The mega launch of ‘Mere Apne’ aired on Sunday. It is an ARY Digital project written by Qurat-ul-Ain Akhter & Dilawar Khan, directed by Mohsin Mirza and Tehseen Khan and produced by iDream Entertainment. The cast of the show includes Usama Khan, Ali Abbas, Hajra Yameen, Zainab Shabbir, Waseem Abbas, Zoya Nasir, Tanveer Jamal, Firdous Jamal, Ayesha Khan, Arez Ahmed and Agha Mustafa.
Story
‘Mere Apne’ is another story of cousins’ love and family politics. This drama unfolds the love story of Umar, played by Ali Abbas, and his paternal aunt’s daughter Neha, played by Hajra Yameen.
Umar has two brothers; Kashif and Usma, played by Agha Mustafa Hassan and Arez Ahmed respectively. Rimsha, played by Zainab Shabbir, is their younger sister. Neha has a flirty, greedy and unsuccessful brother Hamza, played by Usama Khan.
Umar belongs to a rich family, whereas Neha is from a middle-class family. Mahmood, Neha’s father, played by Waseem Abbas, is a negative character. He envies Umar’s father, played by Tanveer Jamal. Umar’s spiteful sister-in-law, Shumaila, played by Zoya Nasir, wants her sister Maryam to marry Umar, who is madly in love with him.
Umar’s mother dislikes Neha and wants Maryam as Umar’s wife. When Umar’s father asks for Neha’s hand, Mahmood conditions it with Rimsha and Hamza’s marriage in order to gain monetary benefits. Hamza, on the other hand, tries his best to persuade Rimsha to marriage because of her money and status.
The typical storyline and similar characters
In present times, the majority of dramas have stories of cousin love and vicious family ties. ‘Mere Apne’ offers nothing new to the viewers. Even the characters are very much similar to other dramas. For instance, Umar’s mother is playing a vicious role of a mother, who is absolutely against her son’s love. She has one niece as her daughter-in-law and wants the other niece to marry her second son. She plans and plots with her nieces to ruin Neha and Umar’s relationship.
This track is similar to the ‘Ishq Hai’ drama, which recently ended. Similarly, the character of Maryam is exactly like Nimra of ‘Ishq Hai’. Following the footsteps of Nimra, Maryam desperately wants to marry her cousin, who is not at all interested in her. Even the next events in the dramas are very predictable. The audience will witness typical women rivalry and marital disputes. Zoya Nasir, who is performing the role of a vicious bhabhi in this play, performed a similar negative character in ‘Zebaish’.
Performances
All the actors played convincing roles in their respective characters. Waseem Abbas’s performance stands out. His acting as Mahmood is worth praising. Usama Khan plays a negative role in this play. His performance is different from his previous work.
Direction And Production
Although the cinematography of ‘Mere Apne’ is similar to other iDream Entertainment’ projects, the locations and backdrop are wisely chosen. The typical story does not provide any experimental directional opportunity to directors, but the story is well executed on screen.
Conclusion
‘Mere Apne’ bears a conventional story of intricate family ties and love triangles. The story does not stretch beyond marital issues, women rivalry and love struggles. Appreciable performances by the lead cast may build interest in the audience.
