Last night marked the end of Ishq-e-Laa. To grab the primetime viewership, HUM TV used the tried and tested formula by picking good actors, simple romance, breathtaking locales, colorful apparel of the cast, and, of course, lots of drama. In achieving all of the above, the team missed out on one of the core ingredients – the script. Despite the big drag and constant shifts in the narrative, Ishq-e-Laa managed to keep the viewers invested till the end.
Ishq-e-Laa: The Final Episodes
The last two episodes brought Ishq-e-Laa back on track. Azlan (Azaan Sami Khan) lets go of his ego and develops feelings for Azka (Yumna Zaidi). He reads her diary and gets to know about the honesty and dedication of his wife. He repents for his bad behavior and seeks forgiveness. Azka’s family wants Azlan to divorce her, so that she can marry her classmate Zain (Ahmad Taha Ghani). To fasten the proceedings, Kanwal (Uzma Hassan) creates havoc at Azlan’s place that eventually brings to Sitwat’s (Ghazala Kaifee) knowledge the truth about her kidney donor. In a highly dramatic finale, Azlan confesses her love for Azka and they live happily ever after.
The Highs
Ishq-e-Laa began on a promising note. It was like watching a feature film, with a wonderful first half, dominated by Sajal Aly’s flawless performance. Sajal took the majority of the responsibility on her shoulders and delivered a nuanced performance. She wasn’t a bechari that we usually see on-screen. Shanaya had an empowering personality; she was courageous and lived life on her terms. This aspect of her character was interesting to watch. Also, her chemistry with Azaan was effortless. Viewers could witness the way Azlaan was enchanted by her personality.
Speaking of strong characters, Yumna Zaidi adds another class act to her strong resume. Debutant Azaan Sami Khan took a shaky start but with each passing episode, his performance got better. Kudos to the director, Amin Iqbal, for extracting the best from his actors and setting up the premise without sacrificing the nuances.
The Lows
Sometimes, a project gets unnecessarily dragged to the extent that viewers stop watching it mid-way. The same has been the case with Ishq-e-Laa. The moment Sajal’s track ends (the first half), the show begins to crash. The crux of the story was positive, but it should have been limited to 20 episodes instead of 31. As a result, a powerhouse performer like Yumna Zaidi was bowed down with a dragged narrative and, at times, poor direction. Much of the time was wasted in figuring out the murderers of Shanaya and Sultan (Sohail Sameer).
On the contrary, important issues like Azka donating her kidney and agreeing to a contract marriage happened in the wink of an eye, and that too without informing her family. Why? The track of Abid (Adnan Samad Khan) ended quite abruptly. There was a leap of five years in the timeline after which the looks of the characters didn’t change at all. Strange!
Summing Up Ishq-e-Laa As A Whole
Had all of this been taken care of, Ishq-e-Laa would be a clean hit. Despite the lack of finesse and flaws, Ishq-e-Laa managed to engage viewers. The writer, Qasira Hayat, upped their game in the last few episodes. Moments of pleasure were aplenty, but minus the huge drag of 12 episodes, Ishq-e-Laa would surely be a triumph.
