A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay Episode 13 (2021). The new TV series is written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Farooq Rind. Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay 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 Farooq Rind
- Written by Umer Ahmed
- Produced by Nina Kashif & Momina Duraid Productions
+ Note
Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay marks 5 years since Mahira Khan appeared in a TV drama and as was the case before, this drama was also originally a novel by Umera Ahmed where the childhood and upbringing play an important part in the main plot of the show. The show deals with dark topics such as drug addiction and its impact on a child’s upbringing.
The show also focuses once again on a love triangle between three cousins who shared a childhood together; Mehreen, Mashal and Aswad. Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay is essentially a case study of internal flaws and unspoken guilts that makes us human and how we learn to cope up in a less than ideal society.
+ Main Cast
- Mahira Khan as Mehreen Mansoor
- Kubra Khan as Mashal Tahir
- Usman Mukhtar as Aswad Ayub
- Omair Rana as Mansoor
- Zainab Qayyum as Shagufta
- Haroon Shahid
- Laila Wasti
- Huma Nawab as Saliha
- Kaif Ghaznavi
- Shamim Hilali as Aswad’s Grandmother
- Khalid Malik
+ Plot
Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay is a story of three cousins; Mehreen, Mashal and Aswad. Their lives have coincided with each other since childhood. While Mashal and Aswad grew up in a stable, loving household, Mehreen had to live through the mistakes of her father for being a drug addict and financially unstable. As they grow older, it is obvious that they all share an unbroken bond between each other that will only culminate with certain unforeseeable events.
+ High Points
i – With this episode, Aswad has taken a darker path in order to avenge the death of Mashal. Even from beyond the grave, Mashal is able to pull the strings of Aswad and make Mehreen’s life a living hell. This is a great setup to create intense drama and tension surrounding our main protagonists and the actors are more than up to the task in presenting a certain level of authenticity.
ii – The “Suhaag-Raat” scene was a great and undeniable highlight of the episode. The venomous threats of Aswad to the low key lighting surrounding Mehreen’s path into the Abyss was tense and unsettling. In scenes like these, we get to see the production team of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay try visually something different and atmospheric. Like the prison scenes before, it is always admirable when the show tries to indulge into the inner psyche of our main protagonist.
+ Low Points
i – The show seems really lost at times as to how it wants to progress its storyline. And by that, I mean that the characters just start acting illogically in order to create drama between them. How was Aswad (in a span of half an episode) convincing his mother and Mehreen that he genuinely wants to marry Mehreen? Everyone and their Naanis knew what Aswad’s intentions are, how suspicious he has been of Mehreen since Mashal passed away, how could they be so conveniently convinced of all this? And the word “convenient” is probably what the viewers will take out of this. The story needed to progress so the characters started acting according to the script and not according to their individual intelligence and characterizations. Of all the shows that I have watched of Umera Ahmed (as a writer), this is by far the weakest of them all.
ii – Saffan also ended up being a disappointment in this episode. His motivations seemed not truly aligned to what we witnessed in the previous episodes and gave up way too easily on Mehreen. I realise that he will be back in the later episodes but once again, it just felt that Umera’s script required Aswad and Mehreen to get married and by God, they will get married! Logic be damned.
iii – Is Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay is a murder mystery? Or is it now reverting back to “Saas/ Bahu” drama? Inevitably this whole incident will be revisited again in the near future but for now, Aswad married Mehreen on a false pretense, threatened her that he will keep her caged inside the house and make her life a living hell and then… left for the US??? I don’t understand how this all makes sense but I wouldn’t make my judgement till the next episode.
iv – I absolutely despise when Pakistani dramas depict the West inside a “small room”. Apparently this is the US. A colored wall. That’s what makes it different from Pakistan. I understand that they cannot actually fly to the US just for these few scenes but atleast present it in such a way that its convincing. Perhaps a certain way the house is designed or furniture which is distinctively found only in North America. As of now, such scenes really take the viewers out of the show as it is obviously pretending a bit too much.
+ Overall
Not a bad episode but the storyline has now become too convoluted and illogical just so the writer can force some tension into the storyline.
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