Aba e Hayat Review Breaks All The Records...

Aba e Hayat Review Breaks All The Records...

Alhamdo LILLAH...

I am thrilled to announce that my Review on Umera Ahmed's latest Urdu novel Aab e Hayat has broken all previous records at my blog #Shobywood.

Within less than two days of its update at the blog, Aab e Hayat review managed to get more than 11 thousand views at the blog link. I cant thank you all enough for this appreciation.

Keep visiting shobywood.blogspot.com for more reviews on novels, books, music and movies...

Regards,
Shahbaz Ali Naqvi

Aab e Hayat Concludes- Novel Analysis by Shoby

Aab e Hayat Concludes- Novel Analysis by Shoby

Almost a decade ago, she gave Urdu digest readers a sheer treat in the form of her mega blockbuster novel Peer e Kaamil (saww). Not only the story line & dialogues of the same were appreciated by masses but the two protagonists Salaar Sikander & Immama Hashim became huge success. So much so that quite literally everyone who read Peer e Kaamil went crazy for the 150+ IQ containing mind boggling hero and that extremely powerful female character Immama. 

Apart from normal digest readers, Peer e Kaamil was so successful that it managed to gather the attention of non digest readers too. People from various walks of life who enjoy good reads gave it at least one chance to be read and that one reading was more than enough to instantly make it one of their all time favourites.

Let me tell you what was this much so special that made Peer e Kaamil almost everyone's favourite. First & foremost, the beautiful journeys of two distinct characters Immama & Salaar from the astray path to the righteous one. Umera Ahmed had an impressive strong hold over the story right through all the episodes. She never let the reader look anywhere else and made many of us almost glued to the imagery pictured by her through beautiful words.

Few years ago, she announced the sequel to Peer e Kaamil which was tentatively titled as Aab e Hayat and since the inception, it started getting real attention from all of those who have read the earlier instalment. It is safe to say that without any doubt, Aab e Hayat is till date the most anticipated, the most hyped & the most anxiously awaited Urdu digest novel. Now let us see, has Umera Ahmed been successful in giving us the same level of greatness in the part two.

First episode of Aab e Hayat enlightened us with the fact that Aab e Hayat is like a set of cards. So obviously one has to follow each & every move to reassemble the pieces of jigsaw puzzle. My previous tweets/ Facebook posts bears the witness that I was simply bowled over by the introductory episode.

"Sakoon Kahin nahi hai... Jo cheez dunya mein hain hi nahi, usey kiya dhoondna" gave me goosebumps in real literal terms and I geared myself up to witness something bigger, something greater than the part one. It obviously raised the bar of hopes more than hundred times.

To me, Aab e Hayat primarily dealt with next few episodes that Salaar & his family went through. The very first phenomenon that confronted Salaar and Immama was a bit harshness in their maternal life. Aab e Hayat moved forward from this part to the #Congo episode where Salaar helped a local leader to reveal the political gimmicks of global institutions who work in third world countries in the name of their development & betterment, however in real they gain their mean benefit out of the misery of these countries. When the Congo episode was over, we saw Salaar starting a new financial system to the world which is 100% free of interest and while he was planning & inaugurating the things, there came the biggest shock for him & the family as he was diagnosed with the rear form of brain cancer.

Amidst all this, we saw how Immama carried on with the domestic life with upbringing four children. Three being their own and one that was adopted after the tragic incident happened at the village where Salaar was doing some welfare work. Aab e Hayat also dealt with the personal lives of Jibreel, Anaya, Humain and the adopted one Raeesa.

Let me clarify one thing straight forward, Aab e Hayat is Umera's attempt to explore new dimensions in the lives of Sinkanders. Unfortunately somewhere in the middle, the novel lost the charm. Although Umera was writing it in her very own style but still that one X-factor was seemingly found missing from the writing. That plethora of characters somehow made mess of a thing in the epicentre of the story.

I got distracted from the proceedings somewhere in the middle while reading Aab e Hayat. However the urge to know what actually Umera Ahmed want to say this time compelled me to follow the journey of Aab e Hayat. No matter, Aab e Hayat disappointed me big rimes in its overall treatment, yet I can now safely make a point that Umera Ahmed was successful in managing to bring back the story to life in its concluding parts.

