By Maliha Rehman
You could get lost in the winding alleys of Jeevan Nagar. You could roam them, watching them through the eyes of the colorful characters that live within it. You’ll fret, laugh and root for favorites – and you won’t be able to stop watching.
Director Kashif Nisar and Green Entertainment have spun a riveting story in Jeevan Nagar. The drama relies on multiple sub-plots: the amorous offers made to Munni, the single, modern woman who has just moved into the area and how she fends them; a sweet neighborhood romance thwarted by societal rivalries; the power wielded by Babbar Shah who rules the area along with his gang of trusted thugs; the machinations of Babbar Shah’s enemies and finally, the emotions and squabbles amongst a group of intersex ‘khwaja-saras’ living in another area, ruled by a ‘Guru’ who is Babbar Shah’s lookalike.
A first fleeting glance may leave you a tad confused as the characters go about their respective lives. But slowly, all the sub-plots begin to interlink. It’s not your usual cookie-cutter drama where you can skip out a few scenes here and there. When you enter Jeevan Nagar, you want to catch a glimpse of every nook and cranny. You want to watch Munni try to coerce the women in the neighborhood to join her gym, you want to see how she looks her admirers in the eye and tells them to get lost. And then, you want to laugh when she interacts with Babbar Shah and leaves the accomplished gang-leader tongue-tied. Also, you want the young romance between Yasir and Nida to survive despite the tussles between their families and then, you are curious about the group of khwaja-saras and the jealousies raging between them.
The stellar ensemble cast is a particular highlight. Sohail Ahmed is, as expected, brilliant, playing the solemn, commanding Babbar Shah and simultaneously, the khwaja-sara ‘Guru’. Rabia Butt also proves her mettle as the forthright Munni, holding her own while her eyes speak volumes about past pains that her character may have had endured. The rest of the cast is equally powerful, including Noor-ul-Hassan, Kashif Mehmood, Tahira Imam, Kinza Malik, Saqib Sumeer and Amna Malick, among others.
Five episodes in, Munni has proven a point and extracted an apology from Babbar Shah. Enemies from a rival gang have captured Guru and his troop and are hoping to undermine Babbar Shah’s power by replacing him with his doppelganger khwaja-sara. Yasir and Nida’s romance has been discovered, leading to fights in the neighborhood between the ‘karoobaris’ (business-men) and the ‘naikay’ (workers). The story is a serious one with social commentaries intelligently woven into the twists and turns but writer Awais Ahmed has also added in doses of jokes and wit, keeping things entertaining.
Most significantly, you really can’t tell where the story is going. Just like you can’t wait to turn the page when you are reading a good book, you wait eagerly to watch the next episode of this drama in order to find out what happens next. And you can’t wait to know what happens next. That’s the beauty of this ‘nagar’. Once you get lost within it, you don’t really want to get out.
What do you think?