“Shehnai” continues to be a fun, entertaining show that focuses on the arranged marriage between two individuals who are both intially in love with different people. Starring Affan Waheed and Ramsha Khan in lead roles, this show has a stellar ensemble cast including Javed Sheikh, Nida Mumtaz, Arsalan Faisal, Maryam Noor, Saleem Mairaj, Salma Hassan, Zainab Qayyum, Behroze Sabzwari, Javeria Abbasi, Ismat Zaidi and many others. Written by Radain Shah and directed by directed by Ahmed Bhatti, “Shehnai” has now taken a turn with Meerab realizing he has been duped by Sameera. The family is now struggling to piece this engagement back together and hope Bakht and Meerab’s marriage goes off without a hitch.
In episode 16, both Meerab (Affan Waheed) and Bakht (Ramsha Khan) are on the same page about no longer wanting to get married, though both for different reasons. Bakht is exhausted of being self-sacrificing while Meerab is going through the emotions of a difficult break-up. Still, relations between the two are hostile as Bakht blames Meerab for much of what has happened – even though it’s equally her fault. It’s not surprising then that when Bakht meets Hunain again in a café, she reconnects with him to find out why he abandoned her. It’s then that she is given a long backstory of Hunain’s love and sacrifice, his poverty-stricken background and how he sacrificed his love for her to see her happy with a better man (Meerab). Bakht is taken in. Unfortunately, she’s not aware that Hunain has been paid off by Kafayat (Saleem Mairaj), who has hatched yet another plan to break up Meerab and Bakht’s wedding. Unfortunately, it seems now Bakht will lose faith in Meerab and we will now see a role reversal as to what we’ve been seeing up until now (with Meerab trusting Sameera over Bakht).
Essentially when one looks at “Shehnai,” the story has become that of Bakht believing herself to be the “victim” of her own story. However, is she truly a victim? Bakht met Meerab while in love with Hunain. The two had an open and honest discussion from the on-set, Bakht making her feelings for Hunain clear and Meerab making his for Sameera clear. The two hatched a plot to get engaged, but work it out so they could marry their own perspective partners. They made a deal, a pact that was open and clear. Yes, Hunain was a cheat and yes, Sameera was a psychopath, but this is besides the point. Hunain was the first to disappoint, standing Bakht up, abandoning her after making promises of marriage. Left with no other option, Bakht suddenly developed a liking for and a bond with Meerab. Yes, Bakht and Meerab shared great chemistry almost immediately and Sameera was an absolutely crazy, disloyal woman, but Meerab didn’t know that. In his delusions, he simply continued on with the “plan,” trying to be as respectful and kind-hearted towards Bakht’s family in the process. When he finally broke things off with Bakht in order to be faithful to Sameera, Bakht insulted him. Was this right? Had Bakht been betrayed? When Bakht was abandoned and at her lowest, Meerab stood by her, listened to her, helped her through her grief. Now that Meerab has been abandoned by a woman he thought loved him, Bakht has painted Meerab into a perfect villain, not only in everyone else’s eyes, but also in her own eyes. This insane plot was exactly that – insane. But it was a plot created by both of them. Why is Meerab taking the fall over and over again as the bad guy? Bakht has lied to her own parents time and time again for an action (running away) that she actually did commit. She has become a fairly unlikable character, something which even her cousins acknowledge when referring to how self-obsessed she is and how she makes everything about herself and how it affects her. Bakht has a lot of growing to do and one hopes she does it before the end of the show, because at present, Meerab is actually the only likable one out of this pair.
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Much of the episode focuses on Ambreen (Nida Mumtaz) making amends with family members in order to keep Bakht’s marriage running smoothly. This includes discovering that Saima (Maryam Noor) and Saiqa (Naima Khan) are still in town and bringing them home, along with mending relations with Tooba (Salma Hassan). It’s these family relationships and their dysfunctionality that keeps “Shehnai” running, making it so endearing. There are so many bad apples, but also several great relationships, such as Ambreen-Saiqa and even Javeria Abbasi’s Munni. Of course, even the bad apples make the show entertaining. “Shehnai” is the sort of show that isn’t particularly intelligent, but it is a nice family drama with strong elements of humor while also being realistic – and yet, not weighing heavy on the heart or making viewers feel particularly troubled by the on-going chaos. The ensemble cast all does a great job in their respective roles. This is essentially the last light-hearted drama on air at the moment, so it’s one that is still being relished by viewers. Now if only Bakht would finally see some growth and become likable again.
