Sumaira Hameed- Carl v Dabeesa Race- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi

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Woh Khawab Woh Khayal (Sidra Abbas)- Review by Shoby

Woh Khawab Woh Khayal (Sidra Abbas)- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Women Empowerment is the voice of this century. We have seen some great women in the history who have stood up firm against the tyranny faced by either themselves or other women in this male dominated society. Same is depicted in different art forms and almost every domain of art has done its part in this regard. Sidra Abbas took the same subject matter and gave us her take in this mystery titled as Woh Khawab Woh Khayal in TMS Darr Matt.

Let me tell you that regardless of being relatively new in the business, Sidra is a very authentic writer and her command on portraying social taboos is amazing. I have been a fan of her story Dhool, for which she won a position in TMS Season One. So, it was quite obvious for me that whatever she will write, she will surely highlight some serious social issues and WKWK is the picture of my words.

WKWK is a beautiful blend of two stories with the primary focus on the little developing love story between a young college going boy with a lady in her mid 30s (a love story with different religious backgrounds too) and another story which makes the ultimate background climax of the story of a courageous woman, who tried to fight for her right but ended up being abused in the society both morally and physically. You know what, the fear emerges from where the tyranny ends and here the writer produced the same.

Although the premises of the story seems to be a tested & tried formula but Sidra has done well to mark her own stamp onto the story. She is a keen observer and what I like about her writing is her dialect which goes smoothly well with the aura of the story. She used the environment of ancient Aligarh in this story and used two different languages. One being pure Aligarh style Hindi dialect of Urdu and second, native language of the locals with a bit hard & stretched accent. The backbone of this story is the amazing use of old song's lyrics and Ghazals amalgamated well with some dance.

The writer has a habit of using some real eye catching lines after every now & then. See how beautifully she portrays the feelings. Kabhi kabhi main sochti hoon ke is puri dharti mein aik ramz hai, aik taal hai...Raat mein aisa kiya hai... Raat mein khushi hai, jashan hai, milan hai...Woh sangeet ki malka thi... Jab gaati to jatey musafir ruk ker sunney lagtey... Jab naachti to waqt ki dharkan bhi saakin ho jati... Woh kala ka fakhar thi...

In order to gel in with the theme of the competition, writer used some amazing chill creating scenes where a woman is shown dancing in nights. The mystery enhances with the supremely graceful lady sings or listens to some of the great old compositions with all the sorrow and sadness, depicted through her face. Dialogues are rich and give a feeling of you being there right into the proceedings. Sidra was never in a hurry and she brought the penultimate climax with sheer ease and flexibility.

Let me also discuss some short comings in the story that the writer needs to work on. First of all, this story was placed in such an environment, where we have already seen multiple stories already. I would have been more happy if the writer would have taken some unique premises. I expect these writers to do some extra effort and come up with diverse unexplored ideas. Secondly. apart from a couple of scenes, no serious fear factors were present in the plot and it looked more like a social drama than a horror mystery. But still,m this story is a winner in its own domain and it remains with the reader for her larger than life scenes and classical dance and musical background.

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Jo Tu Chahey To (Zohra Khalid)- Review by Shoby

Jo Tu Chahey To (Zohra Khalid)- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Vanessa: Let it end. With a kiss.

Ethan: With a kiss. With love.

Vanessa: With love.

(Penny Dreadful)

Horror, mystery, suspense and thrillers are the genres, I love the most. I believe, trying any of these genres is as much difficult as writing comedy. Reason is quite visible, here, you have a vast land to explore but in the same time, you have a very less margin of getting diverted from your main pitch of ground. The intensity of the risk even more increases, when you are coping up with a psychological thriller and Zohra Khalid is a brave writer, who tried to write on this genre.

I read Zohra Khalid for the first time in The Master Storyteller (Season One) and to tell you honestly, her first story didn't impressed me much, even if I give her the margin of being a new comer. But as they say, hard work is the key to success, I have never seen someone more hardworking than Zohra and result is quite clear. From Muhabbaton Ke Jahan Mein to Jo Tu Chahey To, she has come a long way and I have witnessed immense improvement in her writing. Her thought process & brainstorming is a clear indication of how unique, she wants to write and this story JTCT has strengthened my belief that she is here to make her own mark in our literature.

