Reminiscent of Noor Jahan starring Saba Hamid, Sara Aapi (the new play on GEO) stars Savera Nadeem in the titular role. She has three younger brothers whom she has raised single-handedly after the death of their parents. From the teasers, the play appears to be fairly predictable, harking back, as previously mentioned, to Noor Jahan, where the titular role is played by Saba Hamid, who has three sons.
Savera has single – handedly raised her three brothers while managing her father’s business; which due to her single-mindedness, perseverance and focus, has grown and flourished rapidly. She now owns three supermarkets, which are managed by her brothers, while she oversees the entire business. However, as she is more of a parent to her siblings, she makes all the decisions regarding their professional and personal lives and expects full compliance.
Burhan (Sami Khan), the eldest is portrayed as dutiful and extremely respectful; however, when his sister decides to arrange his marriage to Narmeen (Nimra Khan), the cat comes out of the bag. A year ago, he married his class fellow, Hania (Sidra Niazi), but to date, has not had the courage to divulge his secret marriage to his family.
As the pressure mounts, Burhan becomes increasingly worried and agitated. He visits Narmeen’s house with his siblings; however, both his brothers notice that something is terribly amiss. On being questioned, he admits that he got married a year ago. Although his brother’s initial reaction is one of shock, he assures him of his cooperation. When Savera learns the truth, she is devastated.
This is old wine packaged in a new bottle and has been seen umpteen times before. In Noor Jahan, it was the controlling mother, a widow who single-handedly built up a jewellery empire while raising her three sons, while in Sara Aapi, it is the elder sister who controls and manipulates her siblings and loses no opportunity to emotionally blackmail them. A definite case of déjà vu!
The pluses are the lavish sets and of course, a seasoned actress like Savera portraying the titular role. It is a big budget production and no expense has been spared. With a strong star cast and solid performances, it promises to set the TRPs ablaze.
The downsides include a rehashed and recycled script, which has proven to be a hit with the masses. A strong and seasoned performer like Savera has tremendous screen presence and is more than capable of carrying off a mega budget production single-handedly. As is obvious, the play revolves around her and how she navigates the complexities of her personal and professional life, while still managing to hold fort.
Although the industry is evolving, it is depressing to see that seasoned and mature actresses like Saba and Savera, still struggle to find meatier and more challenging roles that would do justice to their talent, range and versatility as performers. However, the upside is that off-beat plays like Aik Aur Pakeeza, Case No. 9, Pamaal and Muamma, show that there is still an audience for atypical and parallel television.
The OTT platforms have played a significant role in the sense that as content is required 24/7 and the competition is cut throat, our local television industry has been forced to up their ante in order to compete. As a result, unconventional scripts are being encouraged and experimented with, in the hope of offering something different and novel. With the amount of talent that we have in our television industry and the kind of fan following that our plays have garnered both nationally and internationally, the bar will only be raised with every successive production and hopefully in the future, we will see more hatke productions with meatier and stronger roles for our mature and seasoned female actresses.
Let’s hope this particular production will gain momentum and not take the tried and tested path. With Savera at the helm of affairs, there are definitely fireworks in the offing; let’s see how the story pans out. Will she eventually accept Burhan’s wife or will he be forced to marry Narmeen? What impact will this have on the household dynamics? Keep watching to see how the narrative progresses!
