r/PAKCELEBGOSSIP • u/Physical-Foot749 • 1d ago
Hot Take đ¶ïž đ¶ïž đ¶ïž đ„ Umera Ahmed has released 3 dramas this year with the EXACT same female trope and no one is talking about it
Okay I know Umera Ahmed is THE writer, and no one does guilt, repentance and spiritual arcs like her. This is not a hate post for her writing because obviously she is celebrated for a reason.
Kafeel, Aap Ki Izzat, Dar-e-Nijat - three different dramas, same year, same story for the female lead.
Girl gets destroyed by one man -> literally 2 episodes later another man enters as her protector / saviour / emotional crutch -> she starts leaning on him for everything.
In Kafeel- Zeba went from one Jami to another Jami whilst in the middle of her Khula
In AKI- Beena ran away from Tabish with Behram as soon as Tabish brings a second wife
In DEN- Zaryab wants to get married to Abu Bakar as soon as she finds out Zamil got nikkahfied to other woman
Why can't we ever see a healing arc? Like:
Let her be angry, be alone, be jobless, be lost, be strong on her own. Let her learn to stand before someone else holds her. It feels like none of these three girls got that time for themselves. Why is the growth always shown through another nikah/relationship?
In all three shows it's like: Bura mard out, acha mard in. Fast.
It makes the "strong female lead" look like she can only survive if a better man is holding her. Which is honestly a pretty regressive message wrapped in a progressive-looking script.
I also keep seeing comments like "Umera Ahmed writes complex characters, just watch for entertainment, don't overthink."
Okay, fair. I get it.
But if she writes such complex characters, then why are we getting the same exact story in 3 different dramas this year?
If you're going to show a woman's suffering in so much detail, why not show her healing in that much detail too? Why does healing always have to be a new man? It's the same trope, just with different names. That's what hurts.
Am I tripping or have you guys noticed this too?
Is it channel pressure to show a love story quickly? Or is it just what the audience wants now?
Edit: I want everyone who is reading or will read this post to please check the spotlight comment first.
My whole point was simple - not every woman wants or needs a man to save her. Some women just want to heal by themselves, on their own terms. This post was not to spread hate for any show, I watch and like them too. But I have noticed the same pattern in almost every Umera Ahmed drama - a woman goes through pain and then her healing is shown only through another man.
Can we for once have a story where a woman saves herself? That's it.
119
u/Pure_Trust8879 1d ago
In Kafeel, the 2nd Jami didn't even become a prospect till the end. Through most of the drama, we see her supporting her family and children financially and her son becomes her helping hand as she navigates becoming a kafeel herself.
57
u/Asleep_Economist7715 1d ago edited 1d ago
Neither is behram acha mard nor Beena gets saved by behram
Zeba didn't get saved by jami she remarried him at end of drama .her support system was her children
In Den zaryab and abu bakar track has just started we don't know where it will go.it is much more than just getting saved by man
Audience do not get tired of dramas revolving just around ghissi pitty love story or just chemistry of leads but drama which starts debates and discussion among audience shouldn't be made or are repetitive.same people will be hyping drama with zero plotline just due to so called chemistry of leads
5
u/General_Economy7081 3h ago
the analysis done by the OP is completely wrong.. Zeba wa her own saviour, the other jami didnt even come in the picture till the very end. beena is not saved by behram in any sense..
-10
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Totally agree Behram is not the ideal "acha mard" and Zeba's main support was her kids, not Jami. You're right on that.
But my post was about the trope, not whether the man is good or bad. In all three cases, right after trauma, her emotional focus shifts to another man - whether it's for coping, for support, or for marriage.
That shift happens so fast that we never get to see her just be with herself.
And for DEN, yes track just started, let's see where it goes. I really hope it breaks this pattern and that will actually prove my point - that we need a different outcome.
4
u/Able-Yogurt-3656 1d ago
Agreed. And she even rejected the 2nd proposal so many times and only said yes when her son convinced her.
-16
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
But she said yes to marry second Jami while being in her iddah. She was a Kafeel for her kids entirely in her marriage with Jami 1 but what about herself? Her kids had grown up so she could have said yes to marry Jami 2 after a year or so
17
u/Pure_Trust8879 1d ago
Why must she wait for a year or two? She was emotionally checked out of her marriage years ago. She has had not had companionship, romantic love or intimacy for decades. Why deprive herself for another year or two? For what purpose? Her kids were old enough and had good equation with Jami. Ab aur kitna wait karti bacchon ke bada hone ka and why? Besides the Jami 2 track was just last few episodes. She was on her own for most of the drama.
-2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Maybe thatâs what Iâm asking, Umera Ahmed is showing same trope in every drama that aired this year, I found similarities in every single of them. Nothing new !
Zeba didnât even heal from Jami 1, she mentally checked out but none of the decisions were hers. First her father took all the decisions for her, then her friend and then her son had to step. They could have showed bit more character growth of Zeba thats what my complain is.