Peer e Kaamil was so vocal & loud as far as modification of belief systems are concerned. Aab e Hayat was humble, yet discussed the change in overall behavioural systems. One can simply not 110% agree or disagree with Umera Ahmed for the narrative part of the novel. So not being diplomatic, apart from few episodes, Aab e Hayat has turned out to be a mediocre writing if we compare it from its predecessor.

Aab e Hayat is curtains now, however one character of Humain Sikander will definitely be remembered by many of us for many aspects. I loved whenever he was shown talking & doing stuff in his very own manner. From his childhood till the time he was targeted to be murdered, each one of his move deserves an appreciation. 

Although Umera has clarified that the "Turrap ka Patta" is a symbolic representation of the ongoing challenges that man has to face all through his life, yet a normal reader needs a logical ending. Aab e Hayat has left several questions unanswered. What has happened to the future of Salaar-Humain's strategic partnership. Was Salaar successful in replacing the traditional banking finance system with  the newly introduced Islamic ysstem of financing through his entrepreneurial skills. What happened in the end is still a mystery... I summarise it by saying that Aab e Hayat, to me worked as a half-roasted delight...

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OF KIRAN RUBAB NAQVI... COMING SOON

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OF RENOWNED POETESS KIRAN RUBAB NAQVI… Coming Soon @ Shobywood

If I say that she has broken the barriers of being a typical female poetess of this era, it won’t be an exaggeration by any means... She is not new as far as the world of poetry is concerned. Having a solid background of great poets from Potohar region of Punjab, Pakistan which is truly blessed by ALLAH with amazing artists especially writers, believe it or not, it was very difficult (read impossible) for this young lady to make her own significant mark in the who’s who of literature. But she did it with great authority.

Kiran Rubab Naqvi is the writer of two back to back blockbuster poetry books tentatively titled as "Ik Sadi Darmeyan Aa Thehri" and "Rog Jo Thehra", who is currently enjoying a great fame & fan following on all over social media. And our very own blog #Shobywood is luckiest in the sense that although she is unable to spare few moments from her very busy domestic & professional life, she has finally agreed to provider us her consent for a very exclusive interview.

This one of its kind conversation will let you see Kiran Rubab Naqvi like never before... So all of her fans are invited for the chit-chat of the year... Stay tuned to Shobywood for updates regarding her upcoming interview... 

Meanwhile lets have a glance at some of her masterpieces... Happy #Waiting :-)

IBN ul QALAM (Sumera Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

IBN ul QALAM (Sumera Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Qalam (The Pen)... That very honourable thing to which ALLAH has sworn in Holy QURAN... Ibn e QALAM (The offspring of the pen)... Like every other title of Sumera Hameed's novels/ fictions, this one has yet again the very same tendency of binding the reader and make one think. So let me give you my take on it.

Qalam (pen) symbolically represents the wisdom, knowledge or education. To me, the term Ibn ul Qalam may refer to the by-product of your wisdom & knowledge. The phrase here may explain what your understanding & observation has finally made you in your totality. 

Here I want to quote few lines from an exceptional sermon given by the gate of the city of knowledge IMAM ALI (asws) regarding ILM (knowledge/ wisdom). I believe these lines beautifully elaborate the essence of knowledge and wisdom...He says,

ILM teen balisht hai. Pas jo pehli balisht tak pohancha woh mutakabir ho gaya or daawa kerney laga... Jo doosri balisht tak pohancha mutawaazeh ho gaya or apney ko zaleel samajhney laga... Or jo teesri balisht tak pohancha, faqr ikhteyar kiya or fanaa ho gaya or us ko is baat ka ilm hua ke woh kuch janta hi nahi... (Book Reference: Nehj ul Asaar, Page number 36)

The fiction written by Sumera Hameed Ibn e Qalam primarily revolves around two altogether distinct characters. Abn e Aziz, an almost blind author who has been travelling since most of his lifetime and his better-half Zainab Kulsoom, who has not only been a faithful wife but has also acted as a loyal servant all through Ibn e Aziz's journey. In the words of Sumera, ALLAH ki Reza ke baad usey apney shoher ki reza matloob thi...

