Dil Lagi - a worthwhile infatuation.
After a season of pining and yearning with Saurabh Tiwari's hit series Rangrasiya, starring the extremely talented Sanaya Irani, and intense actor Ashish Sharma, I of course googled what I should watch next, and came across a few names from which I (most fortunately) chose "Dil Lagi" , a Pakistani TV series which had aired on ARY Digital weekly.
As soon as the introductory scene of female protagonist Anmol (Mehwish Hayat), where she reacts boldly and pursues through the streets a pick-pocket who snatches her bag, and then proceeds to attack him, I was thrilled. I knew this wasn't an ordinary saas-bahu story at once.
Here are a few points through which renown director Nadeem Baig's Dil Lagi, true to its name, got me hooked.
1. Three women living by themselves (I can relate) without a man of the house.
The series is heavily matriarchal. And in a patriarchal world and specially living in South Asia, that was a grand reason not to miss out on the drama. Anmol, lives in a familial household with her younger sister and mother, after the demise of her father. And Mohid, lives with HIS mother and younger sister in their mansion, after the demise of HIS father. In the subcontinent phrase-ways , "same to same"! :D
2. Introduction to Humayun Saeed - Mohid
Humayun Saeed, handsome, manly and egoistically charming (Mr Darcy-like) was introduced in a scene where he tries out a new pistol. His character , although initially appeared repulsive and egoistic, quickly transformed into a Paskistani version of Jane Austen's hero Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, from her most popular novel Pride & Prejudice. The character's transformation of attitudes, yet strength in values and justice was appealing and positive.
3. Saba Hameed - Zulekha, Mohid's mother.
Saba Hameed is one of the most versatile actors I've enjoyed watching. I thoroughly enjoyed her role in Mann Mayal, and her matriarchal characteristics as Zulekha increased my appeal towards her grace and talent as an actor. Zulekha is portrayed to be an extremely influential and powerful woman in Dillagi, and she doesn't seem falsely vain or unnecessarily uppish. Even the most ridiculous methods in which she makes sure "justice" is maintained, portray her valor, and she seems to understand her humane weaknesses and grow through them. I found it fascinating that her portrayal of the Lady-in-charge / Mistress of the community was extremely similar to Dhankor 'Ba' Sanera, the Lady-lord from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Raam-Leela.
4. Dastagir - Imran Ashraff
The most entertaining male role in the series, and undoubtedly the most annoyingly adorable. Dastagir, Mohid's assistant and partner-in-crime, brought more than comic relief to the drama. His romantic entanglement with Mishal, Anmol's sister, and how together they make all efforts to bring together their siblings with love , and how they come to each other's rescue many a time brought freshness and dynamics to the drama.
5. Mariam Ansari - Mishal
Mishal is Anmol's younger sister. Slightly less good looking than the protagonist perhaps, but shown to be much more intelligent, caring, and much less egoistic. Her reasonable steadfast ways puts her immediately into the audience's good books. I enjoyed watching her relationship with every other character in the series, and I specially became fond of her bonding with Mohid as sister-in-law.
Her banter with Dastagir was fresh and entertaining, and most often she was the only person who spoke/thought sense to Anmol, Mohid , and her mother, among all the serious fluctuations of the plot.
6.BEST opening and ending scene EVER seen in a TV series (for me at least).
Period. I've never ever witnessed such synchronization of opening and ending scenes in a TV series. I have mentioned above briefly how the opening scene unfolds. I would urge you to go check out the entire series, and then you will appreciate and enjoy its perfect ending.
7. Conflict in romance.
The initial misunderstandings and the misinterpretations of each other's persona, keep Mohid and Anmol apart and aggrieved for so long that it actually hurts.
Their conflicts are mainly portrayed in the misunderstandings - clearly and beautifully depicted by the excellent dialog and cinematography. Both Anmol and Mohid, along with their families do not seem to be conventional and do not stick to the norms of society, and they stand apart with unique values and principles but also respect social responsibility and are good, law-abiding citizens.