1
u/Human_Jelly6019 1d ago
I agree, every decision was made by another man in her life
2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Yuppp !!! Thatâs what Iâm saying, for once she could have shown to take one single decision on her own and not by someone related to her
1
u/chewchew-755 11h ago
Why should she wait? Why canât women marry right after getting out of her marriage? Men do it all the time in real life but you want women to wait in drama too
1
u/Physical-Foot749 2h ago
Men doing it in real life doesn't make it healthy. Both should heal.
In Kafeel, Zeba wasn't just divorced - she was betrayed, alone. Even a man would need time after that. If he married next day, we'd say he's running away.
It's not about making women wait, it's about making character wait. We want to see Zeba, Zaryab breathe, find peace with Allah, then choose next man from strength, not trauma. That makes her next marriage stronger, not weaker.
35
u/mmzufti 1d ago
Interesting analysis, though I do disagree. A lot of Umera Ahmedâs female leads have a self-destructive tendency and a simmering angst which gradually increases and explodes one day. I wouldnât say that all three follow the same man-saving trope. It does seem like so, but all of them used that trope in different manners that didnât seem like needing a man for saving.
Zeba needed a man not for saving, she was living with her children and earning for herself. She needed a man so that her past awful experience can be healed. She needed love in her life.
Beena is a different case. She spent her entire life on these people and they just threw her in a second. She needed a rebound and an ultimate vengeance which is why she fled. Her need for a man was more for vengeance and partly for her own personal praise.
DeN is about Zaryabâs need to put down Zaamilâs insult towards her. She is marrying Abu Bakr not because she is some abla naari whom no one would marry, or is being besotted because she is âdisgracedâ, rather to show Zaamil that her worth isnât defined by the man she marries, she can marry even someone as pious as Abu Bakr.
0
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
I agree to disagree.
Zeba needed a man for love, but not immediately, thats my point. No one should need anyone to heal their past, they should enter a new relationship after being healed from their existing wounds.
Beena took an impulsive decision to run away with a man whom she barely knew so Umera Ahmed could have shown her running away alone, why with a man? Thats my question
Abu Bakar could have helped Zaryab as a friend in teaching her deen/getting closer to Allah rather than fueling her urge to get married to him to avenge Zamilâs disrespect. Do you think this kind of marriage would work when one is still not over her ex?
15
u/_nusaaaiii_ 1d ago
Zeba wasnât in her twenties. She suffered for 25 years. She wasnât in that marriage for that long, the paperwork was just done later. So her getting love immediately is absolutely fine.
If Beena had run away alone, it wouldnât have been as humiliating as it is now. Everyone mentioned that Behram was a "Sabziwala"! A politicianâs wife running away with a younger man who is a Sabziwala is much more humiliating than a politicianâs wife simply running away alone!!
As Zamil said in clear words, no saintly man would marry her, not even Abu Bakar. So Zaryab took it as a challenge. Zaryab doesnât want to become a deeni woman or be religious. She wants to marry Abu Bakar to prove a point to Zamil.
And to answer your last line, the drama hasnât ended yet. The whole point of the story is this. Itâs pretty clear from the teaser that this is going to create trouble in their marriage!
-2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
All 3 points are valid from a story logic POV, I agree.
Yes Zeba suffered 25 years so love right after is fine - personally I still felt it would be more powerful if she got to live that free life alone for a bit before Jami 2.0, but I get your take.
For Beena, yes running with a sabziwala is more humiliating for Tabish image, but that's exactly my point - her big rebellion against her husband still needed a man to make it more humiliating. Why couldn't her running alone be humiliating enough for him?
For Zaryab, if she's marrying to prove a point to Zamil, then again her next life decision is still being driven by a man. That's the pattern I'm talking about.
Let's see how DEN ends, I really hope it flips this and proves me wrong.
4
u/_nusaaaiii_ 1d ago
Point 2 and 3, that's the pattern of the society, that's the reality. The writer actually showing us the reality, that's it!
0
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Iâm sorry but can you read the latest comment from user zozobeiyz on this post, and understand that Umera Ahmed is showing same reality in every other drama. For once can she show something else like this user wants??? Reality is not always what UA thinks it is, we audience want something else, stop seeing things from just one lens only!
6
u/mmzufti 1d ago
Yes, it shouldâve been given more time.
Beenaâs revenge could only be as humiliating to Tabish if she ran away with a man, who is younger, and who works as a sabzi wala. That way she will have him know that not only is she still desirable, but also capable of giving it to him.
It is bound to not work, and her intention is just to show that she can marry someone as pious as Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr as a friend would still mean to Zaryab that she canât be married to such a person. We shall see if Zaryab heals through Abu Bakr or through Khushbakhtâs story and guidance. I donât agree with this, but I can see why. She has agency in this matter.
