Humayun Saeed and Mahira Khan are Bin Roye's only saving grace

Bin Roye started out as a drama everyone had been waiting for.

Most people had either read the novel or watched the film, if not both. Hence, many were waiting for the drama even though it had been shot two years prior.

The first episode was fantastic; it filled the gaps left by the film and gave promise of a substantive love story on TV after Diyar-e-Dil; especially with Humayun Saeed and Mahira Khan as the leads.

Somewhere down the line though, thanks to extremely horrific editing, it lost its charm and started to majorly disappoint. Many scenes were copied from the film that it felt like the film was made into a drama and not the novel itself.

Last Sunday, after 17 episodes, Bin Roye ended and to be honest, I was surprised at how unrushed the ending was. I mean, I wasn’t expecting it to end so quickly, but I'm glad it did, because you can only stretch a film so far.

At the end of the day, Saba ‘got’ her Irtiza, but at what cost? It cost Saba her sister, it cost her a year and a half of her life with Safeer (a storyline that didn’t make sense due to the way it was visualised), it cost her her self-worth and self-esteem, not to mention the pain she put her family through when they found out the false life she had been living for so long with her 'mummy.'

I was supposed to feel for Saba; she was sacrificing her life and happiness for her family. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to hurt them. But she was just really punishing herself and indirectly her family, for her sister’s death and being in love with Irtiza. Did she really think she was going to get away with it?

Irtiza seemed to be the only person with sense in the family and one who truly cared for Saba. Her parents and Daadi, on the other hand, were more concerned about getting her married off and then her susraal after marriage, her (older) brother left everything for Irtiza to handle, and her mother-in-law only cared for herself and her needs.

Saba’s forced divorce made sense because you can’t watch someone drown on purpose - so yes, I absolutely agree with how it was handled. But her forced shaadi, owing to Daadi’s heart attack, made zero sense.

Here I need to give credit to Farhat Ishtiaq for not forcing Irtiza on Saba. Were it any other drama, Saba would have been expecting in about three weeks after her marriage. Thankfully Farhat's Irtiza knew where he stood in Saba's eyes; otherwise, I would have lost all respect for him.

Though Saba and Irtiza's forced marriage made no practical sense, their two month move to the US actually did. The last two episodes of the drama showed Saba handling the situation on her own terms and comfort level.

Besides pleasing Daadi over the phone, Saba was allowed to be who she wanted to be and do what she felt like. She didn’t have to act anymore; it was a liberating feeling which Saba finally needed to experience!

Irtiza’s accident, Saba’s shock and the realisation of losing him, along with the truth about her fears finally coming out were scenes that were written brilliantly and the leads did complete justice to them; it all came out naturally and didn’t seem fake for even a second – even Irtiza’s confession was done gracefully. Had this much thought been given to the episodes in between, this drama could have been a phenomenal success.

A little commentary on Saba’s trophy parents: I failed to see the significance of their roles. It seemed the only thing Maleeha did was miss Saman (even when Saba needed her the most) and serve her husband breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She was a clueless, albeit beautiful (because let’s face it, it's Zeba Bakhtiar), mother. Javed Sheikh’s entire purpose, it seemed, was to say 'Thank you, Irtiza.' On the contrary, Daadi had a more substantial role than the actual parents.

As always, Humayun Saeed and Mahira Khan were everything to Bin Roye and its saving grace. Their acting and chemistry is why I ended up watching the entire drama and reviewed it till the end.

The direction took a back seat; something that happens when you have 3-4 directors and all of them have a different vision (yes, it was very apparent). As to the editing, I’ll say it again, HUM TV needs to invest heavily in its editing department. It is absolutely horrific!