“Kaala Doriya” has been a pleasure to watch for Pakistani drama viewers who have been desperately making pleas for light-hearted viewing outside of Ramadan. This year, Danish Nawaz and Saima Akram Chaudhry came together to give us what is, so far, their best-written project yet. While “Chupke Chupke” takes the cake in terms of popularity, it’s “Kaala Doriya” which has managed to tell a deep, meaningful story with well-etched characters. Starring Osman Khalid Butt and Sana Javed in lead roles, the drama also stars Adla Khan, Farhan Ali Agha, Zainab Qayyum, Sohail Sameer, Nadia Afgan, Samina Ahmed, Khalid Anam, Ali Safina, Khalid Malik and others.
In episode 24, Asfi (Osman Khalid Butt) and Mano (Sana Javed) begin to realize the difficulties their relationship will have to endure – and while Asfi is willing to fight for his love, Mano is not willing to hurt her parents. Unfortunately with Sajjad’s (Sohail Sameer) illness, he is now in a rush to marry Mano off and Tanno (Nadia Afgan) is on the hunt for proposals. Hearing this, Asfi and Mano have a spirited conversation over the phone, which results in both Nida (Adla Khan) and Tanno overhearing the exchange – and confessions of love. The scenes that follow are brilliantly executed. While Nida may have been a relation who Asfi held above others, he also expected Nida to understand him and support him. It’s here that she has completely shattered that trust. While Asfi is getting a verbal thrashing on his end, Mano also realizes how impossible this relationship truly is. It’s this realization that causes Mano and Asfi’s breakup over the phone. This scene gives both Sana Javed and Osman Khalid Butt scope to truly perform – and perform they do. While Sana Javed is great as the heartbroken, torn-in-two Mano, it’s Osman who steals the show this week. Asfi is willing to fight for the woman he loves, but he can’t fight single-handedly when she isn’t ready to stand by his side. In one moment, not only does Asfi lose Mano, but he also loses the love and trust he had in his sister-in-law. Watching Asfi break down and hug Faraaz is a beautifully enacted and directed scene, truly allowing the audience to feel Asfi’s grief. Osman Khalid Butt, take a bow.
Fortunately, Daadu (Khalid Anum) has a chat with Mano and it’s here that the air is cleared regarding Munna and Sajjad’s fight. It was, in fact, Sajjad who betrayed Munna. And while this information doesn’t change Mano’s loyalty to her parents, it does clarify that Mano has been standing on the wrong side and fighting the wrong fight all along. Sajjad does, of course, overhear this conversation. Will he realize his own mistake and make moves to fix the situation? What’s upsetting about “Kaala Doriya” is that there are only two episodes left! Honestly, this is a show that could have easily had 4-5 more episodes and would have remained enjoyable. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a light-hearted show (with meaning) on-air outside of Ramadan months and we can hope that the success of “Kaala Doriya” will encourage channels to put out this content more often.