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irected by Shehrazade Sheikh and written by Rida Bilal, Doosra Chehra is a mini-series that aired over Eid-ul-Azha this year. It was a huge hit. Did this Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi production, starring Sanam Saeed, Saboor Aly, Adeel Hussain and Arez Ahmed in lead roles, really deserve the critical acclaim and the rave reviews it garnered? Let’s see.
The series, set in a middle-class locality of Karachi, opens with the story of a happily married couple. Saboor Aly stars as Komal; her husband Salman is portrayed by actor Arez Ahmed. Salman is a salesman at a car showroom. He is a hard-working and conscientious employee.
Komal is a huge fan of a celebrity couple, Zara (Sanam Saeed) and Hamza (Adeel Hussain) who, through their social media accounts, keep their fans updated on their personal and professional lives. Obviously, social media is a mirage and an overdose of it leads to stress, discontentment, anxiety and depression.
Komal, despite having been a brilliant student, refuses to work or study and spends all her day on social media, constantly drawing comparisons between her own life and what Zara and Hamza portray of their picture-perfect lives on their social media accounts.
Salman’s mother (Saba Faisal) keeps telling her daughter-in-law to start a family. This leads to a lot of friction between Komal and Salman. The social pressure to have a child, combined with the increasing discontentment and dissatisfaction with her own life, begins to take a mental and emotional toll on Komal. Salman, despite trying his best, fails to make Komal happy and the tensions between the two escalate. Constant interference from her mother-in-law only makes matters worse.
Komal’s obsession with Zara and Hamza drives a wedge between her and Salman. However, this illusion of perfection is shattered one day when she realises that what is being portrayed is not the actual lived reality of the celebrity couple. It then dawns on Komal that she was chasing an illusion and by constantly drawing comparisons and being discontented with her lot in life, was ruining her own relationship with her doting husband.
The four leads act well, however, Arez Ahmed outshines the rest and delivers a remarkable performance. Saboor also enacts her role convincingly. Sanam, as usual, is efficient and Adeel also, by and large, delivers a credible performance. However, in a few scenes, he tends to go slightly overboard.
The script is watertight. The screenplay and direction are also commendable. The play is a welcome change from the run-of-the-mill plays. Doosra Chehra features some remarkable performances and touches on an extremely relevant social issue. The best part is that it is only four episodes long and is not stretched needlessly. The OST is beautifully sung and is quite touching.
Arez is quite a revelation and delivers an award worthy performance, leaving the viewers wanting more. Sanam and Adeel also effectively capture the stresses and pressures of constantly being in the spotlight and how the boundaries between their ‘reel’ and real life begin to blur after a while. This really resonates with the modern-day viewers as there is a compulsion to post each and every second of their lives on social media in an effort to stay relevant and popular with their fan base.
How does this pan out? Will Komal eventually manage to salvage her relationship or is it too late? Will Sanam and Adeel manage to patch up or will the relentless pressure to look perfect all the time wreck their marriage?
Doosra Chehra is a beautiful insight into how social media impacts people’s lives by selling dreams that are actually nightmares. Another pressing issue explored in the drama is the social pressure to have children that a lot of young couples have to endure. Unfortunately, it never lets up but only intensifies with time.
Saboor and Arez deliver a credible performance as a couple fighting on a number of fronts. The celebrity couple idolised by Komal, much to her surprise, does not have a perfect life either. She realises that no relationship is perfect. The quest for perfection can rob people of what little joy and happiness they have, as they turn a blind eye to all their blessings. Instead of being grateful, they get caught up in a rat race.
Do watch this masterpiece and marvel at how so many pertinent issues have been raised in only four episodes. A tight-knit script and good direction can do wonders. Doosra Chehra proves that good content never goes unnoticed. Be sure not to miss it.
The writer is an educationist. She can be reached at gaiteearahotmail.com