Sunn Mere Dil (GEO) #9 - Wahaj Ali, Maya Ali, Hira Mani - Page 130

I think this was always supposed to be a multi starrer story of 5 protagonists with Dania and Bilal having the least role. They misled audience by promoting only Mahaj and their love story .

Originally posted by: unicornhugs

Isn’t Hamza pretty religious now. Would he portray a drunk womanizing character? I don’t know, maybe he would but I thought I heard he was mindful about his roles not conflicting with religion too much. Not that Wahaj actually had any inappropriate scenes, it was more implied so maybe he would be okay with it.

He is playing a contract killer in Faraar. Cntract killing kab se Islam mai halal hogayee

BEsides we didn't see Bilal drink or be a womanizer after first 2 episodes (nor were his vices glorified - everybody thought he was a bad guy and cut a pretty pathetic figure when drunk). By E3, the magic of "pite huey meri beti ka naam mat lijye" had done his work and Bilal Abdullah's alcoholism was cured as was his womanizing.

Originally posted by: hypnotoad

He is playing a contract killer in Faraar. Cntract killing kab se Islam mai halal hogayee

BEsides we didn't see Bilal drink or be a womanizer after first 2 episodes (nor were his vices glorified - everybody thought he was a bad guy and cut a pretty pathetic figure when drunk). By E3, the magic of "pite huey meri beti ka naam mat lijye" had done his work and Bilal Abdullah's alcoholism was cured as was his womanizing.

Originally posted by: 2RsFan

I think this was always supposed to be a multi starrer story of 5 protagonists with Dania and Bilal having the least role. They misled audience by promoting only Mahaj and their love story .

Originally posted by: unicornhugs

Killing is ok but god forbid you portray someone who drinks or engages in premarital $ex, lol. I think it’s considered more shameful. But yeah they didn’t really show Bilal Abdullah being intimate with any girls so maybe it would have been fine

Wahaj also did a lot of overacting when it came to being drunk and all those filler shots of him drinking added by Haseeb. Hamza's interpretation would have likely been different and I don't think Bilal's drunkenness would have been so over the top in your face. He might have played him as a functional alcoholic in e1-e2 who then quit in e3 (this would have downplayed the alcoholism angle), besides, it was left sufficiently ambiguous if he had sex with those girls or they were just pouring him drinks

Originally posted by: hypnotoad

Wahaj also did a lot of overacting when it came to being drunk and all those filler shots of him drinking added by Haseeb. Hamza's interpretation would have likely been different and I don't think Bilal's drunkenness would have been so over the top in your face. He might have played him as a functional alcoholic in e1-e2 who then quit in e3 (this would have downplayed the alcoholism angle), besides, it was left sufficiently ambiguous if he had sex with those girls or they were just pouring him drinks

I’ve seen people act like that when drunk at work Christmas parties, actually worse than that so I bought it. Senior staff too and I was baffled at why they would risk that kind of behaviour at a work event. It’s so annoying watching drunk people when you’re one of the only sober person there. I had to be there or I wouldn’t go.

Religiously though, any amount of drinking even if you don’t get drunk is unacceptable. Again I don’t even know if this would be a problem for Hamza, but this is just based on me hearing about how he’s conscious of choosing roles that don’t conflict too much with religion. It did sound like him and Maya were going to be in something together so maybe you’re onto something

Originally posted by: unicornhugs

but it was honestly promoted as a one-sided love story. They kept saying his love is like nothing else and to be fair, his love is different from the rest. I guess we all expected him to have more screen time. Tbh I thought it was okay pre wedding but they really cut it down after the wedding. Hopefully they increase his screen time going forward

They promoted it only as the love story of Bilal and Sadaf . Most of the promos and posters featured only them . Ammar, Hamsha and Dania were completely missing till the 4th teaser and they hardly got posters too.

Originally posted by: 2RsFan

They promoted it only as the love story of Bilal and Sadaf . Most of the promos and posters featured only them . Ammar, Hamsha and Dania were completely missing till the 4th teaser and they hardly got posters too.

