“Habs” does not need an introduction, a fan favorite these days due to its lead pair. Starring Feroze Khan, Ushna Shah, Saba Faisal, Ayesha Omar, Irsa Ghazal, Javed Sheikh, Hina Rizvi, Imran Aslam and others, the story has been written by Aliya Makhdoom and directed by Musaddiq Malek. In the latest batch of episodes, we’ve seen how Basit and Aisha’s marriage has been arranged in a strange twist.
Episode 9 revolves around Basit and Aisha’s happy moment, their marriage, which is heavily sprinkled with stress. Basit (Feroze Khan) is clear about his reasons for entering this marriage, slightly arrogant in his status while still cautiously aware of what it takes to make a marriage work. Basit may hate his mother, but he’s also aware of what his father and what he had to endure after her absence. He felt his life and his family falling apart due to her “lack of commitment” (though we – and Basit – don’t really know what led her to make this decision) and so he holds loyalty in high regard. But will he apply that same loyalty to a marriage that he has entered for financial reasons?
Aisha (Ushna Shah) has been burdened with family responsibilities for too long and so getting married has never really been high on her priority list – and yet, seeing her family happy has pushed her into this decision. Unfortunately, Aisha is not aware of the deal made in order for this marriage to take place with her mother practically “selling” her to Basit. While Basit is a stand-up guy in most regards, Aisha’s mother (brilliantly played by Saba Faisal) is horribly money-minded and makes it clear that Basit will have to “support” the family in order to marry Aisha. She also makes it clear that Aisha cannot find out about this deal. Basit keeps quiet through the wedding, but is immediately seen asking his (sweet) friend if a marriage starting off on a lie can be successful. This shows that he does intend on trying to make this marriage work despite his reasons for getting into it.
The marriage scenes are quite sweet while both Basit and Aisha are very awkward in this scenario. They are essentially perfect strangers and this is what makes it so exciting. Who doesn’t love an after-marriage love story? But how much drama will these two individuals have to endure at the hands of their families before they can – hopefully – reach a happily ever after? Feroze Khan and Ushna Shah’s chemistry is what’s carrying this show, though the writing is so wonderfully done and the direction is beautiful. This really is a throwback to the 2008 – 2014 period of Pakistani dramas and that’s high praise!