It’s disappointing when a show has a strong story, interesting characters and a female lead with an iota of intelligence – and somehow manages to fall down the rabbit hole after more than half the show is over. This is something Geo has become notorious for with shows like “Fitrat” and “Mohlat.” And yet, “Rang Mahal” seemed as though it would fare better than the others with its female lead, Mahapara, remaining level-headed, hard-working and focusing on her future. But at present, Mahapara’s character is the one that has taken the greatest hit, suddenly lacking intelligence entirely. Starring Sehar Khan, Ali Ansari, Arooba Mirza, Humayun Ashraf and Asim Mehmood in prominent roles, “Rang Mahal” has been written by Shafia Khan and directed by Zahid Mehmood.
To give a quick summary of these two episodes, Mahapara (Sehar Khan) continues her desire for revenge despite being warned by Salaar (Asim Mehmood) several times to look out for herself. Mahapara has gotten too big for her boots, to put it simply, and no longer understands the concept of watching out for herself. She seems to think her position makes her untouchable, which simply isn’t the case at all. Salaar tries to warn her about this, but Mahapara has decided that she no longer cares if she’s speaking to an enemy or a well-wisher: Rude is the only method of speaking that she knows and that’s exactly what she is. She is rude. Salaar leaves the city and, in the meantime, Mahapara manages to get arrested in the most ridiculous “rishwat” set-up ever. What sort of woman allows a man to remain in her office and turns her back to begin a discussion with her grandmother? One almost feels Mahapara deserves to be put in jail for sheer stupidity. Will this time in jail knock her back to earth and out of the clouds she has been sitting in up until now?
Sohail (Humayun Ashraf) has sent that man to set up Mahapara obviously, but what’s incredible is how her boss doesn’t take a moment to verify the accusation or any evidence before literally grabbing Mahapara’s purse and ransacking it only for the press and police to arrive two seconds later to arrest Mahapara. Based on what? Anonymous tips cannot bring on this sort of chaos without evidence in hand – which there wasn’t! Anyway, with Mahapara now behind bars, the entire family is gloating, including Rayed (Ali Ansari) about how they knew she was characterless. This is a family who raised her, so this entire mentality is bizarre.
What this episode proves is not only is Rayed an absolute mess of a hero who does not deserve forgiveness at any cost, but now, Mahapara is also a hopeless heroine who does not deserve Salaar – her “backup,” the man she has been taking for granted. Salaar deserves someone kind and loving, not a woman like Mahapara who cannot even say thank you for the amount of help he has provided her. Unfortunately, until “Rang Mahal” manages to pick itself up, dust itself off and reassemble the pieces, this may be the last review for this show for a while. It has become difficult to write about a once-loved show that has suddenly lost all semblance of logic.
