The choices we make affect our lives moving forward. This thought is driven home with “Ishqiya” where Hamna is now paying for her own actions. Having been in a relationship with Hamza, Hamna was unable to express her feelings to her family and ended up marrying Azeem without informing Hamza – which he sees as an extreme betrayal. With Hamza now out for revenge, Hamna is paying the price for her silence. Ishqiya has a stellar star cast with Feroze Khan, Hania Amir, Ramsha Khan, Gohar Rasheed, Shabbir Jan, Khalid Anum, Seemi Pasha and Kanza Malik and despite a couple of slow episodes, has been keeping audiences interested in the story.
In episode 7, Hamza (Feroze Khan) arrives at Hamna’s (Ramsha Khan) house, but Hamna is shocked when Hamza’s family asks for Rumaisa (Hania Amir) for Hamza. Realizing Hamza’s game, Hamna approaches Hamza’s friends who try to stop his actions, but are told to stay out of it. Hamna continues to try to talk sense into Hamza, but it becomes clear that Hamza is out for revenge – and threatens Hamna that he will expose her if she tries to stop the marriage. At this point, it’s irritating to watch Hamna’s actions, because with all said and done, Hamna’s family likes Hamza’s family and it only goes further to prove that had Hamna taken a step back for a moment, Hamza’s proposal would have been accepted for her as well. Again, it just goes further to highlight Hamna’s foolishness and the bad decisions she has made.
Ishqiya title image
Rumaisa is overjoyed at the proposal, having fallen for Hamza’s good looks. Of course, Rumi remains our strong, confident heroine with a good head on her shoulders and she approaches Azeem (Gohar Rasheed) to assess Hamza’s behavior and inquire about his past. As the family visits Hamza’s home, they return home happy with the family and Hamza as Hamna unsuccessfully tries to convince them that Hamza is immature and an unsuitable choice – but her protests are ignored. To be repetitive, Hamna’s attempts are half-baked and her family does not seem like the type to perform an honor killing – therefore, in such dire circumstances, what is the reason for keeping quiet? Is It really so difficult to say “Hamza is a boy from my school who was In love with me and now he’s out to marry Rumi because I got married”? Her behavior just makes Hamna more unlikable, which is in stark contrast to Hania Amir’s incredibly lovable Rumaisa.
Ramsha Khan in Ishqiya
With the show now giving more screen time to Hania Amir, the show has come to life and, despite sharing only one scene together where they do not even speak to one another, Feroze Khan and Hania Amir’s chemistry is crackling. It’s also refreshing to see how positive and optimistic both families are towards each other, the happiness apparent with Hamza’s parents (Khalid Anum and Seemi Pasha) with Hamza’s choice in Rumi. The show only promises to pick up further as Hamza and Rumi’s wedding is set to take place.