Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: December 10, 2020 | 
| 中文
A Scene from the Promotions
As a departure from the usual stories of romance and marriage, HUM TV’s latest offering is a story with a different perspective. Set in modern-day Islamabad, Be Adab (Disrespect) had promised to bring out an orchestra of emotions in audiences. But three episodes in, we have only one feeling: impatience. The drama is written by Inam Hasan and directed by Shehzad Kashmiri, the drama’s teasers had promised a unique take on family strife, and relationships between parent and children. But so far, there has only been a few glimpses of discord between parents and children, and a poorly conceived subplot of domestic violence.
The story revolves around the lives of veteran actors Sania Saeed and Rehan Sheikh. The two have been happily married for years, and have raised three sons, of which two have decided to not follow their father’s footsteps in the family business, and have instead decided to settle abroad. The third son, Rohail (Momin Saqib), is shown to be very devoted to his parents, doting on his wheelchair-bound mother and his seemingly hard-hearted father. His devotion is such that he is ready to turn away from Sheena (Hajra Yameen), the woman he loves, to please his father.
Sania Saeed and Rehan Sheikh as an Old Married Couple
Running parallel to this family dynamic, is Fatima’s (Faryal Mehmood) story. As their cousin, she was supposed to marry Rohail’s elder brother, but the young man moves abroad instead. Fatima ends up in an abusive arranged marriage, but because she is the stereotypically passive ‘good-girl’, she suffers in silence, telling neither her ailing mother or her uncle. Promos of the next episode suggest that the uncle and youngest cousin will find out about the domestic abuse, and will bring Fatima home, leading to a possible romance between the two cousins.
Momin Saqib as Rohail and Faryal Mehmood as Fatima
The only wild card in the story is Sheena, who initially seems to be an affable girlfriend, until she marries Rohail. And even before that, there is a sinister undertone to her character, judging by her rude behavior. What remains to be seen is the extent to which Rohail’s love for Sheena challenges his loyalty to his family. This is made all the more obvious by the promos that suggest Rohail is not the couple’s biological son. ‘Be Adab’ is Saqib’s foray into acting and his skills are commendable, particularly the way he showcases his Punjabi accent instead of trying to mask it.
In terms of performances, Saeed does great justice to her character as a woman who is heartbroken by her older children’s absence, while also struggling with a debilitating ailment. Hajra Yameen is also very good at portraying her character’s complex persona. While Fatima’s ‘good’ character seems excessive at times, Faryal Mehmood needs to be given credit for playing it really well. She has taken on villainous roles before, so it is impressive to see her range as an actor.
Hajra Yameen as Sheena
While there is nothing particularly wrong with the themes of the show, the pace is proving to be its downfall. In the age of the internet and endless online entertainment, people do not want to invest their time and energy on a TV show that doesn’t advance fast enough. That, coupled with an average script, one wonders why they would choose this drama for such a prime timeslot.
Fatima, Rohail and Rohail's Mother in a Dramatic Scene
That being said, it is too early to judge the drama’s direction, and one hopes that the drama’s teasers were not carved out of the only good scenes in the serial. Once again, viewers wonder about the standards which large production house like Momina Duraid Productions keep in mind while choosing dramas. With the growing frequency of out-of-touch and mediocre television serials, it is high time that production houses, actors and directors paid more attention to the stories they are agreeing to work on, and what value those stories are bringing to Pakistani media.
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