By Maliha Rehman
It looks like a movie.
This is possibly the most popular observation that you’ll get to hear about Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi’s ‘Ishq Hua’. The upcoming 7th Sky Entertainment drama stars Haroon Kadwani and Komal Meer as leads and the trailer which has just released looks very, very filmy.
And what a film it would be! Punches fly and gunshots ring through the air against the backdrop of a speeding train, the zipping lights of the city and a house ablaze with fire. The dialogues are dramatic and there seems to be plenty of romance. She teases him by pretending to shoot him, he swings her around, they share besotted glances and as the trailer progresses, you see them tearful, possibly struggling to save their love.
A love story, after all, wouldn’t be suitably filmy without an evil villain and possibly a scheming other woman putting a spanner in the works! Ishq Hua appears to have both.
Here’s what one can tell from the trailer: Haroon will be playing Tabrez, a tough guy, street-smart, handy with a gun and well-acquainted with crime. Despite this, he’ll also obviously be a good guy, with a moral code and a soft side to him which we will get to see when he meets Minsa, aka Komal Meer. Minsa seems to be a bit of a firecracker and the two will inevitably fall in love. One doesn’t know whether Haroon and Komal – acting together for the first time – will be able to click well on screen but so far, they look great.
Both actors have proven their mettle with some fine past performances, they are very good-looking and they seem to have been styled very well in this drama. But will they be pros at channeling chemistry? You do get a whiff of magic when he – quiet, contained, drawn to her – and she – wide-eyed, cheerful, trusting – stare at each other across a doorway. It seems that he will be her savior when life will throw obstacles their way and while Komal makes a beautiful lead – I have often said that she is Disney Princess-like – I hope that she doesn’t just cry helplessly and has the chutzpah of the modern-day, devil-may-care heroine.
Needless to say, the path of Tabrez and Minsa’s true love will be strewn with fistfights, gunshots and tears. This will particularly be thanks to Bahaar, played by Sohail Sameer, who looks great and seems to be in his element as the immoral, gun-chugging crime-lord. There’s also an ‘other woman’ calculated to make the audience seethe – Rukhsar played by Sehar Hashmi.
It’s an enticing concoction and helming it is a team that’s a pro at knowing exactly what works with the audience. Producers Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi can be credited for introducing dramas with cinematic feels to TV and with Ishq Hua, they may just step up the game with the aid of heightened visuals and calculated doses of action and romance. The script has been written by Nooran Makhdoom, of Tere Bin fame, and she unarguably has a penchant for adding masala and romance to a story. Syed Wajahat Hussain directs and his expertise in storytelling may just turn out to be one of the drama’s main highlights.
As drama trailers go, this one is certainly special. But will Ishq Hua, with its cinema-like trailer, also narrate a story that is crisp and well-conceived like a great movie? Or will it drag, akin to most desi dramas? Most significantly, will Haroon and Komal manage to create the kind of chemistry that makes the story memorable for all times to come? Will we sigh and get smitten when Tabrez and Minsa lock eyes?
“Chhorne ke leeyay hath nahin thama tha, aur jo haath mein thamoon, ussay maut ka farishta hee alag kar sakta hai …” Haroon’s voice rings out at the end of the trailer.
A till death do us apart romance – this could be great stuff!
Annu
June 11, 2024Episode kb aayga