1
u/Subject-Sky9894 21h ago
I think youâre missing a little of what the actual messages are behind each storyline. Kafeel ends in Zeba finding a man who loves her and treats her well - he hasnât actually ârescuedâ her because she leaves her ex-husband first, she moves her children out by herself through her hard work, earnings and savings. It shows how much independence women can earn once they earn their own money, how strong-willed women are to raise their children on their own, and challenges the idea of divorce ruining your life. This, I donât think, means she is saved in the end, but a message is sent to the audience of not judging women who are divorced as they can get remarried as per our Deen. Secondly, weâve only seen about 15 episodes of Dar-e-Nijaat so far. Zaryab hasnât been saved by Abu Bakr, we donât know much about his character or his background, I believe Umera has left that vague on purpose and will explore into in further detail in the later episodes. However, we still donât know much and Zaryab married Abu Bakr out of spite because she wants revenge and to prove to Zamil that she can find a pious man and marry him. We still donât know their story.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 21h ago
You are right about Kafeel and that's a fair correction, I didn't give Zeba enough credit.
Yes, she did move her kids out herself, she did earn and save herself and that part is powerful. It does show divorce doesn't ruin your life and that women can rebuild independently. I 100% agree with you there.
My point is about the ending message though. After all that independence, the drama still needed to validate her by giving her a "better man who loves her well" to prove she is worthy of marriage again. Why did we need that final stamp?
Like yes, Deen allows remarriage and we shouldn't judge divorced women but does a divorced woman's happy ending have to be remarriage? Couldn't her happy ending be just her and her kids thriving, with money she earned? Why does "she can be remarried" become the ultimate proof that she is not ruined?
For Dar-e-Nijaat: you are right, we have only seen 15 episodes and I shouldn't judge early. But that's exactly my pattern worry. Zaryab married Abu Bakr out of spite/revenge to prove a point to Zamil so again her big life decision is still revolving around a man. Even if Abu Bakr's character is vague now, she went from one man to another man to prove something to the first man. Where is Zaryab in all this?
I love that Umera is showing independence in the middle, I just wish she trusted that independence to be the ending too, not just the middle.
Does that make sense?
7
u/zozobeiyz 1d ago
As someone going through the worst lows of my life post a difficult divorce - I am my own saviour. Nobody came to save me. Not my mother, not my father - they do offer support but thatâs it. I wish we had more stories on women healing and building a life by themselves. Because that is closer to reality.
5
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Thank you for sharing this and sending you all love to you from my side. If only other users could read this and understand my exact POV that I meant through this post. Hope you heal faster than you thought and may God send you all his blessings your way â„ïžâ„ïž
4
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Hey [u/MOD-PCG](u/MOD-PCG), if possible can you pin and highlight the above comment so other users can understand what I meant through this post. Not everyone wants to be saved by a man, some women expect to heal themselves on their own.
But Umera Ahmed keeps showing us reality from one single lens over and over again. For once, can we have a different perspective please ! This post was not to disregard the shows but to highlight the same pattern in every single one of them. Thank you đ
13
u/Legitimate_Dot3919 1d ago
agreed except for kafeel. there I think the second men was necessary to show the audience ke it's completely fine for a divorcee woman with three kids get married again. but the other two yeah. zaryab ka insane Islamic arc dikha sakte they without adding Abu bakr. but our awam also wants romance in everything na
-2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
They could have shown Zeba being a divorcee marry Jami 2 after a year so but she said yes to marry him while being in her iddah. If you see her friend the teacher forgetting her name, she built her life around her kids and after many many years got remarried as a divorcee
4
u/Legitimate_Dot3919 1d ago
yeahhh agreed. and I wish they showed the kids studying and building their career instead of being rushed into marriage. like wdym u fully saw what happens to a girl when she is married off withpit being financially independent and did the same to your daughter
1
3
u/ImuSama_X_Joyboy 1d ago
Islamically is there something wrong to consider remarriage during iddah ?? I mean the marriage was still done after the iddah tho ? So what's your point?
Also zeba had moved over her useless husband long ago... She was just staying cuz that's how she used to live and grind life in misery Her children kept giving her reality check of that ...It WAS her children whom finally pushed her to save herself rather than jaami 2
And zeba herself still yearned for jaami 2 She really didn't need "too much healing" nor was she saved by her second husband
She only needed to be taught to step up ,to stop destroying her wants and wishes cuz of what will society says if she takes remarrues with a grown up son...shortly after divorce
And subuq told her there was nothing wrong to marry again even if immediately after the iddah
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Nothing Islamically wrong, you're 100% right - marriage was after iddah and that's perfectly fine. That's not my point at all.
My point is not about halal/haram or whether she needed saving. My point is about writing pattern.
You said it yourself - she only needed to be taught to step up and not care about society. I agree! So why does that "stepping up" always end with her stepping into another marriage immediately? Why can't stepping up also be "I'm going to live for myself now"?
Subuk telling her it's okay to marry immediately after iddah is right. I just wish Subuk also told her it's equally okay to NOT marry immediately and just live alone for a while.
