Anoushay Abbasi breaks the girl-next-door stereotype with Ghalati

Ghalati is all the rage these days. The Six Sigma Plus production is written by Asma Sayani and is the directorial debut of the incredible Saba Hameed, an industry icon and a celebrated actress. The show sheds light on impulsive decisions that we make in a state of anger and their consequences on the lives of the people who are involved.

Drama serial Ghalati deals with themes of greed, betrayal, family politics, and the injustice that women of our society have to go throughout their lives

Apart from Saba Hameed playing a pivotal role, the show stars Hira Mani and Affan Waheed as well as Saba Faisal, Sana Askari, Faris Shafi, Shehryar Zaidi, and Anoushay Abbasi. Every actor has received praise for their respective parts, but it’s Anoushay who is getting rave reviews for her standout performance in the show.

Anoushay Abbasi portrays the character of Maira, Zaitoon’s (portrayed by an effortless Saba Hameed) daughter, and Saad, Aliya, and Sohail’s sister. She is a headstrong, entitled girl who looks down on the woman who marries her brother, a trait that is often associated with a guy’s sister in the Pakistani society. Maira is immature, spoiled, manipulative, brash, and incredibly flawed like every other character on the show.

Maira’s character sounds like it must have been a very negative one on paper, but Anoushay nails it to the T. Audiences who are used to seeing her in ‘good girl’ roles were of the opinion that it would be a tough nut to crack for her after seeing the teasers. But those opinions changed immediately after the very first episode. The role comes as a pleasant surprise for critics and audiences alike who only recently saw her portray a likable character in Meray Paas Tum Ho.

Maira’s character is one with grey shades that get darker and lighter according to the scene, and Anoushay does that with utter conviction. She sinks her teeth into Maira’s personality. She never falters while delivering Maira’s venom coated dialogues. The expressions are at par with what she’s saying. You can’t help but hate Maira, which goes to show how brilliantly Anoushay has portrayed her. She is effortless during Maira’s outburst and goes neck to neck with anyone who’s in the frame with her. The anger and stress that Maira expresses during the scenes of transition from the big house to the family’s old home are particularly enjoyable. The hatred that you feel for her is a testament to Anoushay’s earnestness and honesty towards her character.

Ghalati just aired its 11th episode, and the show is receiving acclaim from the viewers. Every episode has millions of views on ARY’s YouTube channel, with several comments singling out Anoushay and her portrayal of Maira. As the show progresses further, we are excited to see what Maira does in the next few episodes. Ghalati airs every Thursday at 8 pm on ARY Digital.