In romantic terms, Anmol seem to be more headstrong and stubborn than Mohid, who initially in infatuation and then in love softens up a bit, but sticks to his values. Their mutual admiration towards personal romantic love and independent attributes towards romance bring them closer to each other, the more Anmol tries to set themselves apart.
8. Confrontation of social issues and stigma.
Both families value confrontation exceedingly. Discussion and resolving personal issues which are usually aroused by social stigma, is clear and open in this series. Let's discuss a few instances without giving away any spoilers.
When Anmol barges into Mohid's mansion on the day she was planning to wed her initial suitor, as a protest against her assumption that Mohid initiated the trouble the suitor had faced, in order to protect her and his family from embarrassment she forces him to wed her then and there. She being decked in bridal attire and wearing her heart full of anger on her sleeve, making a tamasha outside the reputed mansion, leads Mohid to gently accept her challenge. Here we see how the mothers of both now new bride and groom are utterly disturbed and frustrated, worried about "reputation". However we also see that this concern of social reputation and acceptance lasts only for a little while, due to their awareness and open mindedness towards their children's decisions.
Mohid's misunderstanding of Anmol's values towards the end of the drama, and how the couple deals with it, and how their love now mutual and deep(yet still undeclared) faces a new test of purity, is also a great example of the uniqueness in which they confront the social stigma related to marital purity.
I also would like to highlight the only (at least in my opinion) painful error almost made by Zulekha- Mohid's strong and influential mother, with regard to her daughter - Mohid's sister, and her unborn child. Here, the mother grieves in fear of social stigma, yet both Anmol and Mohid, in both their tactful and incomparable methods, pacifies the whole issue by bringing the sister's husband into the picture successfully. This unauthorized action of the young ones disturbs the matriarchal Zulekha, yet just as in other instances she doesn't take much time to accept what is right. In these cases the characters of even the adults who are supposedly conventional are shown to be adaptive, wise, open-minded and good-hearted.
9. Principles and values
As mentioned above both Anmol's and Mohid's family live along unique and different values that do not embed themselves in normalcy. Without giving out any spoilers I would like to mention the initial discussion about romance between Mishal and Anmol, during their introductory scenes, as one good example of how they perceive the notion of romance, mature love and marriage.
Another good example is the way in which Zulekha tests Anmol's pride versus her newly declared love towards Mohid, just before the finale of the series. There is a lot of heartache and distress involved there , yet the characters emerge even better than before through this round of tests.
10. Sense of justice and vengeance.
This is highly attached to the point above with regard to values. As the Lady of the house, Zulekha's sense of justice is stronger and more balanced than conventional Sindhi society. It is portrayed from her introductory scene of giving advice and sound suggestion to the women of her community.
Anmol is clearly the next strongest woman portrayed in the series. (No wonder Mohid fell for her! Like mother in law, like daughter in law! ) Her sense of justice evolves more around striving for equity and social rectitude, since she comes from a middle-middle class family, contrary to Mohid's upper class family. Vengeance, consequently is dealt with passionate , immediate - and sometimes irrational- confrontation by Anmol, as opposed to Zulekha's more calculated and steadfast methods of seeking vengeance. There is a lot of intellectual and emotional vengeance which is extremely interesting to witness, in a story set in a South Asian context. This is fresh , novel, and a positive experience to an educated audience.
11. Thoughts of miscommunication leading to prejudice.
This happens a LOT in the story due to the lack of understanding, listening and awareness , by Anmol, Mohid, Zulekha and even sometimes Anmol's mother. Interestingly, Mishal and Dastagir seem to not be entangled in any miscommunication with their family members. I believe the creators kept things this way to showcase how prejudice can spark immediate misunderstanding, and how when unaffected by prejudice, one can always keep a cool headed attitude.
12. Simple, apt Costumes and locations , soft makeup and natural looks.
I absolutely adored the simplicity and modesty of the costumed donned by all the characters , very apt for each of their roles in the drama. This I have noticed is one of the major motivators for me- as the characters do not surpass their natural tendencies and lives by donning unnecessarily colorful makeup and over-dressed in jewellery.
I personally believe that the costumes threw positive light on each character, and highlighted the natural lifestyles of both families.
