Pakistani dramas are women centric; there’s no two opinions about that. And while we do have an overwhelming pool of distressed and helpless heroines to deal with, we also see a rising wave of toxic female villains. It’s hard to decide which is worse!

Here’s a look at TV’s top six female negative characters that could put Poison Ivy, Black Widow and other lethal felines to shame. Read on and see if you agree …

Gohar

Drama: Nand
Played by: Faiza Hasan

Usually, and in our culture especially, sisters are shown to care selflessly for their brothers, but Gohar is an anomaly. Faiza Hasan plays the titular character in Nand so ferociously that she’s left Load Wedding’s Baby Baji far, far behind. The way she talks and her overall mannerism is so realistic that one wonders why she was doing positive roles till now. While one brother (Shehroz Sabzwari) falls for her trap and divorces his wife, the younger one (Ayaz Samoo) resists her scheming for as long as he can. However, everything changes when Gohar’s ex-husband (Aijazz Aslam) marries Rabi (Minal Khan), the very person Gohar made her brother divorce in the first place!

Miraal

Drama: Sabaat

Played by: Sarah Khan

Up until Sabaat, Sarah Khan was known for playing the demure damsel in distress to perfection. Miraal, her character in Sabaat, however is the polar opposite of nice. Miraal makes everyone’s life a living hell, especially those close to her. Her father (Moazzam Ali Khan) may be her only ally in the world. Miraal isn’t close to her mother (Leyla Zuberi), who’s critical of her rude ways, and she’s estranged from her brother Hassan (Ameer Gillani) for objecting to his life and marriage to Anaya (Mawra Hocane). Miraal’s grandmother (Azra Mansoor) suffered a fatal heart attack after she ridiculed her for trying to use the ‘grandmother’ card. Sarah Khan’s perfect performance as the spoilt brat who has psychological issues took her to a psychiatrist Dr. Haris (Usman Mukhtar) who married her (yes, that happened!) but it wasn’t a happy ending because of her dominating and inflexible nature. As Sabaat ends, Miraal is going down, and the audience is waiting to find out how!

Nisha

Drama: Jalan

Played by: Minal Khan

Nisha has got to be the most evil sister in the history of sisters. She lusts after her elder sister’s husband Asfand Yar (Emmad Erfani), who is smart, rich and desirable. She breaks off her engagement to her cousin and then goes after ‘Asfi’, ruining her sister Misha’s (Areeba Habib) life, urging her to abort her child, and eventually prompting her to commit suicide. She’s portrayed as a greedy homewrecker with no remorse for her actions but then she has met her match in Asfand Yar’s sister Kinza (Nadia Hussain), who’s taking away her share of the family property and wealth. How will Nisha manage with a less affluent Asfi? A few more episodes will tell…

Roshni

Drama: Bandhay Aik Dor Se

Played by: Hina Altaf

What makes Hina Altaf’s portrayal of ‘Roshni’ more impressive than others is the fact that in 2016 she played the elder version of Ahsan Khan’s stepdaughter in Udaari. Within four years, she has graduated to the lead role and is making life hell for Ahsan Khan’s onscreen wife Maheen (Ushna Shah). Her performance as the ‘other woman’ is making the audience hate her more and more, because in her mind she believes that she has the right over her first love, even though she left him when he needed her the most. She’s back in his life and has created a love triangle that promises to ruin her best friend Mahi’s marriage. Will she succeed? We think not, but let’s see how the story pans out.

Sehba

Drama: Raaz e Ulfat

Played by: Komal Aziz Khan

There are good friends and bad friends, and then there are those who make you miss your own wedding. Komal Aziz Khan’s Sehba is the worst thing that could happen to Mushk (Yumna Zaidi) who trusted her with everything, only to lose everything she cared about. She didn’t let Mushk marry Irtiza (Shehzad Sheikh) because she took a liking to him, and wanted him for herself. On the outside, she comes across as a caring individual but not many suspect that there is a beast inside the beauty, who cares about no one but herself. Her vicious scheming has ruined Mushk’s life, who now wants to win back her family’s trust, even if it means marrying Ismail (Gohar Rasheed). Seems like the plan worked, for now, though we’re eager to know how Sehba’s nemesis as well as partner in crime, will deal with her betrayal towards him. This isn’t going to end well for her!

Zulekha

Drama: Mushk

Played by: Zara Tareen

Zara Tareen’s character in Mushk, Zulekha has the trapping of an evil step mother. She’s having an affair with the local doctor, ensuring that her formerly violent and womanizing husband (Hasan Ahmed) stays bedridden and is slowly poisoned off. She pays off her daughter’s lover (Raza Talish) so that he stays away from her. And she makes life difficult for her own niece-in-law (Momal Sheikh) just to give her daughter (Seher Khan) a clean chit. She also gives a hard time to Guddi (Urwa Hocane) just because she tried to resist her bullying. Beautiful and ruthless when it comes to getting her way, Zulekha is equal parts ruthless and beguiling. But it does take a special talent to make so many people hate you at the same time and Zara Tareen’s ‘taayi’ seems to excel in that department.

Omair Alavi is a freelance     broadcast journalist who can be   contacted at omair78@gmail.com