With Sajal Aly climbing the steps of success with each drama and film that she does, there is no doubt the actress has carved her niche in a market that is saturated with countless faces and numerous talents. However, there’s always been one complaint against her, and that’s the redundancy of her role as a damsel in distress. Well, if Hum TV’s latest show, O Rungreza is anything to go by, get ready to see Sajal in a role like never before.
Starring Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas in lead roles, the drama narrates the story of a ‘Shayar Gharana’, where the sound of oration and prose fill the noise when the sound of countless acts of misogyny – mostly by Nouman Ejaz’s stern character – isn’t filling up space.
Both Bilal Abbas and Sajal Aly manage to engage the audience with their chemistry in the show.
Delving into a story of Sassi (Sajal Aly) and Qasim (Bilal Abbas) as two maternal cousins living in the same house, while being poles apart in their understanding of life, the plot deals with life under the patriarch Shayar Khayyam Sani (Nouman Ejaz), whose interests lie more in Sonia (Sana Fakhar) than in his own family. And amidst all of this, we find Sassi as the sharp and borderline manipulative girl next door, who shares a bittersweet relationship with her mother, and who more often than not knows how to get things done –often at Qasim’s expense.
Although the first episode manages to not let knots loosen up, and remains quite obscure about its narrative, the basic story suggests that we might see Sassi at crossroads about her interest in Qasim in the near future, all the while noticing her father’s slumping interest in her mother, and his ever-growing admiration of Sonia – a possible old flame.
Although only spoken of in the first episode, Sana Fakhar’s presence in the drama can already be felt.
Written by Saji Gul, the show promises to be different, and although, it may be too early to decide, the show does veer towards a new approach to showing family ties, infidelities, love, and life. However, only time will tell where Sassi’s life takes us in O Rungreza, but for now, she knows where she wants to go and this looks promising enough to keep tuned to her journey.
Keep checking this space for more reviews of the show in the coming weeks.
