“Ishqiya” has managed to rake in the ratings each week due to its star cast, including Feroze Khan, Hania Amir, Ramsha Khan and Gohar Rashid. To top it off, it tells a very interesting, “thrilling” sort of story while also giving viewers two love stories to root for. Up until now, we have seen Hamza and Hamna’s love story fall apart as the two marry different people – but Hamza has been unable to let go of his feelings of betrayal and has made it his mission to torture Hamna psychologically. In the last episode, Hamna finally broke her silence and confessed to her husband, Azeem, about her past.
Check out Sophia Qureshi’s review of Dil Ruba here.
As an episode, overall, episode 21 is not an exciting one with an abundance of great scenes. Only one major event of significance takes place and that’s towards the very end. Azeem (Gohar Rasheed) and Hamna (Ramsha Khan) continue to remain in a tense state regarding their relationship. Hamna is fixated on her father’s health and Azeem does his best to be a good son-in-law while keeping his anger towards Hamza and Hamna in control.
While Hamna continues to handle everything in her life poorly (yes, even now!), Azeem has become a character that viewers have grown to love gradually. He has proved to be an ideal husband, a man who listens to his wife, cares for her and respects her – even in his anger. On the other end, Hamza (Feroze Khan) continues to flash Hamna those menacing stares as Azeem does his best to ignore Hamza entirely. It does seem like Hamza genuinely cares for Rumi (Hania Amir) in this episode, doing his best to support her emotionally and otherwise. It’s nice to see, but will Hamza’s love ever overtake his desire for revenge or will revenge always top love? That’s what remains to be seen.
Watch the episode here.
Siddiqui Sahab passes away at the end, leaving Rumi shocked, but as strong as ever, as she calmly kisses her father, bidding him goodbye. This is a well-directed scene and Hania Amir does a great job, bringing the viewer to tears. Rumi then takes responsibility and begins making phone calls, specifically to Hamna and her mother, informing them of the death. The women are seen breaking down while their husbands have not yet been filled in.
Hania Amir, again, carries much of this episode as the upset-but-brave Rumi, a young girl trying to hold everything together for her family. She has switched from the upbeat, optimistic Rumi to a more mature version of Rumi in a way that’s believable.
Siddiqui Sahab’s passing signifies a great change in situation for these girls. It’s not clear what Hamza’s intentions are at this point, particularly now that Rumi and Hamna are grieving the loss of their father. Will he continue to harass Hamna or will this sensitive time in his wife’s life bring Hamza closer to Rumi and cause him to realize his mistakes? Even if Hamza does realize his mistakes though, is it too late with Azeem now aware of his past and his intentions?
The next episode is set to be one of grief, grieving and sadness, so it’s not particularly one that I’d look forward to. However, Gohar Rasheed has been the star of the past few episodes and it seems he will continue to hold the reigns next week as well as Azeem is predicted to step up, the class act that he is, to protect Hamna, Rumi and their mother – and that includes protecting them from Hamza.