A review on Pakistani Drama Serial, ‘Takkabur’ (2015). The Production House is Six Sigma Plus while its Distributor is A Plus TV.
+ Crew
- Directed by Ahsan Talish
- Written by Shahzad Javed
- Music by Waqar Ali
+ Note
Takkabur aired on A-Plus Entertainment from 23rd July 2015. It consists of total 26 episodes. Though it is not mentioned but this drama is for ‘Targeted Audience’ only.
Its executive producer is Sadia Jabbar and the Opening song ‘Kahe Ko Byaahe Bides’ is sung by Abida Hussain.
The drama serial focuses on the conflict between greed over love in the relationships. This drama serial’s concept is HEAVILY INFLUENCED by the classic film of Stanley Kubrick ‘Barry Lyndon’. Rather than having a MALE protagonist, we have a female. ‘Takkabur’ writers would be almost sure that ‘No one especially in Pakistan, people would have watched a film like ‘Barry Lyndon’ as that film is based in the times of Victorian era’.
+ Main Cast:
- Fatima Kunwar as Mehru
- Aly Khan as Kabeer
- Firdous Jamal as Hakeem Sahib
- Sajid Shah as Sabghat
- Shaheen Khan as Amma
- Humaira Zahid as Mubeena
- Hasan Farid Khan as Abdullah
xxxxxxx
+ Supportive Cast:
- Fazal Hussain as Maaro
- Kaif Ghaznavi as Farisa
- Maryam Ansari as Masooma
- Asim Mehmood as Zarak
- Salman Saeed as Asad
- Rahma Saleem as Sweety
- Zainab Qayuum as Shabana
+ Plot
A lower middle-class family of old parents, is suffering with heavy debts and fears that one day creditors would take away their shop too. Being in constant stress, Hakeem sb consistently rejects all the marriage proposals his daughter. One day a respectable, wealthy person sends a marriage proposal to Mehru.
+ High Points:
i – In one of the lead roles, we have fame Aly Khan. It was the only reason why I chose to watch ‘Takkabur’.
ii – I was surprised to see that some of the shots were taken in ‘High’ & ‘Low’ angles to indicate character’s power shift.
iii – The international famous film child star Fazal Hussain of Pakistani film ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ played the role of Maaro in this TV drama. I have seen his work before. Here, he did a good a job as a comic relief character.
iv – Aly Khan’s acting is good as expected. All of his scenes are interesting to watch.
v – Performances by Zainab Qayuum, Sajid Shah and Firdous Jamal were mild.
+ Low Points:
i – The first scene of the first episode, gave a clear message where am I getting myself into… (Ugh) ULTIMATE EDITION of ‘Rhona Dhona’ (Cry & then you Cry again), even though you do not want to but you have to cry. As you would see, almost all of the characters are always CRYING! Koyi apni maa k Marne pr bhi itna nahi rotha, jitna ye log royay hai (No one have cried so much even at their mother’s funeral as these people did). They earned PhDs in crying so much. This TV drama new title should be ‘Takkabur: Ronay Ka Buffet’.
ii – I could not find this actress name who played the role of ‘Hakeem Sb’s Wife / Mehru’s mom’. But I would like to inform all of you that this actress cried in all of the 26 EPISODES! No episode ended without a tear in her eyes. Her name should be in Guinness Book of World Records.
iii – Just as soon as a very ‘Tragic’ scene ends, suddenly the very next scene is where forceful comic performance starts with cartoon-ish score. Ji.
iv – If an actor is to show that he is greedy, he would literally mention a word ‘Meh’ (I) or ‘Faida’ (Benefit) to openly tell the viewers that this is exactly my intend rather than make the audience understand on their own to what the actor’s activity / manner of speaking is indicating them towards to.
v – There were many plot holes where the writers did not even bother to fill the gaps. Such as we are told that Farisa’s husband is working abroad but not even once he was showed contacting his wife / family or working abroad. Viewers never see his face. The same thing happens with Kaber and his three daughters. Only the eldest daughter ‘Sweety’ is shown but never ever do we viewers see the faces or presence of his other two daughters.
vi – The wardrobe of the actors were badly handled. Most of the cast members, we see in same style clothing at any time, at any place. For example, if Sabghat wears two piece suit. Then we would see him in two piece suit even at his home, at hospital, at friend’s house etc. If Kabeer wears shalwar kameez, then he would only be seen in it. Not once he wears something different. Some of the smaller stars wore same colored clothes in much later episodes as well. Naturally during shooting, they must have shot those later episodes scenes in one day so that they don’t have to call the actors again and again. But my dear ‘Takkabur’ BTS team. Don’t you know that people are not stupid? They would easily recognize your flaws especially if they are that simple.
vii – It is the typical thinking of some people belonging to lower class that if a person belongs to upper class, then they must be spending their time late at night clubs / go to disco parties and drink alcohol. You complain, what is my problem? My friend, this is not creative writing. This is your typical thinking which bought you here. If you want to be good writer, then start doing in-depth research. Any lay person can write this crap, to what you wrote. Be creative, bring innovative ideas to differ yourself from common writers.
viii – We have a draw here between Humaira Zahid & Firdous Jamal on who shouts the most and with more volume. Here in Pakistan, there are some production houses who literally believe that ‘The more you SHOUT, the BETTER an actor you would become’. It is embarrassing yet true how some of these ‘Professional’ people misguide these actors and young talent.
ix – As for sir Firdous Jamal, (with due respect) l honestly believe that he is a great actor and I do really enjoy watching his performances. But here it is NOT his fault; this is how his character was written and how director wanted him to perform. Even in the Pakistani film of Shoaib Mansoor ‘Bol’, we have Hakeem sahib who shouts at top of his lungs. — Tell me, what is this? Why do we usually have Hakeem characters shouting unnecessarily and are mean to their wife & daughters? In the ‘Bol’ film, the character is almost (not exact) identical in personality.
x – At first I thought Maaro is the son of Hakeem sb. But later I confirmed it (although he lived much better than Hakeem Sb’s actual son) is actually their house servant. If anyone take a good look at his clothes, his behavior, the way he talks… no one would had guessed him as house servant. Whenever he is shown, his clothes are so new and of good quality, as if always wearing his ‘Eid’ clothes. High Class servant working in lower middle-class family.
xi – Such a lamest way to have a car accident of Kabeer that at first I thought he is joking to scare Mehru off, however BTS team used this lame shot as real ‘Serious’ accident. Bummer!
xii – The script, editing, cinematography… just average. It’s not something special that I would discuss it.
xiii – As far as the drama’s title song is concerned, not good AT ALL! Definitely NOT recommended to listen to. It may INFECT your ears. So be cautious!
xiv – The decision on whether Mehru should or should not marry took ages to show; around 4 – 5 episodes at least. It’s not like she was proposed by a very old age, ‘Grand Pa’ type man or have ‘Bad’ personality where so much issue was created over it. Anyways, it’s not my cup of tea to watch these ‘unnecessary crying & shouting mode’ drama.
+ Overall
If you have nothing else to do and want to kill time, then perhaps you may want to watch Takkabur.
Rate: 1.50 out of 5 stars
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