A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Raqeeb Se – Episode 7 (2021). The new TV series is directed by Kashif Nisar and is a production of Momina Duraid Productions. Raqeeb Se is a HUM TV Production.
(Note: If you’ve already read the review of the previous episode, you can skip directly ahead to the High points section).
+ Crew
- Directed by Kashif Nisar
- Written by Beegul
- DOP by Hassam Mairaj
- Music Composed by Hadiqa Kiani
- Produced by Momina Duraid Productions
+ Note
Raqeeb Se is the newest HUM TV Production and is once again the collaboration of the award winning Writer/ Director duo of Bee Gul and Kashif Nisar.
The title of the show is heavily inspired by a poem from the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz when the young poet fell in love with a girl next door in Sialkot. But alas, as luck would have it, she one day unexpectedly left the city, only to be reunited years later when Faiz was already an established poet in the circles of Urdu literature. This encounter inspired Faiz to write a poem “Raqib Se!”. The backstory of this poem plays a crucial role in the premise of the show.
+ Main Cast
- Hadiqa Kiani as Sakina
- Noman Ijaz as Maqsood
- Sania Saeed as Hajra
- Faryal Mehmood as Insha
- Iqra Aziz as Ameera
- Saqib Sameer as Rafiq
+ Plot
Raqeeb Se is a call of Maqsood’s dark past that could potentially destroy his present life. In order to escape her abusive husband, Sakina, along with her daughter Ameera, flees from her village to find shelter at her former lover’s place, Maqsood. Unfortunately Maqsood, who still holds a grudge against Sakina’s past actions, refuses to aid her in her most dire situation. But his wife, Hajra, seems much more sympathetic to the situation and lets Sakina stay at their home till things are figured out for the future.
But can Sakina be trusted to stay out of Maqsood’s life or will they be tempted to rekindle their lost love and in the process, destroy what Maqsood and his wife Hajra have built together?
+ High Points
i – Regardless of the problems with writing and plot development, what Raqeeb Se has been consistently good with is its presentation. The Director of Photography Hassam Mairaj’s work has been great throughout the show. And the praise should also be upheld for the entire crew behind the camera.
ii – Saba Faisal’s performance as the sassy, uptight Punjabi lady is outstanding. Since her introduction, she is magnetic in every scene she is a part of and brings a much needed flair to the show.
iii – Even though nothing much happens in Episode 7, the interaction between characters with conflicting personalities was interesting enough for the episode to breeze through.
iv – The short biryani scene between Insha and her lover was a nice touch and visually depicted that even with so much uncertainty surrounding their secure future, they still love each other enough to just simply enjoy the finer moments in Life.
+ Low Points
i – “Like watching paint dry…”. This perfectly sums up Raqeeb Se’s plot development since its premiere on Hum TV. Episode 7 yet again adds nothing to the overall plot development of the show. It’s characteristically tedious and lingers far too long on its premise than it has any right to. And the worst part is, Raqeeb Se has such a stellar cast and creative team but nothing engaging to offer to its viewers. It’s been quite a letdown up till now.
ii – It has to be mentioned that Insha’s interaction with her parents is extremely cold and alien at times. There seems to be a total loss of love and affection that one has for her parents. She even sometimes refers to her father as “Maqsood sahib”. Even with the backstory of Maqsood that we know now, her actions are not justifiable. Is there any other reasoning behind all this that has currently not been revealed?
iii – Hajra is unconvincingly depicted as extremely naive and quite frankly, ridiculous at times. She has mentioned a couple of times how Maqsood has done so much for her but why is Hajra so eager to keep Sakina at their place when ultimately, it’s clear that this will bring nothing but trouble to her marriage? The writing of the show is very vague and inconsistent on this issue and it’s getting really hard and frustrating for the viewer to sympathise with Hajra anymore.
+ Overall
Although Episode 7 was interesting enough through its compelling characters, the consistent plot development is still severely lacking in order to make the viewer look forward every week to watch the show. But with the recent cliffhanger of Episode 7, can Raqeeb Se make a comeback?
Rate: 2.75 out of 5 stars
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