Dhoop Ki Deewar

Dhoop Ki Deewar is the latest offering from ZEE5 under its Zindagi brand of shows. It is an anti-war drama commissioned by ZEE5 from Pakistani creators.The show, through the parallel tracks of Pakistani girl Sara Sher Ali (Sajal Aly) and Indian lad, Vishal Malhotra (Ahad Raza Mir), depicts how the pain of losing loved ones to war is exactly the same on both sides of the border. Both youngsters have just lost their fathers to India-Pakistan skirmishes at the border. The two protagonists start off as bitter enemies via a public spat on social media. Soon they bond over their shared grief, and a beautiful friendship develops.The performances of the primary cast in Dhoop Ki Deewar are very good, save for a few. Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir are the best of the lot in the performance department. Both lend a touching vulnerability and helplessness to their characters, in particular, Ahad Raza Mir’s Vishal. Your heart goes out to him, especially towards the end.Dhoop Ki Deewar Season 1 Download

Manzar Sehbai and Samina Ahmed, as Sara’s aged grandparents, convey the grief of their characters really well. Savera Nadeem gives an understated performance as Sara’s freshly widowed mother. Samiya Mumtaz as Vishal’s mother Sunanda, and Zaib Rehman as his grandmother are the only two members of the primary cast that are quite unconvincing as Indian women, and seem like fish out of water throughout the series.

Dhoop Ki Deewar goes where no filmmaker—on either side of the border—has dared to go before. It is an anti-war drama, more importantly pertaining to the constant battles between India and Pakistan. But surprisingly, it is minus the over-the-top jingoism and loud patriotism that are omnipresent elements of such content. It bears no agenda other than a heartfelt appeal for peace and conveying the futility of war.The grounded performances elevate the story by notches, but the excruciatingly slow pace brings it down somewhat. The leisurely storytelling is more suited to a TV serial than a web show; but then it wouldn’t stream across the globe if it was made for TV.