JTCH deals with the complexity of human emotions and reactions of individuals on the actions of our so-called society. The more we try to hide ourselves from others by avoiding their miss-deeds, the more they try to influence us through their desperate and demotivating acts.

JTCH stands tall on depicting two major phenomenon. One, how a couple especially the ladies of our society goes through both mentally & physically, when they are lacking something and secondly, how the overall society damages their integrity & abolishes their own confidence through their negative feedback. It is a simple say, if you cant solve anyone's problem, don't try to become the part of the problem, but alas, we, collectively, does not endorse the same. On the same page, Zohra very delicately presented a nice strong bond of the couple and their cooperation with each other, while going through a dark phase of their live. This is actually what relationships require, to be with each other, in every thick & thin.

Considering the theme of TMS Darr Matt competition, what excited me the most in JTCH, was Zohra's different game plan to go with. Believe me, this was one of the genres, I wanted participants to explore but unfortunately, no one paid attention on this shade of fear. Frank Herbert says, “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This psychological thriller was a nice compact tale of how you should overcome with the fear of uncertainty, in order to achieve the triumph. The nice little dream sequences in the story were a real winner and I just loved the way Zohra used English mono-liners. Lines like I don't live in darkness, The Darkness lives in me... All monsters are humans... I love the darkness in you... are penned beautifully and they really brought some chills in the plot.

They were more than effective in enhancing the overall flavor of the story. It was indeed a sigh of relief to see a young writer summing the whole thing up by using merely two main protagonists with a couple of supporting characters. Thankfully, she conveyed her message clearly without making any mess by using needless number of characters.

I would also like to mention a few shortcomings, that should be avoided in future by the writer in order to make her writings more powerful. No doubt, she is a keen observer and her research is visible in the plot, but she needs to focus more on dialogues structure building. It is a very bad habit of our new young lot of writers that they don't focus on grammatical & phonetic detailing. And the worst part is, they don't differentiate between narrative & dialogue writing. This is a matter of concern for Zohra as well. But I believe, she will improve in future. Considering it as the initial phase of her writing career, I must say, with a little more hard work & creative thinking, she can become a brilliant writer. You all should remember Paulo Coelho's famous saying, "Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure."

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Rah e Noor- Novel Review by Shoby

Rah e Noor- Novel Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Say, "O you who are Jews, if you claim that you are allies of Allah, excluding the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful."

(Sura Jummah- Ayat Number 6)

Whenever I recite this thought provoking Ayat e Mubarka from Sura Jummah, I always wonder what the #death has in it, that ALLAH PAK has categorically challenged Jews to wish for it, in case they think themselves as allies of ALLAH and truthful.

Now check this line from Rah e Noor. Zindagi ki mehraab per likhi tehreer ka pehla lafz maut hai. Maut jor hai, tor nahi. Yes, this is the universal truth. Death, in reality, is simply a transition process, which teleport you from one universe (read jahaan) to another. So, what it takes to wish for death. The equation is quite simple. You wish for death and when it comes to you, you will get to know the truth of everything. The truth of your belief system and deeds. If they are proved to be valid, you will be rewarded by ALLAH PAK, otherwise, believe me dears, we are the one on the losing side and this loss is forever and no one knows what the term FOREVER means.

Coming towards Rah e Noor, Sumaira Hameed has chosen another interesting topic and this time she has come up with a win-win story. Rah e Noor is the story of three characters, who are all set to commit suicide, after-all what the hell is left in this not-so-friendly world. But the story takes you to a never seen before journey, which concludes on a very motivating note. Obviously, I wont tell you the whole story, as I don't want to be spoiler. You should read it to know what happens afterwards.