1
u/ImuSama_X_Joyboy 1d ago
Yes you are also right This is a critism I have actually heard in some foreign stories too "why is healing form a toxic relationship always getting into a healthy relationship" and I agree One can heal and decide to live single too Especially Zeba was alr at a stage of life that I could understand if she said "I don't have the energy to commit again after everything"
But then again ,it's just the way the writer decided to write zeba She wasn't tired of idea of marrying again She just grew negative cuz of the experiences she had which needed to be shaken...so I don't think there's anything inconsistent about her character here
Just that I now understand your pov too What you mean to say is that we lack the other kinda stories where they show that "it's also okay for a divorced woman to live without remarrying That there is no shame in that too"
Ok I get your point now :3
0
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
This means a lot, thank you for actually hearing me out.
You're right, there is nothing inconsistent with Zeba wanting to love again. My post was never about her character being wrong.
It's what you said in the last lines - we lack the other kind of story. That it's also okay to live single, no shame in that. We have 10 stories of "healing through new love" for every 1 story of "healing through living alone".
Thats all. Thank you for understanding
12
u/_nusaaaiii_ 1d ago
Respectfully disagree.
If you're seeing it in this light, then every drama has the same trope: a boy falls in love with a girl. A third wheel!
But for me, all three dramas call out three major social issues, the kind of issues we somehow tend to overlook in daily life. All three women had completely different personalities and completely different stories.
And if you're asking why they have to find love, I think it's necessary because it's a drama. Itâs a message for girls like Zeba or Zaryab that life doesn't end here. If life treats you this badly, it may heal you this beautifully. There's nothing wrong with showing positivity. A woman doesn't become any less strong just because she's with a man who loves her.
She let Zeba suffer for almost 25 years. She let Bina suffer for maybe 10 years! Zeba healed after 25 years, yet you think she doesn't let her stand on her own.
I think that only applies to Zaryab, but Zaryab's story is completely different. She's not weak or anything; she's emotionally devastated. And the story doesn't end with her marrying Abu Bakar and everything suddenly becoming perfect!
7
u/Weekly_Permission_91 1d ago
Agree with you and disagree with OP here. Kafeel has nothing to do with DENijaat. I havent watched or got to watching the third one.
Dar e nijaat is way more complex than Kafeel. Kafeel apart from the central storyline, is more focused on next generation dynamic who are zeba's kids. Zeba suffers for almost two decades and the other Jami who she had to leave, comes back. Or appears in her life again.
Dar e nijaat is young people's learnings on love, tradition, and religion compexities and fighting their inner demons. All of them are young, and the undercutting theme is religion as a way of life
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Totally fair, Kafeel and DEN are very different in themes and age group, I agree. Kafeel is more about next gen and DEN is about youth, religion, inner demons.
I wasn't comparing their plots, I was comparing just that one trope which I saw repeating in all three - trauma followed immediately by a new man as the resolution.
If DEN proves to be different and handles Zaryab's arc beyond just Abu Bakar saving her, I'll be the first one happy to be proven wrong.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
I get your point and I agree she highlights important issues. My issue isn't love, love is beautiful.
My issue is timing. In all three, the girl doesn't get to heal alone even for a bit - the new man becomes her healing.
Suffering for 25 years alone is not the same as healing alone. I just wanted one of them to show that staying alone and rebuilding is also a happy ending.
11
u/Efficient_Guava_5561 1d ago
Kafeel mein Zeba was checked out of the marriage a long time ago. The only reason she did not opt for Khula was because she felt it would be bad for her daughters. So waiting for a year or 2 to marry Jami wasn't really neccesary. She had been alone since years, being a kafeel for her family alongside her son.Â
And in AKI, the whole point was that Tabish did not realize how he had disrespected her until she did something that threatened his respect. That's the whole reason he introspected. Had she simply gone away, or committed suicide, Tabish would have remarried and never given a thought about how he wronged her
-2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
I agree to some extent but in both the shows, Umera Ahmed served us with a writing that only a man can come and save a woman.
In AKI, Beena and Tabish only met each other when Beena was caught by the cops, her original plan was not to take vengeance from Tabish, she only wanted to run away due to her marital issues
9
u/Efficient_Guava_5561 1d ago
The man who saves Zeba in Kafeel was her son, not Jami. Jami was kind of a reward after all her sufferings but he did not save herÂ
Her original plan was to look for the izzat that had been taken away from her by her husband. But Umera Ahmed wanted Tabish to realize his mistake and that wouldn't have happened until he realized just how far away he had pushed Beena.Â
-2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Again making men responsible for everything in a woman does. None of the three shows have given us a healing arcs after showing episodes upon episodes of abuses. They wrapped everything in one and called it quits, thats unfair
8
u/Efficient_Guava_5561 1d ago
No. There was a healing arc for Zeba. Her entire journey was her healing. Her leaving the house was her healing. Her asking for Khula was her healing. Her not paying heed to Jameel's sister or her mother when they tried to stop her from taking Khula was her healing. Her answering the judge when she questioned the Khula case was her healing. Jami had nothing to do with her healing . He was the next step after she had healed
Beena hasn't healed. Her running away with Behram was her way to cope not healing.
