new drama series, written by Farhat Ishtiaq of Humsafar fame and directed by Ali Hassan, promises to be a show steeped in comedy and romance.

Meem Say Mohabbat has a star-studded cast with influencer-turned-actress Dananeer Mobeen as Roshi and Ahad Raza Mir as Talha. Talha’s father is portrayed by veteran actor Asif Raza Mir.

Talha is a single father of a young boy, Mohid, who is recovering from a trauma and consulting a child psychologist and a speech therapist.

Roshi has an extremely studious elder sister, Mahi. She, herself, has a chequered academic record. After failing the entrance exams of seven educational institutes, she flippantly decides to celebrate her failure with her best friend.

There, while taking a selfie, she spots Talha whose morose and melancholic expression leads her to assume that he has been ditched by his girlfriend, Sabeeka.

Roshi’s mother is determined to ensure that she studies engineering. Roshi’s only ally is her paternal aunt, Saleeqa Phupo, played by Faiza Gilani, whose name doesn’t do her justice (watch the play to know why).

Saleeqa was wedded off her after her FA examination when she met her ‘prince charming’ by chance. Although her mother, a real matriarch, would never agree, apparently, the prayers she made over a month sealed the deal for her and she rode off into the sunset with her prince.

Roshi thinks this is an excellent idea and steels some religious books from the library so she can begin her own prayer campaign. This seems a safer option than threatening to kill herself. She is determined not to study engineering.

Sadaf, Roshi’s mother, played by Navin Naqvi,is adamant that, like her elder sister, Roshi should pursue a career in engineering and amount to something in life rather than be a mere homemaker like Saleeqa, who is not even a university graduate.

…a half-hearted and lukewarm attempt to weave a light-hearted romance

Roshi is full of life and enjoys each and every moment to the fullest. Following in her SaleeqaPhupo’s footsteps, she embarks on her prayers. As is usual with her, her attempts are half-hearted even though she is determined to do whatever it takes to evade the four year rigorous engineering degree. Her plan is to pray until a knight in shining armour appears to sweep her off her feet.

Dananeer, as the girl next door with marriage on her mind, fails to impress. Somehow, her histrionics fall far short of what is expected and she fails to hook the audience with her acting. Ahad is also average and in some scenes, particularly where he is paired opposite his father, falls flat on his face. Asif, a legend, is wasted in the role of Ahad’s on-screen father. The characters are not fleshed out properly and look straight out of a fairy tale. The palatial houses, manicured lawns and the opulent furnishings give the entire serial a glossy and superficial look.

The senior brigade of actors like Arshad Mahmood, Beo Rana Zafar and Asif Raza Mir are wasted in their roles and fail to make an impact. They look like mere caricatures rather than flesh and blood characters, designed to propel the narrative forward. They are more like props, mouthing dialogues that have already been done to death.

There is no on-screen chemistry between the two leads.While one tries too hard to be her bubbly, effervescent self, the other is exactly the opposite and comes across as extremely uninspiring in the first two episodes. Maybe it is a case of the father overshadowing the son and Asif Raza Mir’s larger than life persona makes his son pale into insignificance. However, the senior actors clearly deserved something meatier to dig their teeth into. All in all, this is an extremely half-hearted and lukewarm attempt to weave a light-hearted romance.

Both the writer and the director disappoint, missing the mark but if one is a fan of fairy tales like Cinderella, Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty, then this one should be right up one’s street. Otherwise, the viewers are better off giving it a miss and going for something deeper and more meaningful.

The writer, an educationist, can be reached at gaiteeara@hotmail.com