‘Pyar Ke Sadkay’ takes a disappointing turn

What started of as a sweet and adorable love story has turned into a typical love triangle with evil in-laws trying to break up a marriage.

In my previous review, I had praised Pyar Ke Sadkay for being romantic and feel-good. However, a few episodes later I am very close to taking back my words considering how the story and plot have developed.

The recent episodes have seen Abdullah (Bilal Abbas Khan) sideline his wife Mahjabeen (Yumna Zaidi) and get involved with Shanzay (Yashma Gill), his ex-crush, who had ridiculed him when he proposed to her. Shanzay is now single after getting divorced and is hell-bent on getting married to Abdullah, just to satisfy her ego and get that confidence boost. Despite Mahjabeen’s efforts to make the marriage work, Abdullah seems to have forgotten his promises to his wife and the way Shanzay treated him and has is planning to marry Shanzay. Meanwhile, Abdullah’s stepfather Sarwar (Omair Rana) is also encouraging him to pursue Shanzay and divorce Mahjabeen.

On the other hand, Abdullah’s mother Mansoora Begum (Atiqa Odho) has developed a dislike for her bahu (daughter-in-law) after she commented on how much younger her husband Sarwar is to her. Mansoora, who was initially supportive of Mahjabeen is now okay with the idea of Abdullah divorcing her.

Abdullah is basically cheating on his wife, but because he’s a ‘simpleton’, he is being easily misguided by his stepfather and is falling into Shanzay’s ‘trap’. Shanzay is shown as the villainous other woman leading Abdullah astray. While Abdullah is conscious of the fact that he is not being fair to Mahjabeen, he is still allowing himself to be swayed by external elements, making him an extremely weak character.

Abdullah’s sister Washma (Shra Asghar) and his aunt Pho (Shermeen Ali) are the only two sane elements in the whole drama. They add the much-needed voice of reason and is one of the reasons why you don’t pull your hair out in frustration. That and solid performances by the entire cast. Bilal and Yumna are fantastic in their roles and the range of emotions they express in a single scene is brilliant. Yumna, in particular, is so convincing that you end up feeling what she is feeling.

• Pho
• Washma

What irks me most is the fact that makers had a great chance to educate the masses about sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour within the household by focusing more on Sarwar’s attitude towards Mahjabeen. However, they chose to go to the tried-and-tested route by bringing in a love triangle and complicating things unnecessarily. Given that a couple of episodes are still remaining, I’m hopeful that the drama will take a turn for the better and end in a less predictable manner.