Zainab Kulssom has been introduced as a keen observer & proofreader by the author as she highlights the depth of letter "Suaad" but Ibn e Aziz seems to be not much concerned with the handwriting, rather he is quite confident that whatever he has written, it simply stands out and no one else can write in the same manner...

Right from the very beginning, we have come across with two different mindsets. one being brutally proud of his knowledge & the other being exceptionally thankful to ALLAH for whatever she was blessed with.

And then one night. when Zainab woke up for offering Tahajjud, she found the box which used to contain the written scripture of Ibn e Aziz lost. She prayed and prayed rigorously that it may come back by some miracle but as it is said, miracles dont happen too often. So ultimately, the box was not found.

Zainab, being much faithful to her husband never wanted to put him in grief so she asked Abi Daood to help her as she needs the book at every cost. Abi Daood suggests her to write the original script by herself as she herself has also travelled with Ibn e Aziz all the places and has gathered all the knowledge & wisdom. After much hassle & thinking, she started writing the lost part of the book in nights, whereas Ibn e Aziz used to write in days and eventually her script got completed along with that of Ibn e Aziz and the complete draft of the book was sent for further procedure of publishing.

Now pause for a second. Just try to grasp the hidden meaning within it. Sumera beautifully managed to convey a delicate yet intriguing message. One who used to write the book in days was so much sure about the authenticity of his writing that he did not bothered to have a second look on it. He was actually considering it as a product of his very own skills, struggles & hard work. On the contrary, the other one was all thankful to ALLAH who helped her in the completion of the project. Pehley lafz se akhri lafz tak, us ne khud ko haqeer hi samjha... Raat ki tareeki, gosha nasheeni, qalam or ilhaam... Zainab ne khud ko ALLAH ke rubaroo paya.

While further steps of book completion took a bit of time, Ibn e Aziz became impatient and asked Zainab he want to ask for forgiveness in case he has done anything wrong with her. In reply, Zainab told him that she has fouled him by writing the lost part. Ibn e Aziz became furious over her as he thought she has destroyed his written scripture. He further accused her of burning the original script written by him as he thought she was jealous of his wisdom & knowledge.

She clarifies that she has written whatever she has learnt from the genius & greats while travelling all around the world with him. Sumera has gathered some very interesting pieces full of knowledge & wisdom, while discussing what was written by Zainab as a compensation to the lost part of Ibn e Aziz's book.

Ibn e Aziz was all pride, mere lafz mere aemaal ka saboot they ke main ne ALLAH ke liye safar ikhteyar kiya and Zainab was all #Belief, ALLAH ko to saboot ki zarurat hi nahi hoti Ibn e Aziz...

And then Sumera sums it all, Main ne is kitaab per tumhari izzat ke liye kaam kiya... Tum ne apney ruutbey ke liye ALLAH ki mkohabbat ko istemaal kiyo kiya???

Meanwhile door opened and Molana Altamish who was heading the cabinet for the completion of book entered and hands him over the final published draft of the book. To much of his surprise & jolt, the published book was all the material written by Zainab Kulssom, whereas the portion which was trashed by the proof readers was the part written by his own self.

This very simple tale of two major characters had very interesting & pertinent lessons in it. Its a sea of lessons to be learnt for every human being regardless of colour, language, religion or creed. I urge, do not take this written piece as a fiction. It is something very close to reality. Reality where we all live, where we lead our lives every damn day.

Its a universal truth that more you read & understand and more you travel, your wisdom & knowledge enhances and with the increase in wisdom you become more down to earth and thankful. But it pertains to only those who read in order to understand the nature and those who really want to get close to ALMIGHTY. On the other side, for those who learn only for personal gain & fame, get a big nothingness and zero in the grand finale. 

Namal (Nemrah Ahmed) Episode 28- Novel Review by Shoby

Namal (Nemrah Ahmed) Episode 28- Novel Review by Shoby

Its a centuries older saying that every picture has two sides, which ultimately means that no story of the world is perfect in its isolation.  Michael Paterniti said, “In the end, it wasn't so much that there was an alternative narrative--there always was--but it came down to belief: Which one did you want to believe. Which one suited you best? Or, perhaps more to the point: Which one told the story you were already telling yourself?” Almost same is the summary of what C Joybell C's lines which became the appetiser of Episode 28 tentatively titled as #Aquarium.

“For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love there is anger; for the wing of destiny there is fear; for the wing of pain there is healing; for the wing of hurt there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride there is humility; for the wing of giving there is taking; for the wing of tears there is joy; for the wing of rejection there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment there is grace; for the wing of honor there is shame; for the wing of letting go there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance. Two beautiful wings is perfection. There is a generation of people who idealize perfection as the existence of only one of these wings every time. But I see that a bird with one wing is imperfect. An angel with one wing is imperfect. A butterfly with one wing is dead. So this generation of people strive to always cut off the other wing in the hopes of embodying their ideal of perfection, and in doing so, have created a crippled race.”

Lets get back to the press conference where Sheru is revealing some hidden truths regarding Kardaars and their trade and his revelations has left almost everyone stunned. Concurrently, Zumer gets a fake call (read yet another damn fake #call).

Crops are getting ready to be harvested and here we have Hashim saying to Nosherwaan, Ab se tum sirf mere bhai ho... Dubara us building mein qadam na rakhna". It is (may be) the very first thing of this harvesting season.

"Main aap ki beti hoon ya hath'putli" by Aabdar is the second thing being harvested. Rifts are mandatory and being ruthless is the need of the hour and Nemrah is trying every right move to rearrange the pieces of jigsaw puzzle named as Namal. 

Third harvested crop is Ahmer The Con-Man who has just played probably the biggest trick of his life by contriving desi Evelyn (Jawahiraat) the self obsessed witch.

Haleema is summoned by the court as a witness and Hannibal is preparing her well enough to tackle Zumer's possible interrogations.

Well well well, Looks like Nemrah has seriously thought about my interpretation of Hashim Kardaar as Hannibal as she used the term #TheGrimReaper while Hashim is in the kitchen blending something (The scene very much familiar to those who have watched Hannibal series).

In the mean time, Aabdar goes to visit Hashim on his invitation and he reveals that Aabi's reality has been unfolded in front of him but he is no way going to give her any punishment for what she did. Instead he had a message for Aabi's friend Faris, Usey kehna ke woh apney khandaan ki auraton ki hifazat nahi ker sakta"... Felling chills in the backbone... And if this not enough, Ahmer has been kidnapped... ???

They say Saadi has the tendency to mould people's feelings in his favour by using his tendency of using extreme innocence through his conversation.  Lets see if this cheesy conversation between him & airport security operator Masood Aalam ends up deducing favourable results for him in court room.

Oh this lady is still in a mod to play a game. Aabi is tactfully asking for a mercy from Faris, "Or mera kiya, jisey aap ne is sab mein dhakail diya... "Agar aap mujh se shaadi ker le to woh mujhey nuqsaan nahi de sakey ga"... Yes, I am NOT shocked... This was already written in the books somewhere. Nevertheless as I said earlier, harvesting season is very much on at #Namal. However, reaction of Faris is quite predictable & understandable.

Why is she repeatedly saying, main marney nahi lagi and marney waley ki akhri khuahush sort of things... I am sure, this must be making the atmosphere suffocated for many of the readers (may be for all of us)... Do not go like this author... Please do not do what I am sensing, might to be happen...

See how Nemrah beautifully used the reference of fake kidnapping episode by Sheru in the court room to reveal something mighty. As Ahmer was missing since few days and in this anticipation Saadi visits him and comes to know that he has been house arrested by some kidnappers and in an attempt to evacuate him, he himself gets captured by the kidnappers. On another hand, Sherry tried to capture Faris but failed.

History is being recreated by Hashim but this time, one character is replaced. Aabdar is there to fill the gap of already deceased one. Hashim arranges a fake call to Zumer for dinner by Faris in the same old hotel. Zumer is trapped in the elevator by Hannibal.

Part one of Aquarium ends as Ahmer & Saadi are kidnapped in Ahmer's flat. Zumer is very much close to the death in the elevator turned human aquarium. And Faris Ghazi is in search of Zumer. Only two more instalments are left and we are this much close to the curtains. 

Unlike last couple of episodes, this one was more adventurous and pacey. Things are getting unfolded in a quick mode now. The best thing about this episode was its length. Thank you Nemrah for not making a mess of things by giving us a long tale and letting things work out in two different parts. I am still pretty much sure that Faris & Zumer are no way going to die at least in this time of birth. Saadi is the heart of the story, so he is also not in the list of those who can be gone easily. Believe it or not, Hashim would be remembered as one of the most stylish & cunning villains of all time in the world of Urdu literature and I really dont think, this character would be ended in a typical tit-for-tat situation. Then who is left to be gone... Answer of this trillion dollar question is hiding beneath the upcoming episodes. Meanwhile, fingers are crossed. Happy waiting guys... :-)

Piyal Saaz (Aymal Raza) Concludes... Novel Review by Shoby

Piyal Saaz (Aymal Raza) Concludes... Novel Review by Shoby

Just where we were paused by the author, Boorhey darakht ke peechey do mohabbat kerney waley apni maa, apney baap ki zindagiyon ke hisab kitab ko niptatey niptatey apni mohabbat khatm kerney per aa gaey they, Aymal sets the right tone for the finale of the season. Baasil & Zimel are head to head now and lets see to which end, this calculus will lead to.

Every reader has a different tendency to perceive write ups. To me, Aymal is all about exceptional synonyms. She has that beautiful strength to exhibit things in an altogether different arena which makes it so easy yet appealing for the reader to grasp the on-goings. See how creatively she has correlated #NigaarKhana with #QudratKaKarkhana (the nature). Yeh chokhata aap ke banaey huey namooney ko hi dekh ker tayar kiya hai is simply marverlous. Hats off...

So Zimel heads back towards France and is standing right there at Seine river where she used to visit whenever she gets sad and back there in Pakistan, no one is there to miss her, to call her back except everyone.

Cold war is being fought between Basil & Nano on the account of Zimel and Yashaar is trying his level best to keep the things warm in the house. Nano is ready to sell Nigaar Khana. Baasil wants to shift to Karachi. Meanwhile Zimel returns to Pakistan and regularly meets Nano, whereas Basil happens to catch them once but he did not responded in any way.

She entered the house 28 years back without permission and remained there to repent for whatever wrong was done by her intentionally & unintentionally and now she left the house once again without permission even without notifying anyone. But this time she has a pertinent job  to do. Nano leaves the house to live with Zimel as the blood of Zeyaan Alam asks her to save from being Zeyaan or Nigaar.

While they were returning to France, Basil, Yashaar & yes Nigaar came out of the home in their search and persuades them to go back home in an emotionally enriched high voltage drama scene and then it was a very happy ending where bride & groom lives happily ever after.

It all started with some stunning visually enriched phrases. An old entity asking the EVER ETERNAL to complete the justice. She was all prayers and unlike her perception, her prayers were not unheard. Someone up above the sky was all set to do the eternal justice and at the end justice was done. Evils got the punishments they deserved and goods discovered heaven on Earth. 

There was nothing new in this tale of Piyal Saaz as far as underneath story is concerned but what compelled me to read it was the diverse treatment by the author. Aymal used some real novel approaches to depict the on-goings. To me, best part of the story was the scene featuring Nigaar & the three beasts. Aymal never let the delicacy of words go down while containing the grip in the darkness of the tale. Short romance between Basil & Zimel was charming especially that garden scene was a perfect depiction of the love.

Aymal has done an extensive research on the art of carving & this one is quite obvious from multiple scenes. She literally deserves a big round of applause in this regard.

I am still unsure about how to react for the finale of the story. I am delighted in the way that the story which was all about dark pasts & cruel presents with unpredictable futures had to have this sort of nice, feel-happy sort of climax but I still feel its a bit melodramatic how the whole proceedings were compiled at last. Nevertheless, Piyaal Saaz is a very good read and I am excited to read more from this very talented writer.

PS: Even after Piyal Saaz, my fav from Aymal Raza is Taveez e Hubb... :-)