Aab e Hayat (Episode 15)- Review by Shoby

Aab e Hayat (Episode 15)- Review by Shoby

Episode 15 of Aab e Hayat revolves around the biggest tragedy that Salaar & his family are going through and rightly so. You will find lots of emotional scenes & dialogues in it with bereaved moments.

It takes off with a lengthy scene of the dramatic revealing of Salaar's illness in front of Sikander Usman (Salaar's father) and Amama. Just before the big secret reveals, Umera Ahmed prepares the readers with a light moment where Hameen generously gives all the toys of Anaya, Raeesa & Jibreel to charity in the school citing the reason "Charity is not a sin". Just to set the records straight, Hameen's talks now a days mostly revolves around whether a particular phenomenon belongs to the definition of sin or not.  

Sikander Usman gets to know about the illness of Salaar through one of his contacts and he tries to contact Salaar who doesn't find the bravery to face his father at the high moment. Sikander unknowingly tells Amama about this and as expected she gets shock. (I believe "shock" is not a right word for her emotional outburst. She was literally jolted by this news). Umera's words are like the perfect representation of the situation, "Wahan Pichtawa tha, Yahan Be'yaqeeni".

Upon asking why he always make him get worried, Salaar responds to his father saying, "Is baar to main ne kuch nahi kiya papa". Absolute stunner of a sentence, where Umera has beautifully depicted one hell of a torture Salaar has been going through. 

Amama cries in front of Salaar and her pain & hopelessness is pretty much evident when she asks, "Salaar! Tum theek ho jao ge na"??? Pain, mental suffering, distress & hopelessness was visible in this pseudo-hope containing sentence.

On another note, Salaar's illness is badly effecting his dream project of "an independent global Islamic banking system". His prime investors are turning down the idea and leaving their organizing group which has caused almost 70% of decline in the initial capital. This further enhances Salaar's anxiousness & worries.

As Amama got news about the illness from Sikander on call, Hameen feels that dada is suffering from cancer and asks Jibreel about the same. Even thoough Jibreel tried his level best by asking him not to disclose the secret, he eventually tells it to Raeesa (Chunni) who in response utters "WOW". Hameen almost scolds her for her apparently unexpected response and say, "Tumhain kehna chahiye tha Oh My GOD..." Yes, this is Hameen for you and one & only Hameen could have said it.

Umera Ahmed never looks preachy when she delivers yet another important message. Food for thought given in this episode lies in the monologue, "Hum woh sarey kaam pehley kar lena chahtey hain, jo humarey nafs ko pasand hain. Woh sarey kaam zindagi ke akhri hissey ke liye chor ker rakh detey hain, jo ALLAH ko pasand hain". Lots of lessons to be learnt here. Well done Umera.

Amama & Jibreel gets a bit of time while packing where Jibreel delivers an excellent response when he says "Hope" is the thing that he love the most in QURAN PAK".

At the end of the episode, Salaar gets to know that Jibreel is aware of his illness and when he sees his 9 odd year child crying he instantly decides to go for the first surgery. Family always comes first and Salaar takes a right decision here.

This episode did not took the proceedings much further & lacks the pace, however it is understood as such an episode was necessary in the plot where Salaar's family particularly Amama's reaction was presented in front of us. I am not worried that not much developments were made in the story as far as this particular episode is concerned. However I am feeling next couple of episodes will also focus on Salaar's illness & probably his treatment.

Here I am signing off with get well soon wishes for Salaar & a humble request to Ms. Umera Ahmed. Dear Ms. Umera Your fans still feel gloomy & sad when they recall the ending of your epics like Amar Bail & Mann o Salwa, So one request, please this time, save the protagonist.