A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Laapata Episode 11 & 12 (2021). The new TV series is written and directed by Khizer Idrees. Laapata is a Momina Duraid Production and currently airs on HUM TV.
(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 Khizer Idrees
- Written by Khizer Idrees
- Produced by Momina Duraid Productions
+ Note
Laapata is a comedy/ drama which focuses on young love who aspire to fulfill all their wishes in Life. The drama also highlights modern obsessions with social media such as Tik Tok and its impact on the Pakistani youth of today.
The writer/ director of the show, Khizer Idrees is most well renowned in the TV industry for his work as a Cinematographer for films such as Manto (2015) and Verna (2017).
+ Main Cast
- Ali Rehman Khan as Shams
- Ayeza Khan as Geeti
- Gohar Rasheed as Daniyal
- Sarah Khan as Falak
+ Plot
Shams (Ali Rehman Khan) loves Falak (Sarah Khan) and they predict something big for their future. On the other hand, Geeti (Ayeza Khan), the big Tik Tok star, is always looking for a new toy to play with. After being faced to decide upon her secure future, Geeti might have her eyes now set on someone… and that someone could perhaps be Shams?
+ High Points
i – Episode 11 and 12 had a lot going on. There was a massive development regarding a certain character and whether those changes worked or proved to be a bust, at least the episodes were an entertaining watch with some good performances from the main cast.
ii – In comparison to other shows currently on Pak television, Falak is portrayed as more self confident and doesn’t serve as a doormat for the men in her Life. Although her sportswoman background is completely abandoned (what a pity), she knows how to take care of herself and fend off bullies. I do have some major reservations regarding some of her reactions in episode 12 but we’ll get to that soon.
Spoilers Alert!! (If you would like to avoid it, please skip to the Overall section):
+ Low Points
i – The character of Daniyal and the direction that they are going with him. It was in fact slightly hinted at in the previous episodes that something is psychologically not right with him but this week, they went all out with it. Playing a character with a split personality is a very difficult task since you really have to walk the fine line between goofy and insane. And unfortunately, Gohar Rasheed’s performance comes off more ridiculous than anything. His inflictions and body gestures are not convincing enough to play a character suffering from insanity. As far as “nice guy” goes, Gohar Rasheed was perfect for it but these two episodes made a massive revelation that seems largely at odds with the rest of the show.
Could this twist in the story have worked? Yes, I think so but it needed to be perfect with its pacing, build it up for several episodes and not just jump from 10 to 100, all in a single episode! Also it was quite ludicurios how at the party, the guests just casually discussed with Falak that her husband might be a murderer.
ii – Secondly, Falak’s reaction of discovering that her husband potentially might be a murder is incredibly unrealistic. In order to show how “strong” of a woman Falak is, when she gets slapped by Daniyal, she slaps him back. All good but in the previous episode, it was revealed to her that he might have killed his ex-wife in cold blood!! And she still decides to stay with him and slap back at him?? Are you serious? Girl, if I were you, I would be running towards the hills! Especially when I notice his erratic, mental behaviour! Many viewers (including myself) complain that women are always portrayed weak and helpless in Pak dramas but this is one instance that Falak should’ve been portrayed exactly that! I don’t care if you’re a male or female, if your spouse is rumored to be a murderer, you run away as far as you can from that individual!
iii – The “comedy” scenes involving Geeti do not work. Please stop with this nonsense. Her acting is not good, all the jokes fall flat on their face and have no place in the show.
iv – Ever since Shams has returned, his character has been somewhat in a limbo of what to do with him. I’m afraid they are now pairing him up with Geeti and frankly, he deserves a fate much better than that.
+ Overall
Laapata moves into yet another direction which feels rushed and not properly developed as it should be.
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