Originally posted by: unicornhugs

I’m kind of torn about if this is Maya’s story or about Bilal’s love for Sadaf. We thought maybe it would delve into his character but it’s more about how his love is different than anyone else’s…it’s pure and selfless. That is kind of how they marketed it. His whole backstory (or that short bit we got) was more to explain what led to his problematic life choices. Those choices are what deterred Sadaf. Then it was his love Sadaf that changed him. So the story shows various characters in “love” but it’s only Bilal Abdullah’s love that is actually true and pure.

When we say a story is ABOUT Bilal's love for Sadaf, it implies you are getting a Bilal-centric story. That his is the POV character. That it is his journey and arc we will be focusing on. That he will be the one driving the action. Whose love is more pure does not determine who is the main protagonist, narratively speaking.

We have seen enough dramas and films with characters in one-sided love. We know when it is the one-sided lover whose story we are following or if it is the object of love that is the central protagonist.

One example where the one-sided lover is the main protagonist is KAM3. Feroze and Iqra barely get any scenes together for the majority of its run. But what we see is Feroze's personal transformation and journey from ishq e majazi to ishq e haqiqi. Feroze is the POV character and we follow his journey. Mera Naam Yusuf Hai (by KRQ) is another example. Imran Abbas who plays Yusuf is the one whose actions drive the plot and we follow his journey. Bunty I love you (by KRQ) is another example. Here Saba Qamar is that central character. In Mann Jali (also by KRQ), Faris Shafi is that selfless lover and Mehwish is the object of his love. But the main protagonist is Mehwish not Faris.

Imagine if it wasn't Wahaj and take out all his filler scenes of silently brooding and looking sad, ramp walks, model shots, etc. No one would say that smd is bilal's story. You would be saying it is the story of an impulsive, stubborn, kaan ki kacchi, dumb girl who couldn't recognize true love when it was staring her in the face, and then had to go through many trials and heartbreak to finally recognize and value true love. bilal's vices and backstory are just a plot device to rationalize sadaf's extreme prejudice. So its purpose is to only add to sadaf's motivation.

Originally posted by: unicornhugs

True but quite honestly they are big enough names that I knew they would have proper screen time and stories. The first poster released also had all of them on it. The problem is that Wahaj seems to be getting the least screen time for the last 4-5 episodes. I get the marketing behind it…using the biggest name to garner attention. I was prepared for the others to get proper arcs. I just expected Wahaj to have just as much if not more. I’m hoping he has more screen space since this marriage seems to be on its way to ending. I think the another problems is that the other characters aren’t as fun to watch. I did however enjoy the scene of Humsha telling it how it is to Ammar even if I didn’t completely understand why she changed. Maybe if they had more scenes like that, the lack of Wahaj wouldn’t bother me as much.

It is an ensemble led by Maya (not Wahaj).

Look at the way story is structured. It has 5 main parts. Sadaf is primary character in each part but in each part, one other actor from the ensemble joins Maya as a primary focus, and at least one another actor steps up as main secondary.

• Part 1 is Sadaf & family members (primary) and Bilal Ammar as main secondary (e1 till e7)
• Part 2 is Sadaf & Bilal (primary) with Zaviyar as main secondary (e8 till he takes Zav for cancer treatment to USA).
• Part 3 is Sadaf & Humsha (primary) with Bilal & Ammar as main secondary (Humsha's manipulations till the wedding)
• Part 4 is Sadaf & Ammar (primary) with Dania as main secondary (current track)
• Part 5 will be Sadaf & Bilal (primary) with Ammar as main secondary (hopefully future track).

The point is the story focus is not equally balanced between Bilal and Sadaf. All the growth, transformation and journey happens on Sadaf's end. Bilal is static, a constant. He is just there waiting on the sidelines for Sadaf while she completes her cktr journey and learns to recognize his love. If you take out all the filler scenes of Bilal silently brooding and sad aiyn vayi main, it is even more obvious that focus is not on Bilal and Sadaf's journeys equally. Bilal ki cktr growth (of him healing from his complex childhood trauma, becoming sober, learning to let go of his distrust of women) is left unexplored.