The ‘Hamsafar’ fever!
Every Saturday people of all ages, belonging from different ethnic groups, believing in different ideologies of love and hatred alike, wait for the drama serial ‘Humsafar’ at hum TV. One wonders why everyone has gotten this ‘Hamsafar’ fever. Why at every university, college, and school majority of the students are abuzz about Khirad and Ashar and what is happening in their lives on TV? What is after all so captivating about this particular story that other stories lack or lacked in the past?
Movies like Sabrina, released in 1954, telling the story of an ordinary girl falling in love with a rich man have been one of those tons and millions of love stories are forefathers have grown up with. Our age has not been much different either. Every now and then a movie from Hollywood or Bollywood would somehow try to sway us that nothing is impossible if your heart is pure and your love is strong. They have exploited this particular storyline to such an extent that many of us have now started considering love to be a cliché. But such movies are watched once and forgotten. They do not live with the viewer or make him or her go back to the cinema and watch those movies again and again. Then why is ‘Humsafar’ grabbing so much attention of the viewers with its age-old story line? Why are people vying to watch its latest episode while some die-hard fans go to YouTube and watch the old episodes again and again?
The reason can be contributed to a number of factors. Firstly, the story is not so clichéd as it might appear at face values. From the promos one got the idea that this must be a story like the long charade of dramas where a man falls in love with a woman and then something happens and he is out of love with this wretched soul. To be accurate (not profound!) this is actually what happens. But the intricacies of the human emotions that accompany this falling in love and this love’s eventual doom are what make humsafar so special. The credit for this definitely goes to Sarmad Khosat for making the actors act so beautifully that their experiences begin to seem life-like. Moreover, the cinematography of this drama is unique and different than the typical camera shots that are present in most of the Pakistani dramas due to the influence of Indian dramas. Moreover, there is nothing artificial or superficial about ‘Hamsafar’. While watching it one feels as if you are also a part of the story feeling the emotions of each of the characters whether it be negative or positive.
The portrayal of Khirad by Mahira Khan makes many of the women, irrespective of their age, to relate to her in every possible way. Most of the time one observes Mahira wearing no make-up whatsoever but still looking captivating and beautiful, while the portrayal of Ashar by Fawad Khan has made every woman drool and to covet to have a husband like him. Where the protagonists have made people so eager the antagonists, namely Sara and Asher’s mother, have also made their mark. Both of them have carried the negative roles with such grace and solidity that one feels compelled to hate them till eternity.
Although love is considered more like a sheer household commodity nowadays, it is also true that the purity of true love touches the heart no matter what. Perhaps the purity with which Farhat ishtiaq wrote this novel and the solidity with which the drama is made is what is touching millions not only in Pakistan but also abroad!
