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    Drama Review: Fraud

    Written by: Hurmat Majid
    Posted on: July 29, 2022 | | 中文

    Saba Qamar as Maya Nisar and Ahsan Khan as Tabraiz

    A drama that explores the life of a woman conned into her first marriage, and forced into rapidly taking a decision about a second marriage, makes for an intriguing premise. However, if you drag any premise long enough, viewers are bound to lose interest.

    Adnan Samad as Nail and Saba Qamar as Maya

    Starring the enigmatic Saba Qamar as Maya, Ahsan Khan as Tabraiz, and Mikaal Zulfiqar as Shan Kumar, the ARY Digital drama has been produced by iDreams’ Abdullah Seja, written by Zanjabeel Asim and directed by Saqib Khan.

    Mikaal Zulfiqar as Shaan and Asma Abbas as his step-mother

    The drama begins with Maya’s father, Nisar (Mehmood Aslam), aspiring that his elder daughter marry into an affluent family so that she improves her social status. The obsession with marrying her off to a wealthy man is such that he even refuses his own sister’s son as a possible beau for his daughter. Tabraiz (Ahsan) and his fake parents seem to be the answer to all of his prayers. Soon Maya is married off and on her honeymoon train, she is abandoned by Tabraiz, who not only leaves her stranded but also does away with all of her jewelry and dowry.

    Tabraiz and Maya's wedding scene in Fraud

    One would think that an experience this traumatic would open Nisar’s eyes toward his obvious lack of judgment when it comes to marriage proposals, but that is not the case. Soon after Maya returns home, Nisar is seen trying to push Maya into thinking about marrying again, presenting marriage as a sort of antidote to the trauma she has just endured.

    Saba Qamar (Maya) and Mehmood Aslam (Nisar) as father-daughter

    On the other hand, we see Tabraiz enjoying his new wealth and also planning his next con with Khawar (Saife Hassan) and Jahanara (Annie Zaidi). 12 episodes down the road, neither has Tabraiz gone through his next con nor has Maya married someone, and to top it off, Shan Kumar (Mikaal), the wealthy man that promos suggest Maya will eventually end up with, has still not fully entered the storyline, although we can see glimpses of him here and there. With such poor progress, one is bound to lose interest even if the storyline is interesting. The drama has all the makings of a show that creators will drag to 40 episodes.

    Annie Zaidi, Ahsan Khan and Saife Hassan in Fraud

    In terms of acting, Saba is flawless as usual, but by no stretch of the imagination does she look like she is 21. Playwrights and directors need to be wary of stating a character’s age when it does not match the actor’s persona in the drama, and nor is it relevant to the storyline. Ahsan Khan is a brilliant actor, that said, an actor of his caliber should not choose roles similar to each other in back-to-back plays, and that’s what we have seen Ahsan do in the past couple of years. The way Tabraiz dresses is identical to the way Rashid dressed in Qayamat, and Murad dressed in Qissa Meherbano Ka. The character traits of these men are also hauntingly similar, and it looks like Ahsan is choosing to be safe rather than his usual bold self when picking his roles. The lack of diversity in the roles, however, cannot be mistaken for a lack of acting prowess as whenever Ahsan takes a role, he does complete justice to it. We haven’t seen enough of Mikaal on the screen to make anything of his role yet.

    Ahsan Khan as Tabraiz

    Now to gush over our pool of veteran actors: Mehmood Aslam Sahab, we feel, is not given enough credit for the way he takes on any role he is given, ranging from comedy to a downright negative persona, and makes it his own. He has done the same here. It is refreshing to see Ainee Zaidi in a non-saas/mom role, and she has carried herself well in this new persona. Saifee Hasan has this unique quality where he does the bare minimum to his appearance and the way he talks, but one can still somehow distinguish any one of his roles from another. Nida Mumtaz is another one of those actors who is typecast as the resident Ammi in any drama, and we feel that’s a shame.

    Mehmood Aslam and Nida Mumtaz in Fraud

    We feel like we keep pointing this out over and over again, but since showrunners are not changing the way they strategise, it needs to be said yet again: no one, absolutely no one in the audience wants a 40 to 50-episode-long drama. It is tiresome and repetitive. The plot loses its meaning completely and by the end of it, you lose any positive messaging that could have made an impact on the audience’s mind. We understand that this is a business, but please find a better way to make money than to put audiences through the torture of watching hours upon hours of flashbacks and meaningless filler scenes.

    Nida Mumtaz as Shehnaz with her daughters, Maya (Saba Qamar) and Maila (Rabya Kulsoom)

    Overall, if Fraud does not pick up its pace in the next three episodes, it will completely lose its charm, and probably, a large chunk of its audience.

    Ahsan Khan as Tabraiz in Fraud


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

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    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
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    January 2021