“Azmaish” is a show that quite literally became an “azmaish” for its audience. Starring Yashma Gill, Fahad Sheikh, Kinza Hashmi, Minsa Malik, Furqan Qureshi, Gul e Rana and Shahood Alvi, this started off as a show about a genuinely dysfunctional family with a mentally unwell girl destroying the inner peace within the household. It was advertised as a love triangle. By the end, it just turned into an absolute wreck of a show with characters getting hit by cars and moving in and out of hospitals with side characters taking up much of the screen time. Written by Sameena Aijaz and directed by Fajr Raza, “Azmaish” ended after 60 episodes.
The definition of the potential behaviors of antisocial personality disorder is the following: “a mental condition in which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating exploiting or violating the rights of others without any remorse. This behavior may cause problems in relationships, at work and is often criminal.” (Mayo clinic, 2019) While citing a reference is not a personal norm during reviews, this definition certainly fits the bill for Shiza’s behavior from beginning to end in “Azmaish.” It’s for this reason that the finale completely falls apart. This is a woman who has been cold, unfeeling and disturbed for a very long time, essentially since childhood. With Samreen under her influence, she almost became just like Shiza – but with one major difference. Samreen could love, feel and think outside the box. As long as she was under Shiza’s influence, she behaved rather poorly, but as soon as she saw Shiza for who she is, Samreen changed for the good. Shiza, however, could not help herself. Her behaviors were a part of her being, a condition which was never diagnosed…..probably not even by the writer of the show. But that’s the bottom line, that a character like Shiza may have committed suicide still, but she would not have had the intense panic attack after shooting Basit and she would have followed through with her attempt to murder Nimra. This is where the show lost the plot, using Shiza’s suicide simply as a way to write her off the show without anyone else getting hurt.
The love story between Basit (Fahad Sheikh) and Nimra (Kinza Hashmi) should have been the heart and soul of the entire show, Basit’s heartbreaking being felt through the (recycled from “Mera Naam Yousuf Hai”) OST. Unfortunately, as has been said in previous reviews, there was no love story to speak of. Basit loved Nimra, married her sister and began treating her like a little sister. She only saw him as a brother. Their love story developed in literally the final 30 minutes of the show – and that’s a tragedy. One couldn’t even argue with Nimra’s disdain towards the entire situation, because from her perspective, she was forced to marry a man who was like her brother. This was a poorly written love story, regardless of how likable Basit was throughout. Fahad Sheikh and Kinza Hashmi deserve a better show as a pair.
Furqan Qureshi, Minsa Malik and Gul E Rana played a sweet family unit by the end, though Minsa Malik’s Samreen did her level best to destroy her own home. But all’s well that ends well and all three actors gave very good performances. Furqan Qureshi is underrated and Gul E Rana is always a treat to watch.
It is the character of Faisal who receives an unnecessary amount of screen time in the finale, cutting long scenes on his face, stating that no one could have love Nimra more than him with the OST playing in the background. How so? This may have been a nice character and in the end, he’s almost an angel with how nicely he treats his Chacha, but Faisal never had even one proper conversation with Nimra, so love is out of the question. He simply liked how she looked and Nimra was always from a different world than him. These sequences came across as just another excuse to play the OST repeatedly when it was no longer needed. Along with Faisal, Chacha’s track also should have ended a long time ago and really, as viewers, we no longer cared once his truth was exposed to Nimra. Also, heavy sequences focusing on Basit’s brother and sister in law were excruciating to sit through. These characters did not deserve the amount of screen time they received.
Yashma Gill won me over as a viewer in “Ab Dekh Khuda Kya Karta Hai” and her performance on this show has consistently been the best. A character who was despicable and so full of hatred that not for even a moment could the viewer sympathize with her – and yet, the way Yashma performed this role with that steely, cold look was perfect, never faltering, never feeling disconnected or as though she were putting on an act. For that, Yashma Gill deserves a round of applause. It’s unfortunate that the show, overall, was simply too dragged out with useless tracks (Basit’s brother and sister-in-law, Faisal and Nimra’s father) to be memorable. Done and dusted – on to the next!
Reference
(2019, December 10). Antisocial personality disorder – Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928
