The TV sector in Pakistan has improved a lot. Talented artistes toil day and night to deliver their best on-screen work to entertain audiences.
Recently, the serial ‘Jhooti’ created hype. The trailer showed Iqra Aziz as the victim of domestic abuse. However, what came next was unexpected as she laughed wickedly on how brilliantly she could act and lie about such a thing, revealing that the bruises were nothing but makeup.
Written by Ali Moeen and directed by Syed Ramish Rizvi, ‘Jhooti’ is about a young girl Nimra who is selfish and self-centred and dreams of having a luxurious lifestyle. At various points in the serial we witness Nimra saying things like, “Main paida ghareebon me hogai thi, marungi ghareeb nahi” and “main ek parchoon waley kay ghar paida hogai hu, ek parchoon waley ki gharwali nahi banungi”.
The protagonist Nimra belongs to a middle-class family and has the bad habit of lying in order to get whatever she wants. She deceives with such conviction that she never gets caught. Her father Akbar, played by Tauqeer Nasir, works as a shopkeeper and earns a decent living. He loves Nimra so much that he supports her all the way. However, Nimra disapproves of her father being a shopkeeper. She also looks down upon her family for their undesirable socio-economic background.
The story unfolds when Nasir, played by Ahmed Ali Butt, falls in love with Nimra and sends his marriage proposal. Nimra despises Nasir as she finds him creepy and also because he was also a shopkeeper. However, she ends up marrying him on her family’s pressure but she is sharp and cunning and knows what she wants. Her friend Samina, played by Iman Zaidi, advises her to make quick money through her husband’s property and money. Nimra then starts playing mind games with Nasir and his parents, Shaista Jabeen as Zubaida and Zahid Qureshi as Manzoor, alleging that her husband beats and tortures her on minor issues. All this drama is to get away from Nasir and then claim her alimony. While deceiving everyone, she meets a man named Ali (Yasir Hussain) and falls in love with him. Ali also confesses his love and soon they are planning to get married.
Though one can think that Nimra’s desire for money might be because of the middle-class life she was living but her blind pursuit of money could have either led her towards a psychological problem or her turning into an evil woman. The serial shows both. Some of her actions are just inexplicable like when she breaks a TV set that Nasir buys without any obvious reason. Her eldest sister-in-law Zubia (Madiha Rizvi) remains the target of Nimra’s constant lies and deceit, further proving her evil nature. While the second eldest brother Majid (Qasim Khan) is aware of Nimra’s nature and the whole family is sceptical, her father seems completely blind to her manipulations. Her thirst for money is so much that when Samina asks her what she would do with all the money, she very casually replies that first, she will collect all the money and then decide.
Iqra Aziz is famous for her ‘over-acting’. In ‘Suno Chanda’ Iqra always managed to over-act. She may seem getting deep into the character but at times it is simply unnecessary. Yasir Hussain is like a breath of fresh air. Ahmed Ali Butt also stays true to his role as a depressed love-struck man who has been deceived by his wife. Everyone in the serial is playing their part with conviction. Iqra’s character is hated by everyone, which is the main aim of the plot: she does need to work a little bit on her extra expressive nature.
‘Jhooti’ has drawn viewers’ attention because of the real-life couple Iqra and Yasir’s wedding and also because of domestic abuse being misused in the plot. ARY Digital should realise that the content might disturb many as domestic abuse is a serious issue in society that needs to be handled with care.
Iqra Aziz, Yasir Hussain and Ahmed Ali Butt were also criticized for taking up the script. However, the writer believes that the serial has a bigger point to drive home. It is a fact that a lot of women do consider a man’s salary before getting married but that is a mindset that needs to be done away with.
ARY Digital needs to up its game too as it seems that after the success of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’, they are into portraying women as home-wreckers.
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