Zee, Monday - Friday, 9.30 pm
Casts: Vidya Sinha, Karan Singh Grover, Rishabh Sinha, Surbhi Jyoti
Qubool Hai, Zee's new Muslim social drama set in Bhopal, is high on style, infact very high on style. So it cleverly overshadows the little substance it has to offer. But we are not complaining. Two good-looking men — in great clothes, leather jackets, wearing oversized glasses and loads of attitude, not to forget displaying their rippling muscles and six-packs — are not an everyday sight we get to see on primetime television! Bonus: there is a pretty young woman too.
Asad and Ayan are stepbrothers. They are as different as the clichd chalk and cheese. Yet there is bromance with the two, kicking some serious butt among other things. Asad, the older one has a few bones to pick with, with his estranged father while Ayan too grapples with their families' problems. There are half a dozen sisters (we are yet to figure out who is who) and the only thing we have gathered here is Ayan's family is desperately trying to marry off one of the girls who is dark-complexioned and always simpering because she doesn't get a groom!
On the other side, there is Zoya from New York who has come down to India to live with her family who has set up an arranged nikaah from which she promptly escapes and that's when she crosses paths (in serious Bollywood style, moving breeze, slo-mo expressions, hair flying, dupatta flying, the pehli nazar, the works) with the two brothers in a masjid. Precious footage is spent on the two men — heavily inspired by Salman Khan (the younger, unkempt Ayan even spouts lines from Salman movies like Maine Pyaar Kiya, Bodyguard) — strutting around, even engaging in a perfectly choreographed fight sequence!
Things are moving at a fairly good pace right now with Zoya bumping into Asad and Ayan at regular and sometimes irritating intervals. There is the usual pow-wow between them and you know it won't be long before a love triangle starts forming. Meanwhile, the abbu-ammi-and-the-second-ammi drama too is on, simultaneously. If not for all that style, the show would have been a regular prime time drama. Also, the makers could have gone a little easy in the costume and make-up departments. We mean, ok, we get it, it's a Muslim social, but women in elaborate, hennaed hair-dos, dressed in swathes of silks and shiny jewellery are an eye sore. Also, the show looks t too prim and propah (not that we see too many 'realistic' shows on TV today, but this one overdoes it) for our comfort.
Surbhi Jyoti is pretty and confident as Zoya, Rishabh Sinha as the cool dude Ayan has great presence, he's super confident and charming to the core, the best part is he holds his own against Karan Singh Grover, the original dude! KSG plays the intense, angry young man effortlessly. What we love about the characters is the chemistry between the two brothers, after a long time, we have seen two men who actually look and behave like brothers and that takes the show a couple of notches higher than it is.
Verdict: Watch it for some serious eye candy
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
