Local television continues to be a source of entertainment for viewers and while some dramas seem to be stuck in the age-old narratives surrounding marriages, love triangles and heartbreaks, a few others have recently been pushing the boundaries, albeit with some hits and misses. One particular drama to have recently gone on air is Parizaad, and from the first three episodes, the project looks promising. A Momina Duraid Production, the drama airs on Hum TV at 8 pm every Tuesday.
Written by Hashim Nadeem, Parizaad is the story of a man of the same name. Played by Ahmed Ali Akbar, Parizaad looks nothing like his name, which translates into ‘born of a fairy’ and hence, refers to someone beautiful. Instead, Parizaad is dark-skinned and unattractive by society’s standards of beauty.
From birth, he is treated as an outcast and made to feel inferior because of the way he looks, never mind the fact that he is a lot smarter than everyone else around him and has a good heart. In stark contrast to Parizaad stands Naheed (played by Ushna Shah), his neighbour and student.
Beautiful on the outside, Naheed vocalises what everyone around Parizaad already feels. She wrongly accuses him of being interested in her, and even trying to break into her house one day. Naheed goes to the extent of clearly telling Parizaad that she did so because everyone in the neighbourhood was sensible enough to know that a girl like her could never be interested in a boy like him.
