I Watched Suno Chanda For The First Time And I Really Don’t Get What The Hype Is About

By Arslan Athar | 15 May, 2019

There has been a lot of hype around ‘Suno Chanda 2′ ever since the sequel for the show was announced. The premise of the show is definitely unique in Pakistan, a comedy show that airs exclusively during Ramazan. It’s great to have a show that you can just laugh too, especially during Ramazan, when your schedule is totally off.

Now, I’m going to start this off by saying that I did not watch ‘Suno Chanda’, but thanks to all the content being created on the show, I had a good understanding of the storyline and what dynamics the characters had aapas mein (thanks to all our coverage of the first season last Ramazan)

After the second season started airing, I watched the second episode and found some glaringly disturbing themes and plot points. 

Source: MD Productions

 

Firstly, Jiya’s plans to go for her Master’s degree, and how everyone in the household responds to the news. 

Arsal’s extreme reaction to the news set the tone to how the rest of the episode was going to deal with the topic. Jiya’s desire to go abroad for her Master’s was clearly not news for anyone, so that leaves the question; what was everyone hoping to happen to that desire after she got married? Clearly, they were hoping she wouldn’t want to go anymore.

Moreover, instead of trying to resolve this (rather unnecessary) disagreement between themselves, Arsal RUNS out of his room and straight to Bi-Jaan’s side to complain about his wife. As the clear matriarch in the house, I was hoping she would give a more balanced response, even something as simple as ‘let’s all think about how this going to happen’, but she clearly told Jiya to choose her marriage over her dreams. I really do hope that the show does develop this story point further because there are a lot of episodes left.

Source: MD Productions

 

This leads to my other issue with the Arsal and Jiya’s relationship.

Any hiccup that comes up between them, they run to their ‘elders’. They have no capability of solving issues between themselves, and whenever they take their issues to someone else they act like total children. I understand that they JUST got married, but they have no understanding whatsoever of how to speak to each other. More than that, everyone else in the family sees to ‘baby’ them and deal with their issues with some degree of nonchalance. It seems like all the ‘elders’ just want to get them quiet, rather than actually get the issues solved.

Take the whole ‘mujhe aap bulao’ issue raised by Arsal. He makes a huge issue about what Jiya calls him now that they are married- clearly, this was a discussion that needed to happen before they got married but here we are. The way the drama deals with this issue is just horrible. It sets the wrong precedent about how these things need to be resolved and also how marriage and respect in marriage need to be constituted. This is a show that’s airing in 2019, it needs to catch up with the times.

Source: MD Productions

 

Also, the show is showing a strange version of love. 

Arsal is shown, on multiple occasions, sweet-talking Jiya when she’s mad at him, and immediately her heart softens up. Their fights aren’t about small things, they are sometimes having some pretty major arguments, but instead of talking it out like two normal adults, they go into this lovey-dovey mode and bas, everything’s okay. This is a very old world way of showing love in dramas and it needs to go now. This isn’t realistic and is definitely now relatable.

Source: MD Productions

 

Lastly, I have a lot of issues with the extremely stereotypical depiction of Punjabis and also using that culture as a ‘joke’. 

We’ve had long discussions about the depiction of Punjabis, and also using Punjabis as a joke in dramas. In ‘Suno Chanda 2′, Pinnu is a prime example of that. Her loud persona and ‘jokes’ are the laughing point for the show. There is a need to keep growing our scripts and our drama concepts, and this depiction of Punjabis is archaic and doesn’t fit in with the new age of film and television.

Source: MD Productions

 

The show has a HUGE platform and a lot of opportunities to help see people a totally different paradigm, however, the show chose to not challenge certain perceptions. There is mindless humor, and if you watch it mindlessly, you will laugh, however, if you take a step back, you’ll see that there is plenty wrong with how the show is going so far.

Can Someone Please Explain To Me What ON EARTH Happened To Our Comedy Shows?


 Cover Photo Courtesy: MD Productions 

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