Zulm is a new TV serial being aired on Hum TV every Monday. Written by Rehana Aftab and directed by Ilyass Kashmiri, the plot of the TV serial is simple yet layered with depth and profundity, while the storyline touches the viewers’ hearts.
Faisal Qureshi as Ijlaal and Sahar Hashmi as Eesha play the lead roles. Ijlaal and his sister Minaal are the offspring of an affluent family. Both are arrogant and unkind and exercise their influence on the economically disadvantaged people of society. They treat their domestic help worse than the treatment meted out to animals.
The serial takes an interesting twist when, on Minaal’s (Aamra Kazi) birthday, Usher (Ahmad Rafique) and Ijlaal brothers fall for Eesha.
Enter Raeed Alam as Eesha’s brother and Adeela Salim as Ijlaal’s first wife. Ijlaal treats his wife like a slave. He is married a second time to Hani Taha, and the relationship between the two is toxic. As Hani presents the request for a baby to Ijlaal, the latter insults her, saying he has an aversion to pregnant women because they look fat and ugly. The incident points to the shallow outlook of society, particularly of men.
Raeed Alam spoils his sister. As his mother, Saba Faisal tries to control Eesha and her burgeoning desires, but Raeed plays the loving brother and fulfills all her wishes with the swish of the magic wand. The TV serial is set in Karachi, which is a cosmopolitan city, and its society is highly competitive. There is a tussle going on between the haves and have-nots. Everyone is involved in a rat race.
Eesha becomes a victim of peer pressure. As she moves into high society, she forgets her morals and values and takes on the persona of a spoiled, unsaturated human being. Her demands are getting out of control, and she starts dreaming the impossible, i.e., to become a part of the elite society. Little does she know what the peril that she is putting herself into. Detached from reality, she lives in a fairytale world and believes herself as Cinderella whose prince charming will come and take her away from the poverty trap.
Meanwhile, the scene shifts to Ijlaal and Hani. Both are unfaithful to each other. As Ijlaal spots Hani with another man, his possessive side as a husband comes to the forefront. He yanks Hani by her hair, asking her for the truth. Hani justifies her sinful act by saying the man was her client. Here, the writer unfolds the story between Hani and Ijlaal. As Usher goes to drop Eesha off, he expresses his love for Eesha. He slips a ring onto her finger, saying it is a token of his love for her. In a word, Zulm is a promising TV serial highlighting society’s ills
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