#terebin

Its a Thursday night as I sit down to write this piece about the immensely popular Tere Bin - a drama which I probably would have passed up if it wasn't for the lead pair. I am not a fan of Siraj ul Haq's style of direction and had never heard of the writer before. However, the cast drew me in - and what has kept me coming back. I have to say though, the script also has quite a bit of jaan. On the surface its an enemies to lovers story - but do they both really hate each other? I think Meerab does but as we wait for Murtasim's backstory to unfold, I am actually of the opinion that Murtasim has admired Meerab for some time. To me he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be attracted to flakey girls so it makes sense that he admires her for who she is but is caught in this web of familial rights and wrongs. My theory ,then, is that the only reason he so vehemently refuses to marry her is because of this conversation in episode 2 and the knowledge that Meerab would never want to marry him and stay in this house she calls Qaid numa.

He uses very similar language when he tells Maa Begum that he will not marry her - meri qaid se bacha lein - and his refusal moving forward is very driven by Meerab's. He's got too much ego to accept a girl who doesn't want him

Now, lets talk about Meerab. If you've read enough romance novels, like me, you know what's going on here. She's bothered by Murtasim. He's everything she doesn't want to like and yet she's drawn to him - this both confuses and angers her when she is in his presence. Which brings us to THE scene - I speak of the slap followed by the fainting.

When this initially played out, I was enraged - rightfully so - even though I wanted to trust Yumna & Wahaj and their good sense. However, after this week's episode I'm going to forgive the slap and actually believe it may have served a purpose.

First, going back to the romance novels (I profess to reading too many), this is the point in the story where the heroine would have bothered the male protagonist so much that he would have kissed her "roughly" , without consent, and she would have given into it. Then, both would gone their separate ways but unable to forget what had transpired. Do you see the symbolism - he slaps her, she faints pliant in his arms.

Enter the revenge angle in Tere Bin. Seems now that the slap was deliberately out of character - the guilt of it is what is driving Murtasim's softer behaviour and driving him to acquiesce to Meerab's requests. It is also what legitimizes Meerab's vengeance towards Murtasim - else she really wouldn't have a leg to stand on when it came down to why she was making his life difficult along with the lives of everyone else in the house. He's clearly smitten.