“Standup Girl” is more than simply a comedy show with a funny ensemble cast. “Standup Girl” is a well-written story about family bonding, the importance of family support and the importance of trust in all relationships. After her mother passes away, Zara is thrown into an entirely new world with relatives she never knew she had – and life as she knows it changes. Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen how Zara has grown to love her current life and those in it. Starring Sohail Ahmed, Zara Noor Abbas, Daniyal Zafar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Saba Faisal, Saqib Sumeer, Tamkinat, Saad Azhar and others, the story has been written by Awais Ahmed and Adeel Afzal and directed by Kashif Nisar.
Saqib Sumeer is the star of the week’s episodes as Raju and Hina’s (Tamkinat) wedding is finally in the works. Raju has always been fiercely loyal to Ameer Khan (Sohail Ahmed), so much so that when he’s upset, he can’t even eat. Realizing how disappointed “Khan Sahab” is with him has been eating away at Raju internally for days and the fear of this reaction is why Raju kept his love for Hina a secret for so many years. Yet now, when everything is finally falling into place and Raju’s dreams are coming true, he’s so overwhelmed, he doesn’t know how to react. It’s here where Saqib Sumeer excels at his portrayal, allowing the audience to feel the extent of Raju’s emotions with his happy tears. And yet, these emotions are handled in such a way that we’re not only crying – we’re also laughing. Ameer Khan bestowing Raju with respect brings Raju to tears, feeling as though their relationship has changed. While we’re initially all crying with Khan Sahab and Raju, those tears quickly turn to tears of laughter as Khan Sahab begins reciting “jugtain” and insulting Raju, reinstating their bond. Sohail Ahmed is such a class act as an actor, he simply rakes in praise week after week and reminds us why he is the legend that he is not just in Pakistan, but in the entire subcontinent.
Meanwhile, Kabir (Daniyal Zafar) prepares for the upcoming rap battle with Zara’s (Zara Noor Abbas) help. Finally pushed to compete, Kabir is working on new material with a feeling of inspiration. Watching Kabir and Zara’s bond is wonderful, seeing a true representation of a trusting, transparent relationship with realistic insecurities. Honestly, this week, everything has been excellent from Raju and Hina’s wedding planning, the rap battle sequences, Mirza’s (Adeel Afzal) hilariously tragic reaction and Zara and Kabir’s romance. If we have to pause to discuss negatives, there are two. The first negative is that Zara’s scenes appear completely disjointed from the rest of the episodes. Why is the rap battle taking place on one end and Zara showing up to Kabir’s house with breakfast without any mention of where she’s been from night to morning (read: home)? At no point does the audience see Zara’s reaction to the chaos at home with Hina’s wedding nor do we see her reaction when Hina and Raju’s wedding is announced. Her only acknowledgement that she’s aware of the situation is when she invites Kabir to the wedding. And this brings us to the second flaw – the introduction of Kabir’s unnecessary female friend, Isha, who has only been introduced to make Zara jealous. This is an entirely unnecessary angle, one that only makes Kabir look bad, honestly. Not once in this story has Kabir ever mentioned a female friend he’s so close to that she would drop everything to see his rap battle. Considering Kabir is aware that Zara’s family is eyeing him for marriage, why would Kabir bring his uninvited female guest to Zara’s Khala’s wedding? This is Pakistan and Kabir – and our writer – is more than aware of what showing up to a wedding with a female in front of Zara’s family would mean for the Kabir-Zara relationship for Zara’s family. At this point, Kabir’s actions make him look more foolish than necessary.
Overall, “Standup Girl” continues to be an excellent show, easily the best-written one on television during a time when we’re spoiled for choices. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Zara and Kabir’s relationship progresses from here and how Khan Sahab will inspire and help Zara fine-tune her act on her journey towards her stand-up career. Even with negatives, the positives in “Standup Girl” outshine any negatives as this remains an absolute gem of a show.