Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: September 01, 2022 | 
| 中文
Savera Nadeem as Rukhsana, Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz as Junaid and Kinza Hashmi as Eshal Khawar
Wehem is a drama based on the premise of deception and deceit. Right off the bat, it needs to be said that the drama has all the makings of a saas-bahu saga, but it comes with a twist. Written by Imran Nazir and directed by Adnan Wai Qureshi, the drama is produced by Moomal Shunaid and airs on Hum TV every Wednesday.
The story unfolds with Rukhsana (Savera Nadeem) at the center of the story. Her character has evolved over the course of ten episodes from a lady who seemed to be attempting to do the right thing, to a woman who has some deep dark secrets that she wants to hide. She is planting doubts (wehem) in the minds of everyone around her, and seems to have acquired a long-standing resentment and deep-seated animosity towards her in-laws. Rukhsana feels that her in-laws are connected to the disappearance of her spouse, Anwar (Fawad Jalal). She treats her brother-in-law poorly, attempts to make her mother-in-law believe she meddles in her own sons’ romantic relationships, and goes to any lengths to make her mother-in-law believe that she has gone insane: by adding extra chili to her food, to knocking on her doors and windows late at night. Ruksana seems to be driven by extreme hatred and ready to go to any lengths to torture the old woman. The kicker is, that the audience does not quite know why Rukhsana is doing it.
Savera Nadeem as Rukhsana and Tara Mahmood as Sabahat
While the first bahu had given in to her mother-in-law’s meddling ways, Eshal (Kinza Hashmi) has decided that two can play the game and has started planting doubts in Rukhsana’s mind. She has also chosen to unveil the ways Rukhsana is planting doubts in Dadi’s (Shamim Hilali) mind.
Kinza Hashmi, Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz and Shamim Hilaly (as Amma Bi) in Wehem
What makes the drama drag is that we still don’t know what really happened in Rukhsana’s past to make her detest her in-laws and have such controlling behavior towards her children and their wives. However, viewers are still interested in seeing if Eshal will be able to make her husband Junaid (Zaviyar Nouman Ijaz) see how Rukhsana has been manipulating everyone in the household, and also in finding out why Ruksana is the way she is. Also, where is Anwar, why has he left, and what is the relationship between Ruksana and Khawar (Babar Ali, who is Eshal’s father and Anwar’s brother). But are we interested in finding answers to these questions 20 more episodes later? Definitely not.
Babar Ali as Khawar and Shamim Hilaly as Amma Bi
In terms of acting, it needs to be said that Savera Nadeem is a complete powerhouse, and it is a shame that she is not given roles in bigger productions with stronger storylines. Her performance is nuanced, and her portrayal of a woman who has been wronged and is seeking retribution from those concerned, is ominous and disturbing. The fact that nearly everyone around her is oblivious to how she is gently exacting retribution on them, makes her persona stand out. Babar Ali, we feel, is a director’s actor. He is good when he is subtle, but with an old Lollywood background, he tends to overact with his expressions and dialogue delivery. However, in Wehem, Ali’s performance is quite measured.
Adnan Samad (as Fareed), Savera Nadeem, Zaviyar and Kinza in Wehem
While Kinza is good with roles like these, we feel Zaviyar needs to be more selective with the roles he selects. His role in Wehem and even in Bakhtawar, does not amount to much, and we have seen how good he can be as an actor, when given a role like the one he had in Sang-e-Mah. We wish the actor would not underestimate himself and choose better roles in the future. I don’t think there has ever been a role that Shamim Hilaly hasn’t been able to do complete justice to. She is a treat to watch, no matter what her role is. This is not her first role as a Nani or Dadi, but in this one her performance has been brilliant.
Kinza and Zaviyar
Overall, Wehem is interesting, the plot is different and it is as a good way to broaden the saas-bahu sagas. That said, the drama lacks depth and needs to pick pace or else people will lose interest in it. We are reiterating what we have said earlier also, dramas need to be shorter and crispier to hold the audience’s attention.
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