Oooooh, romance in this episode, uffffff!!! The best kind, subtle, tender, gentle. Not the aggressive kind: mujhe tum se mohabbat hai aur tum bhi abhi ki abhi mujh se kaho ki tumhein bhi mujh se mohabbat hai.

But… I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s quickly recap in proper order.

Shabana finally sees the red flags in Kabeer. Her phone call with Kabeer was so quotable. Every single word she said to Kabeer, I have thought about it at one point or other. It was quite fulfilling to watch those scenes. She has had enough of this BS that Kabeer and his dadi have been pulling off, so she packs her bags to leave.

Yumna learns that Ahmad has gone back (apparently he doesn’t live in Pakistan) and that Shabana is also going to Hasilpur. Whether she was confused or guilty, I couldn’t tell. I noticed that Shabana was very formal towards Yumna, and I loved it. My late sister used to say this: tum maghroor to hum tum se do joote aage.

There’s a very long, unnecessarily long, if you ask me, sequence where Kabeer and Tauqeer bond. I was rolling my eyes so hard. This guy Kabeer hated his dad for not giving him enough time. Now, he knows he isn’t the real dad, and he’s being all emotional. Kinda bleh for me.

And then comes Bilal, saving every penny, counting every rupee for the court case of fraud publisher. Jahanzeb (the ever so kind person) comes in, hands over the week’s wages. It’s at this point that Bilal learns Nusrat is in debt, and is being bothered. So, he packs his bags.

We know where this is going, right? Shabana and Kabeer meet at the station and get to talking. Despite Bilal’s earlier outburst, Shabana treats Bilal the exact same way. She ain’t the one to change, right? We have seen it throughout 24 episodes. She learns about Bilal’s predicament (about publishing etc) and instantly calls Ahmad (who had a writer friend Saifi). Bilal isn’t very happy about it. But his stance is so “normal”, almost vulnerable and not aggressive as we’d expect from Kabeer.

Why the eff did you try to help me?

No, he calmly explains Shabana that he wanted to be someone on his own, without her help, because he still loves her, and can’t stop loving her because she was his first love. This is me paraphrasing and taking out all the sweetness and romance. Go watch this scene to be thoroughly amazed, of how brilliantly this scene was written and performed. And then there’s a soft nakhra as he “gently” pushes aside the bun maska she bought, he doesn’t shobe, mind you. They both watch the other when they aren’t looking. And it makes for such nice watching experience.

I’m eagerly waiting for the next episode.

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