Pyar Ke Sadqay” has been headed down a questionable path lately, pulling the show in the direction of a “dusri biwi” storyline. This does not work in its favor, because the reason viewers were drawn to “Pyar Ke Sadqay” was its refreshingly different storyline with strong characters. At present, this second marriage angle does not really make sense. Moving forward, in episode 23, Sarwar (Omair Rana) continues his plotting in trying to “get” Mehjabeen for himself. While Sarwar is a character to be hated, Omair Rana is a pleasure to watch and his scenes with Gul E Rana as his mother are a treat. While Sarwar is chided and scolded for chasing after a “crazy” soon-to-be divorcee, Sarwar keeps his eyes on the goal. Meanwhile, Phupo (Sharmeen Ali) has a talk with Mansoora (Atiqa Odho) and Phupo questions Abdullah’s relationship with Shanzay (Yashma Gill). When Mansoora answers in the affirmative and says there’s nothing wrong with the two getting married, Phupo flares up and leaves, making it clear she will not support this marriage – and does not hold back when she tells Mansoora she’s beginning to behave like Sarwar. Sharmeen Ali is very likable in this role, particularly because Phupo is such a balanced character.
Srha Asghar as Washma is slowly growing into being the most exciting character on this show. She’s vocal, strong and speaks her mind – but she also carries deep scars from her childhood and the adult figures in her life have left a negative impact on her opinion of men and marriage. Abdullah (Bilal Abbas Khan) was the one man in her life that she felt she could count on and seeing his marriage and devotion to Mehjabeen, she felt she could also find happiness in marriage.
With Abdullah’s decision to leave Mehjabeen and marry Shanzay, Washma is now questioning her own decision to marry. Visiting Abdullah at work, she lets Abdullah know, in the presence of Sarwar, that he has turned into yet another negative example of the men in her life, making her disappointment clear before leaving. Srha Asghar is growing as an actress with each show and in “Pyar Ke Sadqay,” she exudes confidence and charisma, managing to outshine everyone else on screen.
Check out our review of episode 22 here.
Yumna Zaidi and Bilal Abbas Khan manage to make the audience tear up this time around. Mehjabeen (Yumna Zaidi), now back at her parents house, confides in her mother, Seema (Salma Hassan), expressing that she’s always been a failure and now she has failed in her marriage as well. While Seema and Munshi Ji (Malik Raza) console her and talk out loud, stating that their daughter isn’t a burden on them, this moment is biting for the viewer. This trio shares wonderful chemistry and that shines through in this scene as this family tries to lighten the situation while grappling with the thought of life returning back to what it once was with Mehjabeen now back home. Later, Mehjabeen tearfully calls Abdullah, begging him to take her back as her parents are stressed by her return.
She agrees to allow him to remarry and says she will be content living in a small corner room somewhere or even a storage closet. Abdullah is not hard-hearted like many drama heroes and he sheds a tear hearing Mehjabeen’s words, understanding how difficult this is for her. It’s still frustrating to watch Abdullah being bullied around by Sarwar and allowing him to take the reigns of his personal life. It’s also irritating to see how Abdullah is unable to defend Mehjabeen and take her side when she’s being wronged despite seeing it happening. At the same time, it is understandable since Abdullah has been bullied all his life and he does not know how to defend himself, let alone someone else. Bilal Abbas Khan is doing a wonderful job, but one just wishes Abdullah would grow a backbone!
Overall, this episode was an interesting one to watch, but one also senses that the show is headed in an unwanted direction. Will Mehjabeen be bullied into marrying Sarwar? The preview for the next episode insinuates that it’s possible – and if that happens, will the show still hold the same charm? Sarwar is evil, but it’s high time Mansoora wakes up to his evil and stops being influenced by him. Viewers are all waiting for Mansoora to stand up to Sarwar and take a stand, not only for the sake of humanity towards Munshi Ji, but for her own children. We will have to wait and watch to see how the story unfolds from here on out.