We’re living in a time when noise and clutter – most of it regressive and destructive - overwhelm our lives; at such a time, the soft-spoken tenor of Dil Kya Karay is both soothing and very welcome.
The twelfth episode of Mehreen Jabbar’s Dil Kya Karay aired this week and once again, tackled several different taboos and social stereotypes as has become the pivot of the drama serial. Revolving around the lives of the people living in one household, the story may not be extraordinary in terms of the plot but it is extraordinary in terms of its execution and the consistently progressive tone it takes. We’re living in a time when noise and clutter – most of it regressive and destructive - overwhelm our lives; at such a time, the soft-spoken tenor of Dil Kya Karay is both soothing and very welcome.
Dil Kya Karay’s characters are its backbone, especially Bibi or Suhana (Shamim Hilaly), the gentile and forward thinking matriarch of the house. And while everyone else has a role to play in tackling taboos, there is Rumaissa (Marina Khan), Bibi’s elder brother Salman’s wife, who comes forth as the typical, often ugly, voice of society. She is a close-minded, superstitious woman drenched in negativity.
Some major developments take place in this week’s episode.
Sarmad Khoosat makes a long-awaited entry as some Rubaba Khala’s son, Hussain. Hussain has returned to Pakistan, with his young daughter, after 15 years. His wife passed away several years ago and he’s raising his child as a single parent. Hussain’s two encounters with Rabia (Sonya Rehman) establish him as the eligible companion we were hoping she’d find. Rumaissa raises some objections about Rabia meeting him and she taunts the fact that Rabia would even be interested in getting married. The message we get, however, is that it’s not only okay but ideal if a widow finds a suitable companion to remarry and spend her life with.
Rumaissa, in accordance with society, is eager that her daughter Feryal (Maryam Nafees) get married as soon as possible. And for this she has a distant friend visit, with her son, with the potential rishta. The ‘chai in the drawing room’ scene is laid out when Feryal, at last minute, decides not to make an appearance. Offended, the visiting lady who is Feryal’s potential mother in law, starts making offensive comments about the girl, to which Bibi stops her and asks her to leave. Instead of being subservient to a potential rishta, they protect their daughter and decide they don’t want Feryal marrying such close-minded people who feel a girl must be meek and submissive to be marriage-worthy.
The drama makes a worthy statement on our rishta culture in which girls are paraded in front of boys and/or their families like commodities. Like so many social evils this too must be eradicated.
Ayman (Yumna Zaidi) is pregnant and while Saadi (Mirza Zain Baig) is a loving and doting husband, it is the entire family bond that creates an ideal picture. Saadi’s relationship with his father (Abid Ali) is warm and friendly; they’re buddies. Ayman’s relationship with her mother in law is refreshingly loving; Saadi’s parents have actually given her the love she lost with the death of her own parents. This picture-perfect setting is in fact too good to be true.
In another major development Arman (Feroze Khan) leaves Karachi and shifts to China for some business. He’s heartbroken to the extent that he feels he can never settle down with anyone else. And it’s here that things come together and build up for a climax.
In the last scene we see Aymen and Saadi returning from a doctor’s appointment but they are intercepted by some armed men in the parking lot.
Saadi is abducted – possibly by the political goons trying to buy off some land that Saadi and his father are building a school on – and as they drive off, Aymen faints and drops to the floor.
Next episode’s promo wasn’t aired after this one, and Dil Kya Karay is not available on YouTube, so we cannot guess what happens up next. It may be too much to handle, but all indicators point at Saadi getting killed in this encounter and Arman returning from China to pick up the pieces. That would be tragic because really, hasn’t Aymen suffered enough?
