Media Magick

Umera Ahmed and Mehreen Jabbar are known names in Pakistan; their dramas are widely liked by Pakistani female audience (mostly). The writer and director collaborated for a web series Ek Jhoothi Love Story that recently released on Zee 5. Ek Jhoothi Love Story features Bilal Abbas and Madiha Imam in lead characters. The series also features some versatile actors like Mohammad Ahmed, Beo Zafar, Hina Bayat, Mariam Saleem Nawaz, Kiran Haq and Furqan Qureshi etc. Zee 5 has released many web series lately and the audience has appreciated them. The trailer of Ek Jhoothi Love Story appeared to be a witty, rib-tickling and romantic tale of confusion; let’s see what exactly this 9 hours long series (with 18 episodes of 25 – 35 minutes each) has to offer to the viewers.

Trailer Ek Jhoothi Love Story

In simpler words, getting rid of all the sub-plots, Ek Jhoothi Love Story is about a guy Sohail (Bilal Abbas) who falls for a girl named Natalia on Facebook and creates a fake profile using his friend Nofil’s alias knowing completely that Natalia is way too rich and out of his reach and can only respond to Nofil’s friend request who happens to be a software engineer in Silicon Valley. Interestingly, Salma (Madiha Imam) sees Nofil in her neighborhood and knowing that he is out of her reach; she creates a fake idea of Natalia and sends him the friend request on Facebook. Sohail and Salma start chatting and at one point they share their feelings to one another. But deep down there they both know that it’s a façade that will soon be blown away. What happens next is what Ek Jhoothi Love Story is all about.

The plot of Ek Jhoothi Love Story is loaded with multiple sub-plots that run in parallel to the main story. The writer has integrated marital issues that women go through in Pakistani society and constantly questions the norms, practices and collective mindset of people. At times, it sounds a little too preachy and the lecture starts to become stretching and tasteless like a chewing gum. The way of addressing the issue is a little overpowering, if the same had been addressed effectively and smartly it would have created a better impact. Plus, the narration seems to lose the point at every step, if the supposedly victims of the society are shown facing the rejections; the same were rejecting others on similar or even worse grounds.

The overabundance of emphasis on idealism looked very forceful. Grown, well-educated and matured women are shown lost in search of finding their soulmates and ideals looked a little too unrealistic and novel like. Women are mostly the ones who don’t turn away their back on reality but in Ek Jhoothi Love Story, another angle of womens’ perception and personality is showcased.

The web series also depicts the hardships that men face in the society and how they take up the responsibilities both monetary and emotionally to help survive the relationships and families. The message is delivered with care and the right emotions. At places, men are shown more sensitive, mature and logical than women. The character of Tanzeel, Riaz and Salahuddin are written quite nicely and with elements of reality filled in them. In a web series that shares a social message directed towards women, characters of men in the series are well-penned with their dignity unharmed.

At places, Ek Jhoothi Love Story stresses more on looks, grandeur lifestyle, and dream catchers leaving the sensitive and emotional elements far behind. The romantic angle between the leads fails to create an emotional connection as it is more about places, lifestyle, the standard of living and comforts rather than romance and passion towards one another. The double standards are highlighted in almost every episode and shown in almost every character.

Beo Rana takes the major chunk of attention for her character that is humorous and well-written and earnestly performed. Mohammad Ahmed is a veteran and he is first rate in his character. Kiran Haq looks very confident and her scenes are powerful. She carries a complicated character throughout with a flare. Mariam Saleem Nawaz is very effective and her chemistry with Fawad Khan (Tanzeel) is cute. Fawad Khan is a powerhouse of talent, although his scenes are not much but he seems very promising and significant the part he plays.

Bilal Abbas and Madiha Imam both look great in their characters and both showcase realistic performances. Bilal and Madiha both excel in emotional and dramatic scenes.

Ek Jhoothi Love Story will probably be a very different web series for international or non-Pakistani audience because of its treatment, narration style and 3 ace-essential features in almost every other drama in Pakistan i.e. marital issues, women-empowerment and lower middle class dreams. The story of the web series feels like it has been taken directly a woman-centric digest. It offers very few twist and turns or highpoints that are considered as the significant essentials of any web series. Ek Jhoothi Love Story is a nice attempt but a little too lengthy with wit scattered all over it but misses the soul of the events that take place throughout.