“Pyar Deewangi Hai” is a show with a lot of promise owing to its interesting antagonist, played by Sami Khan. Starring Sami Khan, Neelam Munir, Shuja Asad, Saba Faisal, Javed Sheikh, Gul E Rana and others, the story has been written by Misbah Ali Syed and directed by Aabis Raza. The tagline of the show is “when love is snatched away” and judging by the first two episodes of the show, Sami Khan’s Dawood is certainly the one who will be doing the “snatching.”
Up until now, we’ve seen that Rabi (Neelam Munir) and Mateen (Shuja Asad) are deeply in love, writing love letters to each other, swearing a vow of loyalty – and even upholding those vows. In episode 3, we see that in the face of adversity, while both their families are scheming to keep the two apart and have Rabi married off to Dawood (Sami Khan), Rabi remains stubborn in her love for Mateen and Mateen fights his own parents, Rabi’s brother and even Rabi’s mother in his love for Rabi. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a devoted relationship like this in a Pakistani drama, as this sort of devotion is rare these days. So many lead characters are seen giving up their significant other of out obligation or “majboori,” so this is a welcome change. Neelam Munir and Shuja Asad are both performing very well and share natural, enjoyable chemistry.
Unfortunately, everything in this story is not good. When watching a story like “Badshah Begum,” the show takes the viewer into a different world and this allows the audience to register that they will not be able to relate to this story and, therefore, they simply sit back and appreciate the unknown. When watching a story like “Pyar Deewangi Hai,” which takes place in a major city with very “normal” characters and families, where an entire neighborhood is perplexed and gossiping over an engaged girl writing love letters of devotion to her fiancé…..this is where the story and the writer have lost their viewers. This is not believable in any way, shape or form. Sure, Rabi’s brother could be angry and her mother as well, as this is a personal, “family” issue. But how did all the neighbors hear about this situation? How loud was this discussion? And most importantly – why is it a big deal? These scenarios do throw the story further away from the realm of reality.
It is fascinating to see Dawood’s reactions to Rabi’s love for Mateen. While Dawood is initially overjoyed at the thought of getting engaged to Rabi, his joy is shattered when Mateen attempts suicide and Rabi and Mateen’s relationship is, once again, a topic of discussion. Dawood is a character who is really difficult to figure out. He is a serious, somber man who shares few friendly relationships, except with – oddly – Rabi’s sister. Rabi’s sister has formed a bond with Dawood and constantly confides in him, essentially feeding him with information about Rabi, which leads the audience to believe that Dawood is using her for exactly that reason. While Dawood behaves like a dignified human being and bows out when Rabi states she loves only Mateen, his reaction later will be volatile, that’s for sure.
“Pyar Deewangi Hai” promises to get better with Mateen and Rabi’s marriage taking place while Dawood has a meltdown. How will Dawood move forward? Of course, we can expect that Dawood will sabotage this marriage somehow – but how? While “Pyar Deewangi Hai” has its share of flaws, the chemistry between the lead couple and Sami Khan’s negative act is a big draw for this show.