Jalan Episode 27: Minal Khan’s Nisha Is Beginning To See The Negative Effects of Her Behavior

This Minal Khan, Emmad Irfani, Fahad Sheikh and Hajra Yamin starrer is inching towards its conclusion. Written by Sidra Seher Imran and directed by Aabis Raza, the show’s main antagonist, Nisha, is now beginning to lose everything she has been chasing. Episode 27 begins with Areej (Hajra Yamin) questioning Ahmer (Fahad Sheikh) on his relationship with Nisha after she finds a lipstick mark on his shirt. Ahmer asks Areej if she trusts him – which is in itself an odd question. This is a wife who he has neglected for a year, who has never received love from her husband until now and is still getting to know him. How can she trust him? Still, Ahmer is (now) a refreshing change from the men we generally see on-screen, doing his best to brush away his wife’s insecurities. He doesn’t secretly take Nisha’s phone calls, rather answers them in front of his wife so she is aware of what’s happening and does not feel it’s beneath him to explain his actions – which it shouldn’t be, but it often seems as though it is in dramas, usually giving birth to more misunderstandings. The Areej and Ahmer relationship is a real highlight of the show and it’s great to see how they are slowly learning to be open with each other and trust one another. Fahad Sheikh and Hajra Yamin share a great, warm chemistry.

Moving on to our terrible duo, Nisha (Minal Khan) is upset after being turned away from her father’s funeral. To be fair, Asfandyar sits with Nisha and attempts to console her during her moment of weakness, but Nisha is Nisha after all and gets into a fight with Asfand. The fight ultimately leads to a show-down between the couple where Nisha asks for a divorce. After slapping Nisha twice (an action that most likely evoked cheers from a section of the audience), Asfandyar decides, in anger, that Nisha’s punishment will be to remain l ocked up in a room in his house while he refuses to give her a divorce – ever. Let’s just discuss this for a moment. First of all, Asfandyar is not blameless. As Nisha rightfully declares (in a strange moment where viewers find themselves actually applauding her guts to set Asfandyar straight), Asfandyar is an equally guilty party and is not a child who was led astray by Nisha. In fact, it was Asfandyar who was married and in a dedicated relationship – so while Nisha is absolutely a vile, horrible character who stole her own sister’s husband, Asfandyar was a horrible husband to Misha, mistreated her and was an equal partner in the “crime.” This is the first point. Second, why is Asfand’s solution to this mess to lock Nisha up and deprive her of a divorce? It’s bizarre, because honestly all Nisha needs to knock her down a peg (or 100) is to divorce her and kick her out of his house. She has been living off his wealth to carry out her lavish lifestyle, but after the divorce, she would have to move out of his house and lose access to his money – so wouldn’t that be the best punishment for her?

The show does seem to be wrapping up its storylines at this point, so one does have to wonder how many episodes are left at this point? While “Jalan” has been a frustrating story with a lot of choices that did not sit well with viewers, it cannot be denied that it has been a guilty pleasure of sorts for many – and a success for that reason. But how will it end? Will we be forced to watch the “bad girl loses her mind” trope once again? That would be a shame. Fahad Sheikh, Hajra Yamin, Sajida Syed and Mohammad Ahmed continue to be the star performers week after week.