The Western-style ‘party’ appears in many popular Pakistani drama serials. It represents Western values and is generally seen as a ‘test’ for the shareef heroine who can either stand by her own values or succumb to what are regarded as corrupting influences. This scene is full of visual symbols that represent Western values. The most obvious are the clothes that Sara and her friends choose to wear (mainly jeans and tops). Khirat shows up wearing a loose-fitted white kameez. One cannot ignore the stark visual contrast in terms of color: Khirat is wearing plain white while Sara and her friends wear dark, Western wear. Khirat’s appearance is out of place and Sara’s friends seek to understand it by questioning if she has to attend another function after the party.
The message is loud and clear: this is not a space for ‘traditional’ or Eastern values. This is a space that is devoted to emulating a certain type of lifestyle that Khirat cannot represent. Her failure to emulate this lifestyle makes her the subject of mockery amongst Sara’s friends. In addition to the clothes they wear, the pool table is a brilliant example of the emulation of a Western-centric affluent lifestyle and fits in perfectly at what this party is meant to represent.
The party then emerges as a space of compromised moralities. It is a public event where corrupt values proliferate. Of course, the Pakistani drama heroine is in contrast shown as ‘shareef’ (innocent). While attending such a party, she will always feel out of place. This is exactly what happens to Khirat as she awkwardly smiles, looks at Ashar repeatedly with a confused look and is generally unable to make conversation. Through this setting a sharp contrast is established between the class Khirat comes from and the class Sara and Ashar belong to. Sara even uses Khirat’s out of place dressing and her awkward existence here to demean her in front of her friends as she relays Khirat and Ashar’s marriage as something that was dramatic as they were forced into it. Hence throughout this scene the values of the upper class and the lower middle class are established through not only the conversation that takes place but also the setting and costumes that portray two parallels that are Khirat and Sara.
The message is loud and clear: this is not a space for ‘traditional’ or Eastern values. This is a space that is devoted to emulating a certain type of lifestyle that Khirat cannot represent. Her failure to emulate this lifestyle makes her the subject of mockery amongst Sara’s friends. In addition to the clothes they wear, the pool table is a brilliant example of the emulation of a Western-centric affluent lifestyle and fits in perfectly at what this party is meant to represent.
The party then emerges as a space of compromised moralities. It is a public event where corrupt values proliferate. Of course, the Pakistani drama heroine is in contrast shown as ‘shareef’ (innocent). While attending such a party, she will always feel out of place. This is exactly what happens to Khirat as she awkwardly smiles, looks at Ashar repeatedly with a confused look and is generally unable to make conversation. Through this setting a sharp contrast is established between the class Khirat comes from and the class Sara and Ashar belong to. Sara even uses Khirat’s out of place dressing and her awkward existence here to demean her in front of her friends as she relays Khirat and Ashar’s marriage as something that was dramatic as they were forced into it. Hence throughout this scene the values of the upper class and the lower middle class are established through not only the conversation that takes place but also the setting and costumes that portray two parallels that are Khirat and Sara.
It is interestimg to note how Sarah calls Khirad a 'gaun ki larki' while describing the whole plot of Khirad's marriage to Ashar and making it sound as dramatic as she possibly can. In reality it is Sarah herself who is acting as the illiterate sort of a person who doesnt know how to talk in social gatherings as her own birthday party. As opposed to Sarah, Khirad remains quiet and just listens to what Sarah has to tell her own friends about Khirad's life.
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