Daily Times

If you are sick and tired of the current Pakistani drama serials, with the themes revolving around family politics only, or if you do not wish to see a setting confined to a bedroom only, with the wife sitting before the mirror and the husband reading a newspaper while lying on the bed, then you must go for drama serial Pehchaan, directed by Mehreen Jabbar and telecasted by Hum TV in the year 2006, comprising of thirteen episodes only.

Pehchaan happens to be a piece that is one of its own kind. Its cast, unique but classy, is a mixture of Pakistani and Indian American actors such as Sonia Rehman, Khalid Nizami, Rehan Sheikh, Nasreen Qureshi, Deepti Gupta, Sunny Sharif, Bittou Walia, Padma Khanna, Minha Warsi, Ritu Mishra and Ismael Bashay.

The beauty of the serial lies in its locations, at times the neat and clean streets of New York, with the characters attired in warm, wool clothes treading on them, and at times, small apartments giving an idea of how life works in New York.

Since the story revolves around Pakistani and Indian expatriates living abroad, a natural touch has been given to the drama serial by the characters’ conversations being a mixture of both Urdu and English, with the latter spoken in a way that is refined enough for the viewers to learn.

People who follow Mehreen Jabbar’s plays regularly must be aware of the thing that the director knows how to beautify a piece of work by accommodating scenes from nature, such as sunsets, pigeons flying, or the wind blowing the foliage.

The drama serial is made all the more interesting by the character of Rehan Sheikh, whose role is that of a radio jockey, and who when plays songs as a part of his role, makes the viewers relish them not only as a part of the story, but also as the background music of the drama serial. The songs are sweet and melodious, and those of Nazia Hassan, Amir Jamal, Atif Aslam and other modern singers.

The reason why Pehchaan is being recommended is because it is not a mundane piece of work, but is something offbeat. A novelty lies in its every aspect, be it its filming, its casting, its camera effects, its music or its locations. Besides, it also covers a number of themes such as the problems of adopted children, miseries of Pakistani women married to foreigners, the comparison of man’s treatment with woman between sub-continent and the West, and most importantly, it talks about people who lose their identity “Pehchaan” for others.

A fact regarding Pehchaan which cannot be evaded is that it is written by Azra Baber, the lady known for having written famous drama serials for Pakistan Television such as Zaibunnisa, Putli Ghar, Amma, Abba aur Ali etc. Pehchaan, however, is known to be her last play, after which she completely disappeared from the screen.

The blogger is a student of English Literature at Government College University, Lahore.