The new beginning that was a bad idea
Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay is not a patch on the 1985 drama that's still talked about. Instep spots the difference…
By Fatima Zakir



Once upon a time, a very long lime ago, 27 years to be precise, in the haloed realm of '80s PTV dramas lived two sisters, Zara and Saniya whose parents died in a car accident leaving them alone in this world. And so began Tanhaiyaan...

They had to sell their home and move in with their khala, (they called her Aani) a   single working woman. Using her as a role model Zara herself became strong and silent as she turned to business to make enough to buy her home back. Meanwhile, Saniya, the mischievous one, befriended their landlord, Farhan, and became a constant pain for his assistant Qabacha. If Zara embodied the new age woman who aspired to do exactly what men do, then Saniya was her perfect ‘cool kid’ foil, roaming around with a Pink Panther and driving people up the wall. Alike as chalk and cheese, Zara and Saniya embodied the spirit of a new kind of woman: headstrong, independent, smart, sassy, with no fear of speaking her mind.

Tanhaiyaan was a tour de force. People stayed in to watch the play that was declared “unmissable” after the first episode. Written by Haseena Moin and directed superbly by Shahzad Khalil, it had a stellar cast that created magic. Shehnaz Sheikh and Marina Khan were the fresh faces, the first who created magic in Ankahi and the second who the nation still remembered as the tragic fiancée of the hero from Shahzad Khalil's excellent long play Rashid Minhas Shaheed. Handsome Asif Raza Mir was their childhood friend Zain who always had a thing for Zara. The late Yasmeen Ismail was wonderfully restrained as his fiancée Vida who joins Zara's business as a designer. Amir Hatmi is still remembered as the ambitious Saad Salman, Zara's partner who proposes to her. Badar Khalil and Qazi Wajid as Aani and Farhan respectively were the grounded anchors for the young girls after their parents passing. Behroze Subzwari as Qabacha, Jamshed Ansari as Buqrat and Durdana Butt as Bibi were the household help providing comic relief of a variety we don't see any more. Azra Sherwani was the domineering Aapa Begum, an old world matriarch who rules over her brother Farhan and the household keeping her fridge under lock and key. 

It was the perfect cast of characters in 1985 and Tanhaiyaan the year's most beloved play watched avidly by people on both sides of the border. It is still referred to and remembered fondly. A long 27 years after the classic had wound up and blazed itself onto the memory of everyone who had seen it, the makers decided to fast forward and decided to introduce us to generation next. 

Part Deux

Zara is dead (they had to kill her because Shehnaz Sheikh has opted to stay out of the drama circuit, but more on that later) and has left two daughters - Zeenia (Alishba Yusuf) and Serena (Syra Shehroz) - They were born and brought up in USA (after finding their home and heart finally in 1985's Tanhaiyaan, Zara and Zain just up and left) but are now back to Pakistan with their dad, Zain (Asif Raza Mir). Saniya (Marina Khan) is still unmarried. The shocker is that Qabacha (Behroze Subzwari) got married to someone else, got divorced and now lives with his grown-up son, Altamish (Shehroz Subzwari), who is also Serena's love interest. Zarak Khan (Shehryar Munawar Siddiqui) is a youth activist paired opposite Zeenia. And so 27 years later begins Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay. with hopes that we will enjoy each and every moment of it and ARY Digital will create the magic and chemistry all over again racking up the ratings of course. Sorry, but that's not happening!
Aani (Badar Khalil) that  independent working woman is now a housewife who lives with spinster Saniya (Marina Khan). Farhan uncle (actor par excellence Qazi Wajid) stays at home too. Saniya runs a youth centre, which focuses on education and literary activities (something like T2F). Qabacha went to Dubai, did 'some' business and came back rich. His son, Altamish, is a young struggling filmmaker. Zarak Khan is from KPK and wants to start a youth centre there, so he is getting experience at Saniya’s youth centre. He eventually wants to open schools for women in his area and is all for spreading education. A do-gooder from up North, so politically correct.

Zeenia and Serena help Saniya in her youth centre. How they do that is not clearly defined; they are just seen arranging the books, making coffee or finding a match for Saniya. What they’ve studied is as unclear as what their dad does; Zain has started a business in Pakistan, but we don't know what business. So instead of carrying on from the progressive vibe of the Tanhaiyaan of yore, Naye Silsilay dithers and gives us nothing more than romance, match making and family ties, which can easily be had via any random formula play on the telly.

With Marina Khan in the director's seat, Jaleel Akhtar as producer, Muhammad Ahmed as co-writer to Haseena Moin, and most of the original cast on screen, Naye Silsilay could have been a cracker. They've played it all wrong leaving one with the feeling that all good things come to an end… and when they do, we should just let go of them.

