Baddua Episode 5: Maryam Noor’s Neelam Is The True Hero Of the Story

“Baddua” is a show that has been receiving mixed reviews – while it’s certainly luring in audiences, many are (rightly) pointing out how Amar Khan’s character falls into the expected trope of being a “bad girl” chasing after already “taken” men. Starring Amar Khan, Muneeb Butt, Maryam Noor, Osama Tahir and others, the story has been written by Samina Aijaz and directed by Ramish Rizvi. This is a show that falls under the category of shows that aren’t telling a meaningful story, yet are still mildly interesting due to the performances – specifically Amar Khan and Maryam Noor’s.

In episode 5, Abeer (Amar Khan) is being married off by her family after the “disgrace” she has put them through. What’s ironic here is that Abeer, at one point, corners her father and asks him to meet Junaid’s family and he brushes her off, saying he will never meet them. Shortly after, Abeer’s mother tells him that Abeer likes someone – and he acts shocked, wondering why she never brought it up before. Is this an issue with editing or writing? That’s not clear, but the scene is laughter-inducing. On the flip side, Junaid (Muneeb Butt) is going out full-force to convince his family to send a proposal for Abeer – however, all her dreams of love are in vain, as Junaid is simply doing this to extract revenge for all the shame he has faced at Abeer’s hands. Now, really, he hasn’t faced anything at Abeer’s hands, rather he is responsible for everything that has happened. He is a grown man and it’s laughable that he thinks his affair with Neelam’s friend is the friend’s fault instead of his for conducting that affair.

Amar Khan’s performance as Abeer is intriguing. She is really putting her all into playing this role, a selfish, self-absorbed young woman who wants what she wants at any cost. While Maryam isn’t seen in episode 5, the highlight of Baddua is still Maryam Noor’s character, Neelam. This is a girl who knows her worth and does not even entertain the idea of forgiving Junaid, a man who has already betrayed her before their relationship even began. She throws both Junaid and Abeer out of her life – hopefully for good. Even better is that Neelam’s parents protect and support her through all this, her father even recognizing that she needs time to mourn the loss of the relationship. These are the progressive, educated sort of parents that are generally missing in action on our television screens. What would be a positive take-away from this show would be to see it focus on the Neelam character and how she finds happiness and success despite the betrayal – rather than focusing on Abeer’s “destruction” at Junaid’s hands, a man who is equally as bad as Abeer, if not worse.