enned by Umera Ahmed, Aap ki Izzat started airing last week. Two episodes have been aired to date. The cast includes stalwarts like Sania Saeed, Ahsan Khan and Urwa Hocane.

When the play opens, Beena, played by Urwa Hocane, is going through her family album and reminiscing about the past. She is married to Tabish (Ahsan Khan), a real estate tycoon, who has decided to venture into politics. Tabish and Beena have been married for fourteen years. They have two children, a girl and a boy. Sania Saeed essays the role of Tabish’s mother, who lives with him in his palatial house.

Umera Ahmed is a connoisseur of words. The dialogues are, as expected, top-notch. A number of messages have been conveyed with great subtlety in the first two episodes. A lesser writer may have struggled to accomplish this. The emptiness and loneliness of Beena’s life has been portrayed effectively. She has far more than she could ever want or need, but somehow, an emotional vacuum remains.

Her past life is revealed in flashbacks. The viewers learn that the protagonists hail from modest backgrounds. They fall in love and get married. However, the spark and fire appears to be missing in their relationship and subsequently, marriage. They had no money, when they got married, but were madly in love with each other and spent a lot of quality time together.

Fast forward to the present day: Tabish has made his fortune in real estate and leads a kind of life the couple could only have dreamed about when they got married. They have everything that money can buy, but Tabish has his eyes set on something bigger. Portrayed as an extremely ambitious individual, he dreams of making it big in politics.

His secretary, Naz is a cousin of his business associate’s wife. She is responsible for supervising and running his political campaign. Educated abroad, she is a beautiful and accomplished woman, who uses her connections and political acumen to get Tabish a ticket to contest the election. Impressed by her charm and charisma, he becomes romantically involved with her and plans to make her his second wife.

Umera Ahmed is a connoisseur of words. The dialogues are, as expected, top-notch. A number of messages have been conveyed with great subtlety in the first two episodes... The emptiness and loneliness of Beena’s life is portrayed effectively. She has far more than she could ever want or need, but somehow, an emotional vacuum remains. 

The justification he gives his mother for marrying again is that he needs an educated and accomplished woman by his side to improve his chances in politics. His mother is taken aback, when he informs her that he wants her permission to marry Naz. Asked if he has already asked his wife, he says that he does not feel the need to do so. He says that he will treat both his wives the same way. He says he has no intention of leaving his first wife and will continue to support her lifestyle, as she is the mother of his two children.

Chaudhary Sahib, portrayed by Noman Masood, is the man arranging a party ticket for Tabish. When he and his wife are invited to Tabish’s place for dinner, it turns out that he has two wives. The woman accompabying him, he says, is his second wife. Beena, naïve and gullible, innocently asks if his first wife has passed away. He laughs and says that he needs her to look after his children. He talks about respecting all mothers, daughters and sisters. Wives, it appears however, are excluded from the list.

Urwa expertly portrays a domesticated housewife, whose life revolves around her family. She is a loving and dutiful wife, mother and daughter-in-law. Somehow, the emotional vacuum she feels refuses to be filled. She seems to have lost her independent identity and become a mere extension of her husband.

The love in the early days of their courtship and marriage, revealed through flashbacks, has fizzled out. Tabish is now a wealthy and successful business man. He is no longer attracted to his wife and sees her as an uneducated, old-fashioned woman, who has no place in the new life that he plans to build for himself, with his new wife.

Dialogues are superb and spot on. Acting is fantastic. This is not surprising, considering the uber-talented and versatile thespians the director, Saif-i-Hassan, has taken on board. The play has already garnered quite a fan following. Tune in every Friday and Saturday to catch this gem.

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