For one, there is no Shehnaz Sheikh. The woman who carried Tanhaiyaan on the back of her personality chose not to come back on the small screen, even if it was a sequel to her still celebrated play. Shehnaz refused to act when they took the offer to her but Haseena Moin wanted her to render her voice for some letters she has written to her sister, Saniya. Shehnaz agreed to doing a voice-over but demanded some amount for it. According to Haseena Moin, the sponsors refused to pay and she in return turned down the voiceover offer too. That's just sad. As the protagonist of Tanhaiyaan, Shehnaz would’ve added value to the play. When people are putting their hands into something as big as Tanhaiyaan was, they should be ready to stretch their boundaries. It’s not absurd to be asked to pay for a voiceover.

Secondly, Qabacha is now plain annoying. He was iconic in Tanhaiyaan but back then his character was fresh and young. After 27 years, Qabacha just isn't funny anymore. He hasn't changed a bit; he’s still clumsy, still in love with Saniya and still ludicrously trying to attract her. Behroze Subzwari proudly says, “People come up to me and say everyone has changed over the years but you are still the same Qabacha that was 27 years ago. This is biggest compliment for an actor.” We are sure it is, only the new Qabacha is also a whole lot older and the father of a young man. That shouldn't have been ignored. There’s little that’s funny about a grown man stuck in an adolescent time warp.

My third big grouse is that Qazi Wajid, who plays Aani's husband Farhan, didn't have much to do for the initial seven to eight episodes. It's just, recently, that his character has gained life and is sharing some screen space with the rest of the cast. Thankfully so! But how criminal to ignore what an actor of his stature can bring to the table. Qazi Wajid is right up there with greats like Talat Hussain, Qavi, Rahat Kazmi et al. Shahzad Khalil understood very well what each of his actors brought to the table and played off it perfectly. 

Losing the plot

Follow Naye Silsilay and you’ll understand why it’s failed to strike a chord despite having the old cast and the iconic name Tanhaiyaan attached to it. There is no substance there. Tanhaiyaan was about a woman with a mission, a woman who, all of a sudden, was exposed to the harsh realities of life after losing her parents. A woman who had to take charge of her life as well as her younger sister's so they wouldn't have to depend on anyone. A woman who learned from her mistakes. Zara was confident, independent, ambitious, yet soft at heart craving love and a family. We followed Tanhaiyaan '85 because we cared about what happened to Zara and Saniya. Naye Silsilay doesn't inspire you to do the same.

After watching nearly 9 to 10 episodes of Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay, the story is still vague. The focus seems to be on a bizarre combination of patriotism and the power of relationships (something along the lines of Sooraj Barjatya movies), the current unrest in the country, how feudal system work and many other tangents. They tried to be too holistic, not paid attention to what made Tanhaiyaan such a success story back in 1985 and lost the plot in the process.

Unlike Zara and Saniya of yore who were remarkably focused, intelligent young women, Zeenia and Serena are confused about everything in life. Meanwhile everyone else is in limbo and has been for the past 27 years apparently. Zain wants to settled down in Pakistan, Saniya is still unmarried, Qabacha is still fantasising about Saniya, Bibi is still in the kitchen. Meanwhile, we wonder after every Saturday what's the catch?
In a recent episode Zarak Khan's (Zeenia's fiancé) uncle has been killed because of a family dispute and he will be the new leader of the tribe. Hmmm, maybe NOW the serial will pick some pace and show some direction... maybe. Or maybe, Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay will morph into Mera Saeen part two, another hugely successful play about the feudal lifestyle.   

When we asked Haseena Moin about her reasons to work on the sequel, she replied, “We wanted to complete the incomplete stories from Tanhaiyaan.”

It would have been better if they’d left it the way things were. We would have thought Saniya and Qabacha got married and Aani and Farhan uncle lived happily ever after. At least, it would have saved us the torture of seeing 40-something-year-old-Qabacha trying his best to woo middle-aged Saniya. When you see 40 something Marina Khan shouting 'Aani Qabacha ko dekhen kaisi baatein kar raha hai' and 50 something Qabacha getting scared like a teenage guy sneaking into his girlfriend's home, you get the perfect 'facepalm' moment.

Originals v/s wannabes

The makers of Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay have evidently tried to bring Zara and Saniya back to life through Zeenia and Serena. Zara was the elder, headstrong sister who worked hard to fulfill her dreams. On the contrary, Saniya was the younger carefree one who took matters in her hands when Zara was too sick to even move. Now, 27 years down the lane, Zara's two daughters are the new Zara and Saniya. But the problem is Zeenia is in no way like Zara. She is not a self-assured, confident, motivated girl.  In fact, she is extremely confused and weak. Even Serena is nothing more than a cute figure playing around with all the other cast members and having her way with them. Who are these two girls? What have they done in life? Why are their lives so meaningless? Having being born and brought up in USA, they seem worse than a lot of independent women in Pakistan. Their mother and even Aani, 27 years ago, were more focused and passionate about their goals.

