With so much time on hand, I thought why not catch up on the much discussed and popular Ehd-E-Wafa. I am a new Ahad fan and am binge watching all his dramas. Ye Dil Mera is the one that set me on Ahad exploration and I'm glad I found Yakeen Ka Safar and Ehd-E-Wafa as a result.
Overall Opinion:
This drama had all the elements of being a successful hit show –School/College life to trigger nostalgia, bromance to remind us all of our friends, love stories and patriotism. In my opinion this was a well made and balanced drama with equal importance to all the four leads. Although only Ahad’s career graph was shown, the character development was shown for all the characters.
Character Analysis (In alphabetical order)
Saad
Saad comes from a defense household where rules are to be respected.His family is quite supportive of him but his father is not as expressive as Saad would like him to be. Saad seeks his father’s approval and appreciation. This has made in him slightly insecure with him and he is not as confident as let’s say Shahzain. As much as Saad would like to stick by the rules, at times he does want to break a few. However, as seen in couple of instances, he never initiates anything which is against the rule but upon being pushed by another person, he tends to give in. Few examples I noted in initial episodes were the fixed soccer match which Shahzain had worked the deal on and Saad was just following him, after being caught by the warden and warned by the principal, Saad is initially reluctant to go out again but when Shahzain and others push him he agrees. Again when Shahzain convinces him to follow Dua on the same night. Later on we see how Saad is unable to choose between medicine and defense and upon Dua’s confrontation he does not apply for the medical school and instead go to PMA. It is after his military training that he begins to find his strength. Here in the training, even when his teammates give up on their marching performance, Saad steps up and gets them to try harder. When a student is dismissed for cheating in the exams, while others are sympathetic Saad is quite clear that the punishment is well deserved. As his training progresses, he is a changed man who has found his true self. He is able to forgive and move on, which he was unable to earlier.
Saad’s personal and professional growth was covered in much more detail that the other characters. Since the drama was co-produced by the defense team, it is only natural for them to focus more on their military angle. Ahad as Captain Saad was quite impressive. His scenes with his family especially his mother were absolute delight to watch.Although Dua and him seemed to have a nice cute chemistry before marriage, I felt the chemistry was lacking severely in the after marriage scenes. Dua had a constant expression of irritation with Saad after he was deployed.
Shahzain
Every story needs a gray character, Shahzain was the one in this story. I felt his character had the strongest backstory and reasons on why Shahzain was the way he was. Shahzain comes from a very wealthy family and he has enjoyed great privileges growing up. He was treated like royalty , surrounded with servants, all his wishes fulfilled and he never had to worry about any rules or hearing “No”for an answer because his Dadaji was quite okay to bend the rules for his beloved grandchild. He must have been an intelligent student since he made it to Lawrence College. Unlike his friends who had a career objective, he had none because of his upbringing. Among the four, he was sort of the default leader because he was used to being one from his childhood. His sense of right or wrong was pretty skewed up. Everything was right for him, unless he got caught. Be it sneaking out of the college, initiating the conversation with Dua &her cousin, or the physical brawl with Raheel. Even when Saad is caught by Raheel, it is Shahzain who pulls Sherry. His inability to take a no or to be told that he is wrong is what ruins his relationship with his friends and family. Not only does he not realize his own mistakes most times, even when he does ;he still tries to justify himself in front of his people and want them to support him no matter what. As he grows in his career, he gains more power and he becomes more self-centered. He wants to win by hook or crook – be it against Saad or his brother-in-law. Eventually he does come around but it was a little too convenient I felt.
Shariq
This is the character that was least impressive to me among the four. Shariq is the one who seems least invested in the SSG friendship.His life has been full of hardships and while he values his friends he cannot be as carefree as them because he has to take care of his family. While he wants to be morally right all the time, sometimes when the circumstances push him he tends to be more practical than emotional. We saw this side of him when the other three were suspended from college whereas he was not. When the other two wanted to go to police station to help Saad, Shariq is the one who stops them for the fear of all of them being arrested. Also later when Shahzain asks him to choose between Saad and him, he was practical enough to realize that this friendship is now short-lived. Same when it came to his sister’s relationship. When it comes to his career,I think it took off way too easily and I was not convinced at all.His character almost had no growth from the college days to when he is a big time news anchor. His personal and professional growth both where underwhelming to me as it was not written well.
Shehryar
this character went from my least favorite to most favorite by the end of the series. Sherry is the bond that keeps SSG together. He is the thoughtful and mature among all of them. He acts as the mediator,pacifier and the understanding one. If not for him and his stepping up act, the four would have never reunited. While Saad and Shahzain were fighting their egos, Sherry was the gracious one to make the first move both times. Sherry was the one who was most affected by leaving Saad behind after the police encounter. Even after Shahzain’s truth about the shooting comes out, Sherry never makes it a big issue and discuss it with Shariq or Saad. He confronts Shahzain and leaves it at that. He tries to cover up for his friends – be it Shahzain’s proposal to Dua or Shahzain’s self-inflicted gunshot.He is the one who is most invested in the SSG friendship and also the one with highest emotional quotient. His emotional outburst at seeing Firdaus sir and Khurshid at his office or be it his approach towards Masooma or even towards his father n his profession, he is always respectful and giving. I hardly paid attention to Sherry in initial episodes but by the end of the show he was the one who grew on me most, as the character and as the actor. I also liked how his journey to being CSS was not all cakewalk unlike the other three.
What EEW got right:
1. The tight storyline.
2. Not too preachy but still effective dialog.
3. Impressive supporting cast.
4. Gulzar was quite a find.
What Could be better:
1. Very Very disappointed in the looks of the characters in college days. Except for Ahad who himself could barely pass as a college student, the other three looked way too old to be in the college premises. They could have at least given them a more boyish hairstyle, preferably clean shaved look for OKB and Wahaj. Also,their clothes and outfits were way too cool and sophisticated for college boys. The fact that except Sherry none of them have any change in their look even after 6-8 yrs was even more disappointing.The least they could have done is given them a different look.
2. Female leads were like an add-on with not much contribution. Alizeh’s performance was strictly okayish. Rani the character was too loud for my choice. Why was Saad’s sister even there in the drama.
3. Underwhelming chemistry between Ahad and Alizeh. Their chemistry was effective only in initial episodes. They seemed more distant and almost like strangers in their post wedding scenes. Especially after seeing the fabulous chemistry Ahad shares with Sajal, anything lesser is unimpressive. I do not know if the zero physical interaction between Saad and Dua was intentional. If hugs were too much, they could have at least shown some hand holding or closer proximity. It stood out especially in the scenes when Ahad surprises Dua on her birthday. Like which wife would not run to (and hug) her husband in that moment. Also the scene where Ahad is leaving after the birthday,Dua stands there at a distance like a wax statue...zero expressions on face or body. Again who behaves so distantly when their loved one is being sent to war with no certainty whether or not they would return.
4. War scenes and its execution.
5. Humayun’s cameo felt so forced. So was the Abhinandan angle.Felt like those were added to appease the audience.
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