BEHADD

My friend recommended to watch the Pakistani telefilm ‘Behadd’ which stars  Fawad Khan, Nadia Jamil, Sajjal Ali, Nadia Afgan, Adnan Siddiqui, Adnan Jaffar, and Shamoon Abbasi in pivot roles. I have watched this telefilm twice. The hour and a half was time well spent as far as the telefilm went.

The story revolves around Masooma a.k.a. Mo (Nadia Jamil), a working woman and single mother who lives with her fifteen-year-old daughter Maha (Sajjal Ali). After losing her husband in a road accident, Maha becomes Masooma's sole reason for existence; also Maha becomes an introvert and grows to become extremely possessive of her mother.

One day, Masooma bumps into her best friend's younger brother Jamal Ahmad a.k.a. Jo (Fawad Khan), who is also her childhood friend and a divorcee. He visits Masooma's house for dinner and gels well with Maha, which surprises Masooma as Maha usually doesn't warm up to people so easily. Jo's sister, Popi (Nausheen) asks Masooma to find a girl for Jo, as she thinks that Jo is very young and should remarry. Masooma introduces Shaista (Hira Tareen) to Jo at lunch, where Jo behaves carelessly and shows no interest in the proposal.

Jo starts spending time with Masooma and Maha and proposes to Masooma which leaves her shocked and stunned. She refuses because she was a single mother and five years older than him. Masooma also feels that Maha will never adjust to having a new father. However, Jo asks her to reconsider her decision as he genuinely cares for her and considers Maha his daughter. Masooma's friend Shafaq (Nadia Afgan) makes her realize that she will never get a better husband than Jo, and assures her that Maha will accept Jo as she likes him a lot. Masooma tells Maha about Jo's proposal and tells her that they need someone like Jo in their lives, as he has all the qualities of a good companion and a great person. Masooma also says that she will not accept the proposal if Maha is uncomfortable about it. Maha, though a little taken aback by the proposal, gives her consent to the marriage.

Masooma asks Jamal to pick Maha from school as she is caught up with work. When she returns Maha accuses Jamal of sexual harassment. Masooma breaks up with Jamal and goes into depression. After six months Masooma decides to send Maha to London for higher studies but Maha refuses to go. Maha confides in Shafaq that she framed Jamal because Masooma was falling in love with him and she was starting to forget her first husband. Shafaq tells Maha the importance of Jamal in their lives and asks Maha to go to Jamal and apologize for what she has done. Maha then apologizes to Jamal and tells him why she accused him. Jamal tells her that it is up to her to decide whether she wants him in their lives or not. He also reveals that Masooma is aware of the truth. Jamal explains that after two weeks of the incident Masooma saw CCTV footage from that day and realized that Jamal was innocent.

It is then shown that Masooma was listening while Maha apologized to Jamal; both mother and daughter become emotional and hug each other. The telefilm ends with an emotional Jamal crying and watching the two women without revealing whether Masooma and Jamal get together or not.

The ending was wonderfully played out. I seriously loved everything about the telefilm, from the way it was directed to the details like the background music being played perfectly. I thought that Jo and Mo had excellent chemistry throughout and it was nice to see Fawad playing a character that fit his age pretty well. And I liked the “no-makeup” makeup looks that everyone, from Masooma to Shafaq to Sajal had going on. It was a simple play that made you think a lot.

The chemistry between all the characters was wonderful. Be it mother-daughter, friend-friend, heroine-hero, everything looked realistic and it was just a nice added touch. It made me smile.