Up until now, “Mere Humsafar” has been a miserable show with a lot of pull. The story itself has been heavy, watching Hala face abuse week after week, her family not even sparing her as a young child. And yet, these are the sort of stories that fuel the audience to continue watching, because these characters deserve a happy ending – and so, we stick around to see it. Fortunately for Hala, and viewers of the show, Hala’s dark cloud has begun to lift post Hamza’s arrival. Starring Hania Amir, Farhan Saeed, Zoya Nasir, Saba Hamid, Tara Mehmood, Waseem Abbas, Aamir Qureshi and Samina Ahmed in important roles, the story has been written by Saira Raza and directed by Qasim Ali Mureed.
In episode 12, after Hala (Hania Amir) has been kicked out of the house by Shah Jahan (Saba Hamid), framed for luring a bus driver to Sameen (Zoya Nasir), Hamza (Farhan Saeed) arrives as savior and protector. There are several moments here where it appears that Hamza recognizes exactly how manipulative his family is, whether it’s protecting Hala from his mother or indicating that Rumi is more likely to blame than Hala for the Sameen set-up. Hamza knows his family has written Hala off and she is destined to face more misery, unless he steps in – and he does, by spontaneously marrying Hala before taking her back home.
This moment arrives with little warning or build-up, so it all seems very sudden. Has Hamza always had feelings for Hala? Why would he be so willing to marry a girl who has just been accused of such a terrible thing? It would have been nice to see more of the thought-process behind Hamza’s actions. We are already aware that Shah Jahan will try to poison Hamza against Hala – so if he can be so easily swayed, why did he take this step in this moment? Another episode may have been required here before this nikkah episode took place in order to flesh Hamza out a bit more. At this point, he is still mysterious and we know very little about his thoughts…other than seeing him as Hala’s protector. Still, Hania Amir and Farhan Saeed share such great chemistry and look wonderful together, it’s easy to root for this pair.
With Shah Jahan and Raees (Waseem Abbas) actively trying to tear this couple apart, it’s great to see Hamza refusing to leave his new bride (so far) and standing as a wall between his toxic family and his innocent wife. Of course, it’s only too clear that the trauma has not ended for Hala with Shah Jahan hell bent on destroying her life. How long will it take before Shah Jahan constructs a story regarding Hala’s past with Khurram (Omer Shahzad) – and will Hamza believe it? There’s a lot to come in this story, but it’s great to see Hala’s life moving in a more positive, happy direction at present after weeks of torture. “Mere Humsafar” is that guilty pleasure sort of show that leaves the viewer wanting more.