Even the choice locations, in my opinion, were adequate and appropriate. I particularly liked the scenes taken in the Dargas, as they evoked the main theme of the story- infatuation vs Love.
13. Excellent cinematography
I believe that the cinematographers have outdone themselves by the excellently executed filming of Dillagi. There were some Ariel shots and birds-eye views of Mohid's mansion, the dargas, and also the city/river bank etc, which are treats to the eye of the viewer. The team has definitely done a good job in trying to make each episode viewed as a mini movie.
14. Excellent dialogue
Masha Allah! The dialogue of this series need to be converted into print and there you'll have a fine piece of modern literature. I'm not even exaggerating. There were some moments that I replayed simply to listen to the beauteous lines written by the blessed writer Faize Iftikar. He's a novelist so no surprise there!
Without letting out any spoilers I would like to mention a few instances which held my favorite lines:
ALL of Mohid's lines! ha! Just kidding. Well, pretty much all of it were sheer poetry; specially his lines towards Anmol when he was trying to woo her.
Then there were the cutting lines by Anmol , Mohid's mother Zulekha, and also the gentle yet effective statements by Anmol's mother. If you are an Urdu geek, you'd surely love every word uttered in the course of Dillagi- a heartfelt sigh and a "haye!" included! :)
15.Music, and the official sound track
Sahir Ali Bagga has done a marvelous job by composing an almost ethereal background score, with tones that enunciate the characters in a very fitting manner. And the cherry on top being that excellent theme song, voiced by the maestro Rahet Fateh Ali Khan, the music overall of Dillagi is nothing but a masterpiece. What I loved the most is how the very same tunes in different moods and tones reflected each turn of the story and each change of heart of all the characters in the drama.
In addition to the above, I also loved the fact that there was no unnecessary dragging of the plot, (unlike Mann Mayal- oof what a headache it turned out to be!) and there was absolutely nothing that wasn't practically day-to-day life.
I recommend this beatiful drama, to all those who are looking for love, who have lost hope in love, and also to those who are already in love. It is worth a watch. It is truly an entertaining and heartfelt experience. Take the journey from attraction to love with Mohid and Anmol, and true to the words of the soudtrack, "Tumhe dillagi bhool jaane padegi" :) [ You will have to forget about infatuation]
As soon as the introductory scene of female protagonist Anmol (Mehwish Hayat), where she reacts boldly and pursues through the streets a pick-pocket who snatches her bag, and then proceeds to attack him, I was thrilled. I knew this wasn't an ordinary saas-bahu story at once.
Here are a few points through which renown director Nadeem Baig's Dil Lagi, true to its name, got me hooked.
1. Three women living by themselves (I can relate) without a man of the house.
The series is heavily matriarchal. And in a patriarchal world and specially living in South Asia, that was a grand reason not to miss out on the drama. Anmol, lives in a familial household with her younger sister and mother, after the demise of her father. And Mohid, lives with HIS mother and younger sister in their mansion, after the demise of HIS father. In the subcontinent phrase-ways , "same to same"! :D
2. Introduction to Humayun Saeed - Mohid
Humayun Saeed, handsome, manly and egoistically charming (Mr Darcy-like) was introduced in a scene where he tries out a new pistol. His character , although initially appeared repulsive and egoistic, quickly transformed into a Paskistani version of Jane Austen's hero Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, from her most popular novel Pride & Prejudice. The character's transformation of attitudes, yet strength in values and justice was appealing and positive.
3. Saba Hameed - Zulekha, Mohid's mother.
Saba Hameed is one of the most versatile actors I've enjoyed watching. I thoroughly enjoyed her role in Mann Mayal, and her matriarchal characteristics as Zulekha increased my appeal towards her grace and talent as an actor. Zulekha is portrayed to be an extremely influential and powerful woman in Dillagi, and she doesn't seem falsely vain or unnecessarily uppish. Even the most ridiculous methods in which she makes sure "justice" is maintained, portray her valor, and she seems to understand her humane weaknesses and grow through them. I found it fascinating that her portrayal of the Lady-in-charge / Mistress of the community was extremely similar to Dhankor 'Ba' Sanera, the Lady-lord from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Raam-Leela.
