#diyar-e-dil

I had made two posts earlier when I was done with three and then ten episodes of this show. Usually I watch finish Pak dramas pretty soon,’cos I bingewatch them like there’s no tomorrow. But I’m unnaturally slow with DeD. Maybe ‘cos its an ensemble show and there’s so much to the characters.

First and foremost, kudos to the dialogue writers, screenplay writer, whatever the makers for capturing the nuance of female characters so well. (Gul kuch seekh inse!). Ruhi, Anjumand, Farah, even Zohra and Zarminey, like each and every emotion is so crystal clear to the viewers, and the makers have a done a fabulous job of portraying the dilemmas and contradictions going on in the female characters’ minds. I have always maintained that female characters are infinitely more interesting then male characters, because just as in real life, men are simple, therefore male characters are also one-tone; its black or white or sometimes grey, but women are complex beings, hence female characters are also colorful. Unfortunately, the audience doesn’t understand this. I read some disappointing comments on YT which painted Ruhi with the broad brush as an ‘evil’ woman and Arjumand as the ‘good’ woman, showing that in our society, be it India or Pakistan, ‘firmabaddari’ or obedience is what defines how good a woman. Well, fuck you society, I’m so not buying this shit of an ‘obedient’ wife and bahu. 

Anyways, coming back to the plot, the last five episodes were epic. So much happening in just 5 episodes? Blessed! (esp. when I’m reminded the horror of FKFC’s fake wedding which stretched on for a month with nothing happening actually). The plot just took an absolute turn with Suhaib’s death.

The character transformation in Behroze was well, sad for me. The burden of guilt is crushing Behroze. His brother dying, Agha Jaan recovering from a heart attack, and mostly, the fact that Agha Jaan has been so welcoming and as in fact accepting his guilt in all this. My point however is that what could Behroze have done? He did come with Ruhi to patch up Agha Jaan long back, but Agha Jaan threw them out. So, I found his overwhelming guilt a bit putting off, though I understood it. Of course, then came episode 13 and Behroze just completely blew my mind, and not in a good way. Like I get it that you are feeling guilty, you want to fulfill your brother’s last wish, and you think you’ve less time on your hands; fine but nothing justifies marrying off your teenage daughter without even asking her wishes to a guy she doesn’t even know. Especially after how Agha Jaan had dictated Behroze years back on who he should marry. Matlab hadd hai! 

More than the fact that Behroze almost forcefully married off Farah to Wali, what angered me was his manner. Its easier to rebel against open tyranny, but the manner in which Behroze emotionally blackmailed Farah, without giving her opportunity to argue with him, is what pissed me off. It also made me realize that intrinsically Agha Jaan and Behroze have certain similarities (not just their pride and ego) which is why Behroze was Agha Jaan’s favorite son, and Wali always aspired to be Agha Jaan’s favorite.

Moving on to Ruhi, firstly I LOVE SANAM SAEED. I think DeD gave her opportunity to explore so much more as an actor. Like from the naive, loving young Ruhi to the present, grey Ruhi, Sanam has done a wonderful job. While some of Ruhi’s actions seem unreasonable, I could totally understand why she is behaving like this. The tiny scene in past, where Ruhi once woke up in the middle of the night to see Behroze gazing fondly at pictures of Agha Jaan and Suhaib, somewhere caused a deep seated insecurity in Ruhi’s psyche. That tiny memory is the trigger point of all her reactions years later. Behroze never shared his feelings with Ruhi, and she only has that one meeting with Agha Jaan as a reminder where he insulted her family. So, when she meets Behroze after a gap of 15 days and confronts him about his sudden change, I’m not surprised that she formed an even worse opinion of Agha Jaan.

That one scene where Behroze gives up cajoling and straight up orders Ruhi to meet Agha Jaan, as if she was his pet, that scene, oml, Ruhi’s face in that scene was something. The shock that she couldn’t reconcile the loving husband of 20 years with this tyrant standing before her (Sanam’s expression was so on point), was what set off Ruhi’s dislike full and final. From that point she totally started blaming Agha Jaan for everything and did not keep her rudeness in check. 

It was sorta predictable that Behroze was going to kick the bucket the way he kept insisting on Farah’s nikah and told Wali to bury him next to Suhaib, still I choked in that episode. Young Behroze is bae and I will always cherish him, so to see his character die was heartbreaking. I loved the scene where Ruhi is caressing his pillow and pleading that he has to come back, he can’t leave her because he’s angry. That scene was heartbreaking.

Behroze saying Ruhi failed him was harsh, and unwarranted. Ruhi did everything that a wife should, left her family, supported him, and they had a happy life together. She disagreed with him once in her life, and that was enough for Behroze to say that she failed him? Men! They just..disappoint me all the time. 

Ruhi wasn’t right in telling Farah to refuse the nikah to insult Behroze’s family, but here she thinking back to the time that Agha Jaan had insulted her family, so yeah it was irrational but I get where she comes from. However, she was absolutely right in telling Farah to refuse the nikah, because Farah was being coerced against his will. The way Ruhi said, “daro mat main tumhaare saath hoon”, it was exactly like how my mother would have done if I had been caught in a similar situation. My mum and I quarrel a lot, but when shit happens, my mum can fight the world for me, and Ruhi in that instant reminded me of my mother.

Coming to Farah, I love how Maya Ali portrays the vulnerability and confusion that Farah is going through. Her performance is top-notch. I wanted to reach inside my laptop screen and comfort Farah in the scenes where she is wailing in grief due to Behroze’s death. 

However, I’m not satisfied with Osaman’s portrayal of Wali. I dunno whether its Wali’s character which is emotionally restrained or whether its Osman’s acting, but he’s too stiff for me. Bhai, kuch toh expression dikhaao! He just looks constipated all the time. I’m more impressed with the actor portraying Muizz. I like Muizz. If not for the fact that I think Wali and Farah are endgame, I would be shipping Muizz with Farah.

Lastly, Ruhi and Arjumand are the most realistic and relatable characters for me in this universe. Arjumand’s introspection where she admits she hates Ruhi the most in the world is so understandable. Her difficulty in accepting Behroze and his family, especially Farah as her daughter-in-law, was done so well. Hareem Farooq has done a brilliant job here, and I wish I got to see more solo introspective scenes of Arjumand, rather than Wali’s constipated scenes. 

ZEE5 has now launched Diyar-e-Dil

Although it cannot be used in Pakistan due to the SBP directive, the Indian streamer is still running the 2015 serial number According to Express PK, in early November, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) instructed all banks to stop online payments on Indian streaming platforms. However, Zee5 continues to stream Pakistani content to its Indian and global audiences despite the interruption of bars…