Habs: an emotional web of complicated relationships

Read time: approx 5-10mins

Habs has recently become very popular amongst the Pakistani audience mainly due to the chemistry between the main leads Feroze Khan & Ushna Shah. Additionally, the drama deals with the lasting impact of abandonment & trust issues which has proven to be meaningful in recent episodes. The drama deals with multi-layered relationship issues embedded within each character's life. Let's take a look at the key reasons why the drama serial is credible...and where there may be room to improve...

Feroze Khan as Basit

Basit Salman Khan has introduced a breath of fresh air into Feroze Khan's acting career who we usually see in a toxic and aggressive role. The role of Basit has given Feroze Khan scope for character development and to dig deep into his emotional side to relate with the audience (who may also have gone through a similar situation of abandonment and trust issues). His acting in the recent episode took the spotlight when we saw him talking beside his mother's grave. The scene particularly highlights what his emotional needs were from a mother's love as a child that was important for him growing up. Due to a missing mother figure in his life, he grew into an independent and emotionally unavailable man. The hatred was still there for Basit when his mother suddenly returned as he didn't know how he was supposed to feel or deal with this. He maintained a cold attitude towards his mother during the time he did have with her and is now shown to regret this. They say you never know how much someone means to you until when they're gone...well here we see Basit has an outpour of emotions. 

Another moment we really liked was when Basit showed up at Ayesha's house for Zoya's proposal. As a son-in-law, we really felt this was respectful and mature of him. Basit's position as a man of the house shone at the time when he engaged in the conversation and questioned Amir's family's intentions. Although Zoya and Amir believe this was in a spiteful manner, we believe he was only asking the right question with the right intention. It's the man's responsibility (from the girl's side) to ensure that the proposal will give financial stability and is not out for any hidden motives, and if so, the rishta must come to an end there and then.

Okay, but can we please take a moment to appreciate Basit's style when it comes to his workwear 👀.

We absolutely loved his navy suit...well it felt a bit more like a midnight blue with an inner waistcoat that just gave Burberry vibes! The inner waistcoat was a checked vintage style print at the front in a sandy brown colour which contrasted nicely with the rest of the outfit but the back was seen to be as solid navy. We really couldn't take our eyes off Basit in this dashing 3-piece suit which later made a lovely outfit to wear for his birthday surprise party. Another suit we loved was the plum purple blazer paired with a baby pink inner shirt. These strong shades of plum purple and midnight blue really suited Feroze Khan and definitely proved to be style inspo for businessmen! Don't be afraid in wearing bold and daring suit colours- sometimes they work better than the classics like black and grey because they prove to be head-turning and stand-out pieces!

                               

Office settings

One thing to note is that Habs shows working women in an office in a non-stereotypical way. For example, drama serials like Dar Khuda Say focused primarily on sexual harassment in the workplace. Contrastingly, it was nice to see Basit as a boss who did not have any bad or dirty intentions when Ayesha was his PA (before they got married). Although yes the two did later get married, there was no sense of sexual tension or claustrophobia shown between a PA and a boss. We usually see in dramas where a 'majboor' girl is taken advantage of by her boss (sometimes indirectly) e.g purposefully asking them to stay overtime or calling them into their office for lustful pleasures. We'd like to applaud this small and important change the script has bought in representing women in the working environment as being safe.

We love how Habs is a drama that represents Basit as a boss who is respectful of everyone's position and knows how to deal with his employees like Jawad who are purely in the office for gossip and spreading rumours. Basit puts his head down and encourages discipline among his workers and helps them understand when they are doing something wrong and effectively punishes them as a learning lesson. 

 

Saba Faisal as Qudsia

Saba Faisal plays the role of a mother of three daughters who is dependent on them financially as there is no male figure in the house to take up responsibilities for household expenses. At the start of the drama, when Bano was the only breadwinner of the house and was interested in marrying Talal, her mother was presented to be evil and spiteful for rejecting the rishta. She looked like the 'bad guy' but nobody cared to understand her reasoning- which is actually very justified. It was wrong of her the way she dealt with the situation and the way she treated Bano but her underlying reasons were her worries about how the house would run in the future (with her other two daughters who weren't working at the time). Saba Faisal's acting has always proven to be top-notch and versatile and we've been loving her performance in Habs. Okay, can we please take a moment to appreciate her dialogue delivery! Her dialogues may be rude and belittling but they do make us laugh!

Dania Anwer as Bano

Bano as the eldest daughter of the house plays a very mature and responsible girl. Although she was mainly seen crying at the start of the drama, her character development has been great to watch over the course of the drama. Bano is still seen as emotionally upset about her qismat, she has matured quickly and learnt to pick herself up. She didn't run away or commit suicide which is an interesting point to note because most of the time we see such characters beyond heartbroken and result in doing something dramatic. It was impressive and emotional to see her get ready and go to Talal's wedding and leave everything behind in their relationship but she dealt with the whole situation pretty well. 

As her two younger sisters are shown to be getting married we do feel sad for Bano, who is the eldest and still unmarried. We hope she finds someone better than Talal (and acceptable for her mother) who we can see her settle down with by the end of the drama serial. 

Criticism

Ayesha & Basit's relationship

Is anyone else a bit confused about Basit's changing attitudes towards his wife Ayesha? Sometimes he purposefully leaves her waiting with his friend over dinner (which is embarrassing) and sometimes he says he doesn't want her working as his 'mamooli' PA (which is essentially embarrassing too). I understand that Basit doesn't have a positive image of women but he did still marry a woman with whom he needs to accept the relationship and learn to trust. In one episode he is shown to be sitting with her and talking nicely and in the very next scene, he looks like he doesn't even care about her presence. It would've been better if Basit was shown to develop an emotionally stable relationship slowly with Ayesha after his mother's death rather than as a constantly confused person.

Bobby phupo

There have been times when Bobby phupo has indirectly accused Qudsia of being problematic for her in the past. I wonder what Qudsia did maybe when a rishta came for Bobby phupo and whether she is to blame for Bobby phupo being unmarried. Additionally, Bobby phupo seems to be Zoya's 'best mate' or 'duo' which is sometimes irritating because it seems like she is pointless without Zoya's presence. She doesn't really have many dialogues and her character doesn't really add anything to the story. It would've been interesting if we saw maybe a flashback of the past as to why she may be unmarried to make her presence emotionally felt on-screen.