), all gave us fifty shades of black and then some. In Pakistan, our very own homegrown Gujranwala-goon Noori Natt not only made Maula Jatt the avenger he is but he also became the benchmark for Lollywood villainy for generations to come.

Bashar Momin is a Pakistani Drama watch Episode 06 Online at Bathak.com

Each of these men gave local fans a taste of domestic evil. Whether it was Amitabh’s quiet confidence, Shahrukh’s suave and subtle moves, or Mustafa Qureshi’s junglee andaaz our idea of a desi mob boss is some permutation/combination of Eastern emotion and Western logic. Even then Bashar Momin, as a character, remains unpredictable.
If haters could hate unabated then this would be the episode where we start despising Bashar. The man schemes, connives, cheats, murders, and shouts – are there any redeeming qualities in him – I’m guessing there are but we’ll just have to wait for them.
In what began as another hera-pheri sequence, Khan gives Bashar a quick rundown of his sprawling criminal apparatus. Did you know there’s a hint of siyasi bagawat in the not so distant future? No… well now you do! As for Khan, kudos on his loyalty(!), boy gets screamed at, threatened, and Allah only know what else but he sticks around. I wonder what the pay package includes? Copious amounts of Life Insurance that’s for sure. Also, did you notice all those men running around the farmhouse – it’s the desi touch I briefly mentioned earlier!
Speaking of desi touches, Tayabba and Buland are former classmates (far removed from school but definitely classmates!). Which makes me wonder if Tayabba can be friends with a “popular” guy like Buland why does she have such a hard time hanging on to a guy? Pleasantries exchanged we finally learn that Mr. Bakhtiar’s ex-girlfriend used to go by Zoya Affandi (I bet you anything she was half-Turkish too!).
No sooner is Rudaba back in the Momin house that she and Buland are ushered in to meet Bashar Bhai with Tayabba in tow. Our big-shot boss man having traded in his leather loafers for BATA chappals begins the cross questioning that should send every red flag up for Buland. Between “kya kartay ho” and “shaadi ka faysala kaun karay ga” Buland miyan is welcomed to the family, Bashar style.
Families – complete, incomplete, in progress – were a recurring theme in this episode. Where Rudaba cannot stop thinking about Mr. Almost Perfect, Bashar can’t help but be well… Bashar. His scheming mind manipulates the situation in a rather shrewd manner – scaring Rudaba, presenting a fine veneer to Buland, pushing Sahira to do his dirty work, and did I mention scaring the living daylights out of Rudaba.
From what I can gather Faysal Quraishi and Ushna Shah have some amazing on-screen moments and then some that fall flat. Like the chai scene just didn’t work (for me) whereas them sparring over Parizad, I could literally feel the tension. Waise haad hai, ab Bashar kay kamray tak baat pohonch gaye hai. What next? His bathroom?!
Sahira and Adil are in Manhattan or were at least transposed on to the Big Apple. They were probably having martinis (that’s a New Yorker drink, no?) with Mehreen Jabbar. Who knows…?
What I loved about this episode was that Rudaba finally gets to go home! YAY BULAND! That’s one for Team BB (and no, that’s not Mohtarma). The entire scene from Ramzan Chacha to the the white sheets added a surreal element to the leading pair’s courtship. One that I liked seeing on screen. Seeing the light frame Rudaba, I couldn’t help but notice this Canadian lass is indeed pretty! Given that usually lighting is a sore spot with A&B Productions, I will give them a free pass solely for this scene with its rising smoke, holy light, namazis, and stolen glances! Job well done, Team BM! You lifted us up to some spiritual plane only to bring us crashing down with screams, screams, and more screams.
Syed Usman does a fantastic job with bits and pieces of Bashar Momin, which is something I’ve felt for a while now, yet there is something definitely lacking. Good editors and a DoP with what I can only call a teez nazar would have helped the series immensely.
Finally, Zanjabeel Asim sahiba, aapsay ek guzarish hai agli baar hero ko yeh dialogue maat deejeyaga, baraye meherbani: “Waise aab agar Rudaba chahain to mein apni OHS (open heart surgery) karawa kar inka naam apnay dil par tattoo karwa sakta hoon“.
How do you say “Really (with a generous helping of side eye)” in Urdu…? Anyone? There’s a prize if you guess, I promise!