Haute Review: Sinf e Aahan begins on a basic, but promising note

The hype around Sinf e Aahan has been building up for several reasons. An ISPR project made with the evident purpose to build a progressive and strong narrative for women, especially women who are inducted in the army, it has been produced by Humayun Saeed’s Six Sigma Plus and Samina Humayun Saeed and Sana Shahnawaz’s Next Level Entertainment, written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Nadeem Baig; so yes, it’s got the big wigs involved. If all that wasn’t enough, the hype kept building up with the cast, that roped in Sajal Aly, Yumna Zaidi, Kubra Khan, Ramsha Khan and Syra Yousuf. The male cast includes Ali Rehman Khan, Asim Azhar, Usman Mukhtar, Sheheryar Munawar while the support cast includes a roster of significant names including that of Sri Lankan actress Yehali Tashiya.

The first episode of Sinf e Ahan (Women of Steel, a play on the term Sinf e Nazuk, which women are generally referred to as) finally aired Saturday night and managed to keep the audience engaged with a basic introduction to each character. The episode featured five girls from different social, cultural and religious backgrounds, with the one thing in common being their competence and determination.

Ramsha Khan’s character, Pariwash Jamal who is from the rural areas of Balochistan, is portrayed as a brave woman who laughs off gender discrimination as she practises her aim while shooting every morning. We immediately know how well she’ll fit in at the military.

Rabiya Safeer, played by Sajal Aly, is a board topper qualified as an Electrical Engineer, caught up in a stifling setup, in which all her parents want is to marry her off. Despite being highly qualified and competent, her worth is only measured by her ability to win a suitor.

Usman Mukhtar plays her elder brother who is an army officer. His life is shown to have a purpose while Rabiya doesn’t even have real hobbies, probably because she never found time to think beyond societal pressure.

Then comes Syra’s character, Arzoo Daniel from Lahore who’s ostensibly thrown in as a minority figure. The whole worshipping at an altar, dating a boy with a huge cross tattooed on his arm and then singing as her father plays the piano is indeed an extremely stereotypical portraying of the Christian community but it’s acceptable, given that things stay basic in the introductory episode. Aarzoo is a sweet, simple girl stuck in a rather emotionally abusive relationship with Noraiz (Asad Siddiqui). She is also facing financial struggles at home.

Kubra plays Islamabad born Mahjabeen Mastan, the only child of affluent parents who are constantly fighting.

Despite belonging to a wealthy background, her struggles involve toxic parents and unhealthy relationships. In social media, she finds an escape from the real world.

Inspired by General Nigar, Mahjabeen expresses her wish to join the army. However, no one around her including her mother (Saba Hameed) or boyfriend (Ali Rehman) see potential in her. She shares how she had to give up her dream to become a criminal lawyer and settle for being a corporate lawyer. But, this time, she refuses to compromise and be underestimated.

Yumna is seen playing a Pashtoon character, which is entirely different from the characters she has played before. Shaista Khandaza is shown preparing her brother for the army, despite being a better choice for the profession. The dadi of the house prays that her grandson makes the family proud disregarding the fact that maybe the girl has more potential.

Merub Ali plays her younger sister and her support. Shaista is passionate and believes that gender has got nothing to do with your profession. She is so determined that she would even run away to join the armed forces.

Sinf e Aahan aims to feature women embracing their strengths. It is representing the transformation of women who are usually called Sinf-e-Naazuk [the delicate class] to Sinf-e-Aahan [the iron-willed class] i.e. women of steel and that is exactly what the first episode showed. Each character will be seen breaking stereotypes and giving hope to the women of the nation.

Every character’s performance was on point and their story easily grips the audience. All the actors have a powerful screen presence, which makes the drama an absolute treat to watch.

Watch the episode here: