KARACHI: There are very few dramas out there that are able to keep viewers hooked till the very end. Most begin on a high but lose track of the storyline along the way. However, one recent drama that was able to keep audiences at the edge of their seats till the last episode was Aakhir Kab Tak.
One of the most admirable aspects of the show was how it allowed for some dark horses to deliver the best performances of their career so far. We saw Azfar Rehman in an avatar like never before. Always considered to be the good looking, soft spoken, chocolate hero, Rehman has been offered few lead roles in his career. His portrayal of Zafar in Aakhir Kab Tak was nothing short of brilliant. The actor perfectly portrayed how criminals feel no sense of remorse even when they are about to receive a life sentence, how they continue to blackmail their victims and manipulate everyone else around them.
In Juveria Abbasi, who plays the mother of one of the protagonist who is a rape survivor, we saw a mother who is like most South Asian women. Scared, oppressed, living a life that serves others. She delivers the pain, guilt, and sense of loss that she experiences throughout the show. Her transformation from a Safia who would bear all sorts of abuse to a Safia who realizes her worth was also admirable.
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Srha Asghar with her portrayal of Fajr turned out to be one of our favourite actors in a lead role this year. The transitions that her character goes through from an anxious, scared girl to a woman who finally receives the love and affection she has always craved and back to being a traumatized survivor of rape were commendable. Fajr stutters through most of her dialogues but Asghar’s expressions and body language convey the remaining message to her viewers. While her return in the last episode of Aakhir Kab Tak may have been a little unrealistic, the dramatic twist was understandable for a TV show and Fajr getting justice was a breath of fresh air.
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The show may not have gathered as much hype as some of the other projects that went on air around the same time but it did start the conversation around rape and victim blaming. Zafar getting life imprisonment was a decision that viewers waited to see for weeks. In a country where seeking justice can take years, if it is served at all, the serial showed a ray of hope and also steered the conversation in the right direction. While so many people are quick to jump to conclusions and blame victims, people like Noor (Ushna Shah), Saim (Haroon Shahid) and Nasir (Adeel Hussain) create safe spaces and provide unconditional love and support. Noor becomes a symbol of perseverance for women and teaches them not just to fight for themselves but also for others. Noor teaches audiences how to achieve the impossible be it justice in your own house or in the court.
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Aakhir Kab Tak ends on a hopeful note but also paints a dark picture of the world we live in. It shows that women are not safe even in their own homes, that the trauma lives on forever, that sometimes taking one’s own life seems easier than facing reality. If audiences are able to take away even a small lesson from the show, the team has done a great social service.
