After a lot of wait and anticipation, Dunk starring Bilal Abbas and Sana Javed along with veteran actor Naumaan Ejaz finally aired on Wednesday.
The episode introduced us to Professor Humayun (Naumaan Ejaz) who is accused of harassment by Amal (Sana Javed) and her fiancé Haider (Bilal Abbas). Media is involved and they, along with other students, threaten to boycott the university, putting the institute’s reputation at risk. As a result, the professor is suspended without proven guilty.
The angry crowd of students wants to punish the accused without a trial. Haider is hot-headed and will leave no stones unturned to find justice while Professor Humayun steals the show as the one accused of harassment. Amal’s expressions and dialogues, on the other hand, make you feel her pain and suffering.
Well-connected scenes introduced us to the major characters in the play also touching upon issues such as ‘log kiya kahaingay [what will people say?]‘ and why women often stay silent when harassed. We see the family dynamics of the three characters directly involved in the incident.
Dunk looks like a story that is layered with more than just one theme. There’s obviously more to the story than what we have been shown in the first episode. Why is Haider so aggressive? He seems like trouble (like Wajih was in Cheekh) although we would have liked a little change and experiment in his look for the drama. It appears that Haider’s older brother, played by Fahad Sheikh, will have a strong role in the story, as seen in the teasers.
Haider looks like a shady character, for now, however, one cannot help but comment on his onscreen chemistry with Amal. He shows selfless love towards her while her character shows that a victim of harassment blames herself before anyone else does. She also tries to convince him to break the engagement.
“Sometimes reality is not what it seems and it takes ages to unfold the truth hidden in the layers of lies,” read a caption on the official ARY Digital channel on YouTube. Dunk had a promising first episode, packed with brilliant performances. From the first episode, the drama has set a fast-paced narrative bringing all stories into play.
It’s a secure bet that the #MeToo movement will go down in history as the world is finally facing the realities of gender-based harassment and discrimination. While most are genuine cases where women have actually suffered, there are cases of false allegations, too.
Written by Mohsin Ali and directed by Badar Mehmood, Dunk is an intense watch and we look forward to an even more gripping story in the upcoming episodes. You can watch the first episode here:
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