A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Fraud Episode 20 (2022). The new TV series is directed by Saqib Khan and written by Zanjabeel Asim. Fraud is a story of love, innocence and treachery as our protagonist is manipulated into marrying a forged personality. Fraud is an iDream Entertainment and ARY Digital Production.
+ Crew
- Directed by Saqib Khan
- Written by Zanjabeel Asim
- Produced by Abdullah Seja
- Production by iDream Entertainment
+ Note
Fraud is a case study of Pakistani families who always strive for betterment of their children. Obsession with wealth and power almost always ends up leading to unfavorable consequences. The director Saqib Khan is known for his numerous television projects and his upcoming cinematic film Ghabrana Nahi Hai (2022).
+ Main Cast
- Saba Qamar as Maya
- Ahsan Khan as Tabriaz
- Mikaal Zulfiqar as Shaan
- Rabia Kulsoom as Maila
- Adnan Samad Khan as Nael
- Mehmood Aslam as Nisar
+ Plot
Fraud is a story of Maya whose father wants her to marry into the richest family that he could find. But wealth does not equal character as she ends up marrying a wealthy man named Tabriaz who, through his trickery, makes life for Maya full of deceit and fraud.
+ High Points
i – What I appreciate about the past few episodes of Fraud is the amount of attention towards their main protagonist Maya (something that was severely lacking almost throughout the show). Forget Nael, Nisar or anyone else; Maya is the ultimate victim in the show. As viewers, we need to know what makes her tick, how does she recover from such huge setbacks in her private life. And it’s great to see Maya using her career to overcome her frustrations in life. She is investing in her passion and such female representation is so important (and shockingly missing) on Pakistani television. And it is also refreshing to see Maya standing up for herself when her parents (although meaning well for her) push her once again into hastily put together arranged marriages.
ii – Episode 20 had a lot of fantastic emotional moments, mainly the broken relationship between Nisar and his sister. Once again Mehmood Aslam is such a professional in these pivotal moments of the show. He knows so well how to handle the highs and lows of each scene without overstepping his boundaries from genuine to farce.
iii – Connecting to my previous point, the last scenes of the episode were emotionally hard to bear as Nisar outright refused to care for his sister’s well being. The sins of the son are being paid by the mother who has to carry the burden of guilt and remorse for the rest of her life. And as always, Nael is such a great, complex character who, without a doubt, deserves more screen time than most other characters in the show.
+ Low Points
i – I unfortunately feel that the whole subplot between Maya and Shaan is forced onto the script (which is ironic considering I praised it in my last review but this week, it definitely did not flow so well). If Maya and Shaan genuinely fell in love on their own due to their similar pasts, that really would have made a lot more sense to the overall plot of the show. But with this whole subplot of Shaan being incredibly (and quite exaggerated if you ask me) rude to Maya, prompting the mom to visit Maya’s parents in hand for her marriage… it all seems too forced and unnatural. Not every relationship needs to have drama to the max. Sometimes two people like each other, feel compatible and get married. The ultimate drama is already waiting for Maya when she finds out who she will be sharing the house with… (P.s: The character of Shaan is still the most annoying man-child I have ever witnessed on Pakistani television).
ii – It still is a bit puzzling to me why Shaan’s mother is dying to make Maya her daughter-in-law. Sure, she respects Maya’s work and would be able to maintain control over her once she is part of the family but… it still lacks conviction behind it. There are way too many girls in this world who could fill in the demands that Shaan’s mother has. All this does not make Maya any special because the mom is not in love with any of Maya’s character traits, just a body and mind she could have control over.
+ Overall
A good episode. All the emotional scenes worked and made the episode an entertaining watch.
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