A casual glimpse would make it seem like Humsafar is a show
replete with different sorts of women whose dynamic personalities drive the
plot by clashing in dramatic ways. What only a more careful perusal would
reveal is the various roles men occupy in the web of aspirations and actions,
the common feature in all said roles being the authority that they emanate
which women directly and indirectly employ to legitimize and lend credibility
or meaning to their actions and even their existence (figuratively speaking) in
some instances.
When Khirad’s supposed infidelities were exposed in her
public shaming orchestrated by the Hades of Humsafar, Fareeda, Ashar just …
looked. He stared. His wife stared. His wife cried. His wife pleaded. He
stared. He walked away. Voila! Fareeda pounced. In a few well-crafted minutes
of screen time, Khirad was sent packing, on her way to her
less-than-aristocratic origins. Fareeda would have been very happy to kick her
allegedly unworthy daughter-in-law out earlier as well, so why didn’t she do
so? Simply put, she couldn’t become the spokesperson for the slave-owner UNTIL
he tacitly consented. The demise of Baseerat had paved the way for her to
finally grab the mantle that she felt she should have, but that too was
contingent on the attitude of her son towards her. She couldn’t stand the
thought of an unworthy wretch stealing her glory from under her nose. She
killed many birds with one huge stone by also declaring that her
grandchild-to-be wasn’t Ashar’s son (reference to Khirad’s sleeping around),
removing the last and potentially strongest connection that would make Ashar
think and feel on tangents she would kill to avoid. This also links to the
broader idea of men being the enforcers of morality in Humsafar as well as in
Mansfield Park, and that the absence of the male figure leads to chaos and an
obstruction which disrupts the ‘natural’ hierarchy which needs to be conformed
to. Sara, the girl without a father, is a good example of this- spiraling
helplessly in the whirlpool of unrequited love, driving herself and those
around her mad, and eventually choosing the devil over the deep-blue sea by
favoring death over an Asher-less life.
In a world of extreme emotions and reactions, men do not
stand out as the logical figures in contrast to their female counterparts. In
fact, in a preponderance of instances, men succumb to their emotions and do not
react in rational manners. But clearly, their actions and reactions affect
women far more than the reverse, in normal as well as in romantic settings.
#thedramashouldbecalled’HumSuffer’
No comments:
Post a Comment