oota Hua Dil, penned by Sadia Akhtar, airs at 7pm every day - before the prime time slot. Directed by Ahmer Sohail, it follows the story of Sameen, an educated middle-class girl who is romantically involved with her next-door neighbour, Shazir, and wishes to marry him.

The story revolves around Sameen (Nazish Jehangir), Irdan (Aagha Ali) and Shazir (Arez Ahmed). Sameen’s father works for a prominent businessman (Babar Ali), who has a divorced son, Irdan. When her father falls sick, Sameen becomes a replacement worker for a couple of months. Armed with an MBA degree, she meets her father’s boss, who takes a liking to her and believes that she will be an appropriate match for his son and a great mother to his granddaughter. However, when he visits her place to ask for her hand in marriage, he discovers that her nuptials have already been fixed with Shazir, the next-door neighbour.

Shazir is unemployed and very eager to get rich quickly. He is in constant touch with a woman in Dubai, who keeps suggesting that he try his luck abroad. She promises that this relocation will change his life forever. Motivated by his desire to become wealthy overnight, he is willing to believe anything he is told.

When his marriage to Sameen is fixed, he asks for Rs. 1.5 million. She is the eldest of three daughters and her parents wish to see her settled. However, they also have two more daughters to think about. Shazir expresses his desire to start a business with the money. Why Sameen has fallen for him is not clear, considering he comes across as a self-seeking and avaricious individual. He has kept in touch with the woman in Dubai, because he believes that she might prove his passport to overnight wealth. She has been leading him on for reasons not revealed so far.

Shazir takes the money from Sameen’s parents and leaves the country on the day of their scheduled wedding. Her family is stunned when they receive the news and read the letter he has left behind. This appears to be a case of one-sided love. Sameen is far more interested in marrying him than he is. He had earlier tried a couple of times to postpone the nuptials but failed to convince her family.

The story is nothing much to write home about. The acting is nothing exceptional either, except for Babar Ali, who single-handedly carries the play on his shoulders.

Babar, Sameen’s father’s boss, is a guest at the wedding and a witness to what transpires on the wedding day. He calls his son Irdan and asks him to come over. When he arrives, his father informs him that he has decided to marry him off to his employee’s daughter. He acquiesces, although the news leaves him stunned. However, Irdan sees her more as a mother to his daughter than his wife. He tells her that that was his main objective in marrying her.

In the meantime, Shazir arrives at the house of the Dubai woman he has been communicating with. He gets the shock of his life when he discovers that she is middle-aged person with a daughter. However, he decides that there is no turning back. How he will he come to terms with this development remains to be seen.

Many of the plays aired before the prime time slots tend to be clichéd, with run-of-the-mill scripts and shoddily scripted characters. This play is watchable, largely due to Babar Ali, who delivers a stellar performance. The supporting cast is average. This production can best be regarded as mediocre. The story is nothing much to write home about. The acting is nothing exceptional, except for Babar Ali, who single-handedly carries the play on his shoulders.

Will Irdan ever accept Sameen as his equal wife? What fate will Shazir meet? One of the messages seems to be that greed is a curse and that those who try to become multi-millionaires overnight can end up making a mess of their lives. There is a suggestion also that the social media can be used by unscrupulous people to lead unsuspecting youth up the garden path. The gullible often pay a heavy price for excitement.

Keep watching to see the twists and turns that this story takes and what lies in store for the its main characters.

The writer is an educationist. She can be reached at [email protected].