I feel, when life deprives you of every thing that you love & care, you are left with three emotions. Anger, Hate and Regret. Anger makes you weak, hate stimulates you to seek revenge and regret leaves you with frustration. Now take this phenomenon, what would someone do if he is on the verge of seeking revenge but is weak from inside and has nothing but frustration in his pocket. The result would be a big zero. So, what should one do, when life bereaves you of every damn thing that you cherish. It is the make or break scenario. I believe, all these three feelings (i.e. anger, hate & regret) are energies. If someone channelize them and make the positive & productive use of these energies, he will comes out as a survivor, and he will emerge as a real life hero. This is what we call a success story and the world is full of these success stories, out of which this Rah e Noor is one amazing affair.

The novel begins in a signature Sumaira Hameed's style and it reminded me of the start of her earlier offerings, Jog Aas and Wali. The novel briskly changes the mood and a bit of sadness gathers around you, when you get to know that the protagonists have started their journey towards the ultimate end (i.e. death) but with the passage of time, you feel, it is not a noir written by Sumaira, rather, it is a slice of life, coming of age emotional roller coaster ride that evolves the characters very smartly.  I love the way how Sumaira changes gears from a mental hospital to Khewra mine and from full of life Pehelwan-land in Gujranwala to serene, calm & composed environment of land of Sufis, Multan and the story concludes in sub-urbs of lively Chakwal.

To tell you honestly, there are few movies & books, that you never want to be ended. You enjoy the proceedings so purely that you just want to continue the journey and never wish its ending to be happen in a near soon. To me, I place Imtiaz Ali's Highway, Sir Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani, ABC's TV Series Once Upon A Time, Showtime's TV Series Penny Dreadful and Ritupuarno Ghosh's Raincoat in this category. Yes, Rah e Noor, without any exaggeration, successfully manages its secured position in the same genre. This road trip tale is one, that I never want to be ended.

Being a poet, I believe, the most difficult thing is to sum up all you want to say in few words. Those poets are considered as greats who have shown their command in writing couplets in Small Behars. Similarly, novels like Borshay, Main Bint e Jameela, Rab ul Bashar and now this Rah e Noor can easily be converted into mega novels with more than one episodes but hats off to Sumaira by summarizing the whole story in only few pages and that too without compromising on the quality.

One unique thing that Sumaira has explored in this novel is the romance with the figure three (3). If you watch it closely, you will see the repetition of figure three (3) in many places in the novel. Check this, it is a story of three characters Haadi, Talal, Ibrahim (which basically is further originated from their three distinctive stories). Then comes, three (3) parts (pehar) of night. When they come out from the mine, they get to see three (3) Roshni... Zindagi ki Saans ki alamat, Bachey... Aik naya jahan abad honey ki alamat, Aasman... ALLAH PAK ki behisaab Rehmat ki Alamat. A small boy outside mine gives them three products, Shaheen, Safaid Phool, Khanjar. Three (3) moves (dao) of life. Pehla dao... Iman... ALLAH PAK ki adalat mein muqadma, Doosra... Sabar, Teesra... Raza... ALLAH PAK ki Raza pe Raazi. And last but not the least, Pehla Chakar... ALLAH PAK ne zindagi ko pasand kiya, Doosra Chakar... Zameen kahin nakhlistan hai kahin sehra... Insan ki zindagi, Teesra Chakar... Her shey her amal ki qaza hai... Zindagi ki nahi...

Talking about Sumaira's another strenght, the dialogue writing, here once again, she shines with the glory. See, how beautifully she uses the sweet Punjabi dilect, Ik Maan Meri O Piyari... Is Maa naal meri yaari.. Mera dil tey meri hayati... Main maa tu jind wari. It reminded me of the Gulzar sb's symbolical approach, when read Sumaira's words in the Para Gliding scene, Acha to uper se zameen aisi dikhai deti hai... Pehley maloom hota to woh safaid badlon mein aik ghar bana leta... Ghar ki khirkiyan khol ker roz aisa nazara kerta... The one statement that stunned me, Insan ke jism mein itni taqat hai to rooh mein kitni ho gi??? Kiyo ke Rooh jism se afzal hai... And this one has written Sumaira Hameed all over it, putting negative-positive in one phenomenon under same situation, Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan achi lagney lagi thi... Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan zehar lagney lagi thi... And this beautiful food for thought Kabhi dawa mein shifa hui hai??? Yeh to ikhtyar waley ke kamaal ka kamaal hai...

