KARACHI: Prem Gali hit our TV screens in August 2020 with a unique storyline. As an audience that is used to witnessing women being beaten up in dramas or plots which revolve around a love triangle, we were pleasantly surprised by the approach Prem Gali had taken. As its lead protagonists, we saw female characters challenging the narrative around marriage and divorce. In Saba Hamid’s character, we heard what many young couples need to hear about parenthood instead of being taught that having a child will fix many problems that come a married couple’s way. Farhan Saeed as Hamza delivered his best, specially when he stood up for the Khwaja Sira community. Breaking stereotypes and challenging popular narratives seemed to be the forte of the creatives behind the project. However, as weeks progressed, Prem Gali lost its charm and the last episode, that went on air Monday night was rather predictable.
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Before coming to an end, the drama became less about addressing social issues in Pakistan and more of a typical love story. Hamza and Joya (Sohai Ali Abro) became just another couple with misunderstandings and pointless fights. The two of them leaving their parents’ house to get a break from their families and be able to live alone as two adults became pointless when Hamza’s dada (Qavi Khan) emotionally blackmails them and pretends to fall sick in their absence. As the young couple visits their grandfather, they fall into a guilt trip about leaving their families alone. Where is the healthy discussion about boundaries and space that we had been expecting? Why couldn’t their grandfather have requested them to keep visiting their old home instead of faking his illness?
Moreover, the arguments between Hamza and Joya had nothing new to offer to their audiences who already knew what to expect from the ending. It was obvious that the couple was ultimately going to sort out their differences and live happily ever after since Prem Gali is not a tragedy. So what was the point of stretching their fight over nearly four episodes?
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Of course, comic relief and humour was one of the strongest points of Prem Gali but when the same element is constantly used up until the last episode, it tends to lose its charm. Even with all the jokes, the drama did feel stretched and not as interesting as the initial episodes. That is not to say that the team behind Prem Gali achieved nothing with their project. They did test the waters with some new ideas but missed out on giving the story a unique ending.
