When “Yunhi” began, the show initially had its share of flaws. However, as this drama moved forward, it began to catch eyeballs for its unique family story, religion-driven hero (in the best way), depiction of how culture and religion tend to be muddled and a beautiful love story between East and West. “Yunhi” has won our hearts over the past few months – but can there be too much of a good thing? After episode 30, the clear answer is…..yes. There comes a point where a show begins to feel like it’s stretching simply for the sake of racking up more episodes, diminishing the show of quality content. “Yunhi” has reached that point. Starring Bilal Ashraf and Maya Ali in lead roles, “Yunhi” also stars Behroze Sabzwari, Deepak Perwani, Uzma Beg, Tazeen Hussain, Tahira Imam, Khaqan Shahnawaz, Laiba Khurram, Manzoor Qureshi, Maha Hassan and others. “Yunhi” has been written by Sarwat Nazir and directed by Ehtashamuddin.
In episode 30, the wedding preparations are in full-swing for Zulfi (Mujtaba Ali) and Iqbal’s (Tazeen Hussain) wedding. However, things are in a tense space for Dawood (Bilal Ashraf) and Kim (Maya Ali), as Kim still plans on going back to the US – while Dawood has no such intention. The two love each other, but aren’t quite sure how to make their marriage work when they want different things…..though what Kim’s reasoning is for leaving or what she wants exactly is not clear. It’s perfectly acceptable to want to live where you grew up, but there’s also the point of….simply being reasonable. Dawood has career opportunities in Pakistan, has his family unit and a desire to give back to his country. Kim keeps speaking of opportunities aimlessly without recognizing that Dawood would have to go through his medical exams and complete a residency before being able to earn any real money – and it’s hilarious that she doesn’t even consider this worthy of a discussion. What does Kim do exactly? What are her educational qualifications? What is her job? Kim does not mention any of these things as an important reason for going back and honestly, that conversation would make us understand her a whole lot more than we do at this point, because at present, the audience vote is entirely in Dawood’s favor.
Meanwhile, the second track of note is Daniyal’s (Khaqan Shahnawaz) spiraling of character. He has begun to hold resentment in his heart – resentment at Husna’s rejection, resentment of Dawood’s marriage to Kim and the doors it has opened up for Dawood, resentment at not being able to study abroad (with what grades?)……logical or illogical, Daniyal has begun to blame the world for every problem he faces. And this resentment is only intensifying – and creates a rift between Dawood and Kim.
For several weeks, “Yunhi” has managed to skirt away from any of the earlier criticism towards Kim’s “American” behaviors as Kim has settled into Pakistani life. However with episode 30, we are right back to criticizing the way Kim has been written. Kim decides to meet her beloved ex, George, who has suddenly just landed in Pakistan for a couple of days. Who does this? This is not logical. Anyway, Kim happily goes to meet George, breaking news of her marriage and then agreeing to take George around the city the next day. In a hilariously ironic and poorly executed sequence, Daniyal somehow lands up at the exact same spot Kim and George are sitting, which is supposedly where George is staying. Why is George staying at a café near a university that university kids frequent? These small things matter in the grand scheme of believability and this one doesn’t make sense – much like most of this episode. Moving on, Daniyal takes a picture of George and Kim….and then blackmails Dawood with it, asking for money in exchange for his silence. This is a new low for Daniyal and has essentially made him unredeemable. When Suraiyya (Maha Hassan) tells him she’s ashamed to be his sister, those words are well-earned by Daniyal. Can we take a moment to praise Khaqan Shahnawaz for this performance though? What a talented young man who has really made us detest his character, while also allowing us to recognize that he’s just an aimless young man who has yet to find his path – and morals.
While all of this is fine and well, it’s Kim’s reaction to Dawood’s displeasure that is the most irritating part of this episode. While Kim winds up confessing about meeting George herself, her beliefs towards the appropriateness of her behavior is indigestible. Dawood expresses his displeasure at Kim meeting Dawood and while Kim irritatingly continues to state that George is her good friend, Dawood quickly reminds her that George is not her friend – he’s her ex. At the end of this conversation, where Dawood kindly and politely asks Kim to stay away from her ex boyfriend, Kim retorts that she expects him to trust her and he can’t control her like this. This is a mind-blowing moment, because all the work that has been done on Kim’s character comes crashing down with this illogical behavior. To set all misconceptions to rest, it does not matter which society one comes from – Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Morocco, you name it -, a married woman hanging out with her ex-boyfriend will be met with disapproval. America is being promoted as this uber progressive society with no boundaries, but the fact is that even in America, a spouse will protest their partner spending any alone time with someone they were once in a relationship with. This is not a cultural thing – it’s a marriage and spouse situation.
Unfortunately with this episode, “Yunhi” appears to have entered the “dragging for no reason” phase. Dawood and Kim have fallen in love and should have a mature discussion to decide how to move forward with their relationship and their living situation. Instead, they are now going to fight over Kim refusing to stop spending time with her ex boyfriend…..who has landed in Pakistan…..14 hours away…..for 2 days. Please make it make sense. This is what we call a “filler” storyline and these filler storylines tend to ruin the entire essence of a show. Unfortunately, episode 30 is a huge let-down. We can only hope this storyline is buried quickly and the remaining episodes retain the impact the show has had over the last several weeks.