Haya and ‘Thursday-TB-Teaser’ Syndrome
Today, my original plan was to write my thoughts on Gun’s interesting post on ‘What is Murtasim’s original sin?’, but as usual, TB-team has a way of ruining everyone’s plans. Since Ms. Nooran has mastered the theory of ‘Unpredictability’, by putting this post, I might be putting my foot in my mouth on Thursday night, next week, but oh, well! So, I am going to try and stay clear from predicting anything – ‘try’ being the most significant term here.
Disclaimer: It is going to be a very long post, and my thoughts are all over the place. So, there is a high chance that this post may lose its way in the middle, but I promise I will bring it back to the track before the end – just like with our beloved drama! Also, keep in mind, I know nothing about story writing and literature – all my ramblings below come from the point of being an avid reader. Nothing more and nothing less.
Who is Haya? Haya is the main villain in TB’s plot. In my opinion, Nooran’s TB is about the ‘Epic love story of the KMK’ – that is her basic plot. The director said in his interview that the ‘contract’ is the hook of their story. Understandable as it was what pushed the story’s motion from that point onward. TB fandom is a testament for that – the hype of the contract breach and all! So, that leaves us to resolve the other major plot points - the revelation of Meerab’s parentage, the consummation/ contract breach and identity crisis/ separation, the dilemma of the main leads, finally, the climax and denouement (again, just my pov!). All the rest have been sub-plots/ twist and turns etc., but monumental (at least some) to show the character developments and to navigate between plot points. Coming back to the original question, where does Haya’s character fit in? You’d realize that she has no place in any of the major plot points, but she is significant in driving all the sub-plots/ twists (Nope, I would not say that the contract breach and separation happened because of Haya – Please…! I would not give her that importance; these two has much larger issues between them than that!).
Haya is one of the two constant characters in the TB world, the other being Malik Zubair. Why constant? All the other characters have either progressed or circumstantially fluctuated. Haya’s is the same as she was shown in the Ep.01 (MZ is the arch nemesis of KMK and has less screen space to elaborate the character progression, so we can ignore him with just the ‘negative’ tag.). Haya is shown as an orphan, taken into the family with open arms, given all the luxuries etc. etc. But she is always considered ‘like a daughter’, not as the daughter. The underline is clear; you are family, but not as much as family as the others of the family. She was constantly threatened to be sent away to her paternal grandmother. She is partially a ‘charity’ case for the family. So, you’d find that she constantly tries to find her hold to be belonging to the family, keeps emphasizing how she is a part of the family etc. She finally finds her ultimate ticket to her goal – heir of the family. If she becomes the lady of the house, her position will be unshaken. MB cannot tell her off, it will be her house to rule – the supremacy. That is the basis of her obsession over KMK, everyone is hoodwinked into think that she is in love with him since they were children – but it is her mirage.
And there is not a single positive attribute to her character – nada! She has always been shown as a selfish, ‘opportunist’; take that initial sequence where Mariyam is getting ready for a party, the moment MB questioned about the visit, Haya whitewashed herself throwing Mariyam under the bus. She was selfish and after 50+ episodes, she still is. This scene was important, because as we have seen in subsequent episodes, Mariyam is the only person who truly considered Haya as family. She was always considerate towards her, but as it goes, Haya was shown to be the most inconsiderate and insensitive towards Mariyam. She is detestable (and it doesn’t help that the portrayal is also a bit mediocre. No offence to the actor, but except for the slyness, the act is always monotonous and repetitive, dialogue delivery has the same tone mostly – screeching sort of tone, and the bobbing of the head while delivering dialogues sometimes to drive the point home, seems so irritating!). So, Haya is the prototypical antagonist of the TB plot – villain of KMK’s love story. Male protagonist ending up with the antagonist can be considered with an infinite series, where there will be space for further resolution. But if that happened with a finite series (especially, since we are at the end), then either I have made a colossal mistake in identifying the protagonists of the story or the writer has a preposterous imagination!
Haya was, is and will be there till the end of the story. During Haya and KMK’s first encounter (Ep. 01), KMK asked ‘why this sudden change?’ when she was trying to offer him water. So, Haya’s epiphany of her 'love' had come right before the story starts as we know it. And pre-marriage, KMK always rudely dismissed her advances. Post-marriage, his dismissals became more soft and subtle (though I’d have liked him to behave differently in the ‘soup scene’ after fish-allergy, oh, well!), but always putting forth and emphasizing Meerab’s place in his life. This, I assume, stemmed from him realizing his feelings for his wife, in his pov, he could empathize Haya for her unrequited feelings – he is gravely mistaken, there is no match for her obsession! For him, Haya is his responsibility, a part of his family, that is all! His emotions are sorted and there is no confusion in his mind, hence it cannot be any sort of issue in his relationship with his wife – he constantly has shown and emphasised his wife’s position in his life, he has declared his love for his wife, etc., so according to him, Haya has no place between them, no importance in shaping their dynamics (Also, according to KMK, Rohail is a different scenario. It needs a separate discussion. So, let’s not bring him to the equation here.). TBH, I do not believe Meerab had any ‘trust’ issues there either – she is possessive, jealous and knew Haya’s obsession over her husband, but she also knows his feelings for her (for Meerab), she trusts him. Look how she walks and takes her position in the table in front of her husband like the queen she is without any hesitation, while Haya is talking to MK in Ep. 39 – she is confident and knows what she is to him. That is why I refuse to believe that whatever that happened between the couple on the Doomsday night, has anything to do directly with neither Haya nor Rohail – they were just thrown in to build up Meerab and Murtasim’s emotional vulnerability leading to the eventual collapse.
