Razia Episode-1 Review: Beginning of a brave and bold story

Razia is a newly started drama serial on Express TV. Penned down by Mohsin Ali, Razia is also directed by him. Razia features Mahira Khan as the lead narrator of the story. Besides Mahira Khan, the cast includes Mohib Mirza, Momal Shaikh, Parveen Akbar, Kausar Siddiqui, Akbar Islam, Fajr Sheikh, Shahra Jalil Al Basit, Abeer, Shahzad Malik, Kaleem Ghori, Naeem, Armaan, Kashif Hussain, Dania Kanwal and others.

The opening scene of the play is an impressive one with a circus setting in the town and people of all sorts have gathered for entertainment. Among such hustle and bustle, Mahira makes her entry as a storyteller in her own swag. Her swag is what makes her bold and beautiful, she addresses men and women, commenting on men’s typical mindset and misogyny.

The way Mahira’s character as a narrator engages with the audience mocking societal double standards. Razia, the story seems a satire on our society. It is a simple story about a girl born unwanted, perhaps we have heard and seen this story a thousand times on screen but it is the storytelling and the treatment of the story which makes Razia unique and worth watching.

Razia’s narrative begins with her parent’s story, particularly her father Salim (Mohib Mirza) who wanted a male child despite knowing the fact that his wife’s life was in danger and they were blessed with a baby girl they named Razia. Razia’s grandmother is extremely sad about her birth, after 3 years the couple is finally blessed with a baby boy! Dadi died on the spot when she saw her grandson. The narrator rightly pointed out that if the baby is a girl she would have been tagged as Manhoos but it is a boy! Razia has realized that there is a difference!

Razia’s life journey begins with the same difference. She is not given proper toys to play nor ever her birthdays celebrated but she sees her brother getting the best of toys and his birthday is always celebrated. Razia befriends a neighboring kid Manno who helped her in getting a bicycle ride. Razia’s struggle to find a bicycle in Coke bottle caps takes us deep down on a nostalgic trip. It recalls our glorious ’90s childhood days when we were looking for cycles prized in the Coke bottle caps well we never succeeded but Razia did. She wins a Bicycle! but it is not the end of the story it’s just the beginning according to the narrator. There are a lot of struggles, rebellion, and fight in Razia’s story.

Overall Impressive!