Review By Drama Buff

Brilliant! Beautiful! Classic! These three words aptly sum up today’s episode of Durre-Shehwar. I have never been at a greater loss for words to describe a powerful, intense episode such as this one.

This episode focused completely upon the flashbacks, as the audience got a more than detailed glimpse into the life and emotions of Durre-Shehwar as she completed her education, and got married to Mansoor.

Umera Ahmed, I believe, was the star of today’s show. The character and dialogues of Durre-Shehwar, throughout the episode, personified almost every young girl’s rollercoaster of emotions: in the way she tells her mother she does not want to get married, the indifference with which she shrugs off the fact that Mansoor is downstairs and then rushes after her sister to catch a glimpse of him, and the heart-rending way in which she battles with her conflicting emotions. Finally, of course, comes her first meeting with Mansoor, and subsequent nod of approval to her parents, setting in motion the turn of events which will unfold gradually in the upcoming episodes.

Sanam Baloch was brilliant as the innocent Durre-Shehwar – it sorely reminded me of her Bano persona in Dastaan. Of course, when it comes to the cast, one must give credit to Mr. Muhammad Ahmed for his excellent portrayal of a father who would not give the go-ahead to a proposal without hearing his daughter’s verbal approval, and who very poignantly voiced his thoughts that the size of the house does not guarantee happiness for any girl- the character of her husband does!

Coming back to Durre-Shehwar, oh boy, what an absolutely sweet meeting it was between Durre-Shehwar and Mansoor: the way they would not look at each other, and speak the bare minimum. It was actually a cultural shock for a few minutes, remembering the last “encounter” of Mikaal and Sanam as Kiran and Shimraiz in the last episode of Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan. It is definitely a relief to note Mikaal’s changed look in this serial, and of course, this Bano-look suits Sanam more than any Akbari or Kiran in the world.

I did have two major peeves with this episode, though: first of all, most of the background score sounded like an edited version of Dastaan’s background music. Why? First, the music was borrowed from a film, and now Dastaan? Granted it was an excellent, original score, but can’t the two production houses come up with something original in terms of scores? Moreover, the dupatta worn by Durre-Shehwar at her wedding looked very familiar – in fact, a little too similar to the one worn by Surraya Khala in Dastaan. Dastaan is over, guys! Can we please have original scores and props?

That said, let me end this review with a strong recommendation for this drama serial to be an integral part of any pre or post marital counselling there is! There were, literally, gems strewn throughout. I am looking forward to the next episode already. But in the meantime, a huge round of applause to the entire team once again!