4. Dastagir - Imran Ashraff
The most entertaining male role in the series, and undoubtedly the most annoyingly adorable. Dastagir, Mohid's assistant and partner-in-crime, brought more than comic relief to the drama. His romantic entanglement with Mishal, Anmol's sister, and how together they make all efforts to bring together their siblings with love , and how they come to each other's rescue many a time brought freshness and dynamics to the drama.
5. Mariam Ansari - Mishal
Mishal is Anmol's younger sister. Slightly less good looking than the protagonist perhaps, but shown to be much more intelligent, caring, and much less egoistic. Her reasonable steadfast ways puts her immediately into the audience's good books. I enjoyed watching her relationship with every other character in the series, and I specially became fond of her bonding with Mohid as sister-in-law.
Her banter with Dastagir was fresh and entertaining, and most often she was the only person who spoke/thought sense to Anmol, Mohid , and her mother, among all the serious fluctuations of the plot.
6.BEST opening and ending scene EVER seen in a TV series (for me at least).
Period. I've never ever witnessed such synchronization of opening and ending scenes in a TV series. I have mentioned above briefly how the opening scene unfolds. I would urge you to go check out the entire series, and then you will appreciate and enjoy its perfect ending.
7. Conflict in romance.
The initial misunderstandings and the misinterpretations of each other's persona, keep Mohid and Anmol apart and aggrieved for so long that it actually hurts.
Their conflicts are mainly portrayed in the misunderstandings - clearly and beautifully depicted by the excellent dialog and cinematography. Both Anmol and Mohid, along with their families do not seem to be conventional and do not stick to the norms of society, and they stand apart with unique values and principles but also respect social responsibility and are good, law-abiding citizens.
In romantic terms, Anmol seem to be more headstrong and stubborn than Mohid, who initially in infatuation and then in love softens up a bit, but sticks to his values. Their mutual admiration towards personal romantic love and independent attributes towards romance bring them closer to each other, the more Anmol tries to set themselves apart.
8. Confrontation of social issues and stigma.
Both families value confrontation exceedingly. Discussion and resolving personal issues which are usually aroused by social stigma, is clear and open in this series. Let's discuss a few instances without giving away any spoilers.
When Anmol barges into Mohid's mansion on the day she was planning to wed her initial suitor, as a protest against her assumption that Mohid initiated the trouble the suitor had faced, in order to protect her and his family from embarrassment she forces him to wed her then and there. She being decked in bridal attire and wearing her heart full of anger on her sleeve, making a tamasha outside the reputed mansion, leads Mohid to gently accept her challenge. Here we see how the mothers of both now new bride and groom are utterly disturbed and frustrated, worried about "reputation". However we also see that this concern of social reputation and acceptance lasts only for a little while, due to their awareness and open mindedness towards their children's decisions.
Mohid's misunderstanding of Anmol's values towards the end of the drama, and how the couple deals with it, and how their love now mutual and deep(yet still undeclared) faces a new test of purity, is also a great example of the uniqueness in which they confront the social stigma related to marital purity.
I also would like to highlight the only (at least in my opinion) painful error almost made by Zulekha- Mohid's strong and influential mother, with regard to her daughter - Mohid's sister, and her unborn child. Here, the mother grieves in fear of social stigma, yet both Anmol and Mohid, in both their tactful and incomparable methods, pacifies the whole issue by bringing the sister's husband into the picture successfully. This unauthorized action of the young ones disturbs the matriarchal Zulekha, yet just as in other instances she doesn't take much time to accept what is right. In these cases the characters of even the adults who are supposedly conventional are shown to be adaptive, wise, open-minded and good-hearted.
9. Principles and values
As mentioned above both Anmol's and Mohid's family live along unique and different values that do not embed themselves in normalcy. Without giving out any spoilers I would like to mention the initial discussion about romance between Mishal and Anmol, during their introductory scenes, as one good example of how they perceive the notion of romance, mature love and marriage.
Another good example is the way in which Zulekha tests Anmol's pride versus her newly declared love towards Mohid, just before the finale of the series. There is a lot of heartache and distress involved there , yet the characters emerge even better than before through this round of tests.
