Sajal Aly and Hamza Ali Abbasi-starrer, the much awaited drama serial Alif went on-air on Geo Entertainment last weekend.
One must acknowledge that the episode did justice to the hype surrounding the project that triggered even more frenzy with the launch of its teasers earlier this month.
Twitter was flooded with rave reviews after the first episode aired, with most people praising Sajal Aly’s effortless performance.
Sajal Aly stars as a struggling actress, Momina Sultan, while Hamza Ali Abbasi plays the role of Qalb e Momin, who is a successful filmmaker.
Alif opens with Momin’s childhood (child artist Pehlaaj Hassan plays junior Momin). He lives with his mother Husn e Jahan, essayed by Kubra Khan, while his father abandoned them more than a year ago. Momin often sees his father Taha, played by Ahsan Khan, in his dreams while his mother pens a letter to her husband every night and keeps it safe. Momin grows up to become a leading filmmaker who doesn’t repeat his heroines while actresses are desperate to work in his films.
Momina, on the other hand, lives with her parents and a younger brother who urgently needs a kidney transplant. She needs money for his dialysis but she doesn’t get opportunities to earn enough of it and blames herself whenever anything goes wrong. Somehow she gets a call to audition for Momin’s next film but ends up having an argument with him after calling him “cheap”.
Another opportunity lost leaves her even more miserable and she regrets what she did with Qalb e Momin. It is not stardom that she desires, unlike her parents but money to save the life of her ailing brother.
Sajal is a natural when it comes to acting and this becomes evident when you see her onscreen; she is neither too subtle nor over dramatic and makes sure to keep it real. Her expressions, the tone of her voice as well as her dialogue delivery is commendable as Momina. The first episode of Alif certainly belonged to her.
Viewers particularly loved the scene where Momina and Qalb e Momin meet each other for the first time and have a face-off. Hamza also won hearts as the arrogant and self-obsessed Momin, who doesn’t really care about others’ feelings; he enjoys his position that gives him the power to dominate. Certainly, he fits the character well and viewers are admiring him as much as they did in Pyarey Afzal.
Written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Haseeb Hasan, Alif is produced by Sana Shahnawaz and Samina Humayun Saeed under the banner of Motion Content Group and Epic Entertainment.
