Chhoti Chhoti Baatein is a series set to narrate disjoint stories, highlighting the small issues that often tend to ignore. Does that sound familiar? Read this. I’ve more stories planned to be published for Pen To Publish 2019. Stay Tuned!
The story is written by Rida Bilal. It is directed by Angeline Malick and is being aired on Hum TV.
You can read the review of the previous two stories Bandhan and Mujhe Tum Pasand Ho.
The third story is titled “Dil Hi Tou Hai’ and here is my review for the same.
Episode 1 Plot Summary
The first episode begins when Sophie Arif (Atiqa Odho), a mathematics professor is talking to the in-laws-to-be of her two daughters Aliya (Mariyam Nafees) and Neha (Sukaina Khan). Or Bela, I heard both.
Aliya is younger and naughty whereas Neha is a bit more sensible, but not over-the-top serious. Shahnaz (Saman Ansari), the matchmaker woman is Sophie’s friend and has helped in finalizing the alliances between Neha and Waqar, Aliya and Raheel.
On the other side, we see Hassan Ahmed (Sajid Hassan) talking to his son Saif (Osama Tahir) and daughter in law Anaya (Hajra Yamin). Saif informs that he’s getting relocated to Canada. I feel that a city name should have been better. I mean you don’t get transferred to a country, but a city but that’s just me being picky.
سارا کھیل لفظوں کا ہے۔
Shahnaz, incidentally is Anaya’s aunt.
The two girls talk Sophie into getting married. Amaya also convinces Hassan to remarry.
They were reluctant at first but seem to agree as the episode ends.
Episode 2 Plot Summary
The second episode progresses the story at a rapid pace. Both Sophie and Hassan give consent to meet. The families and seem to bond well. The duo chat over phone and meet frequently. Their dates are really cute.
The best scene of the episode is. Sophie and Hassan try to meet up as does Raheel and Aliya but Neha catches them. The brief chat between Raheel and Hassan is hilarious.
Saif is getting hyper about this alliance but Hassan is resilient.
Episode 3 Plot Summary
The third episode begins with hiding Hassan’s car keys and forbids him to go to office. Saif is being mean but Hassan deals with him nicely, like a father should.
Hassan and Sophie try to meet. Sophie excuses herself that she has parent teacher meeting. Do colleges have PTM?
Whenever they meet, there romance is subtle and cute; also practical in a way where they discuss how their future life is going to be like.
Saif wants to talk to Sophie but Hassan refuses to give him Sophie’s phone number. He is very mean and says mean things to Anaya as well. Hassan is heartbroken. He visits Sophie’s house with Anaya and calls off the wedding.
Episode 4 Plot Summary
The fourth episode begins with showdown between Saif and Anaya. I like that the confrontation was on the mellow side. Anaya did not shout or yell or say mean things. She just talked about what went wrong. Some dramas show women suddenly becoming too vocal and too loud. This one was perfect.
Neha and Aliya are heartbroken that their plan did not work out and they instead caused more pain to their mother. Hassan apologizes to saif for getting carried away in emotions.
Finally, Saif sees the reason behind his decision and realizes that seeing your loved ones is more important than worrying about the world. Not really, I totally made that up. But he does regret that he misbehaved with his father. He also tries to make amends by meeting Sophie but Sophie and her daughters refuse to talk to him, not about the wedding, at least.
Saif apologizes to Amaya and Hassan. The families meet again and all is well. The elders get married first and we see a complete family of three young couples and an older couple gladly posing for pictures.
Performances
The performances are just what you’d expect from each character, not a bit of overacting, except the scene in fourth episode where Neha shouts on Saif a bit too loudly.
Atiqa Odho is a treat to watch. You can just watch her pretty face and graceful personality.
I have not seen Osama Tahir’s work before. His portrayal of Saif reminds me of Haider in Besharam by Zahid Ahmed. His dialogue delivery is similar to that of Zahid. I say that as a compliment, of course.
Conclusion
The important thing here is to note that the story focuses on delivering message instead of going all around. Elders who have been widowed have right to happiness and companionship just as much as young ones.
Except for a few wrong words (Alfazon is incorrect word) and a continuity problem in episode 4 where Anaya leaves the house saying that the food is on the table and dinner’s in the freezer. it was already night.
Anyway, ignoring those tiny issues, it was a nice and refreshing story that tells a love story between two sensible elders.
Thanks for reading the review. Please leave your comments below.
Happy watching!
Shabana Mukhtar
