Dunk had been all the rage even before it went on air. The highly anticipated drama serial had been in the news for various reasons. One, it was talking about false allegations of sexual harassment leading to the accused person’s life being ruined. Secondly, it roped in big names like Noman Ijaz, Yasra Rizvi, Bilal Abbas, and Sana Javed. Also, the drama was produced under the powerhouse Fahad Mustafa’s production house.
Story
The story started off with Amal, played by Sana Javed, accusing Professor Humayun (Noman Ijaz) of harassment and Haider (Bilal Abbas) being in full support of Amal who was also his fiance. A few episodes down, we came to know that Haider had accidentally sent some inappropriate photographs to a teacher at his university, Ma’am Anjum (Tara Mehmood) instead of his friend Anjum (Sardar Osman). This was the main reason why Amal went to Professor Humayun to explain to him why Haider was not in the wrong, to clarify a genuine mistake. When the professor does not back down, Amal decides to falsely accuse him of harassment. As an ongoing trial happens on campus, Ma’am Anjum decides to forgive Haider. Professor Humayun and his wife Saira, played by Yasra Rizvi, are left all alone in the fight for justice. Not being able to handle all of this, the professor commits suicide, which was shown in yesterday’s episode.
Last night’s episode
Last night’s episode was extremely emotional as it set the pace for what was to come after Professor Humayun’s death. The way Saira (Yasra Rizvi) showed her shock when she found her husband dead left us in jitters. There was no over the top rona dhona or screaming, just pure emotions coming from a seasoned actor.
Bilal Abbas as Haider does an exceptional job portraying his confused guilty mindset. At this point, we do not know why he feels the way he does. When Minaal (Azekah Daniel) comes to tell Haider of the professor’s death, Haider locks himself in his room contemplating the past few days where he fought with the deceased. There were no dialogues in these scenes but the way Bilal portrayed his emotions leaves the audience feeling for him. He seems to be torn between his love for Amal, guilt, and regret accusing Professor Humayun and most importantly doing the right thing. He turns up for the professor’s funeral with Minaal only to find out no other person has taken part in the processions.
Another highlight from yesterday’s episode was the scene where Saira gives a shoulder to her husband’s janaza as no one turns up for his funeral. We see a masked up Haider take the body from Saira and another tear falls from the audience’s eyes as we can feel the same anguish in Saira and Haider’s eyes. An extremely emotional and heart-wrenching scene that was.
Amal on the other hand feels no remorse and seems to be worried about herself and her mistakes.
The entire episode was a powerpack and that definitely includes the last scene. Finally, what the audience had been guessing comes to light as Haider remembers a flashback of himself eavesdropping on a conversation between Amal and Professor Humayun where Amal mocks the professor’s misery of being penalised for a crime he had not even committed! This leaves Haider in shock, guilt, and betrayal of trusting his lady love.
Hopefully, in the coming episodes, we will see Haider and Saira collectively fight for justice for Professor Humayun and Amal penalised for her crimes.
