“Qarar” stars Sanam Jung, Rabab Hashim, Muneeb Bhatt, Ali Safinaz and Mekaal Zulfiqar, along with Seemi Pasha and Wasim Abbas. The story has been written by Aliya Bukhari and directed by Barkat Sidiki. The Hum TV website describes the story as “revolving around the core values of a family and their intense bonding that faces the test of time.” It must be said that the story of “Qarar” is not particularly original and plays on a lot of cliches we’ve seen before. Orphaned girl living with her Mamoon facing the scorn of her Maami and snobby cousin, snobby cousin placing blame for her own actions on orphaned cousin, misunderstandings created by snobby cousin which negatively affect orphaned cousin……this is all tried and tested material which has always been a magnet for ratings (unfortunately). But it does pique curiosity as to what “intense bonding” is being referred to in the show description?
Maya (Sanam Jung) has fixated on Salman (Ali Safina) for marriage, liking the attention and importance he gives her, but is horrified when she realizes her engagement has been fixed with Ammar (Muneeb Bhatt). Both Maya and her mother (Seemi Pasha) railroad Faria (Rabab Hashmi) for her hand in bringing the proposal home and Maya demands that since Faria created the situation, she handle ending it as well. Faria, with her gullible behavior, does exactly this and meets Ammar, telling him to reject the proposal himself and Ammar, sadly, agrees – however, she’s not aware of what’s happening at home. Maya calls Salman only for his phone to be answered by his wife and realizing her mistake, Maya decides she’s okay with marrying Ammar. This, of course, is now Faria’s problem as she’s the one who told Ammar to reject the proposal. And, as expected, when Maya’s family accepts the proposal, Ammar is overjoyed by the decision….and believes Faria was up to no good with the earlier information. The entire scenario has now clouded his opinion of Faria, which will come back to hurt her later.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for characters like Faria, because while they are really good girls and Faria is everything one would want in a daughter/wife/daughter-in-law etc, she is also a girl who doesn’t understand what is good for her. What is the need to get involved in Maya and Ammar’s relationship? This is something that should have been left to the adults or even Maya, but Faria should have distanced herself from the situation immediately. Instead, she has now created an image for herself in Ammar’s eyes rather than allowing Maya to handle her own dirty work.
Sunday Night Viewing: “Chalawa” and “Qarar” Begin On A Promising Note
Now I know it seems as though I’m not enjoying this show, but that’s far from the truth. Despite the typical nature of the storyline, the performances and the presentation of the show manage to keep the audience engaged – particularly if one has seen the OST and is aware of how much space the story has to grow and move forward. There’s a lot of promise here and there are a lot of aspects of the show that seem interesting, the first being the Rabab-Muneeb chemistry as Faria and Ammar. Sanam Jung’s role is also interesting and very different from the roles she usually plays. It remains to be seen how the story unfolds, especially with so many eligible candidates for Maya, but so far, the story is engrossing (despite the cliches).
