With Farhan Saeed and Hania Amir in lead roles, winning hearts as Hamza and Hala, “Mere Humsafar” has been raking in the ratings with its interesting story of emotional and mental abuse inflicted on a child from a young age and how it impacts her life in adulthood. The show also stars Saba Hameed, Tara Mehmood, Zoya Nasir, Waseem Abbas, Omer Shahzad and others while the story has been written by Saira Raza and directed by Qasim Ali Mureed. Up until now, “Mere Humsafar” fans have been singing Hamza’s praise, the knight in shining armor that Hala so desperately needed – until now.
In episode 16, Hamza (Farhan Saeed) continues to work towards building Hala’s (Hania Amir) confidence. This is a young woman who has never even been offered the opportunity to eat out and now, suddenly, she is being invited to host dinner parties with Hamza’s friends. She is being asked her opinion on food. She is being given more importance than she understands how to digest. Despite all the luxuries being sent for Hala and finances provided to give her a luxurious lifestyle, all of that money was funneled into spoiling Hamza, Rumi and Sameen. So now, when everything is being offered to her, it’s a bittersweet moment for Hala – and what’s great is that Hamza can recognize Hala’s emotions. Hamza’s supportive, loving behavior continues through this episode and we begin to see small changes in Hala where she is seen speaking up for herself and believing she too has a right to live happily. Unfortunately, just as we begin to think life will change for Hala…..Hamza makes a jarring statement.
Of course, we always sensed he was too-good-to-be-true and this is proven in the last 5 minutes of the episode. While Hamza understood and supported Hala through her tears as she confessed Shah Jahan’s (Saba Hameed) mistreatment of her, it seems that Hamza has had a change of heart after sleeping on the topic. Hamza may recognize his mother’s misbehavior, but like many South Asian men, he cannot bear to hear his mother’s insult – even if what is being said is true. We have to understand that while Hamza may see his mother’s shortcomings, he hasn’t seen the extent of what Hala has been subjected to. He hasn’t seen Hala’s life being threatened or Hala being hit or Hala’s wrist being twisted nor does he believe his mother is capable of any of this. He has only seen the emotional abuse that Hala has been a victim of – but he has also seen the verbal, emotional and physical abuse that his mother has endured. He has also seen how his mother had to scrounge for finances to educate him and he feels forever indebted to her. Of course, he doesn’t pause to think that he’s also permanently indebted to Hala, because he essentially stole all her finances as everything sent for Hala was used on the other three children. Will this come out in time? Hopefully it will.
At present, Hamza has fallen from grace in the eyes of the audience. Can Hala truly continue to flourish in a household where she has been told that she’s not allowed to speak a word against her abuser? The woman who torments her and threatens her life is now “off limits” according to her husband. After this declaration, it’s now clear that Hala’s grief will continue as she has now been forced to take a vow of silence – and what will follow is character assassination courtesy Khurram (Omer Inayat), who Shah Jahan will use against Hala soon enough. Of course, Farhan Saeed and Hania Amir continue to do a great job in their roles, allowing the audience to really feel their chemistry and their bonding as a couple. The relationship does not feel forced. But with the current scenario, how will their relationship now move forward? Will Hala be able to trust him? And how long will Hamza be able to effectively toe the line between his mother and wife before falling prey to mistrust?