“Aye Musht E Khaak” continues to be a fascination for drama viewers due to its subject and on social media due to its over-the-top content. This is a show that is satisfying two different types of viewers, the first who desire a strong storyline and the second who want dramatic situations – “Aye Musht E Khaak” delivers in both regards. Starring Feroze Khan and Sana Javed in lead roles, the story has been written by Maha Malik and directed by Aehsun Talish.
Of course, Mustajab is still up to his tricks this week, but what’s interesting here is the way Duaa is suddenly behaving. While we’ve all seen how important religion is to Duaa, there’s an iciness in her demeanor that has been creeping up on viewers. Of course, when religion is very important to an individual, that is a priority and for Duaa, being married to a non-believer is a big deal. Mustajab isn’t religious, but as time goes on, she’s beginning to realize that it’s more than that. This is a man who simply does not believe in religion. The thing that makes up her values, the guideline with which she conducts her life and her faith which guides her every move….Mustajab does not believe in any of it – and is even seen laughing at Duaa’s excitement for Eid, completely uninterested in praying or being involved at all. There’s no doubt that this would be a huge blow for any practicing Muslim to discover this about their spouse. However, Duaa is almost robotic in her expressing of her thoughts. She is, as Mustajab once called her, “cold.” She makes huge decisions without batting an eyelash, life decisions that will affect everyone around her. Would one be so willing to go for a divorce after being married for only a mere 2-3 months? And while it’s understandable that Duaa would believe, like many Pakistanis, that Mustajab is a Muslim based on his family and “existence,” she was somewhat aware of the lack of religious drive in his life before they even got married. Sure, she didn’t realize the extent of it, that he is essentially a non-Muslim….but this should be the perfect opportunity for Duaa to bring Musajab around and try to influence him with her behavior rather than her nagging, self-righteous lectures. This act in itself is Sunnah, to bring others towards Islam. But Duaa doesn’t do this……if anything, her behavior is icy and discouraging.
Of course, one cannot whitewash this and say that Duaa is the culprit, erasing Bobby’s fault in this. Of course not, Duaa is still a victim of Bobby’s lies, anger and deception. Mustajab is still a guy who desperately needs help, as we see when he explodes in the car scene before having his accident – he is terribly out of control and unable to hold command over his emotions. But we also see how he uses that accident for yet another manipulation, blackmailing her family to send Duaa back with him now that he’s “hurt.” However, despite all his planning, Duaa is already at a breaking point with their relationship, determined to separate from him if he interferes in her religious matters – or even mocks them….which he does.
Meanwhile, Dayaan (Asad Siddiqui) has an accident on the day of his wedding and winds up in a coma. This is an irritating twist, as people are having car accidents left and right this week first with Mustajab and now Dayaan. Adding to it is the, again, odd way in which the lead characters are behaving through this ordeal, both using Dayaan’s condition as a strange bartering tool of sorts, arguing over their faith and the strength of God when he’s the one who put Dayaan in this situation. It’s an interesting debate, but not one that should have been had in this moment.
In the preview for next week, we see Duaa and Mustajab placing a bet of sorts of Dayaan’s recovery with Duaa basically stating that if Dayaan recovers, Mustajab will have to divorce her. This is, again, another odd moment for Duaa’s character. It’s becoming difficult to really like her. And this is not a statement about Mutajab and Duaa remaining together, because as rational viewers, we can understand Duaa’s apprehensions and doubts. Rather, it’s about her demeanor throughout all of this. She is simply too self-righteous to be likable. We aren’t perfect as human beings, but she almost seems to expect the perfect partner with no room for growth or improvement. This isn’t, again, making excuses for Mustajab (who is not a good person), but criticizing our so-called “good girl” in this show. Overall, Feroze Khan is still stealing the show, his performance as Mustajab riveting. It does take talent to portray these explosions Mustajab has, switching back and forth between cool, calm and then suddenly volatile at the flip of switch. This is a role that requires nuance – and while the situations are very over-the-top on screen, Feroze is delivering in that regard. Overall, “Aye Musht E Khaak” continues to be a great watch that we wait for each week, but we can only hope this angle with Dayaan will not be dragged out with his condition – or even worse, we hope he will not be killed off.
