Zee5 Ek Jhoothi Love Story

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Joslyn Moreci

unread,

Aug 5, 2024, 12:46:13 PM8/5/24

to lelampglimul

Butthere is so much more to EJLS than just the fact that it is different from the typical Pakistani drama. Zeroing in on middle-class Karachi, it is a well-told story of the life led by its inhabitants and the dreams they have. There are the winding narrow lanes with garbage strewn about, the aging homes with peeling paint, the small kitchen where sisters cluster about to make tea for yet another potential rishta, the small-scale neighborhood weddings and more than anything else, the complexes that prick at the various characters, making them want so much more than just a life in the mohalla.

Taking centre stage is the confused love story of the protagonists, Sohail and Salma, who both assume fake internet personas in order to connect with who they consider to be their ideal partners. Tired of their middle-class existences, they aspire for a future that is far more glamorous and they unknowingly chat with each other, projecting a world that fascinates them, hopelessly falling in love over cyber-space.

Scriptwriter Umera Ahmed proved her mettle with a similar genre some years ago with the drama Zindagi Gulzar Hai and here, she works wonders again, intertwining the nuances and nitty-gritties beautifully as the story steamrolls towards the sort of happy ending that has you sighing.

And the fact that the story steamrolls is another reason why EJLS works so well. Local dramas have a tendency to drag on for a few extra episodes in order to rake in more money from sponsors. Long-winded flashbacks are the order of the day. If a character is sad, he or she will usually invest a good five to ten minutes crying. The longer the scene, the more earnings for the producers.

Madiha Imam, also, acts extremely well as the confused, complicated Salma who yoyos from trying to manage her emotional baggage to giving staid advice to her family. Madiha may be relatively new to the field but she has been making her mark and EJLS allows her to shine very brightly indeed.

The thin margin that separates falsehood of self from the self of aspirations runs a risk of being easily blurred in the public space of virtual identities. The question then is not of the lie anymore but that of the reason that caused the creation of these lies. The recent Zindagi-Zee5 mini series Ek Jhoothi Love Story appears to be telling the story of two people who exist in and out of this space.

This is the apparent lie that the title and also the trailer of Ek Jhoothi Love Story promises to deliver. The lie that has become too ordinary to be the pulsating heart of the show that itself has found a place on an internet enabled OTT platform. Virtual identity, much? And therefore Ek Jhoothi Love Story is in fact about several other lies we live but hardly know.

The first shot of the very first episode of Ek Jhoothi Love Story, where Salma is found to be engrossed in watching the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan, gives a glimpse of the world of dreams that the girls in the family and the muashara (society) are raised in. While in their 30s, Shabana and Shazia have been partially frustrated by the pursuit of this dream, Salma aka Choti is ready for a predictable train-wreck. She not only has an ideal of a man in her mind but also the ideal of a woman who would be a perfect match for him. Natalia is the obvious result of such idealisation.

Elizabeth possesses a sharp intelligence and so do the educated and employed Shabana and Shazia in Ek Jhoothi Love Story but they could not free themselves from being judgmental when it comes to choosing a life partner for themselves. They end up repeating and doling out the same problematic treatment they had been dismally resisting throughout: both to their men and the woman their brother wishes to marry.

One feels sorry for Charlotte as she submits under the societal and financial pressure of getting married but the larger purpose of her character, in a very strange way, is to hold a mirror to all the Bennet sisters. Elizabeth possesses a sharp intelligence and so do the educated and employed Shabana and Shazia in Ek Jhoothi Love Story but they could not free themselves from being judgmental when it comes to choosing a life partner for themselves. They end up repeating and doling out the same problematic treatment they had been dismally resisting throughout: both to their men and the woman their brother wishes to marry. Of course, they learn to unlearn all of that later but the large part of their problem is rooted there. The ideal is a lie and therefore the love story they are waiting for is nothing but an extended version of the same. The love story indeed is jhoothi!

Rittvika Singh teaches literature at University of Delhi and enjoys discussing films. She also writes articles, poems, stories besides her academic papers. Her writings have appeared in Lost Coast Review, Efiction India, The Quint, Feminism in India etc. She can be found on Twitter.

Feminism in India is an intersectional feminist media platform that has emerged as one of the biggest voices for young people from diverse sociopolitical backgrounds to write their lived experiences. However, building a relatable, thought-provoking and informative feminist platform requires a lot of time, effort and money. A few hundred rupees or a few thousand would go a long way in helping us stay paywall free and keep serving you the fresh feminist content that you love! ?

Mehreen, along with writer Umera Ahmed, has taken a new leap with ELJS because unlike their previous collabs (dramas like Doraha and Daam), this one is not another tragedy with purpose. ELJS is a hackneyed love story which is brewed with fresh pairings, quirky characters and an interesting exploration of relationships.

EJLS is 18-episode long which is equal to a crisply edited TV drama (that is extinct). For a web series, which is not even a murder mystery or a crime thriller, it is lengthy and time-consuming. It seems the show is structured in a manner that is more appropriate for a long-format telefilm. Most of the episodes are less than 30-minute long, while the last few exceed 40 minutes. This makes the duration over 9 hours and that too with storytelling at a slow pace. It is highly unlikely to expect people to watch it in one go.