Like most Geo shows, “Daraar” has a heavy dose of melodrama and dramatic villain-type characters attached to it. However, this show somehow hits the mark with the story it’s attempting to tell. There isn’t anything necessarily profound about this story, but there are situations and scenes within this drama that are well-written and even realistic in a way. “Daraar” stars Syed Jibran, Amar Khan and Momal Sheikh in lead roles, the story has been written by Misbah Nosheen and directed by Shehrazade Sheikh.
The character of Sheheryar is a realistic one – and upsettingly so. How many men in South Asian society are womanizers? A man like Sheheryar is the scariest sort, a man who looks like an angelic, loving, trustworthy, responsible man on the outside and lives a double life, playing around with women on the other side. In episode 28, the affair between Sheheryar and Sajal (Momal Sheikh) is at full force with Sherry even promising to marry her. His mother has passed away, the house help has been fired and these two now have free reign. Fortunately, Irha (Amar Khan) is not the usual dim heroine. She can recognize that her husband and cousin are up to no good – and yet, she does not want to allow herself to completely accept it, making excuses to herself and even to her Chacha to cover for the two.
Irha is also a victim of gaslighting. This term tends to be thrown around easily these days, but this is the very definition of it – making one feel unstable for acknowledging or pointing out the truth. Irha not only handles Sajal in an admirable way, making it clear she understands that she will not allow her to wreck her home and putting her foot down in front of Sherry. Unfortunately, Sherry is too far into this relationship to let it go. He has both women eating out of the palm of his hand and will do what he can to keep it that way. Irha is made to feel guilty and wrong for her outburst while Sherry continues his affair with Sajal behind Irha’s back. This is a heartbreaking situation to watch as Irha is expecting a child and Sajal continues to goad Sherry into marrying her while knowing her cousin’s condition and circumstances.
Amar Khan is such a wonderful actress, she truly allows us to feel for Irha. Of course, Syed Jibran is doing a brilliant job as Sheheryar, a manipulative, two-faced man who knows how to get what he wants without caring for who gets hurt in the process. Momal Sheikh is doing alright, but she still feels miscast for the role. Overall, “Daraar” is a show that does continue to make its mark. Moving forward, will “Daraar” attempt to redeem Sherry, especially considering he’s the real problem and pursued Sajal of his own accord? It will be interesting to see how the show proceeds from this point.