Just to show that Zeenia is serious like her mother, she has been made skeptical and rigid towards change. Her character revolves around two things: a) she wants to go back to USA because Pakistan is so unsafe; “yahan to chor gharon mai ajate hain” and b) she doesn't like her dad because “Papa ko kabhi na Ammi ka khayal tha na humara.” Why she hates Zain so much is yet to be unveiled but it seems like he has female business partner and that ticks her off. Oh God! Please, let there be something else, too!

On the other hand Serena just wants everyone to get married or fall in love. I wonder what she did back in USA? Knowing her proclivities, she should at least be enterprising and set up a new shaadi.com or some such. Zara and Zain, the two leading characters from Tanhaiyaan, raised such gullible girls is kind of hard to digest!

When every young girl, back in 1985, aspired to be like Zara or Saniya, Zeenia and Serena seems quite forgettable. Take their personality, their dressing sense, their character… there won't be a lot of young girls today who would be looking up to them or admiring them. That's a benchmark Naye Silsilay fails to set completely as it gets lost in purani baatein.

The importance of being Haseena Moin  

Tanhaiyaan Naye Silsilay was Jaleel Akhtar and Marina Khan's brainchild; they asked all the old cast members to be a part of it and went to Haseena Moin to pen the script. Since everyone else was on board, she agreed to do it. Before starting, she warned them to speed things up as she was to leave for Europe. Things got delayed and she had to leave after writing seven episodes. In her absence, she suggested Muhammad Ahmed could be the substitute writer.

Haseena Moin doesn't like how the drama unfolded after her episodes. She is not even happy with a couple of characters the new writer added and thinks the stammering servant is just irrelevant. Now, she is not following the play at all. In fact, she said whatever response she gets from the people is negative.

“My friends and fans tell me that I shouldn't have done it. If I agreed then I should have been there till the end,” shares Haseena Moin. “If the director wants me there, I will be otherwise I won't. I don't watch it because if I didn't like what I am seeing on TV so it would hurt me. It was my baby and I can't see it this way.”

On the contrary, Muhammad Ahmed didn't want to comment on it. “It was a tough task for me. I can't write half as well as Haseena Moin but since she suggested my name, I had to go for it. There are some things you do for yourself and some as your social responsibility,” says Ahmed. “It deeply saddens me to know that Haseena Moin is not happy with the outcome of the play and that she feels Naye Silsilay is not doing justice to the original. I’ve tried to keep the essence of Tanhaiyaan alive by stressing on the relationship of the two sisters - Zeenia and Serena. The outer shell of their relation is very delicate but on the inside, their bond is very strong and deep.”

Haseena Moin has nothing against Muhammad Ahmed as she believes both have their own style of writing that can't be imitated by the other. She just thinks she should have been kept in the loop about the changes in the serial or the track the play was to take in the future.

The director's domain

It would be unfair to discredit Marina Khan completely since she has come out with some fairly good plays in the past. Her Tum Hi To Ho and the Kiski Ayegi Baraat series were successful plays. But then, the Ayegi series had a different comic touch altogether - Naye Silsilay couldn't have been treated that way.

Where Behroze Subzwari and Muhammad Ahmed are all praises Marina's command over direction, Haseena Moin doesn't seem to be much satisfied. “I haven't seen Marina's direction before, just bits of it in Takay Ki or Annie Ki Ayegi Baraat, and that is not my comedy. That is maskharapan (slapstick) while Tanhaiyaan, Ankahi, Dhoop Kinaray had adabi (literary) comedy. The episodes I watched of Naye Silsilay  lacked that. I didn't like where it was going in terms of tameez o tehzeeb,” shared Haseena. 

Tanhaiyaan was Tanhaiyaan largely because of Shahzad Khalil. Yes, the script was gripping, the performances were strong but it's the director who wields tremendous power over making or breaking a play. With Shahzad Khalil at the helm, Tanhaiyaan went from one scene/situation into the other without any hiccups; it flowed naturally. Naye Silsilay seems contrived and tries to hard, the stream is missing.

Also the USP of Tanhaiyaan was its novel story and fresh treatment. Ironically, both are missing from Naye Silsilay. Haseena Moin vows never to agree to write or letting anyone else write a sequel for any of her classics. We couldn't agree more.

It remains to be seen who comes up with a Tanhaiyaan for the 21st century that people still talk about three decades later.

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The stellar cast that brought Tanhaiyaan to life under Shahzad Khalil

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Zeenia and Serena: Too clueless to touch ‘80s ‘it’ girls Zara and Saniya

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Wrong side of 40: Painful to see Qabacha & Saniya act like teens now...