The much-awaited Sinf e Ahan premiered last night on ARY Digital with a mighty bang. ISPR’s project has entered the drama season with a power-packed cast, a promising plot, and an eye-opening storyline not yet discussed ever on screen.
Never a Pakistani drama so huge has portrayed women from all walks of life, aspiring to join the prestigious Pakistan army that we are so proud of. It aims to encourage the female population to pursue their wildest dreams, ignore those who cast them down and walk head to head with the males of the country.
Oozing women empowerment, Sinf e Ahan introduced us to the five young girls across Pakistan in its first episode who are eager to make a name for themselves in the army.
Of course, they have to struggle in heaps as success never comes sans obstacles! Let’s do a quick review of what the pilot episode unfolded and what we loved the most about it.
Diverse women daring to conquer the skies
The best factor about Sinf e Ahan is the portrayal of women in the story, coming from diverse backgrounds. But they all have one love, one mission, and one life purpose: to serve their country and the army.
The challenges they face are also very similar. The pressure of marriage tends to consume them and people around them mock when they share their daring aspirations with them.
The story begins with Rabia Safeer (Sajal Aly) from Islamabad, an electrical engineer from NUST who has an army background. Her brother Daniyal (Usman Mukhtar) serves the army and she has been educated from Army Public School. Despite being a class topper, her parents have directed her life focus towards getting married and settling down. But we can see how frustrated Rabia is and even feels incompetent, for being rejected countless times and for wasting her talent just so she can marry a great guy.
Yet another of our female characters from Islamabad is Mahjabeen Mastaan (Kubra Khan). She is a blogger who is also a corporate lawyer. Her life is all about Instagram but this is just an escape from her dysfunctional home. There is a need in her to be loved, supported, and encouraged- something she feels amiss due to her toxic parents and their chaotic everyday fights. General Nigar is her role model and she is greatly inspired by her. So much so, she wants to achieve acknowledgment like her. But her mother and her close friend (Ali Rehman) are the first to dissuade her, claiming that she is too glamorous for the army and will surely be rejected right away by the academy.
Then there is Arzoo from Youhanabad, Lahore- a simple, pretty girl who is blessed with the talent of singing. Her family is struggling through a financial crunch and hence, they are unable to even pay off their landlord. But Arzoo has a crush on the landlord’s son Noraiz (Asad Siddiqui) who doesn’t seem serious about her at all. It’s a relief that she has supportive parents but her good-for-nothing friend Noraiz is the one who is bitter, discouraging, and even scornful when she confides in him about her aim in life.
We witness Shaista Khanzada (Yumna Zaidi) who hails from a Pathan background. She is intelligent, strong, and tutors children and teenagers in her free time. But she is tired of people making her feel ineffectual and dim-witted just because she is a woman. She too has a suitor but she is bold enough to not let anyone force her into marriage. Her grandmother and mother are two women with a conservative mindset and are afraid of her progressive approach in life. How will she join Pakistan Military Academy? Well, she already has an escape plan devised in her mind.
Equally bold and vivacious is Pariwesh Jamal (Ramsha Khan) who is from Baluchistan. She
loves to operate guns, seems a pro at shooting, and has a sharp eye for her targets. Her father owns a vast piece of land in their village but also has a massive loan to pay off to their tribe’s Sardar. Pariwesh, seeing his father’s misery, offers to discuss matters with the Sardar, only to be shunned by her father for being so daring. But, the poor Balochi girl too faces the challenge of marriage. The Sardar offers to forget about the loan only if she agrees to marry one of his close workers.
What does the future hold for all these women? The promo shows us Daniyal quashing his sister’s dreams by claiming that the army will surely reject her. Shaista is seen fighting with her family to give the army’s test. Arzoo faces scathing remarks from Noraiz about her giving the academy’s selection test. On the other hand, Mahjabeen and Pariwesh’s fathers are spotted pushing their daughters in their aim!
Strong performances, dialogues, and direction
There is no doubt that Sinf e Ahan’s ensemble cast of Yumna Zaidi, Syra Yousuf, Ramsha Khan, Kubra Khan, and Sajal Aly is one power-packed team. All of these ladies are A-list performers and always give their best, be it any project. We can see the same in this drama that they have put their best foot forward, portraying their unique avatars to their best.
The impeccable direction by Nadeem Baig added fire to the scenes, making them look real, deep, and dynamic. The drama’s opening set the mood of the story with a soothing background score by Zeb Bangash. We even felt nostalgic as some of the scenes were given a major PTV vibe and we went back into the days of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. The theme of the drama demanded strong dialogues and Umera Ahmed made sure she left no stone unturned to leave us in pensive thoughts every time.
What we admired the most was how the drama feels so real to life with issues like marriage pressure, harassment, fear of rejection, and baseless stereotypes dominating the lives of most women in Pakistan. All we need is support, a little encouragement, words of motivation, and the feeling of safety for us to conquer the skies. Sinf e Ahan will surely be a story that will end us teaching a lot of lessons and we are confident that the entire nation will be hooked to it!