After several slow episodes, Khaani finally picked up this Monday, and that too with considerable pace.
EPISODE 19: The story speeds through Sarim’s first death anniversary – with a melancholic albeit quick scene in which Khaani’s parents lament their son’s murder – and fast forwards to Khaani’s wedding to Arham. The fact that Khaani’s taaya and taayi come for the wedding and object to everything – from Arham’s family being Punjabi, to Arham being previously married with a young daughter, to the fact that Khaani commutes to and from work with him – provides great entertainment. This is, after all, how typical families that are unwilling to break the shackles of ‘tradition’ behave and what they believe.  In the eyes of the family elders, Salman (Khaani’s father) has disregarded all acceptable family conduct. His teary breakdown, and an unnecessary reinforcement of his physical disability plus his ‘betiyan bojh hain’ psyche dissolves the situation and they finally get on to wedding preps.
On the other side of the story, over in Karachi, Mir Hadi -Â after spending several weeks in drunken stupor – is shaken up by his friend Ali, and informed that he has managed to locate the missing Khaani.
Mir Hadi sets out to find Khaani, but will he make it to her in time?
What follows is a series of scenes that reinforce how brilliantly Feroze Khan, who plays Mir Hadi, serves his character. You see him embrace a moment of disbelief and joy when he gets the good news. You see him as a young and vulnerable little boy who’s shocked when his father informs him that he can go and search for Khaani but she will never be welcome in his home. Disbelief and hurt flashes across his face. On his way to wherever it is that Khaani lives, they stop at a mazaar and when his trusted right-hand-man Mitthal asks Hadi whether he’d like to pray for fulfillment, Hadi arrogantly replies that he never asks rather just takes what he desires. Upon hearing this, a young girl in a niqaab comes up to him and says, “those who do not bend, they break.†There is wisdom in her words and one sees conflict and confusion in Mir Hadi’s eyes. It’s like his confidence is shattered for a moment. There is an impressive range of emotions that Feroze Khan manages in this one episode alone, and needless to say, he carries it to its success.
What now? One feels that the girl at the mazaar will have a recurring role to play. If Khaani was a Greek tragedy (which it is not), I would say she is the oracle and will help predict the inevitable fate of Mir Hadi’s hubris. Mir Hadi will of course make it to Khaani, but will he make it to her in time to prevent her wedding? The teaser to the next episode indicates that not only will he make it but he will do something rash and unreasonable, totally in character. His personality is now conflicted. One part of him is tied to his arrogant and entitled upbringing whereas this new consciousness rousing in him is indicative of change.
The drama serial is gearing to its end and it’s interesting to see how it unravels. Khaani promises to be an exciting next episode up ahead.