It is a fortay of Sumaira that she keenly observes the environment and minute details of her subject matter, due to which her writings stand out from the rest. The way she has used the native language of pehalwaans in Gujranwala is amazing. From their Kushtis and counting style, to the statement,  Zindagi jeetney ke liye 360 dao aney chahiye... Warna sirf Aik (1)... Insan ko jeena ana chahiye... Mar to sab ne jana hi hai, she was all pitch perfect.

Overall, This novel is an epic road trip tale, that acts as an amazing motivation, that makes you count what we have, instead of what we have not. It has a message written loud & clear on it, Live the life, as it is the best blessing of ALLAH PAK. Don't take it for-granted.

Jab aap mout ki taraf safar shuru ker rahey hotey hain magar zindagi aap baahen khol ke aap ka istaqbaal kerti hai...

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Tulip (Sumaira Hameed)... Review by Shoby

Tulip (Sumaira Hameed)... Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

It is always a breather to read Ms. Sumaira Hameed. Do you know why? Because you are 110% sure for at least one thing that if it is a Sumaira Hameed's written piece, it must be unique. Be it the title, topic, subject matter, characterisation or narrative. So, here we are reading Tulip. And the freshness in the air is already focusing on the fact that Thanks GOD, Sumaira has returned to a genre, we don't read regularly in Urdu literature, especially when it comes to our today's digest writing. Welcome back Sumaira to the genre of fantasy.

Tulip is a light sit-com fantasy, which is hereto leave a strong impact that grand phenomenon can be expressed through some very light moments. Sometimes, you don't need to go through some deep philosophical stuff to make a point. You just need to stay calm, focus on your vision and use simple observation and the rest of the magic will be done by your aesthetic sense. And this is what Sumaria has done marvellously, this time. Looks like she was indeed clear about her primary objective and knew exactly where & how the story needs to be narrated.

Aleeza (a combo of Amraha & Veera) is a mean girl. (Please don't tell her that I have used the "M" word for her) and luck crosses her path with Abubaker. Abubaker, a mute handicap special person, who still have some dreams to achieve. STOP... After reading the words, MUTE, HANDICAP and blah blah, don't you ever wonder that Tulip is a tear jerking story of a man, on a deathbed. No, in fact, Sumaira has made this tale a very entertaining affair.

Remember The Fault In Our Stars. Such a gloomy premise but see, how John Green literally changed the atmosphere. He wrote a suspended sit-com romance and not for even a minute second, we realised that we are reading a story of two teenagers who are just about to die. This is what Ms. Sumaira has done here. Although, in Tulip, Aleeza was 100% fine (talking strictly about physical conditions and NOT at all discussing her mental condition) but Abubaker on the other hand was not good (both, physically & emotionally).

Oh, how could I forget the most pertinent character of the story. Tulip. An ordinary looking piece of paper but not at all ordinary, when it comes to sprinkle magic. It has the tendency to express what a mute person wants to say. Well, we have seen this sort of characters earlier in western fairy tales and I cant recall any such experiment in Pakistani literature. I remember Mr. Aleem ul Haq's fantasy novel Hazaron Khuahishen Aisi, where he tried the idea of the genie and fine tuned it, according to our culture but even then, he didn't used anything like talking or expressing paper.

