When I first saw the trailer on TV I thought to myself, why would anyone want to watch an extension of a movie they saw two years ago. Watching it over and over again, the trailer kind of grew on me and I thought to myself, spending an hour with Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed on TV, replaying a simple and basic love story, can’t be so bad. And it wasn’t.
In this age of technology, terminators and transformers, a refreshingly simple love story with the trappings of a fairy tale is actually very welcome.
The Bin Roye drama, aired yesterday, began with Saba (Mahira) who is married to Irtiza (Humayun) and is shown walking into the sea-side home that he once shared with Saman (Armeena). Saba is visibly devastated as she walks into memories Irtiza and Saman shared and then flashback, the story takes us back almost ten years when Saba is ten or twelve and Irtiza is 19 or 20.
Of course, some things are a bit too far fetched but then the human brain accepts whatever it wants to. I mean, it is hard to imagine a 19 year old giving so much attention to a much younger cousin, to the extent of braiding her hair. The play is written in this century and this doesn’t resonate too realistically. Episode one immediately imparts the following information: Saba’s parents are Javed Sheikh and Zeba Bakhtiar, who gave up their other daughter – Saman – for adoption to Zeba’s sister who could not have children. Irtiza is Javed’s elder brother’s son, who lost both his parents when he was 8 and has been brought up in this mansion by his daadi and uncle/aunt (Saba’s parents). There are other cousins in the picture too but Saba and Irtiza are inseparable, being best friends. Naturally, Saba’s feelings develop into something much deeper and when we fast-forward to when she’s 20-something and he’s 30-something, she is in love. To him she’s just his favourite younger cousin, a brat of a best friend.
Humayun Saeed looks a lot older than he did in Dillagi. But despite his ‘maturity’ he can’t see that his young cousin is madly obsessed with him. No one else picks up on the tell-tale signs either. I often wonder how Fawad Khan (original choice for this role) would have been and I think Humayun is actually a better choice. He comfortably looks the part of the elder cousin and allows Mahira to shine on screen, which she does.
Mahira Khan may be the most important reason why people will watch Bin Roye, the drama. She lights up the screen looking radiant and beautiful, and she allows Saba to take over completely. Mahira is a delight to watch and while we all obsessed over Humsafar and loved the chemistry between Mahira and Fawad, I do think it’s more entertaining to watch her in a character that is fun loving and spirited.
