A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Sang-e-Mah Episode 16 (2022). The new TV series is directed by Saife Hassan and written by Mustafa Afridi. Sang-e-Mah is the spiritual continuation of the saga introduced in the Hum TV drama Sang-e-Mar Mar (2016). Sang-e-Mah is the acting debut of the famous Pakistani pop star Atif Aslam and the drama is a Momina Duraid Production.
+ Crew
- Directed by Saife Hassan
- Written by Mustafa Afridi
- Produced by Momina Duraid Productions
+ Note
The drama Sang-e-Mah serves as a spiritual sequel to the show Sang-e-Mar Mar (2016) with Noman Ejaz, Sania Saeed and many others returning to the same cast and crew. The drama deals with life in the Pakhtoon region of Pakistan and explores such hard hitting topics like forced marriages and integral family relationships. According to the director, Sang-e-Mah serves under similar themes as its predecessor, in a three part trilogy, ending it with the next planned show, Sang-e-Siyah.
+ Main Cast
- Atif Aslam as Hilmand Khan
- Nauman Ijaz as Haji Marjaan Khan
- Kubra Khan as Sheherzaad
- Hania Amir as Gul Meena
- Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz as Hikmat Khan
- Sania Saeed as Zarghuna
- Samiya Mumtaz as Zarsanga
- Omair Rana as Mastaan Singh
- Najiba Faiz as Harshaali Kaur
- Hassan Noman as Badam Gul
+ Plot
Sang-e-Mah is a story of a dysfunctional Pakhtoon family in the tribal regions of Pakistan where pride and honour mostly triumphs over empathy and forgiveness. The show deals with issues such as young love and opposing families who are engaged in a tribal battle with one another.
+ High Points
i – Arguably the strongest asset that Sang-e-Mah possesses is the powerful one on one interactions of its main cast and episode 16 were filled with such instances. The heartfelt dialogue between Marjaan Khan and Sherherzad brought a hint of the Khan sahib’s past that I frankly was not expecting but was great nonetheless. His fading childhood memory of a random act of kindness brought a lot of depth to Marjaan’s character and perhaps, we understand him and his motivations a bit better now. With good screenwriting, the viewer does not need to necessarily agree with the actions of the character but rather simply try to empathize with them.
ii – A rare scene that was shared between Hilmand and his mother was brilliantly realized and just made me realize why this show did not allow these two characters to interact more often. Since Atif Aslam is still an amateur actor, working with veterans of the television industry brings out the best in him and creates wonderful back and forth with one another. And the irony of all this is that Hilmand was unconscious throughout the entire scene and still was arguably the most compelling part of the episode!
iii – Visually, Sang-e-Mah has always been top notch in quality. The contrast of illuminated lighting accompanied by dark shadows brings so much atmosphere to the show. Props should go to the entire production crew for doing such a fantastic job each and every week.
+ Low Points
i – The first 10 minutes of the episode were some of the worst that this show has ever produced. The village elders and the entire Hilmand crew are some of the most useless side characters and they contribute nothing to the overall narrative of the show. They are all two dimensional caricatures of themselves and are involved in scenes which can be entirely skipped. Thankfully, once Marjaan and Zarsanga came into the picture, that’s when the episode really picked up.
ii – Even though the interactions between the colorful cast of characters were great, they did lack some form of sceneric variety to them. All of the scenes consisted of actors just sitting around and talking. This is something I have always complained about the show. To get some depth of realism, Sang-e-Mah needs to show its characters interacting more with their environment like walking in the fields, picking apples, cleaning the house or your study room, folding clothes… anything that could make the audience relate to the characters they are watching on tv.
+ Overall
Episode 16 was a treat to watch solely due to its well written exposition scenes.
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