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Why this Pakistani drama's portrayal of domestic violence has triggered audiences

Mawra Hocane, Usman Mukhtar, and Mohib Mirza’s drama Jafaa has elicited powerful reactions on social media

It began as a fairytale romance. Accomplished, beautiful, progressive and intelligent Dr Zara (Mawra Hocane) is married to rich, educated and seemingly polished Hassan (Mohib Mirza) who lives alone in his palatial mansion with his paternal grandmother (Azra Mansoor) and is almost every girl’s dream guy. He’s handsome, he’s affectionate, and he can’t wait to be married to the beautiful Dr. Zara.

But where Disney taught us, beasts are ugly and horrible but can turn into princes, this Pakistani drama is revealing how princes can be beasts waiting to be unleashed.

Written by Samira Fazal and directed by Danish Nawaz, the show is currently on its 21st episode and its latest offering by Hum TV elicited powerful reactions on social media because it showed Hassan beating Zara black and blue after she insisted that she will not have any children with a man who refuses to go to therapy.

While most stories may show the ‘abuser’ as a violent, soulless, unapologetic sort of a person, what Jafaa picks up brilliantly on is a variation of the abuser who is often masked in South Asian societies as a ‘good’ man. He apologises profusely. He switches on another side of his personality that is almost childlike in his apologies. He will try to help you, barter good behaviour and even promise to do better if only you stand by him or stay under his ‘control’.

Many researchers and psychologists also suggest that abusers and even those who sexually assault women are more prone to committing these crimes as a means to exert control. Jafaa cleverly showcases (or drops meaningful hints) about Hassan’s upbringing. He grew up in an abusive household where his father regularly assaulted his mother and ‘negative judgement’ or words like ‘fool’ became trigger words for Hassan because he developed a broken sense of self.

Individuals with a broken sense of self often resort to controlling others, manipulation, and masking their true negative feelings to be ‘approved’ in the eyes of their partner or the society at large. As we see in Jafaa, this psychodrama comes into full force as Hassan becomes a troubled man who loses his cool over small matters and has nasty and almost unhinged arguments with Dr Zara at the drop of a hat over something minute.

What Jafaa showcases brilliantly is that the perpetrator is not always a textbook case of abuser. You can’t see the red flags because some of these abusers are excellent at protecting their public images and hiding the deep-rooted conflicts that turns them into monsters. Mirza adeptly and craftily showcases Hasan as an otherwise loving attentive, sweet person who on a regular day couldn’t hurt a fly. But when the Mr Hyde within him loses control, he becomes a true villain.

The show also points out the stigma surrounding mental health. Dr Zara, after a long and tumultuous fight with her family who are nothing but supportive of her ordeal and want her to return immediately to her parents’ house, insists that she will be able to make things work if Hassan consults a psychiatrist. Hassan deceives Zara because he doesn’t want to talk about his issues or address his problems. He lies about going to the psychiatrist which leads to Zara finally snapping. She is all ready to leave the house but in one final confrontation with Hassan, she is beaten black and blue. The episode has been viewed by almost 6 million people since it aired a few hours ago and continues to be a crucial discussion point for drama viewers across the globe.

Jafaa’s brilliance, subtly and carefully crafted by Danish Nawaz and his team, is also in the contrast they have created in the character of Dr Numair (played by Usman Mukhtar) who is married to Andaleeb (Sehar Khan) an immature, heedless sort of a girl. Numair and Andaleeb come together in a dramatic circumstance and the audience is shown how Numair’s maturity, kindness and empathy helps not only Andaleeb cope with the consequences of some truly disastrous life choices but also become happier and a more accomplished person.

In a conversation between Dr Numair and Hassan, as Zara lies almost lifeless in the hospital thanks to Hassan’s assault, Numair asks Hassan how an educated guy like him could hit his wife and reminds him (and everyone watching) that no man can prove he’s a man by hitting a woman. Jafaa showcases that the constant hiding of family secrets, refusing therapy, inability to process trauma and the social engineering of how a woman must sacrifice everything — from her identity to her bodily autonomy — how abusers are enabled by family members and how even education cannot save a person from a toxic, abusive relationship.

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