There are some shows that one continues watching out of habit, even though the story has lost meaning ages ago. “Baddua” is not a guilty pleasure. It’s not a horrible show. It’s not illogical. But it’s simply not a great show, only because the main purpose of its message is not clear. Abeer, played by Amar Khan, is bad – yes, we are all on board with this. But there are many other “bad” characters on the show as well, bad in slightly less “obvious” ways. Will they get their punishment? Or will Abeer be the only one suffering in the end? “Baddua” stars Amar Khan, Muneeb Butt, Maryam Noor, Osama Tahir and others in prominent roles, while it’s written by Samina Aijaz and directed by Ramish Rizvi.
In episode 20, Abeer (Amar Khan) continues to be neglected by Junaid (Muneeb Butt) and his family. While she attempts to “prove” her innocence through acts of being helpless and sweet, she’s still plotting against everyone in the same house. Let’s get one thing straight – the question isn’t whether Abeer is bad or good. Abeer is rotten to her core with a few soft moments sprinkled in. The question is – will everyone else who is equally as rotten as her also suffer the same punishment at the end? Of course, we know Abeer will eventually “suffer.” It’s written in the cards. But will Junaid, our horrible male “hero,” also suffer? Junaid is the male version of Abeer, if not worse, because at present, he is determined to win Neelam “back.” Yes, Neelam, a woman who is already married to his once-best-friend, Affan.
Speaking of which, Affan (Osama Tahir) and Neelam (Maryam Noor) are the most bizarre once-cute couple. Two sincere people, why are they so incapable of communicating? It was nice to see Affan call Neelam out on her lies regarding Junaid’s visit – but Neelam’s apology and excuse was quite well-spoken and straightforward. But will that always be the case? Neelam’s problem is that she does not recognize how close Affan and Junaid once were and that this betrayal has left an imprint on Affan’s psyche. She has to be more of an open book with her husband, otherwise he will mistrust her. Neelam should put more focus on her marriage and less on calling Junaid’s family and meeting him in private, telling him to back off. We can see in the previews for next week that Neelam and Junaid will meet, further casting doubt upon their relationship for Affan. This is what’s wrong with “Baddua” – it’s frustrating and the actions of the characters are frustrating.
It’s also aimless. What is the endgame here? There’s a man who is stalking Abeer for “revenge” and Abeer is dim enough to make this worse. Abeer’s sister has a fiancé who likes her for some odd reason, despite her ridiculously uptight attitude. Speaking of Abeer’s family, there’s a thoroughly disgusting scene between Abeer’s parents and sister where they tell her a daughter’s real home is her husband’s home. This is something many girls have heard growing up – and it needs to stop. Our media needs to stop promoting this idea. If Pakistan claims to hold Islamic values in regards to media, then they should show those values – and this idea of girls being “parayi” is against religious beliefs. This Is a different discussion of course, but our writers should be aware that women have had enough of these backwards ideologies being spread through such scenes.
Overall, there are interesting moments in “Baddua.” It’s not a bad show and has some strong points, namely the acting from certain actors – namely Amar Khan and Muneeb Butt. But it’s not particularly engaging or entertaining to watch, nor does it have a great social message or even a clear endpoint. To put it simply, it’s just a show to watch.
