Dil Mom Ka Diya, drama directed by Shahid Shafat, airing on ARY Digital.
The drama has been written by our very own Saira Raza. I have not read much written by her. But whatever I have, I have been immensely entertained.
Below is a character by character breakdown of the drama so far.
Ulfat (Played by Neelum Muneer):
What a corrupt and awful person she is. In the first two episodes, she seemed like a woman who speaks her mind without any filters. But gradually, she turned into a self-obsessed, obnoxious and proud woman who does everything to make others feel bad.
Neelum has played this role effortlessly. I particularly liked the scene when she assumes that Afzal is so old that he must stammer through his lessons of Quran. ‘Alif Alif, Ba Ba, Ta Ta…”
Hilarious and bitter at the same time.
However, I have a problem with her wardrobe. I mean, she’s Maulvi’s daughter. Should she have been dressed more appropriately? The short sleeves, the sheer dupatta, and the tight churidar; everything is just something any Maulvi would allow her daughter to wear.
Maulvi Saab (Played by Qavi Khan):
Ulfat’s father. He is a struggling to run the household in his limited income. He is a sensitive father. He is constantly worried about the means to provide the best to his family, but often fails.
Qavi Khan is a terrific actor. I liked two scenes in particular.
1. The hospital scene when he is crying that he’s about to die but has nothing to show to Allah in terms of his good deeds. It reminded me of death as well, and that I have nothing to offer too. It was a heart wrenching scene. And superbly done.
2. The second one is when Kausar has finished her course and now Maulvi saab has to find another student. That expression on his face was just too heart breaking. I guess I could relate to a person who feels so helpless.
Ammi (Played by Nida Mumtaz):
Ulfat’s mother. She is a typical housewife and mother. She knows that she should reprimand her daughter. She is not like those mothers who support their beautiful daughter in whatever they do. At the same time, she is the doting mother who feels bad if her daughters feel even the slightest pains.
I saw her performance for the first time in ‘Woh Mera Dil Thha‘, where she played Zaid’s mother. She is good and has a wide range of expressions.
Tamkinat (Played by Hira Mani):
The cutie and the good bhabhi for their household.
She is a working lady, a teacher to young kids. She represents a girl who knows her priorities in life. She doesn’t shy away from standing her ground or replying to Ulfat when necessary. But she is also mindful of respecting the elderly.
Hira plays this role perfectly. She is coming in a lot of dramas lately. I guess she is at the best phase of her acting career. She is cute and a wonderful actress.
Farhat (Played by Alizay Shah):
Ulfat’s younger sister. she is the exact opposite of her sister. She is just as beautiful but is ground to earth, just as one expects a maulvi’s daughter to be.
She knows her sister too well and refrains from interfering into her life and her actions. Once, she even suggests that Tamkinat should not
She does not have much of a role in carrying the story forward. But she is not ignored, either. She is always present in the key scenes to make a complete family picture. Kudos to the director I suppose.
Afzal (Played by Yasir Nawaaz):
Ulfat’s husband, their mismatched marriage was a cliched hospital marriage when Maulvi Saab fell sick. Afzal is a symbolization that woman can impair the judgement of a man. He is a sensible man most of the time, but Ulfat is too smart to fool him again and again.
Salma(Played by Erum Akhtar):
Afzal’s elder sister. She is not the typical sister-in-law. She accepted Ulfat, the beautiful wife of his elder brother, albeit forced by circumstances, with open arms and heart. Ulfat, however, uses her tongue as a whip and says poisonous things to everybody in the family, including Salma.
Salma, however, doesn’t shy away from giving her piece of mind to Ulfat whenever needed. Her role is of an overprotective sister, who wants only the good things for her family (who wouldn’t) and she plays it well.
I like her expressions. She’s pretty, too 🙂
Azhar(Played by Imran Ashraf):
Afzal’s brother, and Tamkinat’s husband.
Afzal is a happy-go-lucky guy. In fact, the family has a good camaraderie among them. They have a joyous atmosphere at home, until Ulfat came and ruined it all.
I am a big Imran Ashraf fan. I just love the way this fellow translates his characters and owns it. Another recent example is ,
To top it, he has transformed his personality, too. He is not the chubby guy anymore. He has lost tons of weight and his height and personality is more noticeable now.
Of course, the physical appearance does not affect his performance as he was always a terrific actor.
Akmal (Played by Hassam Khan):
Afzal’s brother, and not yet hitched. His role is not much. But he is always present in all the important scenes. He does justice to his role. Akmal speaks his mind and Ulfat doesn’t like him much. Well, she doesn’t like anybody. But Akmal was the one who was the first to face her wrath and started living in the apartment above their office, just so he wouldn’t have to see her. Bravo Akmal!
Kausar (Played by Zubi Majeed):
Afzal’s younger sister. The drama has started when she was studying. But she gets married in later episodes. Being the youngest, she is most loved by her family and yet is very responsible when it comes to taking care of the house and his brothers.
Ulfat, did a lot of ‘tamasha’ on her marriage – both in front of guests and alone at home. Ulfat tortures Kausar belittling her that she has no beauty or homemaking skills and that her fiancée (and later husband) must have some problem that he agreed to marry Kausar.
She is the perfect youngest daughter any family can have. And Zubi has done a good job essaying that role.
Asad & Afza:
Ulfat’s kids. To be honest, I am not sure, what’s the name of her daughter. They call her Afza, Ifza, Hafsa, Ifsa, Afsa??? I don’t know for sure.
The kids have almost no role, except that Ulfat treats them awfully. All those scenes are woefully disturbing. I often wonder how the parents of such small and cute kids allow them to go through such circumstances, even if it is fictitious.
Verdict:
I loved the show in the beginning despite Ulfat’s ‘tamashe’ which made my blood boil every time. But thought that it was dragged a tad bit too long. The drama reminded me of many stories by Aliya Bukhari. The characters are just so freaking dark and mean. “Will they ever learn to be nice?” I question. But I guess our world is full of such people.
Secondly, Ulfat’s tantrums are getting repetitive and therefore boring. The drama and slo-mo in every scene before her appearance is getting too much to handle.
I also feel that the major events have already taken place and each new episode is taking the story nowhere further. The same
I have not watched the further episodes. I needed some positivity around me 🙂
But I have the new episodes downloaded. I want to know whether Ulfat learns her lessons or not. I am also interested in seeing the love story of Tamkinat and Azhar. Stay tuned for my review for next set of episodes.
What do other feels about this drama?
Happy Watching!
Shabana Mukhtar
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