“Mere Humsfar” stars Hania Amir, Farhan Saeed, Saba Hameed, Tara Mehmood, Wasim Abbas, Samina Ahmed, Omer Shehzad and others in a story written by Saira Raza and directed by Qasim Ali Mureed. The story follows Hala, a young girl abandoned by her father with relatives after he gets remarried. The focus of the show appears to be on the importance of parents in a child’s life. In episode 8, Hamza, our hero, arrives.
Farhan Saeed has finally made his appearance as Hamza, but it’s not entirely clear what sort of character Hamza is. Hamza is a horribly flirtatious character and he is the sort of man who gets too close and personal with all the females in his family. Whether it’s Sameen (Zoya Nasir) or Hala (Hania Amir), Hamza does not waste a second to flirt – which is really odd, considering he’s congratulating Hala on her wedding and asking about her happiness. Being friendly is one thing, but he’s a bit too intense for a “friendly” character. Watching him with Sameen, one would be convinced these two are planning to get married – and yet, we hear Hamza declare shock at this idea, stating he only sees Sameen as a friend/cousin. With Hala’s wedding on the horizon to an unknown man, it’s frustrating to watch how downtrodden Hala is and just how much misery she has to endure.
There is a desire to sympathize with Shah Jahan (Saba Hameed) and Sofia (Tara Mehmood), because of all they have endured at their mother-in-law’s hands. However, that sympathy simply does not exist. They have used Hala as a personal punching bag in the most disgusting, abusive way. These two women were manipulated by their mother-in-law with fabricated problems, but they have physically, mentally and emotionally abused a young little girl and financially exploited her, leaving little room for happiness in her life. This is disgusting and sympathy has left the premises long ago for these two ladies. We can only hope they suffer horribly later on in the show – a half-baked apology after “reforming” will not suffice!
Meanwhile, Khurram (Omer Shehzad) is paying the price for his deceit, having been thrown out of his Mamoon’s house for cheating two women. It’s nice to see this being acknowledged, but both his own mother and Maami do not seem to be putting two and two together and really placing blame where it belongs – on Khurram. The Maami is still seen taking the phone from her daughter and forbidding her from speaking to Hala, as if Hala is her sworn enemy and was plotting this all along.
“Mere Humsafar” isn’t an enjoyable show by any means. It’s heavy on misery to a level where the viewer becomes overwhelmed. Still, the cast is great and these are the kinds of stories where the audience roots to see the lead’s happy ending. But we can’t help wishing that instead of “saving” Hala through marriage, Hamza would take steps to better her future through education.