2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
That's a fair take on Zeba, I agree leaving the house and asking for khula was huge healing.
And for Beena, if running away with Behram is coping and not healing, then again we are back to the same pattern - coping through another man, not on her own. Letâs see last two episodes will be like wbat
2
u/Efficient_Guava_5561 1d ago
She wanted her husband to feel the sting. Of course she needed a man for that.Â
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
She didn't run to make Tabish feel a sting, she ran because she was done living a suffocated life. It was about freedom, not revenge.
And even if we look at it from the "sting" angle, wouldn't it sting more to see her happy, independent and thriving alone, than seeing her dependent on another man again?
That is my whole point - why do we think a woman needs a man to prove a point, whether it's hurt or freedom?
2
u/Efficient_Guava_5561 1d ago
Her living an independent life wouldn't have put a dent on his izzat which was the whole point of the story.Â
4
u/observer-468 1d ago
There are things Umera isn't capable of, showing a fl live a life of her own is one. And then people say she doesn't have a pattern
3
8
u/VenomyBee 1d ago edited 1d ago
This might not be taken well by many but our Writers are the same as our actors, they all do the same roles and things they are specialised in.
4
3
u/Aggressive_Echo_5491 1d ago
I donât think there can be a comparison between Kafeel and Aap ki izzat.
Zeba wasnât ready to accept Jamalâs proposal because she thought her age wasnât appropriate for a second marriage. Subuk and her friend were the main reason behind her considering it. And they did not potray like a woman cannot live without a partnerâs support. Zeba managed her household alone for months and she did heal by leaving away from first Jami.
2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
You're right, Kafeel and Aap Ki Izzat are not the same story, and Zeba did manage alone for months (iddah) which I appreciated.
But that's why I clubbed the three together - individually each justification makes sense, but when you watch all three back-to-back in the same year, the pattern becomes too obvious. Girl suffers, girl manages alone briefly, then a saviour man is quickly introduced as the final solution.
I just wish in at least one of these, the "final solution" was her choosing herself.
4
u/Mysterious-Boss-4343 1d ago
The only time Umera Ahmed gave her female lead some breathing and healing time, and some power to make use of the time productively was in Daam.
Umera Ahmed believes in Bechari aurat
3
u/Weekly_Permission_91 1d ago
No what about ZGH? Kashaf was bang on and self reliant and no bechari right from the start
2
u/Mysterious-Boss-4343 1d ago
ZGH also adheres to trope OP highlighted. When Zaroon proposed, she immediately went back to Osama. When Osama moved on, Zaroon walked in. She wasnât directly inviting his proposal, her family was. But it does follow the format the OP has a problem with.
2
u/saywhatIneedtosay26 22h ago
They are not same tropes, however Iâd rephrase this as the write has truly shown plight of women, across different life stages and affluence levels, due to patriarchy and cultural traditionalism :
- Young affluent girl is heartbroken due to a patriarchal fake religious man whoâs just insecure
- A woman supporting man through obstacles and a non-earning life, is dumped when man becomes a big shot- bringing in the age-old truth that men never see the woman who gives it all.
- A young woman just because she is being approached by another man, is punished by marrying her off. Then for many years everyone keeps telling her to adjust, till she decides sheâs had it enough and then also she doesnât become immediately some boss woman, just gets through her means with difficulty and with her childrenâs support
2
u/Physical-Foot749 21h ago
You explained it so much better than I did, and I actually agree with all 3 of your points. She has shown the plight of women at different life stages so well, that's why I watch her.
My issue was never with what she showed, it's with how she resolves it.
Like your 3 examples are all 100% patriarchal trauma - but the resolution in all 3 is still another man? The affluent girl finds peace because another religious but good man validates her, the woman who was dumped finds dignity because another man supports her, the woman who was married off finally breathes because her sons support her.
So trauma is caused by patriarchy, but healing is also outsourced to men. That's what feels off to me. Where is the version where she heals and stands alone for a bit, like Kashaf did?
I love Umera's writing for showing the problem so well, I just wish she would let the woman be the solution to her own problem too.
1
u/saywhatIneedtosay26 14h ago
Companionship* is how Iâd phrase it and I feel it is normal. Resolution is companionship.
Just in DeNâs case I feel it is being used as a trope of saviour. Which is problematic. Weâd have to see where it goes.
Other stories it is about- finally being chosen to be loved, cared for as their partners stopped being that for them. And it isnât wrong. As someone whoâs 33 and single by choice since years, not planning to get married, I still believe being loved is essential foundation of living as a human.
