A review on Pakistani Drama TV Serial, ‘Udaari’ (2016) aka [To Fly]. The Production company(s) is Momal Productions & Kashaf Foundation while its Distributor is Hum TV.
+ Crew
I. Directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin.
II. Written & Screenplay by Farhat Ishtiaq.
III. Theme Music Composed by Sahir Ali Bagga and Sohail Haider.
IV. Created & Produced by Momal Productions.
+ Note
Udaari is aired on Hum TV from 10th Apr 2016 – 25th Sep 2016. It consists of total 25 episodes. The Opening theme ‘Sajna Ve Sajna’ sung by Hadiqa Kiani & Farhan Saeed. It focuses on child sexual abuse, domestic violence and trial for justice.
+ Main Cast
- Samiya Mumtaz as Sajida Bibi / Sajjo / Tahira
- Bushra Ansari as Rasheeda Bibi / Sheedan
- Ahsan Khan as Imtiaz Ali Sheikh
- Urwa Hocane as Meera Majid
- Farhan Saeed as Taimoor Arshad / Arsh (Lawyer #1)
- Hina Altaf Khan as Zeb-un-Nisa Parveiz / Zebo (Teen)
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+ Supportive Cast
- Haris Waheed as Ilyas
- Behroze Sabzwari as Khalid
- Arjumand Hussain as Arsh’s father
- Saife Hassan as Malik Iftikhar Hussain
- Akbar Islam as Rana (Lawyer #2)
- Areesha Ahsan as Zebo alias Komal (Child)
+ Plot
Two friends, Sheedan & Sajida lead a very different path of struggle. Sheedan is heavily criticized for her local music career in the village, although she is the only source of hard earned income for her family. On the other hand, Sajida & her younger daughter, Zebo struggle badly to get rid of Imtiaz and seek for justice.
+ High Points
i – The negative role of Ahsan Khan has truly captured people hearts with his terrifying, haunting antagonist performance as child sexual abuser. His role as Imtiaz in this hit TV drama serial ‘Udaari’ would always be remembered in his bright future career.
ii – Evergreen beloved TV super star, Bushra Ansari as Sheedan performed very well on-screen. At her age, most performed usually lose their shining ability on-screen but not respected Bushra Ansari. She has proved us all how well performer she is no matter how difficult the role is given to her to perform. I was very pleased to see her in the role of Sheedan where her untimely comic punch lines made the viewers’ laugh very badly.
iii – The supporting cast performances were nicely played. Honorable Mentions are: Areesha Ahsan, Samiya Mumtaz, Arjumand Hussain, Hina Altaf Khan, Urwa Hocane and Saad.
iv – I am glad that this content was finally made into TV drama serial to reach its mass audience which not only shows the struggle that the victim, the family has to face but how they can avail justice through trials, lawyers, what concrete evidence they would need to punish the culprit and most importantly how the victim has struggle with his/her life after the sexual assault.
v – The characters of Ahsan Khan and Bushra Ansari were very well written with worthy punch lines. The incredible performances by these two stars have further accelerated these two characters as most memorable characters shown on-screen.
vi – Although last few episodes were based on trial and court room but it was intentionally showed as just to make aware to the justice dept. that who is the culprit is and what sinful acts he has done to the victim is not enough. No. You see, one would need concrete, hard evidences to fight for justice and prove your allegations in the court room.
+ Low Points
i – When such a shocking content is placed as your main plot then it is vital and a clever move to choose those good performers who are unknown to the media world. This way you can make your fictional world as realistic as possible for the mass viewers. Too many well-known celebrities, in such key roles deteriorate the convincing scenario for the viewers. Their concern would be focused more on the TV drama that they watched rather than a lifelike situation they viewed to.
ii – The main content and the strong performances are the real reasons that pulled the viewers’ towards this TV drama than the story did the job.
iii – Meera’s refusal to marriage continues even though Taimoor’s parents agree to accept her as their daughter-in-law. But in the end, Meera suddenly agrees the (expired) proposal as ‘All Is Well That Ends Well’?
iv – Rather than the drama is based on ground realities, it was too much commercialized in the favor of more star power.
v – I believe four or five episodes were based on trials and court room scenario; it reduced the intensity and interest level to watch the TV drama serial.
+ Overall
Extensive and shallow, Udaari nevertheless succeeds on the strength of its competent technique and solid performances.
Rate: 3.50 out of 5 stars
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