Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: August 06, 2021 | 
Ali Rehman, Ayeza Khan, Sarah Khan and Goher Rasheed
Ayeza Khan, Sarah Khan and Ali Rehman Khan are caught up in a love triangle in Laapata. It starts like a traditional rom-com that audiences would thoroughly enjoy, but is Laapata everything that it was made out to be? Four episodes into the drama, the Momina Duraid Production deserves credit for its fast pace and interesting developments. However, Khizer Idrees’s writing and direction will need to be extraordinary to keep viewers interested as the plot progresses, especially since there is fierce competition from other entertainment channels during this time slot.
Laapata, which airs on Hum TV every Wednesday and Thursday, is a story that revolves around cousins and neighbors Shams (Ali Rehman Khan), Falak (Sarah Khan) and Geeti (Ayeza Khan). Falak and Shams live in separate portions of the same house, whereas Geeti lives a few houses down the street. Having spent most of their lives in such proximity, Falak and Shams have developed feelings for each other. Geeti, however, was a little older than the other two when she moved to the neighbourhood, and is often seen as the odd one out in the dynamic.
Ayeza Khan and Sarah Khan in Laapata
Geeti’s desire to win Shams’s affections is quite evident, and while Falak knows Shams is loyal to her, her dislike for Geeti is quite evident. Geeti is a TikTok star with over 0.1 million followers and Falak, on the other hand, is sporty and studious. Shams is portrayed as a boy set on making easy money and finding shortcuts in life, his only redeeming quality seems to be his faithfulness towards Falak.
As the story proceeds, Shams gets into trouble when he loses RS. 2 million while gambling. The money did not belong to him to begin with, and the loan shark who is also a dirty police officer, pressures him to return the money within 48 hours. At the same time, Falak and Shams’s parents agree to get the two of them married as soon as Shams finds a stable job.
Falak and Shams's family in a dramatic scene
The teaser for the next episode suggests that Shams would go missing (or Laapata) , because he is unable to return the money he owes. Viewers are left wondering what would happen next. For a drama that has only released 4 episodes so far, this is a considerable amount of progress in the story. With most dramas running at a frustratingly slow pace, audiences are refreshed by the brisk pace of Laapata.
When it comes to the performances, the cast’s performances are quite strong, albeit significantly older than the characters they are portraying. However, this age difference does not translate on-screen, and all three main characters manage to look and act their part.
Ayeza Khan as Geeti
Viewers were concerned that Geeti may be an extension of Meenu (also played by Ayeza Khan) from the series Chupke Chupke, but that does not seem to be the case. The actor has transformed into a completely different person as Geeti, which is a credit to Khan’s acting prowess. Where Meenu was childish and naïve, Geeti is shrewd and somewhat sinister. Meenu was also depicted as carefree, but Geeti is shown as a responsible and involved member of her family. Moreover, while Meenu was portrayed as kind-hearted, Geeti comes across as manipulative at her worst.
Ali Rehman Khan as Shams, does not speak the coarse language one would expect from his character. His mannerism is also quite refined for a boy living in a working-class neighbourhood and gambling away his parents’ hard-earned money. One does wonder what attracts Falak to him, besides the familiarity that comes from growing up together.
Falak is a sharp contrast to Sarah Ali Khan’s Zohra in Raqs-i-Bismil and Sabaat’s Miraal. Her role as Falak is more relatable for the general audience, as she is a girl in love with a boy she has known all her life. She is modern, yet has traditional values, she is ambitious and ready to take risks for her family and the boy she loves. The character seems to be every boy’s dream, and what an average working-class girl aspires to be.
Sarah Khan as Falak and Ali Rehman Khan as Shams
In terms of the production value, the drama fares well. The attention paid to Geeti’s wardrobe as a TikTok star, is refreshing to see. If some dissonance between the drama and reality is to be found, it is in Sarah’s appearance in sports gear wandering the streets of her working-class neighbourhood. In reality, women cannot traipse around in western attire in relatively less privileged areas.
To briefly touch upon the scene that has taken social media by storm, it is necessary to highlight that showing a young girl accuse an innocent man of harassment is quite distasteful. In the current social climate where thousands of women in the country are trying to positively use social media as a tool to raise awareness, this scene comes across as insensitive. By portraying Geeti as simply manipulative in a nauseatingly patriarchal society, the drama shows that the MeToo movement has completely bypassed the writers of our television screenplays and its directors.
Geeti with the shopkeeper
Overall, the drama is entertaining and easy to watch at the moment. However, judging by its name, it might turn into a thriller more than a romance very soon. To conclude, Laapata is a lighthearted mid-week pick me up for the audiences that are not looking for heavy doses of emotional content and lots of surprise twists and turns.
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