When “Pyari Mona” began, we as viewers were promised something light-hearted, focused on highlighting the criticism overweight women have to endure in South Asian society. As the story began, this did ring true and, furthermore, touched upon many other important subjects as well, such as parental pressure and mental health. However, as the show has moved forward, it has found itself boxed in the general cliches, such as a forced marriage, suspicious wives and manipulative vamps. Still, with episode 12, the story is taking an interesting, if not predictable, turn. Pyari Mona stars Sanam Jung, Adeel Hussain, Adnan Jaffar, Uzma Beg, Muhammad Hunbal, Shaheen Khan and Mashal Khan in central roles. The story has been written by Haseeb Ahmed and directed by Ali Hassan.
In episode 12, Mona (Sanam Jung) continues to lose weight, now challenged by Babar (Adeel Hussain). This challenge doesn’t come in the nicest way though. Mona continues to call it “demotivating,” but to be called lazy, incapable, fat and even criticized regarding her work is actually verbally abusive and it’s difficult to watch Babar speak to her that way. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Mona has experienced this exact behavior from her own mother throughout her life. Mona rightfully puts her mother in her place, reminding her that she also molded Samia in this same way. Meanwhile, Babar and Zee (Mashal Khan) are now working together on a campaign, which spells danger, considering Zee is actively pursuing Babar. Their relationship is growing oddly close and Babar finds himself attached to Zee, even confiding his personal problems to her. It’s already clear that Zee is a negative character and does not care at all that Babar is married. This will spell great trouble for Mona, but more importantly, what is Babar thinking regarding Ayaan? Hasn’t his daughter been through enough? It’s also something to be pointed out that Babar was the one who agreed to marrying Mona, not the other way around.
Moving to Irfan (Muhammad Hunbal) and Kinza (Naureen Mumtaz), their relationship continues to grow. Kinza is a genuinely sweet character and the phone call between Kinza and Mona is the most endearing sequence in the entire episode. It’s great to see how clean-hearted Kinza is, even as she admits to having once been jealous of Mona. And while Kinza and Mona’s face-to-face meeting did not go well, it was beautiful to see how Irfan defended Kinza to Mona. While Mona continues to rely on Irfan as a friend, this relationship needs to remain platonic as Kina and Irfan are a truly sweet, made-for-each-other sort of couple.
Overall, “Pyari Mona” continues to be entertaining, but almost 30% of the episode in episode 12 is dedicated to Babar and Kinza, which is not an enjoyable experience at all. It’s not clear what Babar is thinking or how he can expect this marriage to Mona to work when he can’t even stand being in the same room with her for five minutes, but Mona should not have to settle for this nonsense. And at the same time, they have now dragged a child into the mix, so is walking away even a healthy option? It remains to be seen in which direction “Pyari Mona” heads moving forward.