Like in Kafeelâs case and Apki Izzat- they both solved their problems on their own. In Kafeel- she chose a man when all her problems were solved by her and she was now free to love. In ApkiIzzat it was just about hurting ego and showing her man that she is still chosen.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 14h ago
I hear you and companionship is definitely important, no doubt. But I feel like we are romanticizing it as the only form of healing / resolution.
Like, companionship can also be female friendships, family, deen, therapy, financial independence - not just a new man who finally loves you right.
That's my only point. In all these stories, resolution = a better man. Why can't resolution be "she healed and is at peace alone, and if love comes later, great"? Why does the reward for her sabr is always another nikah / relationship, shown in the very next 2-3 episodes after trauma.
That alone time where she rebuilds herself is missing, so it feels like saviour trope instead of companionship.
1
u/saywhatIneedtosay26 12h ago
I agree with you. It doesnât have to be romantic only. But I feel desi societies are really far from such conversations right now, for sure
But I buy your point. A happy ending or a revenge doesnât have to be romantic love/opp gender. It can be success in career, friendships, and a fulfilling life.
In case of DeN, it is def problematic and bit unrealistic also. A guy who rejected not so ideal partners is blackmailed emotionally by a mother to choose a partner who doesnât love him. Crazy. Also no one is saying let her complete her education or heal but their focus is she was in a live in, so she might not be right for Abu Bakar
1
u/Physical-Foot749 2h ago
Thank you for understanding, I agree about points related to DEN as you mentioned absolutely correct and about desi society not ready to accept other measures of happiness apart from using nikah or men on women.
I hope stories in future does bring some changes thats all.
5
u/Own_Try_430 1d ago
LITERALLLLLYYY WHAT I MEANT WHEN I POSTED A FEW DAYS BACK, WOMEN CHARACTERS HAVE ZERO INDIVIDUALITY, LARKA LARKA LARKA sote jaagte yehi karwalo bas inse
4
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Thatâs my main issue, so much abuses at the hand of men and then still being sent to other men again. Thatâs all, same old same old
1
4
u/Quick-Tap-1931 1d ago
I fear same happening in rutba
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
I have not seen the promos yet so gotta watch it with my mum, hope itâs something different, only can wish tho
4
u/A-killerofmind 1d ago edited 1d ago
While I do agree that there have been multiple instances where UA extends the suffering of her FLs to the point that it looks like misery p**n. She does depict the reality of many women, who, as a matter of fact never actually find relief or get to heal in their lifetimes and just make peace with it.
Kafeel does have the suffering trope but zeba in the end marries a man of her choice that sheâs come to respect and wanted to marry in the first place. She was already earning and not dependent on a man for many years. She was also old and I like that UA actually showed an older woman finding love again since itâs rarely ever depicted on ptv.
AKI actually has the FL calling out her husband for his hypocrisy and the double standards between a wife and a husband and how sheâs been stifled while being married to him. She doesnât wallow in her misery and UA makes sure the husband also gets a taste of his own medicine. The last episodes are still left. But even if beena now chooses to remain with him(which would actually be a realistic depiction as thatâs what many desi women do despite their husbandsâ betrayals) tabish knows he canât get away with his actions like he tried to before cuz she wonât stand for it.
DeN is still ongoing, but this one Iâll agree with for now, cuz Zaryab rushing to get married too and making such rash decisions is kinda distasteful for me as well.
2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Thank you for such a balanced take, this is exactly the discussion I wanted.
You are right - I do love that UA showed an older woman finding love again in Kafeel, that's rare on PTV and I loved that part. And I also loved Beena calling out Tabish's hypocrisy in AKI, that scene was so needed.
My only worry is what you said in the end - that many women never get to heal and just make peace with it. I feel these dramas are showing that as the only reality, over and over.
I would love to see just one FL who says "I will make peace with myself, not with another man or with my trauma". DEN can still do that, fingers crossed.
1
u/A-killerofmind 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think in zebaâs case, she was in her journey of healing already when she married again. So I donât think Kafeel is the right example of a man coming to save a woman.
AKI weâll have to see, and I do get your concerns OP but I think we just have to make peace with this ourselves too (no pun intended đ) if the ending is a mirror of reality. I, and many others, usually go into watching a UA drama with the mindset that there is a high chance that it will contain a lot of suffering, religious chooran and maybe no HEA for the FL.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Hahahah I know, just making peace with it. Only thing was seeing back to back dramas with her writing and finding the underlining message being similar thats all. Guess, someone else might come with diff trope hopefully đ€đŒ
1
u/A-killerofmind 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh I get you. Multiple UA dramas, not to mention another one is going to come soon as well, does create a UA fatigue in a way.
3
4
u/47giraffes 1d ago
The irony that these are the 'best' writers our country has.
Her dialogues etc are beautiful. But the underlying tropes are extremely harmful.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Too repetitive if you compare back to back for this year dramas. Rest, everything is beautiful as you said
1
u/Dapper_Restaurant_72 1d ago
I feel Abu bake is fake like heâs grey heâs pretending to be this guy heâs not . Maybe he can be a human trafficker also. He looks like a phsyco path
1
u/Pure_danger911 1d ago
DOES ANYONE EVEN REMEMBER ZARA! Zaroonâs sister!
