Welcome!

Independence Day just went by, and it was a week of lots of conversations around independence, freedom and what these really mean for us.

Us, who is this Us?

Us is people like you and me, normal people (whatever that means!), working from one day to the next, managing not-so-usual circumstances and stresses as part of our everyday Zindagi (Life).

Churails is a ZEE5 Exclusive Zindagi Original series which revolves around women finding empowerment in the most unexpected ways!

Indeed, when a whole lot of women proudly declare themselves as #MainChurailHoon you know there is something powerful and special going on there!

The Background/ Set up –

ZEE5.com has launched a 10 episode serial, which in Season One explores the murky by-lanes of relationships and the way the society curtails women to make them submit to traditions!

This program is quite disturbing on some levels because it takes a close look at topics which are almost-never discussed openly in polite society, and it makes you take a closer look at your own life, and your own conditioning.

Topics such as abuse, cheating, societal pressures to conform, the lack of freedom to choose! Choose your Life partner, career and most importantly, your life path! – All of these get explored to some extend in this serial.

Is this all that this serial is about?

Nope! This is only the setting of the society which is not far from reality! After all, they do say, that reel life mimics real life, and Churails has done a good job of a realistic portrayal of society, but then what comes next – is absolutely unexpected!

The show brings together actresses Sarwat Gilani, Yasra Rizvi, Mehar Bano and Nimra Bucha, playing the characters of four women from very diverse backgrounds – an ex-lawyer/housewife, a down on her luck wedding planner, an aspiring boxer and a convict just released after serving a 20 year sentence!

So, what really happens?

Women, who until now were just considered a means to an end, without much of an identity, a wajood of their own! Turn the tables on the men and society!

Set in Karachi, Pakistan, these women come together to open a Burqa boutique, aptly named Halal designs, which is actually a front for a detective agency, specialising in helping women tackle their cheating husbands, and give them a taste of their own medicine, with the tag line “Mard ko dard hoga”.

This tagline, as you can well imagine, goes a long way in marketing the secret agency to women of means who are in need. What follows in the beginning are some funny incidents, with the group of women detectives solving cases and making money while empowering other women by getting them on a more equal footing to the men.

It all starts going wrong, when they start doing a lot of right.

Society has never liked anyone who is empowered and embraces that power, and that is much of what we see here too – the breakdown of the Chudails, the unravelling of the characters and the final exposure of the culprits behind each of the misdeeds.

The Strongest Storyline (IMO)

In my opinion, the strongest storyline, the most disturbing, and the most heart-wrenching, was the story of Batool, a good goon!
Some respite were the light moments of bully-banter with the police officer (I was rooting for a love story here! But the storyline, has stayed true to its purpose, and focused on empowering each of the women characters, and for her, love was maybe not quite yet on the cards! Offcourse, there is always season two!!

Final Thoughts

The show has a set of Fiery women, who mostly act before they think, to their own detriment, yet, there is a realness and a relatability about them.

I mean, how many times, have we spoken before really thinking it through!

Some of the scenes, and storylines were very disturbing- yet, this program was one I watched in one single sitting – I had to know what was happening, why, and how would it all end.

The show touched upon many other sensitive topics, and it is commendable how they have handled potentially volatile subjects with dignity while telling their stories.

I would recommend you watch this program, and in the end you too will smile and say #MainChurailHoon – and realise how empowering these three words are.