Does Murtasim unsee all Haya’s plotting? Firstly, and foremostly, Haya needs to stay in the story till the end, so any punishment before that, will be temporary. Secondly, I do not think it is KMK’s character to get involved in the matters of the house/ family members. It has always been shown as MB’s territory. And by any chance, if Meerab had decided to rise to her ‘Khannum’ position and punish Haya, that’d have been a treat (in my dreams, of course!). So, his threats to throw Haya out of the house, are just that! Unless, KMK develop an alter-personality and decides to shoot Haya point blank, he can do nothing. However, there were certain things that cannot be ignored. After Haya’s gimmick during Naurez’s meeting, KMK seemed calculative and cautious with his approach when he apologized her. It looked contradictory as he had just come out after shouting his wife and here, he was apologizing to the culprit; did he not know that it was her doing? He definitely did, hence was the apology. Haya can stay in her dreamland with his apology, that will help to keep his wife away from MB’s wrath. And was he so stupid and ignorant to dismiss Haya’s strategic planning to demean Meerab through Maryam’s elopement? No, he wasn’t. He was dealing with his wife’s betrayal – not the one Haya suggested, but the one transpired between the couple. Before the ‘Zeher lag thi ho’ dialogue, when Haya started rambling, you can see the change in his expressions – Starting with a ‘seriously! You are pareshaan! You gotta be kidding me!’ look to a bit of melancholy when Maryam’s name was mentioned to a blank ‘implausible’ look – and then calling her ‘poison’. It was said with such hidden malice, the slight hiss in the tone, the unflinching look, calmness of his demeanour and the wait till the words sink (without rushing away), increase the impact of those three words in thousand folds and it cannot get any more humiliating than that. But of course, Haya Madam has no self-respect! And regarding addressing what Haya did on the day of Maryam’s Rukhsati night, honestly, as I mentioned earlier, till these two resolve their own issues, it will serve no purpose. There should be no space for a third person in a relationship, and if these two sort out their own inner personal demons, neither Haya nor Rohail would make any difference in their relationship’s dynamics.
Finally, we are almost reaching the end of my very, very long rant! Let’s put the foot in the mouth! Murtasim Khan has just realized that his ‘mohabbat’ for his wife is actually turned into ‘ishq’, not to mention his repeated declarations on Meerab being his wife till the ‘qayamat’. He said to his uncle that the ‘hope’ is all he has, that they both should keep the hope alive. Most importantly, he has realized that she has gone by her will and if she comes that will also by her will as well – he looked awfully confident while saying that! So, what is he playing at by willingly suggesting marriage to Haya? I believe he has something up his sleeve. If MB coerced him to the marriage, and it get interrupted by some mean, that is understandable – honestly, I thought that is where whole yesterday’s episode and Haya gaslighting MB were heading. But of course, TB belongs to genre of ‘Thriller’, especially, the teasers of Wednesday episodes are exemplary of thrillers! No, I do not believe that he will marry her, but what is he wielding under the deception of marriage?
I have written this in one of my previous posts; for Meerab to fully find her identity, KMK needs to find her. But she will not let him find her without fully finding herself. To solve this paradox, a divine intervention is needed. Figuring out the form of this intervention (in Nooran’s script) would be the uphill battle we fans will have to face till we reach the climax!
P.S.
There are few seemingly inconsequential incidents that happened during the last couple of episodes, that I am unable to shake off. Though I have couple of my own theories, since I vowed to myself that I won’t predict anything for the story written by NM, I am listing them just to ponder!
Bhakthu went with KMK’s greetings to Rohail and the guy is missing since then. Where is he? What ‘secrets’ KMK said that are buried in Bhaktu’s heart?
Farukh, who was charitable enough to take Meerab to his relatives for a shelter and all, insisted that she pays her bus fare at their first encounter, so that the only piece of jewelry (with a recognisable pendant) she had, could be handed over to him.
At Farukh’s house, KMK found Meerab’s prescription (obviously the doctor forgot to write the patient’s name, but KMK is smart. He figured it is of a pregnant lady!).
From where will Farukh find the money needed for Meerab’s medical care? Pawn/ sell the chain with the diamond pendant or his rikshaw?
Edited by anu41982 - 2 years ago
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