So, how this Tulip played the role of a matchmaker is an interesting thing to be read in the novel. Going with my style, I am not producing a spoiler here so don't expect the complete story in my review. But just in order to give you a hint of what actually happened in Tulip, let me tell you that Aleeza & Abubaker, unintentionally & unwillingly came together at one page (read Tulip) and slowly & steadily both of them found a place NOT in their hearts but only in their lives. Love is not, what is always cooked between a girl & a boy. Or bhi dukh hain zamaney mein mohabbat ke siwa... :-)

This time, I once again enjoyed the dialogues and all of them were having a visible stamp of Sumaira Hameed's, all over them. Now, this style is my very favourite. Being a poet, I literally love when Sumaira creates a soothing lyrical line: Woh jazbati tor per achi tarha se blackmail ker letey they... Woh jazbati tor per puri tarha se blackmail nahi hona chahti thi... Sumaira has this beautiful habit of producing these sort of sentences in her writings, where she comparatively analyse two characters, take one expression & use this expression in two different ways, like two opposite side of the picture. You can find numerous examples of this writing technique in Us darr Ka Jogi, Yaaram, Borshay and others.

Although this novel is written in a very light mode, Sumaira still did not hesitate in delivering some very important social messages. Jin logon ki her khuawish pouri hoto hai, woh bht badnaseeb hotey hain... 

Khush naseeb to woh hai jo kahin na kahin se adhoora hai... Hum itney masroof ho chukey hain or humarey paas waqt ki itni kami ho chuki hai ke hum jo bol saktey hain unhain nahi sun saktey... jo bol hi nahi sakta, usey kaisey suney ge...

Without being preachy, Sumaira has been pretty much successful in giving some real lessons for life. She emphasised that no weakness is a weakness and no disability is a disability, if you dream big and if have the passion to make these big dreams come true. By looking at the visible condition of Abubaker, it is such a pleasant breather to see really cant realise that such a person still manages to have hopes and he really want to live a life full on, just on the basis of these hopes.

We see two different characters. One having almost all the facilities of living (at least) a normal (if not luxurious) life i.e. Aleeza, who is always complaining. On the contrary, we have a character Abubaker mute & handicap but still living a life, with all the hopes to rise & shine once again. Sumaira stresses on the fact that needs of even the poorest of all are fulfilled but desires (and that too if comes into luxury) can never be fulfilled even of an emperor.

Reason being quite simple. Just recall, Maslow's Needs Hierarchy. You accomplish one need & the next one arises instantly. Even if you become self actualised at one stage for a specific phenomenon, you still feel that you are still in the category of basic needs in some other aspect of life. This is the mantra of life. So, it is not wise to run before a mirage. Establish a solid SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic & timely) goal, focus on your path and just follow the passion.

Coming back towards Tulip, this sit-com is full of some excellent real mile producing incidents. Sumaira, very smartly, pitches some very entertaining one-liners right from the word go till the curtains, that ultimately made Tulip an excellent read.

Paper goonga tha, warna adha, warna "yaqeenan" sangdil

Ab woh diary kisi or ko piyari ho chuki hai... Meri mano to to usey us mariyal si larki ke paas rehney do... Is saal bohat record tor sardi parney wali hai... Woh larki darja hararat girney per uth jaey gi...

On the whole, I feel Tulip is a breeze of fresh air in this mess of a life. It is a brilliantly executed entertainer with some pertinent messages in the heart of the script with amazing comic moments.

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Sodaager (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Sodaager (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi

Young Allie: Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me, I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late.

Young Noah: I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year.

Young Allie: You wrote me?

Young Noah: Yes... it wasn't over, it still isn't over

The Notebook (2004)

Love stories... There is a very common recipe to follow in order to pen the good ones. Take three or four pivotal characters as your primary ingredient... Place them in a bowl full of hot waters of uninvited events... Use someone as bad as he could to spell the centuries old sentence like Main Yeh Shaadi Nahi Honey Du Ga... And after some hoo-la-la join the protagonists and show them like they were made actually meant to be made for each other... Happy Endings, what you call.

First thing first, I personally LOVE the love-stories for the warmth they bring forth but at the same time, I sort of HATE them for being so regular & cheesy in nature. But when it comes to a Sumaira Hameed's signature romance, it is mandatory for one to get excited, as this time around, you expect at least two things... Story surfacing in a very unusual ambiance and loads & loads of heavy duty dialogues. So lets see, what she has it for us in the form of her latest latest offering Sodaager.

