Our morbid fascination with domestic violence seems have become one of the essential tools required to make a hit drama. There aren’t many television dramas which depict healthy family relations, where women are accepted and loved without being told to lose their identity.
Kuch Ankahi, therefore, is an anomaly, a breath of fresh air on our screens because it depicts a supportive family where the father isn’t holding back his daughters from their dreams, women aren’t constantly plotting to one-up each other and the male lead isn’t a toxic, triggering person. It proves that more dramas need to follow its lead and start portraying women in a positive light.
On last night’s episode, we witnessed how the youngest sister, Tania, is openly dancing at her sister’s wedding event when a person behind her body shames her, forcing her neighbor to stand up for her.
The moment resonated with viewers and clips of the scene are now being widely shared.
What social media users have called the most touching moment in this episode is the scene between the father, Agha Jee, and the eldest daughter Samiya where he witnesses her unhappiness and reminds her that if she refuses, then he will call off the wedding. This kind of empowerment and kindness is rarely depicted in Pakistani dramas, and is teaching fathers to be more gentle to their daughters as Agha Jee assures Samiya that he will keep holding her hand regardless of whether she chooses to get married or not.
This kind of warmth and support between the family members is not once-in-a-blue-moon, but a regular occurrence in this drama. Agha Jee never shies away from praising his daughters’ strengths and consistently empowers them to advance further in society. In several episodes, we witness Agha Jee doing his own chores while telling his daughters that they’re not responsible for household duties.
This gentleness and respect towards women isn’t just prevalent in Agha Jee, but extends to all the men in the drama. The way they are completely the anti-thesis to the kind of male lead we have grown up watching is frankly shocking. Like the male lead Salman, who is time and again shown doing his own work. In one scene, he makes his own roti, an act we have only ever seen women perform.
