Allah, the poor, poor widow, young, beautiful, with one lock of hair always on her face to give her delicate softness, she is shunned by everyone since her husband died.
The beychari Naintara (Minal Khan) gives birth to her dead husband’s (Shahroze Sabzwari) son (after he is killed in a robbery) and is suffering, suffering, suffering ever since. Her husband’s older brother, Farhan (Noor Hassan) feels terrible about her state and is growing sick of his uber jealous wife Zari (Arij Fatima) who is doing everything in her power to make Naintara look like a complete skank who couldn’t wait for her husband to die. Zari plays idiotic games, from trying to get her brother to rape Naintara, to faking a pregnancy and then accusing Naintara of causing her miscarriage, to getting her friends to shame Naintara for getting it on with her brother-in-law Farhan.
Oh and Naintara has a sister, whose husband wants to marry Naintara off to an Indian businessman for money. If she doesn’t marry the businessman, he will divorce Naintara’s sister. Farhan helps Naintara get out of the situation but it’s sickening – how a sister is willing to sell her blood because Oh No! Mera ghar toot jaye ga, mai kya karoon?
Farhan’s mother (who is also Zari’s khala) decides to get Naintara and Farhan hitched so Naintara can have her “rightful, respectable” place in the society after Farhan’s first wife Zari leaves in a huff and goes back to her house. Farhan, not so reluctantly agrees and Naintara doesn’t put up much of a fight either (aye hai, beychari, how can she) and they get nikkahofied when Zari isn’t there. Right after the qabools, Zari walks in and has an (obvious) crisis. She leaves and later decides that she needs to come back and break up this marriage.
Okay. What the hell. Did the writers not know that it is now A CRIME to not ask your first wife for permission before you marry again? And why is it that Naintara cannot attain a “rightful” place in society without having a man by her side? The dialogues are literally cringe-worthy, to the extent of being really, really sexist. Oh, aurat ka ghar tou admi se hi bunta hai. What a terrible, terrible social message. Don’t get me wrong, its fantastic mirch masala, the oh NO! Oh nahi, kya! that comes up every time there is a twist. But is it really important to pass such messages to society? Sparring wives, sad, sad widow, jealous crazy wife?
If you actually watch Hassad, it shows all that’s wrong in our society. Glorifying the male child and showing women as being mental devils with nothing better to do than ruin reputations. Get a job, Naintara. You can do it.
