'No means no' is a much repeated dialogue in Hum TV’s drama Inkaar, but the Urdu word inkaar is more powerful than the English 'no', it’s a strong rejection, a refusal that the men in this story just cannot seem to understand.
Like ARY Digital's Cheekh, Inkaar is another drama that sets out to tackle the culture of privilege, the patriarchy and honour that too often works in the favour of rapists and murderers, especially those connected to the ruling elites.
This story revolves around Hajra played by Yumna Zaidi, an actor who excels at playing brave young women without losing the charm of innocence when bucking tradition. Hajra is the kind of girl anyone would root for: simple, hardworking and above all courageous.
Her strength comes from the positive relationship she has with her father, Hafiz Saheb (Rehan Sheikh), a well-respected sweet maker, known for his piety and honesty. In a refreshing change from the usual stereotype of men being narrow-minded, conservative and oblivious to the happiness of his children, he is shown as a loving friend to his daughter.
From episode one, it’s clear that Hajra is a bird with a broken wing, she has suffered some trauma that has made her withdraw from her hard earned place at university to work well below her potential as a teacher in private school for wealthy children. A quiet, studious girl, Hajra isn’t the kind to garner too much attention yet fate makes her the focus of obsession for two men.
In a refreshing change from the usual stereotype of men being narrow-minded, conservative and oblivious to the happiness of his children, Hajra's father is shown as a loving friend to his daughter.
As her story unfolds we find out she has been betrayed by one young man: Rehan Chaudhry (Imran Ashraf), who carefully built up a relationship with her which ended when he tried to rape her. The victim of a frightening sexual assault, she escapes his clutches only to sink into depression, bitterly dissecting the past as she works to understand what happened to her.
It is in this state that she receives a traditional proposal from another young man, one who claims to know her, but she scarcely remembers. Despite being the son of a well-placed government official, Shayan Malik (Sami Khan) was easy to miss, shy, lacking in confidence, he never had the courage to make a deeper connection with Hajra even when her consciousness was not overwhelmed by the self-assured Chaudhry.