A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Raqeeb Se – Episode 13 (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 – Thirteen episodes in, Raqeeb Se is finally picking up its pace. This episode in particular had much more memorable moments and interactions between the main cast. While there is still some room for improvement, Raqeeb Se is slowly but surely becoming compelling television every week.
ii – The mystery surrounding Insha and Maqsood is fairly interesting. Insha apparently despises her father on some level, perhaps finds him quite arrogant in his beliefs. Which makes as a viewer wonder if there is more than meets the eye?
iii – Any episode that Saba Faisal is involved in, becomes an entertaining watch by default. In every scene, she just dominates the scene with her mere presence and her sassy Punjabi brings endless joy and entertainment for a show which is inherently dower.
iv – Surprisingly, Insha and Abdul’s expository dialogue has massively evolved and refined since the first episode. Both actors play off well from each other and their side romantic storyline is a welcome addition to the show.
v – The last scene and cliffhanger was great. It sets up a very important crossroad of how far Hajira is willing to go with Maqsood sahib and how this will affect Insha, their daughter in the process. This was a great way to end an episode.
+ Low Points
i – Raqeeb Se is in the process of developing its storyline on a regular basis but still needs a lot of work. With each coming episode, the audience would like answers for once and be toyed with. So far, Raqeeb Se feels like its on the right path but needs a lot of ground to cover in the next coming episodes in order to justify us investing an hour of our time each week.
ii – The ‘spilling of the Kavaa’ was an eye roller of a scene and tacky at best. I’m sure the writer can come up with something better for Maqsood and Sakina to have physical interaction than this.
iii – So far, Rafiq Ali has been all bark and no bite. Since Episode 1, he was described as a ruthless, wife beater who always takes the bull by the horns but instead, he has done nothing significantly evil onscreen for the audience to hate this character. Make him do something! If he is indeed one of the antagonists of the show then give us a reason to hate him other than something happening off screen.
+ Overall
Another good episode! Raqeeb Se is now improving every week which is indeed a sight for sore eyes. Let us hope this trend continues till the last episode.
Rate: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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