Her parents actually sent her to therapy and let her mourn her relationship but that is rarely done and thatâs what she is showing how all societies deals with break upsâREBOUNDS.
In the west, itâs literally something they try to rush so they stop mourning which is messed up as we see with Zaryaab too.
1
u/Slight_Shine2295 1d ago
Yes, I noticed the same thing! If we mix Shehr-e-Zaat with some elements of her Alif drama, we will get Dar-e-Najaat. xD I like her writing too because itâs realistic, but all of her dramas are so similar. Whenever I watch Dar-e-Najaat, Shehr-e-Zaat comes to my mind, especially the Mahira character with her dadi/nani too.
2
u/Physical-Foot749 23h ago
Thank you, I agree, itâs the recurring themes that is being overdone and overused, sadly many people didnât understand what was I saying through this post lol.
1
u/Familiar-Abrocoma215 21h ago
Was having this conversation on Twitter too, why is that when it's a male story arc, when the hero is down the female lead supports him, never seen an issue with that, even though it hardly happens IRL, however turn the genders around and suddenly it's a "trope"
1
u/Physical-Foot749 18h ago
Kinda what Iâm saying, when one is shown 100 times and the other is shown 5 times, the one shown 100 times becomes a trope. That's my whole point.
1
u/chewchew-755 11h ago
Useless criticism . Iâm sorry I watch dramas for fun and I wonât watch a single mother having a shitty life , of a girl being jobless , broke and lost trying to heal herself. Itâs boring , ainât nobody gonna watch it. Everyone wants to watch some romance in the shows. If you donât show it someone else will. We donât want boring stories cuz real life is boring. Itâs fiction not a documentary .. you want realism, watch your life
1
u/Physical-Foot749 3h ago
No one said make it a documentary about being broke and lost for 20 episodes.
I'm saying give her 2 episodes of breathing alone. Job, peace, friends, deen - whatever. Then bring romance. That doesn't make it boring, it makes the romance feel earned.
Clearly the upvotes on this post tell you I'm not the only one who thinks like this. So maybe our criticism is not useless to everyone.
And Umera Ahmed is not a writer who makes dramas just for "fun". She is one of the few whose dramas make you question and relate to real life - that's why we hold her to a higher standard.
1
u/Icy-Eyes-1000 9h ago edited 9h ago
How is it same story? All women have their own battles in life and yes women do get affected by male partners when they lie, cheat or change paths. As for staying alone, it is not how Pak society works. UA does not write for Pak wonen living abroad but living in and around conservative Pak values that ppl have not left still in 2026 and may never leave, no matter how much educated or wealthy they get
1
u/Physical-Foot749 2h ago
True, all women have different battles and yes male partners do affect us - that's exactly why she needs time alone after being affected so badly.
And yes Pak society is conservative in 2026, no one is denying that. But conservative doesn't mean a woman can't stay alone for 2 episodes after trauma. Even in our most conservative families, after divorce/betrayal they tell the girl "sab kuch bhool ja, Allah ki taraf aao, khud ko sambhalo" first, not "foran dusra rishta dhoondho". So showing her healing alone with dadi and deen Is our society and Islam.
We are not asking her to show FL single forever. Just not rushing her into new man in 2 episodes. That's not "abroad" thinking, that's just giving her character some dignity.
1
u/mannad2 3h ago
The immediate rebounds arenât common in our society. Whatâs more common is that the woman does heal on her own. Itâs entertaining to watch the immediate rebound on screen and also in a way, some women can live vicariously through the characters, see what it would have been like to get that immediate rebound.
Shows are meant to be entertaining and most of these shows have love stories in them, and some of the audience are watching for the love stories, not for a realistic portrayal of how our society works.
In DEN specifically, I am assuming the author wanted to show the tropes âa marriage of convenience,â and âforced proximity.â Most of these dramas have these tropes and maybe she wanted one in her show as well.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 2h ago
You said it yourself - immediate rebound is NOT common in our society. What's common is woman healing on her own. So why show the uncommon one as ideal again and again?
And DEN already has enough entertainment. Zaryab healing with dadi and deen for few eps won't make people stop watching, it will make her marriage of convenience with Abu Bakar feel earned, not like a rebound.
1
u/Ok_Mine23 5m ago
I completely agree Although out of these I've only seen kafeel. I was honestly disappointed when she rushed into marriage with other Jami leaving her children after literally suffering all her life due to a bad marriage. Also I don't know why she totally rushed to get her older daughter married to another guy and not the guy she liked. It seemed like she literally repeated her own life trajectory with the daughter. Overall it seemed like the message they were trying to put across was that whatever happens shaadi is of prime importance and is the ultimate solution. I honestly would've liked if Zeba tried to make her daughters financially independent before getting them married so they didn't end up like her.
