Four out of five Mann Mayal episodes would make sense if  I hadn’t seen episode 2 . I have been trying to understand Salahuddin’s attitude and it only makes sense if this whole true love nonsense is put to one side . Mannu is the one in love , truly ,deeply, madly as first love is . Its not a crush for her , its not an infatuation but that is about the level of feeling Salahuddin has for her . Sorry Mannu , Salahuddin is just not that into you .  Salahuddin may like Mannu , he may even feel really attracted to her but it really doesn’t go beyond anything superficial , which is why he is quite willing to negotiate her away to Mikaal . he happily discusses her adjusting to married life with Mikaal  and even his invite on the day of her mehendi/mayoon has the air of  a trip out with a special younger cousin or sister he wants to give a final treat to .

What I found particularly disturbing was the way he invited Mikaal over to convince him to accept Mannu . it was as if they were discussing a piece of furniture . Given Mikaal’s limited interaction with Mannu , his reaction made perfect sense, and of the two he came across as the most reasonable. Gohar Rasheed had very little screen time but still managed to make an impact . At this  point I feel sorry for his character , who is for some strange reason the last rishta left in the universe and so must be duped into marrying Mannu . there are scenes in the OST which hint that Mikaal may become a negative character , even abusive .Even if I didn’t have those background suggestions , there was something a little too smooth and a little too glib about the way Mikaal accepted Salahuddin’s explanations. We shall have to wait and see , but it was nice to see that at least  one person  was taking his role seriously .. Thank you Gohar Rasheed .

I really dont know what to think about Hamza’s performance. I am just not clever enough it seems . Darn, but where are the Quantum Physicists when you need them ?? This of course begs the question , why is it that complicated ? If Hamza was a bad actor as some suggest I really wouldn’t care but he isn’t, he is a good actor . . If any proof were needed just watch the last tumultuous scenes at Mannu’s house . While Salahuddin seemed to be in a soporific haze of , “nevermind -I lost the girl” for most of this and the last few episodes , he woke up in the final ten minutes . Pity the poor audience, who were jolted awake as Mannu’s father disdainfully accused Salahuddin of being a the worst sort of coward , unworthy of ever marrying his daughter. Its always a psychological boost when a character echoes exactly what the viewers have been thinking . Apparently that was Salahuddin’s wake up call , as he threw agonised looks of barely suppressed resentment at his father . Even then I wanted to shout , Salahuddin what is stopping you now ? just say it , just stop this whole circus now instead of blaming your father .  Well that wasn’t to be so Mannu’s fate is sealed . Hamza brought a lot of energy to last few scenes and  hopefully we will see more of that in later episodes ?

This week was a much faster episode and despite one of  the lead protagonist’s lack of interest still a good watch . Maya Ali has made leaps and bounds as an actress . this week she was simply brilliant  again . My favorite scenes had to be the stolen moments with Salahuddin , while the he looks on as an indulgent older brother humoring a love struck child , Maya played every moment with depth and sincerity ..I loved the beautiful cinematography in this episode which combined with Maya’s styling brought a wonderful dreamlike quality to her scenes with Salahuddin . This was a better episode than last week  but I wish the writer had given Salahuddin some dialogue , some blunt instrument to explain what is going on in that handsome head of his …

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