Gun-wielding, murderous men with heavy accents and multiple wives is a Pukhtun/Pathan cliché we’ve grown exhausted of on Pakistani television – and we are clearly going to be presented with much of the same in “Fanaa.” In the case of “Khaie,” it’s something which is overlooked due to the excellent storytelling. Will “Fanaa” be able to manage the same feat with strong storytelling and performances? Starring Aijaz Aslam, Shaista Lodhi, Shahzaid Sheikh, Nazish Jahangir, Asim Mehmood, Maryam Nafees, Usman Javed and others, the story has been written by Muhammed Qurban Ali Rao and directed by Najaf Bilgrami.
In the first two episodes, we are introduced to Hayat (Aijaz Aslam) who is married to Samina (Shaista Lodhi). Married for 21 years and passionately in love, the two are now at a crossroads as Hayat sets out to get married – for a third time – in his quest for an heir. Samina sees this as a betrayal on his part, a lack of loyalty…and yet, the two seem hopelessly in love, Hayat professing his love alongside his (toxic) masculinity and patriarchal mindset. Samina ran away to marry Hayat, this much has been revealed, and this love story is still thriving. It’s also revealed that Hayat has already married a second time for an heir, but murdered his second wife due to lack of loyalty, though the details there are still murky. The chemistry between Aijaz Aslam and Shaista Lodhi is surprisingly the appeal of the show, both looking great together along with their characters having layers. There is also Namreen, who is Hayat and Samina’s daughter and has an arc with her cousin, Faraaz – but will most likely be used as an avenue for revenge by Hayat’s enemies in upcoming episodes.
Rizwan (Shahzad Sheikh) and Afsheen (Nazish Jahangir) have a separate track, set in the city. Both office workers, they come from similar family backgrounds where their families are entirely dependent on their salaries. They’ve liked each other for a while, but have yet to approach each other in the first episode, but by episode 2, the two are together and mentally thinking about marriage. The problem? The greatest problem they have is, unfortunately, their compatibility. With their families so dependent upon them, would getting married add to their quality of life or negatively impact it? While one does not like to think about money and marriage hand-in-hand, it’s true that it does affect one’s other aspects of life, particularly in the case of Afsheen, a young woman who would get married and move away – leaving her own family in a lurch financially.
With the way the story is going, there is a lot that has yet to be revealed – but it’s almost entirely certain that Afsheen will wind up being Hayat’s next wife. The first two episodes of “Fanaa” are not perfect and there’s a lot of backstory and background information that is being let out slowly – possibly a bit too slowly. Yet, there’s a lot of promise here and if handled well, “Fanaa” could be another winner for green entertainment.