“Saraab” is a story about a young woman with schizophrenia who is tossed aside by her family, but is supported by her husband who hopes to take her towards a balanced life. This is not only a story of mental illness, but also of how relationships are affected when mental illness comes into the home and remains undiagnosed. This drama has been written by Edison Idrees and has been directed by Mohin Talat. “Saraab” stars Sonya Hussyn, Sami Khan, Nazish Jehengir, Ghana Ali, Kinza Malik and others in supporting roles.
Episode 22 begins with the most useless track of the show – Sufiyan (Jahanzeb Khan) and his manipulative mother. They continue talking about how “chalaak” Warda is and the only thing that comes to mind is that’s the pot calling the kettle black. This entire family is full of schemers from Warda’s (Ghana Ali) witchy ways, to Nadir (Ejaz Khan) trying to hide his infertility and, of course, Sufiyaan’s desire for revenge against a girl who never wanted to marry him in the first place. They all deserve each other. Fortunately, we are not forced to watch must of this track in this episode and it’s a mere 2-3 minutes. The director decided to have mercy this week.
There are some genuinely beautiful moments between Asfandyar (Sami Khan) and Hoorain (Sonya Hussyn) in this episode as it seems as though Hoorain is beginning to take a turn for the better. She helps Asfandyar while he’s studying, not only making chai for him, but also helping him solve problems he is stuck on. This shows how intelligent Hoorain’s mind actually is and that mental illness has nothing to do with intellect. Sami Khan and Sonya Hussyn are magic together as always and their scenes together are wonderful to watch. Their happiness is short-lived though when Namal (Nazish Jahengir) decides to call Asfandyar late at night and when Hoorain answers, she hangs up. This gives birth to suspicion in Hoorain’s mind and when she confronts Asfandyar, it erupts into an argument. While Asfandyar is innocent, this again goes to show how sharp Hoorain’s mind is. She may be struggling with many problems, but she is able to recognize Namal’s intentions and she knows this is something she must put a stop to. In yet another sweet moment, the two do make up and it goes to show that it’s normal for a married couple to have a healthy argument, but still love each other. However, Asfandyar meets with Namal the next day in a restaurant. While this meeting is taking place, some people come over to see Huma for a proposal. Hoorain is very helpful and takes part wholeheartedly, the two girls bonding – until Huma’s prospective in-laws are heard talking about Hoorain’s mental illness. Who does this? What kind of people talk openly like this in front of family and when they know the girl is walking into the room? These kinds of scenes need to be done away with. After hearing this, Hoorain loses control and Huma is rejected, leading to a fight between the two girls. In her low moment, HOorain calls Asfandyar and while he is he in the bathroom, Namal answers Hoorain’s phone call and pushes Hoorain into a bad place.
Saraab Episode 21: Hoorain and Asfandyar Begin a New Phase In Life, Much to Asfanyar’s Dismay
While Asfanydar is not cheating, is he really not cheating? What is cheating? It’s being dishonest and hiding things from your partner. So while internally Asfandyar is well-intentioned, he began cheating on Hoorain the moment he began hiding his conversations and meetings with Namal. Now what will be the outcome of all this? Namal is manipulative and she wants, more than anything, to get Asfandyar into her life. And in the process, she is pushing her own sister over the edge. Sonya Hussyn’s performance is fabulous in this episode as Hoorain tries her best to “fit in” (even as the Asfandyar in her mind tries to convince her against it), but is thrown off by the people who are supposed to love her. The next episode shows Hoorain having a mental break and asking for a divorce. How will Asfandyar handle all of this? We’ll have to wait and see, but “Saraab” is back on track this week without the heavy family influence.