Saheba, such a perfect post. I think you have just nailed it. I am also going to write a long reply with all my frustrations and I am apologizing in advance 😛
There were so many problems with the way Rehan was shown. This show and its CVs had been praised by all of us for the way it handled tracks, the way the leads remained together to solve problems they were facing, the light-heartedness, and how the leads were not the typical "swayed and manipulated by others" types that we see in other Hindi shows. It was a breath of fresh air, to be honest. From the minute Rehan entered (the character, not the actor - no offense at all to Nandish), it felt like the freshness had gone. Zubair turning a 180 was unexpected, especially for me, and I was quite upset about it, especially since he seemed like he cared about Aaliya and her well-being. Zain standing around and not reacting to what was happening was an even bigger shock, but I was ready to let that go because I felt happy that in the sea of negativity surrounding ZaYa, there was one more positive person they could cling to.
I understand the need for the first talaaq. I really do. If there is no drama between the main leads, the show usually gets boring. I did not want the third one to happen, though. I was hoping that things would solve themselves. Here is where logic started taking a backseat. Aaliya, who had a need to find out the truth in every matter, was sitting and playing games with a child (whom she is probably barely 12-15 years older than), rather than confronting her parents and finding out the truth. Yes, Zain was totally broken, so maybe he would not have done that, but not Aaliya. This was a question of her life. How could she not want to find out what happened? Even if they showed her broken like they did Zain, I would understand. But no, they showed her staying with another man, looking after and laughing and playing with his children, even before the third talaaq. Her parents, who supposedly wanted her happiness and safety, did not mention this truth to anyone, or do anything about it. At the last minute the "heroic" Rehan steps in to find out the truth, but too late for anyone to do anything about it.
Ok, accepted. The divorce is done. The drama that "even an eight year old" could not predict was shown. Aaliya moves away. Zain is a broken man repenting for his past deeds. One year's leap. Rehan, who is "like a bhai" to Zain has moved along with Aaliya! And his children call her Ammi! The scenes shown between Rehan and Aaliya also made us believe that Rehan was falling for her - and I am sure that was the story, only it was changed because we could not accept it. Zain comes back. He has a redemption track. Aaliya goes back to him. And in all this, Shabana and Ghulam who have caused everything to happen in their lives now want Aaliya to be with Rehan! They were the reason ZaYa got married. They were the reason ZaYa got divorced. Yes, Aaliya had cut them off for some time, but then they show no remorse for their actions, no sense of shame that their son-in-law and nephew, who has done so much for them, is in this situation thanks to their stupidity. This was a big no-no for me, and frankly I just want to slap them now when they are on the screen.
Then comes this halala nikaah track. Fine, the CVs wanted to show this track - and I did not agree so I started only reading LUs since then. Bilaal was brought into the picture, for God knows what reason, but then Rehan ends up marrying Aaliya. For the flimsiest of reasons - if Shabana and Ghulam were being insulted by the qazi, big shit. They deserved it. They caused all this to happen in the first place. If they had not been dumb and believed in their daughter and son-in-law this would have never happened. Nafeesa, who is the other main culprit, is keeping shut and allowing this to happen, knowing well that this is destroying Zain and Aaliya's lives - when she is supposed to want to become like Aaliya. ZaYa also did nothing to try to find out if there was a way out, or a loophole that they could exploit - wouldn't that have been the first thing to do in this case?
Now there is this new twist. First of all, from Day 1 of being married to Aaliya, Rehan has treated her like crap - not allowing her to talk, restricting her while knowing full well that she loves Zain, and being a creep in some ways. Every time someone called him an "adarsh pati" or an "ideal, mature man", I was cringing, because I was still only reading LUs but still found it intolerable. I thought it was being done to bring ZaYa together, but he is like this only. His whole attitude has been sickening and chauvinistic. Now he is being shown to be (maybe) negative for some illogical reason, but I am willing to put up with it to get back ZaYa. But at what cost has all this happened?
In all this, what has probably been insulted more than the feelings of the fans is the religion. I am not a Muslim, but from what I have read, so many things were shown wrong. The shariat has been conveniently brought out and exploited when things were to the liking of the CVs, but ignored when things have not been in line with the drama required. It is not even about ZaYa and their togetherness but this. If there had been a clear cut divorce, I would have agreed that halala nikaah was necessary. But the divorce itself had so many loopholes that I still don't count ZaYa as divorced at all. The way the halala nikaah was shown was also absolutely lousy and I think it would have given quite a wrong impression to the people to whom Mr. Farhan wanted to take his message of Islamic marriage laws. For a person who got hooked onto the show for its light-heartedness and its love story, I felt cheated when the PH said that the story was about this.
Finally I must say this (this is really TOO long, sorry ), that I lost interest more than anything on the day when Farhan said that he had nothing to show after ZaYa got together. If that was the case, he could have dragged the office track (which we all wanted desperately), he need not have rushed through three months of iddah - there could have been so many ways to prolong it - he could even shown Rizwan, Aayat and Gauhar who have just conveniently disappeared. I am disappointed that he turned out to be like others, by unfriending people, and wanting to stick to their "conviction" even if the story was not working, and even when well-wishing fans were telling him for his own benefit that this track was not going to be accepted. His attitude and the way he has treated his fans really makes me never want to see any show of his again (just the way I never want to see a show of Gul Khan again after IPKKND - not for the want of story, but because of the attitude towards fans). We are all invested in the show, and it is sad that it has come to this now, thanks to the stubborn hard-headedness of one man with a penchant for drama and so-called "conviction".
P.S. A third sorry for the thesis writing. All the frustrations just came pouring out! 😔
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