10. Sense of justice and vengeance.
This is highly attached to the point above with regard to values. As the Lady of the house, Zulekha's sense of justice is stronger and more balanced than conventional Sindhi society. It is portrayed from her introductory scene of giving advice and sound suggestion to the women of her community.
Anmol is clearly the next strongest woman portrayed in the series. (No wonder Mohid fell for her! Like mother in law, like daughter in law! ) Her sense of justice evolves more around striving for equity and social rectitude, since she comes from a middle-middle class family, contrary to Mohid's upper class family. Vengeance, consequently is dealt with passionate , immediate - and sometimes irrational- confrontation by Anmol, as opposed to Zulekha's more calculated and steadfast methods of seeking vengeance. There is a lot of intellectual and emotional vengeance which is extremely interesting to witness, in a story set in a South Asian context. This is fresh , novel, and a positive experience to an educated audience.
11. Thoughts of miscommunication leading to prejudice.
This happens a LOT in the story due to the lack of understanding, listening and awareness , by Anmol, Mohid, Zulekha and even sometimes Anmol's mother. Interestingly, Mishal and Dastagir seem to not be entangled in any miscommunication with their family members. I believe the creators kept things this way to showcase how prejudice can spark immediate misunderstanding, and how when unaffected by prejudice, one can always keep a cool headed attitude.
12. Simple, apt Costumes and locations , soft makeup and natural looks.
I absolutely adored the simplicity and modesty of the costumed donned by all the characters , very apt for each of their roles in the drama. This I have noticed is one of the major motivators for me- as the characters do not surpass their natural tendencies and lives by donning unnecessarily colorful makeup and over-dressed in jewellery.
I personally believe that the costumes threw positive light on each character, and highlighted the natural lifestyles of both families.
Even the choice locations, in my opinion, were adequate and appropriate. I particularly liked the scenes taken in the Dargas, as they evoked the main theme of the story- infatuation vs Love.
13. Excellent cinematography
I believe that the cinematographers have outdone themselves by the excellently executed filming of Dillagi. There were some Ariel shots and birds-eye views of Mohid's mansion, the dargas, and also the city/river bank etc, which are treats to the eye of the viewer. The team has definitely done a good job in trying to make each episode viewed as a mini movie.
14. Excellent dialogue
Masha Allah! The dialogue of this series need to be converted into print and there you'll have a fine piece of modern literature. I'm not even exaggerating. There were some moments that I replayed simply to listen to the beauteous lines written by the blessed writer Faize Iftikar. He's a novelist so no surprise there!
Without letting out any spoilers I would like to mention a few instances which held my favorite lines:
ALL of Mohid's lines! ha! Just kidding. Well, pretty much all of it were sheer poetry; specially his lines towards Anmol when he was trying to woo her.
Then there were the cutting lines by Anmol , Mohid's mother Zulekha, and also the gentle yet effective statements by Anmol's mother. If you are an Urdu geek, you'd surely love every word uttered in the course of Dillagi- a heartfelt sigh and a "haye!" included! :)
15.Music, and the official sound track
Sahir Ali Bagga has done a marvelous job by composing an almost ethereal background score, with tones that enunciate the characters in a very fitting manner. And the cherry on top being that excellent theme song, voiced by the maestro Rahet Fateh Ali Khan, the music overall of Dillagi is nothing but a masterpiece. What I loved the most is how the very same tunes in different moods and tones reflected each turn of the story and each change of heart of all the characters in the drama.
In addition to the above, I also loved the fact that there was no unnecessary dragging of the plot, (unlike Mann Mayal- oof what a headache it turned out to be!) and there was absolutely nothing that wasn't practically day-to-day life.
I recommend this beatiful drama, to all those who are looking for love, who have lost hope in love, and also to those who are already in love. It is worth a watch. It is truly an entertaining and heartfelt experience. Take the journey from attraction to love with Mohid and Anmol, and true to the words of the soudtrack, "Tumhe dillagi bhool jaane padegi" :) [ You will have to forget about infatuation]
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