Ep1: Zaviyar Naumaan delivers a convincing performance in Qissa Meherbano Ka

Being Naumaan Ijaz’s son already brings a lot of pressure on Zaviyar Naumaan’s shoulders and then to make his acting debut in a drama alongside strong performers such as Ahsan Khan and Mawra Hocane is certainly no walk in the park either. The first episode of Qissa Meherbano Ka aired this week, and so far Zaviyar’s performance looks promising.

It would be unfair to compare him to his father at such an early stage, yet one has to agree that he has his father’s aura. Speaking of the narrative, it’s too quick to judge, however, one can assume that Naumaan Ijaz, being an industry veteran wouldn’t want his son to be launched through a weak character or plot.

The first episode of Qissa Meherbano Ka opened with Meherbano offering the Fajr prayers and praying to God to fix everything that has gone wrong and bring back those who have gone far away. She plays the typical perfect, very beautiful and pure girl who is suffering due to some family politics. Mawra fits the character of a ‘sacrificial goat’ perfectly and one has to admit that she has also matured as an actor. It is revealed that 10 years ago Meherbano gets married yet continues to live a single life.

Meherbano lives in a huge house with Abba Miyan (Mohammad Ahmed) and her niece, Noor (Areej Mohyudin) who at times is too bubbly to bear.  The actor is playing the quintessential irritating young one (niece in this case) that is redundant in every drama nowadays. Mehran (Zaviyar) lives next door and has feelings for Meherbano despite knowing her marital status which his mother obviously has an issue with. He often visits Meherbano’s house and offers his services in whatever way possible, however, his feelings are never reciprocated by Meherbano who continues to wait for her husband, who is not yet revealed.

Since Mehran’s sister Tara is getting married, being her best friend Noor often visits their house and continuously compares her life to hers. She also gets into a heated argument with her khala and mentions how she’s unfairly suffering for something Abba Miyan did.

A lot happens in the first episode, however, we wait for Ahsan Khan’s entry to see how the story penned by Fakhra Jabeen unfolds. So far the performances have been praiseworthy by most of the characters introduced, however, the direction could have been better by Iqbal Hussain. There are a few technical flaws that spoil the experience of watching the drama. It was unnecessary to mention Meherbano ka ghar and Mehran ka ghar every time the scenes changed. The excessive addition of background music and OST could also have been avoided.

You can watch the first episode here: