Media Magick

One man two women; probably lots of complexities and hardships. Well, this seems to be the backdrop of latest drama serial Raqeeb Se that is directed by Kashif Nisar. Raqeeb Se is written by Bee Gul and loaded with heavy weight performers like Noman Ijaz, Sania Saeed, Salman Shahid and Iqra Aziz. The drama serial also marks the debut of veteran singer Hadiqa Kiani. The first episode of Raqeeb Se sets a domain where multiple characters are introduced with various shades and motives.

Trailer Raqeeb Se

When you watch the drama it feels like it is extracted from a novel-like plot or story where dialogues are a little too superfluous. The interaction between the husband and wife i.e. Noman Ijaz and Sania Saeed looks anything but natural and realistic. What kind of a woman would be so interested in letting her man go to his first love, either physically or emotionally?

The way Insha (Faryal Mahmood) refers her father with his first name is weird. Who does that? Plus, the scene where Insha recalls and shares her father’s love story in front of her love interest looks too bookish / novelish.

Raqeeb Se offers some good performances, after all, the cast is bankable. Hadiqa Kiani underplays her part quite well and reminds of Maira Wasti (to certain extent) from Boota From Tooba Tek Singh. Her efforts are earnest. Sania Saeed looks very graceful and delivers her lines well but the script is a little fluff for an actor of her calibre. Noman Ijaz displays his emotions aptly. The shock, care and astonishment that he depict through his eyes and body language are all worth a watch.

The scene stealer from the 1st episode of Raqeeb Se is hands down Iqra Aziz. The way she explodes in front of Noman Ijaz in the last 4 minutes of the episode is remarkable. Her character offers many shades; she’s shown curious, volatile, inquisitive and wrapped in multiple layers. Her character, Meera, somewhat reminds of her role from Raanjha Raanjha Kardi, probably because she played a girl from lower district in that play as well.

All in all, Raqeeb Se (airing on Hum TV) seems to have all the ingredients that TV audience will admire because it has a woman who is suffering from domestic violence, a woman who is very open in sharing her thoughts without using any filters and a man who is standing between his past and present. Besides all this, there are a few additional tracks of Meera and Insha that will possibly have their twists and turns. Let’s see what the drama unfolds in upcoming episodes.