Gul Sher, a rug seller by profession falls in love with Zartaash in the valley that is said to be the paradise (if it really exists in this very world, it is here)... Yes, Kashmir, The Beauty. Remember how Raj fell in love with Sakina when he saw her for the very first time in Sir Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic Saanwariya. The sad gloomy frightened look with an extra topping of teary eyes were more than enough for him to give away the only thing he was having till yet. Same goes for Gul Sher. Us ke kuch qeemti khazaney ji sandooqon se chura liye gaey they, woh un per ro rahi thi... Us ki aik ikloti qeemti cheez jo ab us ke seeney mein bhi mojood nahi rahi thi, woh us oer bhi khush ho raha tha...

Luck plays like no one else. You get something out of nothing just in case the luck is in your favor. And the fortune was obviously favoring Gul Sher with all the heart and he made use of his damn selling skills to woo Zartaash and no points in guessing that he emerged 110% successful. Nonetheless, it is assumed to be quite easy to attract someone by just comforting him/her in the time of need. But as expected the twist comes in the story, when Zartasha realizes that Gul Sher has taken the benefit out of her sensitive moments. So they both decide to part ways. Whats happens next is the story to be read in digest.

Yes, I agree that Sumaira has this time taken a very orthodox route to tell a simplistic romance of a young couple but I still like the way how she executed all this. The small expressions, she always use in her written material make the thing look special, no matter how ordinary is the subject matter. Some of the one-liners here are again to die for. Usey yaqeen ho gaya tha ke usey issi kaam ke liye peda kiya gaya hai... Ab tak jo us ne qaleen bechney ka kaam kiya tha, woh sab sirf khasarey ka sauda tha...

I said it once while reviewing Us Darr Ka Jogi and I am here to say it again that there are very few artists who can make you desire to fall in love and Sumaira Hameed is definitely one of them. See how sensitively she knits the threads of emotions by using delicate fabrics of words. Woh chahta tha ke us ke ansoo us ke romaal ki dastaras mein aa jaey... Phir woh us aik romaal ko sambhal ker rakh le or sari zindagi us romaal ke saharey guzaar de...

One thing that was beautifully projected by Sumaira Hameed in Sodaager was the psychological scheme of things that run along side with the sub-conscious part of humans. We desire to have something and once we get it, its like we regret why we have got it at the first place, due to various reasons. Secondly, the complex psychology of female creed. They are not considered to be wise in making life changing decisions. They are more emotional than practical and once they have made up their mind, they stand firm to their decision without thinking if it goes fair with them or not but eventually they have to regret upon what they have picked. Both of these things were apparently presented by Sumaira through the deeds of Gul Sher & Zartaash respectively. Both of them had to undergo a severe form of regret at the heart of the script.

Jis ke hona bhi ik azziyat ho

Us ke hijraan ka gham manaey kiyo

(Main Bekhayali Mein Sang Tere- Shahbaz Ali Naqvi)

The overall treatment to the story is graceful and the writer tried to curtail the jurisdiction of the emotions to the boundaries of the script, so no needless exaggeration was observed and this is perhaps the best thing of Sodaager. However, I have serious doubts against the ending. By going with what Sumaira Hameed is famous for, this time, unfortunately, the ending part didn't go well with my thinking. I feel happy endings are cliches and they should be avoided at all costs and Sumaira really avoids them mostly but this time, she came up with an ordinary break-up turning into make-up scenario. The probability of giving shock to her regular readers surely have been declined this time.

Well, a refreshing breather among all this was the beauty of paradise on Earth (i.e. Valley of Kashmir), which was constantly reminding me of Fitoor.

Pashmina dhaagon ke sang...

Koi aaj...Bbuney khawab...

Aisey kaisey...

Waadi mein goonjey kai...

Naey saaz... Yeh rabaab...

Aisey kaisey...

:-)

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The Master Storyteller Season 3- Terms & Conditions

The Master Storyteller Season 3

Terms & Conditions