Introduction

Zindagi Gulzar Hai is one of the finest and most entertaining dramas I’ve ever watched. It is loosely based on Umera Ahmed’s first novel of same title. Sultana Siddiqui has directed the drama. It is an MD production and aired on HUM TV.

I have been meaning to post about this since ages. Something or the other always comes up; or I end up watching the drama again, completely forgetting about the review itself.

Let’s meet the characters.

Characters and Cast

Zaroon Junaid and Family

Javed Shaikh as Junaid

A businessman from Karachi.

Hina Khwaja Bayat as Ghazala Junaid

Junaid’s wife. She’s also a working woman.. In her quest of excellence and success at her career, she ignores her house. She has no qualms about

Fawad Khan as Zaroon Junaid

Junaid’s son and the hero of the story. He’s a spoilt brat much like we’d expect him to be. He comes from a position of privilege and it reflects in his demeanor; often times getting overboard.

Ayesha Omer as Sara Junaid

Junaid and daughter. Zaroon’s sister. She follows her mother’s footsteps and treats relationships like doormats.

Kashaf Murtaza and Family

Plot Summary

The story revolves around two characters – Kashaf Murtaza & Zaroon Junaid. There are other characters, but these two are at the center.

Episode 1

We meet the two families.

Kashaf gets admitted to the university for doing MBA on full scholarship.

Episode 2

Ghazala doesn’t focus on household chores and doesn’t even feel embarrassed. Sara treats Farhan the same way, even makes him wait for hours.

When murtaza finds out about her admission z he talks shit with and Kashaf picks up the sweets plate from the tray.

ماتھے پر بل لیے ہوئے آتے ہیں اور دانت پیستے ہوئے چلے جاتے ہیں۔

Kashaf arrives at the University. Zaroon tries to talk to her and

Kashaf Murtaza

Kashaf Murtaza is from middle class family. She had to struggle a lot to get admission into one of the most prestigious business management institutes of Karachi. She lives in a hostel room.

Kashaf has lived all her life deprived of the basic necessities. Therefore, she’s bitter, pessimistic, and constantly complaints to Allah for her predicaments. Her reasons for bitterness are poverty; how her uncle’s family treats her and her family, how her sisters never cared about a thing in the world. She recalls her childhood. Although she was only 12 years old, she vividly remembers that they didn’t get to eat, or read newspaper or watch television just because her aunty and cousins didn’t want to give her the luxury.

Her financial background doesn’t bring her down, though. In her class, she doesn’t hesitate to voice her bold opinions, even passing judgemental statements for other students, including and especially Zaroon Junaid.

Zaroon Junaid

Zaroon Junaid is from the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum. He comes from a place of privilege and it shows in his behavior. He spends most of his time with his friends Asmara, Usama and Farooque. The obvious difference of class and mindset creates a constant stream of uncivil and rude arguments between them. Incidentally, these are often in Sir Abrar’s class. He likes Kashaf for her strong opinions.

Irked and irritated by her self righteous attitude, Zaroon tries to befriend her; only to dump her later. In the library, he tells about his plans to Asmara. Little did he know that Kashaf was listening to the entire conversation. After an ugly and harsh confrontation, Kashaf gets scolded by Abrar.

Life After University

The college ends. Zaroon’s life doesn’t change much; but Kashaf’s extended family starts to treat her well, for her designation and the power she holds. In one of the entries, Kashaf talks about how she had to use her contacts to bail her cousin out of jail. She doesn’t like to help the very people who refused to feed them properly, but is helpless in front of her mother who insists that Kashaf must help them in their hour of need.

A couple of years later, they run into each other. Zaroon goes to meet Kashaf in her office and she avenges the library’s scene. Zaroon is upset, but soon changes her mind and sends his proposal for her. After a lot of back and forth and some serious convincing from Zaroon, she concedes and they get married.

Things aren’t a bed of roses for them. After four months, Zaroon accuses her of being a loose character as she loved Azhar, her now brother-in-law. Kashaf leaves his house and stays in MNA hostel for a day but Zaroon comes to pick her up. He wants to give their marriage another chance.

Their marriage works okay, until they meet Asmara. That angle is sorted out, so asmara knows Kashaf is a terrific wife.

Review

This book is Epistolary novel where majority of the story progresses through diaries of the protagonists. We hear both POV’s in equal amounts with just the right amount of overlap.

The characters are vulnerable and the narrative is melancholic, a bit aggressive and has the usual drama that we have come to associate with Umera Ahmed.

There are a lot of classroom debates between Kashaf and Zaroon. They are brutal, blatant, blunt and one can understand where they’re coming from.

Behs-o-Mubahisa is one of the Umera’s strongest suits. We witness the same in almost all her novels. Zindagi Gulzar Hai and Amarbail are two novels that heavily rely on arguments and counter arguments.

Zaroon’s character was almost normal. I mean, I could expect a person from a privilege place to act a certain a way.

It’s Kashaf’s absolute denial of Allah’s blessings and her constant rants that shocked me. I know, I ramble and rant and complain about a million things in one day. But Kashaf was borderline atheist, if I may say so. Although I can understand that strong repulsion when things aren’t going good, it was unexpected to meet a character like her. I guess I was aware that such people exist but I intentionally chose to ignore that fact. Here are some snippets for reference, a sneak peek into Kashaf’s mind.

Agar betiyan huyin toh?

I cringe everytime I read those words. To be honest, I admit that a person can think of even worse, but it shocked me nonetheless.

Credit

I have taken the screenshots from Zindagi Gulzar Hai channel on YouTube. This channel had the best quality videos.

Parting Thoughts

Have you read this book? What do you think of Kashaf’s character? I will meet you in another review.

Shabana Mukhtar