After 36 weeks, “Bandhay Ek Dour Se” finally comes to an end. What started off as a surefire hit with a brilliant cast, including Ahsan Khan, Ushna Shah, Hina Altaf, Saba Hameed, Saba Faisal, Shamim Hilaly and other great actors, slowly deteriorated after the halfway point, dragging needlessly with a plotline that could easily be cleared up with something evidently unheard of on this show – communication. The story has been written by Faiza Iftikhar and directed by Ali Faizan. Telling the tale of one man caught between two women, one his wife and the other his love, this show not only focused on the emotions when caught in an undesired marriage, but also how the family is affected in such a situation. It’s a shame that it caused more frustration with viewers than enjoyment. How did the finale fare? Let’s discuss.
What viewers need most to connect with the lead characters and their “love story” (if this could even be called that) is a desire to want to see the leads end up together. But does anyone genuinely think Umar deserves Maheen? Does Maheen’s behavior really make it seem as though she loves Umar? She has become a sacrificial lamb in every sense of the description. She does not stand up for herself and has allowed herself to become the perfect victim. Not once has she told Umar what Roshni has done (honestly, does she even remember herself?) nor does she open her mouth to tell Umar her own feelings. And on the other end, Umar now knows how he feels about Maheen, but is silent and lashing out at her simply because she’s going along with what he wanted in the first place. Quite honestly, the OST does little to add to the story, because it’s simply these two characters throwing a pity party for themselves, which further leaves a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth.
In the finale, Maheen (Ushna Shah) leaves Umar’s (Ahsan Khan) house before his marriage to Roshni (Hina Altaf), hurt by Umar’s words to her – which ironically are spoken out of frustration, because he is no longer interested in Roshni. Umar’s feelings for Maheen and disgust towards Roshni are cemented by Roshni’s disgusting words towards his family and Maheen in an exchange with Umar. This scene is somewhat satisfying for viewers, considering they’ve been waiting for Roshni to be told off for a while now. Hina Altaf, who has been highly unlikable as Roshni throughout, gives quite the performance as Roshni has an emotional breakdown of sorts in private after realizing that she has lost Umar.
Fortunately, the episode picks up immensely once Umar heads over to Maheen’s house to bring her home, realizing he doesn’t want anyone else. Umar walks into Roshni and Maheen fighting about Roshni’s past discretions. This scene is potentially the best scene in the entire drama, finally revealing Roshni’s ugly inner emotions to Umar as she not only insults Maheen, but also Umar’s intelligence. This scene is actually well-performed by all three actors. Ushna Shah does a wonderful job as Maheen finally realizes the truth has neatly put the world back in her lap. Ahsan Khan excels as Umar bounces from happiness over being rid of Roshni and his anger at how she used him. And Hina Altaf is great as Roshni fumbles, trying to cover up her words and put on a charade again – but realizes she’s failing. This is a high point and neatly winds the show up as Maheen and Umar are seen happy together finally.
Bandhay Ek Dour Se Episode 32: Maheen and Umar’s Truth Is Revealed To Her Family
What makes the finale work is that Umar didn’t suddenly jump to Maheen and beg for forgiveness after overhearing Roshni’s truth. If this had been the case, I would have ripped the show to shreds straight-up and forgotten about its existence. However, Umar spent the last few episodes pondering over his feelings for Maheen, realizing he no longer loved Roshni and was with her out of obligation and then, finally, making the decision to bring Maheen home and refuse to marry Roshni all before overhearing Roshni’s confession – which was simply the final nail in the coffin, absolving him of any residual guilt over leaving her. Now if one were to analyze this deeply, it’s clear that Umar did not deserve Maheen on any level – and Maheen did not have the communication skills to make her marriage work had Roshni not opened her mouth. But still, this viewer was left with a huge smile on her face as the episode came to an end and Maheen and Umar finally got their happy ending – and Roshni was left with nothing (which may be the real winning point here). The lead trio did a good job in performing their roles, it’s simply the way that their roles were written that did not go in their favor. It’s unfortunate that “Bandhay Ek Dour Se” is not the tight script that one would hope for and that all these incredible actors in the show were not utilized to the best of their ability in the 2nd bulk of episodes. It’s clear that the story was dragged out needlessly and this is exactly why it lost focus. “Bandhay Ek Dour Se” will be remembered for being a show with great potential that lost itself along the way.