“Mujhe Vida Kar” hasn’t been an easy show to watch throughout the duration, the “ugly” characters displaying their bad behavior from the moment the show started. And yet, there’s something so engrossing about the narrative – not because it’s tragic, but because there are moments within the story that come across as so relatable and uncomfortably rooted in reality. How many South Asian girls have had to deal with oppressive, ill-behaved in-laws? While Shabbir Jan, Saba Hameed and Maira Khan’s characters may seem over-the-top, these individuals exist within our society. Along with the mentioned names, “Mujhe Vida Kar” stars Muneeb Butt, Madiha Imam, Saboor Aly, Haaris Waheed, Raza Talish, Tara Mehmood, Shaista Jabeen, Sajjad Pal, Sana Askari and Paras Masroor in prominent roles. Written by Samra Bukhari, the show has been directed by Saqib Zafar.
In this week’s episodes, Farheen (Sana Askari) falls and ends up miscarrying in the hospital. The miscarriage is caused by delay in getting to the hospital, a situation that could have been avoided entirely had her in-laws and Kashfa (Maira Khan) taken care of her – instead, the trio laughed at her misfortune and blamed her for falling before walking away. We later discover it was Kashfa’s husband (Paras Masroor) who arrived in time and brought Farheen to the hospital. When Azhar (Sajjad Pal) discovers the truth of the situation, he doesn’t waste a moment before getting his wife out of this toxic environment and moving to her mother’s home. Farheen and Azhar have been such a wonderful couple on the show and have served to paint a realistic picture of how a son tries to genuinely manage the happiness of both his wife and parents – but Azhar has been depicted as an intelligent, observant man and makes the correct decision to save his nuclear family….something many men are unable to do.
Something else that has come out of this situation is that Kashfa’s husband (Paras Masroor) is growing tired of Kashfa and her family. While he may have been silent and even part of the problem initially, his heart softened towards Rida (Madiha Imam) after she cared for his mother – something Kashfa has never bothered to do. It now seems as though he will do what he can to protect her, particularly now that he and Kashfa are under the same roof with Kashfa’s family, something which he does not appreciate. At his point, Usman (Muneeb Butt) continues to be an emotionally abusive husband, but for how long? Is Kashfa moving in exactly what he needs to see the reality of the situation? Kashfa has already started crossing all boundaries by entering Rida and Usman’s bedroom and going through Usman’s receipts. How long will it take before Usman realizes what Azhar understood all along – that his family creates problems? Rida’s family on the other side may also help with this, considering Usman has been so comfortable in their presence during the wedding festivities. The stark contrast between attitudes may ultimately change Usman’s mindset.
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What’s great about this show is that the performances are natural. The “good” people aren’t sickeningly so. Rida and Sadia (Saboor Aly) come from normal, loving families who aren’t above making mistakes and even bowing to wrong behaviors (as we’ve seen). But they are inherently good people. On the other hand, Usman’s family and even Tauseef’s family (though they are now a distant bad memory) are not unrealistic. These individuals are so horrible and so triggering because they paint a picture of ugliness in society. These self-absorbed, narcissistic, essentially mentally ill (but untreated) individuals are all around us and it’s a testament to the acting skills of these actors and their skills with how believable they are. With this week’s episodes, the prediction that Usman and Rida will get divorced and Rida will marry Safeer (Raza Talish) is starting to diminish. Rather, it seems as though Usman may ultimately wake up to his family’s bad behavior and remove Rida from that environment.
