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Dil Lagi is a TV serial, but playing out like an intense romantic drama film.

Starring Mehwish Hayat and Humayun Saeed, this is a love story with twist after twist that leaves the audience breathless to see what happens next.

Anmol (Mehwish Hayat) is a strong, practical girl who has helped her widowed mother and younger sister survive since her father’s death. She is the de facto head of her family and is used to relying on no one but herself. Mohid (Humayun Saeed) is a businessman, known for his strong-arm tactics, hired to repossess Anmol’s family home.

Mohid falls head over heels in love with the independent and courageous young woman he meets, but Anmol is less impressed. She can only see him as a stalker and local gunda; the impression is further solidified by Mohid’s blundering attempts at courtship.

They say opposites attract and too many chiefs means no leader at all. This serial illustrates this vividly as the main protagonists play a strategic game of wills, pushing each other to their limits to see who will give up first.

A heroine who will save herself

This is one serial that has managed to turn every cliché on its head. Anmol thinks Mohid has threatened and frightened away her husband-to-be Farid, so she plans her revenge. Women in general are expected to be pacified by marriage and cowed by divorce but here we have a heroine who not only initiates the marriage but forces it on the man, even as she plans the divorce. Anmol is not your average bholi larki, who crumples at the ‘D’ word, or is willing to put up with any form of abuse from her piya.

Women in general are expected to be pacified by marriage and cowed by divorce but here we have a heroine who not only initiates the marriage but forces it on the man, even as she plans the divorce. Amongst the current bevy of drama heroines, Anmol is a revolutionary character, a girl actually interested in her own self-preservation.

Mehwish Hayat plays Anmol with great skill, projecting both strength and determination with flawless ease, but we have yet to see the vulnerability that can sometimes be a powerful character’s saving grace. No matter how justified the character might be, people in general don’t like an angry young woman. Amongst the current bevy of drama heroines, Anmol is a revolutionary character, a girl actually interested in her own self-preservation.

A hero not broken by unrequited love

Mohid is the archetypal romantic hero: handsome, brave and as stated earlier, a little too confident in his own judgment and abilities. Humayun Saeed and Mehwish Hayat have some great screen chemistry and it is this electricity that gives the whole story its momentum. Humayun has his character well in hand but at times underplays Mohid’s flamboyance.

For the most part, Humayun Saeed’s Mohid has been the stabilizing force, charming the audience into empathizing with him despite some distinctly bad behavior in the first few episodes, because he is sincere with both his angry bride and his demanding family.

Mohid takes his reluctant bride to Sehvan Sharif where he wants her to face Farid , the man Anmol claims to love. Director Nadeem Baig captures the essence of this challenge beautifully as both protagonists offer competing prayers, one full of hate and the other full of love.

This week he realizes that his cunning bride has been playing a game with him, pretending to love the man she lost but instead of handling it with humility, he cannot help overplaying his hand. In the spirit of a high-stake game, Mohid takes his reluctant bride to Sehvan Sharif where he wants her to face Farid , the man Anmol claims to love. Director Nadeem Baig captures the essence of this challenge beautifully as both protagonists offer competing prayers, one full of hate and the other full of love.

Inside the family home, more than just evil plotting and crying mothers

Director Nadeem Baig has managed to elicit a string of great performances from his star cast. Saba Hamid is in excellent form as Mohid’s opinionated mother, Zulekha, who is determined to get her unwilling daughter a divorce. Meanwhile Asma Abbasi gives a rare, restrained but effective portrayal as Anmol’s more traditional mother pushing her daughter to accept marriage to Mohid.

Writer Faiza Iftikhar skillfully presents us with the two competing images of that delicate yet unbreakable mother-daughter bond that only women understand. Mohid’s sister Sabiha is well played by Uzma Hassan as the spoiled, immature daughter, always being protected by someone. Her situation is one of the central dilemmas of this serial: how far should compromise go? Sabiha taunts her husband and receives a hearty slap, something her mother will not forgive. Sabiha explains to Anmol, that apart from that one moment, she was very happy. In a society rife with domestic violence, does it stop with just one slap? Was that something to dismiss as a one-time aberration or the warning of a lifetime of misery?

Sabiha taunts her husband and receives a hearty slap. Sabiha explains to Anmol, that apart from that one moment, she was very happy. In a society rife with domestic violence, does it stop with just one slap? Was that something to dismiss as a one-time aberration or the warning of a lifetime of misery?

Iftikhar’s strongest suite has always been the wonderful way she depicts family life and the bonds between women. Even her nand /bhabi relationships are far removed from the evil plotting and manipulations we often see, so Anmol and Sabiha are friendly and not obsessed with pulling each other down.

The male bond is not neglected either. Humayun Saeed has some great screen chemistry with his right hand man Dastagir played with excellent comic timing by Imran Ashraf. In another side track, Dastagir is cooking up a romance with Mishal, Anmol’s equally smart sister played by Maryam Ansari.

In short Dil Lagi is a well-directed, well-written, quality drama which is easy viewing for the whole family. A show that subtly challenges its audience to think and ask questions, without ever claiming to push a message, is both an achievement and a welcome change.