In the year 1999, a production house by the name of Elysee Productions emerged. This house used to telecast its drama serials on Pakistan Television, the stories of which revolved around the problems of Pakistani immigrants living abroad, such as illiterate Pakistanis searching for jobs in foreign countries or simple, eastern girls married to traitors and sent lands away. Since the production house was new, it had to choose a veteran writer in order to give an auspicious start to its career. So, it went for Haseena Moin.
The first three drama serials of Elysee Productions were penned down by the matchless playwright Haseena Moin, the first two being Des Pardes and Ansoo, and the third one being The Castle: Aik Umeed. The third production, being the most unique of all, is still remembered owing to its amazing direction and beautiful, emotional dialogues, plus a different story line, quite visible from its title as well. It has been shot partly in Pakistan and partly in the outskirts of Scotland. In Scotland, its major location happens to be Wedderburn Castle, which is a luxurious castle of the country.
Every episode of the serial opens with the camera moving along the dark staircases of the castle and presenting names of the people included in its cast and crew, the writer as mentioned before being Haseena Moin, Zulfiqar Sheikh and Tasmina Sheikh being the director and producer of the play as well as the actors, accompanied by Talat Hussain, Samina Ahmad, Shakeel, Shagufta Ejaz, Bilal Ahmad, Humayun Saeed, Asma Anwar, Nayyar Ejaz and Rehan Sheikh.
When Talat Hussain’s son and daughter in law die in a car accident in Scotland, he invites his relatives from Pakistan so that his loneliness may abate. From Pakistan, Samina Ahmad, his ex-fiancé and her mentally retarded son, Rehan Sheikh arrive, accompanied by a hooligan of a slum, Humayun Saeed, his friend Bilal Ahmad, and a jolly, middle-aged man from a village, Nayyar Ejaz. Shakeel and his daughter, Tasmina Sheikh also join these people. Shagufta Ejaz plays the role of Talat Hussain’s lawyer already living in Scotland.
Aik Umeed is an Urdu language phrase meaning “a hope”. The question that arises is that how come the castle provides hope to the people. How it does so will be discussed now. Humayun Saeed, an illiterate and a poor man is often shown evincing signs of being a greedy man, for he off and on makes attempts of stealing things from the castle. But since he is a simpleton and not a wicked person, he is always sympathized. This poor guy is granted hope in a way that Talat Hussain bequeaths some of his property to him, and to Nayyar Ejaz as well. Samina Ahmad achieves hope in the way that her mentally incapable son is treated in Scotland, first by Shakeel, and after his death, under some other doctor’s supervision. Asma Anwar, betrayed by her fiancé from Pakistan gains hope through Bilal Ahmad, who turns out to be a person in love with the duped girl.
The castle, however, does not provide any hope to Shagufta Ejaz, who from the start of the play is shown a wicked and a greedy woman who is after Talat Hussain’s property but in order to hide her lust for wealth, covers it by the veil of untrue love for Talat Hussain. Owing to her wicked strategies, she is completely abandoned by Talat Hussain. In the last episode, she is found passing by the castle stating that the castle did not give anything to her.
Most of the people are not able to understand the story of this serial, and despite being big fans of the drama serial, are often found claiming that it does not have a specific theme. I believe it has. What is needed is to relate the title of the serial with the story, and everything will open up.
Those people who have an interest in classical Urdu drama serials must watch this play, and those who consider Haseena Moin their ideal owing to her blockbuster drama serials like Dhoop Kinare and Tanhaiyan must also not miss this masterpiece.
The writer is a student of English Literature at Government College University, Lahore.