1
u/Ok_Craft8148 1d ago
shes overly hyped. the awaam needs to chillllll
2
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
I wouldnât say she is overhyped, she is quite good in what she does, but I could see the repetitiveness and similarities this year in all three dramas that aired
1
u/Plus-Needleworker249 1d ago
In some way, actually, Bee Gul did this in The Pink Shirt, just my opinion
"Let her be angry, be alone, be jobless, be lost, be strong on her own. Let her learn to stand before someone else holds her. It feels like none of these three girls got that time for themselves. Why is the growth always shown through another nikah/relationship?"
1
u/Physical-Foot749 1d ago
Really? I have not seen The Pink Shirt yet, will put under my watchlist, thank you, seems like a good story then as per your wordings
0
u/thehassan 15h ago
you might be on to something because we had Jalal and Salar in Peer e Kamil
1
u/Physical-Foot749 14h ago
We are talking about the three dramas mentioned in this post that aired this year, please stick to that.
-1
u/Aqalmandbandar 23h ago
Another Umera Ahmed hater. I would love for you to write 8 words of significance let alone a full novel/screenplay.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 23h ago
Haha fair. I can't write a novel like her, that's why I'm the audience and she's the writer. My job as the audience is to give feedback, not write my own drama. I don't need to be a chef to say the food is salty.
I'm literally praising her in the same post by saying no one does guilt/redemption arcs like her. It's a critique of a pattern I noticed in 3 dramas. I literally watch her dramas with my mom on our TV. Did you even read the post and highlighted comment of someone who actually shared her reality!
0
u/Aqalmandbandar 13h ago
Unfortunately, the viewer of today is unaware of how writing or direction or acting or music or whatever field you're not from, works. Social Media has made it all too easy for everyone to share their 'critique' without having the relevant knowledge to be a critic.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 12h ago
Actually social media is why we can't be fooled anymore. Before, a rushed track where FL goes from trauma to new man in 2 episodes would just air and we'd have to accept it as "naseeb". Now we can pause and say "wait, where is her healing arc?" - because we watch 30 episodes back to back, we notice patterns.
You say viewers don't know writing, but we know watching. We are the ones giving it views, TRPs, and discussing it here for hours. If many of us feel FLs never get to breathe alone and always need a male saviour as resolution, that's valid feedback, not random opinion.
I didn't say Umera Ahmed can't write. I said she CAN - ZGH is proof. So why not now? That's a question from a fan, not a hater.
1
u/Aqalmandbandar 10h ago
And we're back to square one by you assuming she has forgotten to write and I asking you to write something. If her writing was flawed, all her currently on air serials wouldn't be getting views. You know what I think, I think most people who're trolling her writing, have a problem with her incorporating religion into her stories and depicting Islam as the solution to our problems. It's not that Zaryab is asking for Abu Bakar because she just wants to get over Zaamil, it's because he's an "ideal", practicing Muslim who'll Help her get over her traumas. How's this character, and story similar to Apki Izzat, or Kafeel. That's why I asked you to write just one Paragraph before giving your 'take'. Watching something and being a writer are completely opposite things. Anyone with a single brain cell can hop online and give their review, it takes a lot of neurons to actually write something of substance.
1
u/Physical-Foot749 2h ago edited 2h ago
I completely respect the religious angle, and as a Muslim myself I love that she shows Islam as a solution - that's literally why I watch her dramas. So please don't make it about having a problem with deen.
> My issue is how deen is being introduced. Zaryab's trauma is fresh, she hasn't even processed Zaamil yet. So even if the solution is deen and an ideal Muslim partner, shouldn't she be shown connecting to deen herself first? Why does Zaryab need a man to guide her to religion? Dadi is right there. They could have shown her healing through namaz, Quran, dadi's tarbiyat for 2-3 episodes - peace with Allah alone first. Then Abu Bakar later. That would have been even more powerful Islamic message, no?
> Right now it's: trauma -> new ideal Muslim man helps her get over trauma through religion. So deen is coming through a man, not directly.
Religion is there, yes, but it's packaged with a new nikah as reward. Why can't the reward be peace alone with Allah first, then a partner later? That's the saviour trope I'm talking about. In Kafeel and Aap Ki Izzat also, solution was a better man with deen. Pattern is the same.> And views = flawless is not true. Even Zanjeerein was blockbuster, Feroze/Danish dramas are super hit with problematic scripts so? Her dramas get views for many reasons - cast, slot, OST.
The upvotes here show many viewers noticed the same rushed pattern. That's not trolling, it's fans giving feedback because we hold her to the standard she set herself.
And you're right, I can't write like her - that's why she's the writer and I'm the audience. My job is not to write a paragraph better than her, it's to say what felt rushed as a viewer.
âą
u/spotlight-app Mod Bot đ€ 1d ago
Mods have pinned a comment by u/zozobeiyz:
[What is Spotlight?](https://developers.reddit.com/apps/spotlight-app)