Rah-e-Junoon

Rah-e-Junoon is a new Hum TV drama that started airing episodes, the first episode went live on November 9, 2023. It is a riveting tale of unwavering passion and unyielding determination, where the fervor of youthful, searing love knows no bounds. At its heart is Shabrez, whose relentless passion propels the story forward. He is a man driven to extreme lengths to win his beloved, Mehar. Shabrez’s love for Mehar is so profound that he’s willing to do the unthinkable in the pursuit of love. The story unfolds as an exploration of an intense, undeterred love that defies all obstacles and conventions, as Shabrez remains resolute in his quest to make her his, by any means necessary.

Credits

Writer: Rehana Aftab

Director: Ahmed Kamran

[Source: Hum TV official website]

Rah-e-Junoon Episode 1 Recap and Review

I’ve already said this in cast and character post, but if you’ve missed it, here it goes again. I’m not happy with this episode. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s do it the proper way.

The Troubled Hero

The drama opens with an aerial shot of a beautiful valley in Pakistan (I don’t know where it is because I’ve never been to Pakistan). We see Shabrez driving, wind blowing in his hair as he talks about him himself, admitting to be “haara hua insaan”, and that says a lot about him.

If that’s not all, he stops the jeep and ready to jump off the cliff. So, he was basically driving an expensive vehicle, donning designer wear to go to the ultimate destination – a suicide point.  It reminded me of a joke. The guy who took tiffin while he’s commiting suicide on a train track, just in case the train was late, he’d have his meal. Shabrez probably thought-I’m dying and that might trouble my parents, but they shouldn’t think that I was dressed shabbily when I was found.

I know what you’r thinking: was this a joke? It was, if you get it.

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The Sunshine Heroine

So, our dear heroine stops him from committing a suicide and he’s like: dil haara re… dil haara haara… dil haara haara…dil haara… (try to imagine Sukhwinder Singh’s voice).

Meher is an engineering student who’s on a trip with her college friends. She spots Shabrez and stops him (wordplay) from the suicide. Since Shabrez has already lost his heart to this girl, he gives his name and phone number. Fast-forward love story, hehe.

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The “first sight” lovers

We see Shabrez talking to someone over phone, informing that he’s gotten better. Then, he gets a call for help from Meher. She was stranded from her group and her mobile and wallet is stolen. Shabrez helps her, and the two share their background a little. Long story short, they both confess of being in love at first sight. Isi baare mein kisi shayer ne kya khoob kaha hai.

Raaja ko rani se pyaar ho gayaa

Pehli nazar mein pehla pyaar ho gayaa

Dil jigar dono ghayal huye

Teer-e-Nazar dil ke paar ho gayaaaaa

I’m so funny, aren’t I?

~

His Materialistic Family

Then we meet some other characters. Shabrez’s parents are discussing how they can further expand the business. The mum tells Azhar to work harder; he complains about others being backed by in-laws; she reminds that her brothers have helped Azhar; he reminds that he paid them money.

To sum up, this couple is materialistic AF.

Also, we learn that Mrs Azhar is a socialite who has time for her friends and no time for her family, except when it’s for torturing her older bahu with her poisonous words. She hates her bahu because “she was not her choice”. I winced when she said those words, but then, I don’t think saas-bahu are ever each other’s favourites.

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Her Imbalanced Family

It’s Meher’s father’s birthday and Meher has planned for a surprise. Abba is happy, so is Ammi, but sister ne rona daal diya.

“Why do you always do that? Why do you steal the limelight? You ruined my surprise…blah blah blah”.

After a point, her mum was like

“Enough, Zara! You’re a sadoo and you’re the one ruining everyone’s mood, even now.”

Kudos to mummy ji for saying it aloud. Most mothers these days are scared of their daughter. Every daughter has a yard-long-tongue, balki har ek ki gaz bhar lambi zaban hai. She hates Meher with all her guts. She’s one of the many villians in Meher’s love story, let’s just say that.

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Review

The teaser was enough to tell me that this isn’t for me, and then I accidentally watched the episode to confirm that it’s indeed the truth.

After playing junooni ashiq after Kaisi Teri Khudgharzi, and many others I haven’t seen including Ishq Hai and Deewangi, Danish Taimoor is back with another rendition of the same character. It seems that Danish Taimoor likes playing toxic characters. Apparently people like him in this avatar the most. I disagree, but I am only one person of the large viewership.

what bothers me more is that Danish doesn’t experiment much with his roles, or his LOOKS. The same sleek hair,  rich guy look he always carries. One nice example to compare is Bilal Abbas in Ishq Murshid. He’s portraying both sides at once-suave politician and a “desi” man with such finess. His body language, his dialect, everything changes when he wears a suit, and when he wear salwar kameez. DT should really try that once. Another example that comes to mind is Imran Ashraf’s Mureed in Namak Haram. Yeh, yeh karke dikhao jiski acting mein hai dumm.

So, to sum up, I watched the first episode, and I’ve decided it’s not worth my energy. I won’t be watching this series unless Youtube forces me to 😀

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Until next review, please check out my books on Amazon.

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Shabana Mukhtar