“Mannat Murad” has placed emphasis heavily on it being a love story between two individuals from overbearing families. However, “Mannat Murad” is really a family story and, digging even deeper, a story about how certain behaviors can destroy and drive a wedge between relationships. Starring Talha Chahour, Iqra Aziz, Irsa Ghazal, Noor Ul Hassan, Uzma Hassan, Tipu Sharif, Ali Rehman, Faiza Gilani, Mizna Waqas, Ali Safina, Rehma Zaman, Rabya Kulsoom and many others, the story has been written by Nadia Akhtar and directed by Syed Wajahat Hussain.
In episode 11, Murad (Talha Chahour) and Mannat (Iqra Aziz) celebrate their engagement silently, keeping their plan a secret from their families – and for good reason. The only reason Razia (Irsa Ghazal) and Nafees (Noor Ul Hassan) have agreed to this marriage is because they believe Mannat and Murad are both interested in other people. Razia is a possessive mother and Nafees a possessive brother, but their possessiveness is to a manipulative, obsessive, self-destructive level. And while it’s sweet to see how Mannat and Murad love their family members, what will it take for them to get fed up and cut that cord? Iqra Aziz and Talha Chahour are both doing an excellent job in their roles and share really sweet chemistry. If there’s one real complaint about this show and their characters, it’s that Mannat and Murad’s love story has been glossed over. Considering their romance is the basic foundation of the story, shouldn’t we have actually seen them fall in love? Could one phone conversation really have made the two so head-over-heels in love with one another that they’d be willing to go through all this plotting and scheming? The chemistry between Iqra and Talha is what’s making this believable, otherwise Mannat and Murad’s actual love story is half-baked.
For those who aren’t actively watching, “Mannat Murad” is a comedic love story with family drama woven in. However, as the story of “Mannat Murad” has slowly unfolded over these past few weeks, viewers have realized that the story is about so much more, dealing with serious topics. For example, Fazeelat (Mizna Waqas) is a supportive sister, wanting the best for Murad. However, she’s also a victim of her own mother and society, deemed worthless and expected to rot away in a corner without any dreams and desires of her own. This is eating away at her internally and she suffers through what appears to be depression – and is medicated. Mizna Waqas is performing her role as Fazeelat really well, showing her kindness along with her moments of anger, frustrated with her own situation.
There’s also the arc with Faisal (Ali Safina) and Itrat (Rehma Zaman), which is rather realistic. While Itrat rebelled against her own mother to marry Faisal, we can’t forget that she has been raised by Razia. When Itrat is with her mother and her sisters, the women all easily fall into their overbearing, cliquey personalities which includes obsessing over their brother and excluding any outsiders. Unfortunately for Faisal, he has never been included into this inner fold, always snubbed by his mother-in-law and everyone in Itrat’s family barring Murad himself. And while Itrat loves her husband, she hasn’t handled this situation well herself, hopping over to her mother’s house regularly while recognizing that her husband is not given even the slightest bit of respect. He is even expected to help with Itrat’s family matters, though a phone call with a simple “thank you” is never received. While son-in-law egos tend to grate on the nerves, in Faisal’s case, we can see why he feels the way he does, particularly because of the mother-in-law he has to deal with. Ali Safina and Rehma Zaman are likable in their roles as a young couple in love who are realizing love without approval is not easy either.
Honestly, the entire supporting cast is excellent, particularly Irsa Ghazal, Noor Ul Hassan, Uzma Hassan and Tipu Sharif, who are all doing justice to their roles. Coming up, we’re going to see a major tussle over Mannat’s wedding outfit. While Nafees wants Mannat to wear their mother’s wedding outfit, Razia wants Mannat to wear her wedding outfit. This is an important track and if society really wants to learn from this, it will be a good lesson – a woman’s wedding day is her special day and she should be allowed to make her own decisions…..especially when her own mother’s wedding dress is involved. It will be interesting to see how Mannat and Murad handle this situation…..but quite honestly, Mannat should see Razia’s behavior as a warning sign for what’s to come. Overall, “Mannat Murad” is an excellent show with well-written characters and an interesting chain of events.
