Dr Zara (Mawra Hocane) escapes her abusive marriage, divorcing her damaged, unstable husband Hasan (Mohib Mirza), despite societal pressure to stick by him. Putting aside the pain and humiliations she suffered, Zara still finds compassion for Hasan, withdrawing her case on the condition he seeks his own healing. Mawra Hocane and Mohib Mirza’s strong, measured performances give audiences a great template for a practical guide to survival and healing from the insidious cycle of domestic violence. In the parallel track, Zara’s cousin Deebu (Sehar Khan) watches her once-kind, supportive husband Dr Numair (Usman Mukhtar) withdraw. Given a diagnosis of infertility at an early age, Numair swings between joy and disbelief, afraid to even discuss this subject with his happy young wife. Usman Mukhtar’s nuanced portrayal of how emotional isolation and insecurity can ruin relationships and a man’s personality is fascinating and a teaching moment. Sehar Khan handles her role as the bubbly young girl to a heartbroken wife well. The one missing piece in this story is the smug self-satisfaction of Deebu’s parents. Even after their daughter is presumed dead, they are convinced that, instead of therapy or a cooling-off period, a forced marriage to a stranger was the right choice. Green Entertainment has upped its game with this all-round action-thriller bursting with an array of stars and contemporary, authentic storylines from master scriptwriter Mustafa Afridi. Director Syed Wajahat matches the energy of the stars and the entertaining script, giving us a wonderful open, cinematic look to each frame. So many people are on the run, looking to escape situations beyond their control, weaving a story that takes a slice out of every class and ethnicity. Hamza Ali Abbasi manages the impossible: making his cold-blooded hit-man Batish seem almost cute while in love with the daughter of the Professor (Noor ul Hassan) he has just been hired to erase. Danyal Zafar is surprisingly good as the young Pakhtun in need of anger management. Ahmed Ali Akbar handles his character Fasih, an out-of-favour honest cop, with his usual restrained skill. This is a very male-oriented script with flashes of black humour and plenty of movement. In an unusual move, Afridi picks a mistress, played by Sohai Ali Abro, as a lead instead of the usual good girl archetype. Abro keeps her character real but empathetic. It seems the Siddiqui brothers never learn and end up paying a hefty price. Jamal (Saud Qasmi) was the anchor of their family but, after suffering huge business losses, the stress of his feuding brothers and being tricked out of the family property, he dies of a heart attack. A broken, grieving family tries to pick up the pieces of their lives, correctly assessing the root cause of their tribulations as their cunning Phuppo (Asma Abbas) and her family. After achieving her freedom and independence, Asma Bhabi (Sunita Marshal) realises she has been tricked out of her business by Phuppo’s daughter Saira (Madiha Iftikhar). Jamal and Asma were always too kind and generous for their own good, and tended to ignore Azra’s (Javeria Saud) advice because of her past negativity. This continues to be a great soap, entertaining and authentic, and it feels like family, though the refusal of the good people to be wise or practical has become irritating. Asma Abbas makes a fun and very believable villain and her competitions with the equally clever Azra, are often funny and resonate with everyone. Imran Abbas and Neelum Munir return with a light romance about a marriage forged through duty, rather than love and respect.