Humsafar Reviewed (Part 2)

The episodes over the fortnight have been so adorably charming, I wonder if Sarmad will be able to top his own work in the future. There must be a special mention for color-coded scenes, a rather clever technique to help the viewers remember them. More on this later.

It has finally dawned on Ashar that his cousin cum best friend is belittling Khirad. Sarah’s attempt of putting the beautiful bride down, at her birthday didn’t go unnoticed by Ashar, who blatantly ignored her the next morning at the office. Besides being arrogant Sarah is tad bit ignorant too, who doesn’t know the difference between a city and a village. Maybe getting out more – and not just to her lousy parties, but actually out, out – will help her improve her geography skills and realize that Hyderabad is a city and it’s just next to Karachi.

Navin Waqar as Sarah

Ashar’s perspective of his wife has taken a 180 degree turn, for the better. In the beginning he discarded her as being an illetirate girl with no formal education. But he was shell-shocked when Khirad came out of the closet about her capabilities and ambitions  and told him that she had already completed BSc degree in Mathematics and Statistics, before they both got married. Being the only daughter of two teachers, it could well be a genetic gift to study these rough subjects. To add to this Khirad had planned to do a Masters in Applied Mathematics. No piece of cake, that.

Khirad not only knows her numbers but is also a champion at the game of chess. Baseerat Hussain held that title – in the house – till now. Ashar had played with him enough times to realise that he couldn’t beat his dad but Khirad saved the day for him. As she pointed Ashar to the right direction on the checkerboard, whilst sitting away on the sofa with Farida.

The game of chess (Episode 6)

On Sarah’s birthday party, a friend of her’s passes a comment on Khirad’s elegant white dress – leaving Khirad wondering if she is over-dressed for the event. If anything, the not-so-fashionable, Sarah Ajmal and her mates – all of whom were strangely dressed in black – could learn a thing or two from Khirad.

Lets have a look at more of Khirad’s extravagant Anarkalis which have defined so many scenes between the gorgeous couple. The Black and Gold that Khirad wore to Azar’s party. This has to be one of my most favorites, the ice cream scene. On their way to the restuarant, Khirad was still in her cocoon, who wouldn’t speak unless spoken to. Ashar’s tired expressions at Khirad’s ‘as you wish’ replies, cracked me up followed by Ashar’s ‘aap mere saath chal rahi hain, ya main akela hi coffee pee aaon’ (are you coming with me or shall I go and have coffee alone). Khirad who seemed least in the mood for  a scope of ice cream, ordered a strawberry flavor and didn’t taste it twice. Ashar watched his wife with interest, as she played with the mint leaf garnished on her plate. The camera focused on it a little too closely and this has stirred quite a debate on a popular Pakistani forum, as to what might be the significance of a leaf to Khirad. Humsafar is officially under-the-radar for everything it shows.

The Coral scene, where Khirad is writing an email to her best friends Afsheen. I belong to the minority which has opted to just watch the drama before digging into the novel for comparison. But I’m very certain that the content of email has been taken directly from the novel. Khirad writes about how blessed she considers herself to have a man like Ashar. As Ashar walks into the room and sits besides Khirad. He inquires what she was doing, to which she shows him the email.

”You must have written something about me in it. Did you mention any bad habits of mine?”.

“No, I just wrote the good stuff. Like, how extremely nice and soft spoken you are”.

”That’s it? Didn’t you write about how you ogle at me when I’m standing away doing something and when I look at you, you don’t look me in the eye. Like now”.

The scene is so beautifully executed, not trying to exaggerated but I’ve watched this particular scene, over and over every time I get hold of my Laptop. If you have missed out on the repeat telecasts, 2imtoo Channel of Faisalabad has uploaded amazing videos of each episode in High Quality on YouTube.

Khirad Ahsan (Mahira Khan) and Ashar Hussain (Fawad Khan)

The Yellow scene where Khirad asks Ashar to choose her a  dress for the night party they are supposed to go to. Here, Ashar puts an end to Khirad’s increasing consciousness about her clothes and need to look presentable where ever they go. At one point Ashar – without a hitch – would have picked Sarah over her, for the fashionista she is. But now he has begun to realise the ‘inner-charm’ of Khirad, who in his own words doesn’t have to compete and be a part of people’s fashion parade. This is besides the point, but in my opinion Sarah seems too scared to experiment with colors and Khirad’s outfits win my vote anyday for the sheer vibrancy of the colors.

The Green and White scene. When Ashar is talking about going off to China for a ten days business trip.  Followed by the necklace or the Red scene.  Another phenomenal set of screen fantasy.

(For direct feedback to Humsafar’s Team, send your emails at drama.humsafar@gmail.com)

Also posted on Oyedramay.com