“Habs” has been winning over audiences week after week with its naturally paced, realistic depiction of relationships. Without any melodrama, Feroze Khan and Ushna Shah’s Aisha and Basit have come together and allowed audiences to connect to their hang-ups, self-doubt and insecurity regarding their place within their own marriage. Aside from the lead duo, “Habs” also stars Saba Faisal, Hina Rizvi, Imran Aslam, Janice Tessa and others. The story has been very sensitively written by Aliya Makhdoom and directed by Musaddiq Malek.
Episode 22 does slow down a bit, putting emphasis on the uncertainty within Basit (Feroze Khan) and Aisha’s (Ushna Shah) marriage. With Basit recovering from his car accident, nursed back to health by Aisha, he has begun to see the value of his partner. He does not want a divorce, as his parents’ divorce hurt him deeply, but he has never been very good at managing relationships. Meanwhile, Aisha is still upset at Basit’s callous behavior and accusations, but wants to make her marriage work. So when Basit calls her after sending flowers, she happily returns home, ready to put the work in to make their arrangement better. However, she immediately walks in to Basit meeting with his lawyer and discussing “papers,” jumping to the conclusion that it’s regarding divorce. This serves as the basis for the majority of the episode, their misunderstandings only growing.
Outwardly, the misunderstandings between Basit and Aisha are irritating and we could easily say one conversation could clear up the entire situation. However, we also have to understand these characters and their psyche. Aisha has never had to be subservient under a man, learning from her circumstances to handle situations on her own – and she does not know how to deal with Basit’s kind but combative behavior. She is not used to compromise and yet, at the same time, she isn’t used to anything coming easy for her. Likewise, Basit has always had trust issues with women and losing his mother has only made things worse – though he now realizes he wants Aisha in his life.
We have to stop and wonder – was the entire conversation about the papers staged? Did Basit want to gauge Aisha’s reaction to ensure she really wanted to be with him? Did he want to see her reaction to the thought of divorce to convince himself that she really wanted to stay with him? This is what the situation seems to be and if so, is Basit in the wrong? Feroze Khan and Ushna Shah have both done a great job depicting the confusion within their own characters while Musaddiq Malek and Aliya Makhdoom have handled the writing and direction incredibly well. “Habs” has slowed down a bit in the past few episodes, but continues to be a beautiful watch.
