'Barzakh' review: When grief meets supernatural splendour

Updated On: 03 August, 2024 10:52 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu

The show is headlined by a terrific cast—Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Salman Shahid—each of who has whole-heartedly surrendered to Asim Abbasi’s vision

Barzakh

Barzakh
On: Zindagi YouTube Channel and ZEE5
Dir: Asim Abbasi
Cast: Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Salman Shahid, Fawad M Khan
Rating: ***1/2

Why do we so often find ourselves drawn to dysfunctional family stories? Be it Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons (2016), Christopher Storer’s The Bear (2022-2024), Coco Mellors’ new novel Blue Sisters, or Asim Abbasi’s sumptuous new offering Barzakh—why does losing yourself in the messiness of others’ family drama feel so soothing to us? I found myself answering this diabolical question while watching the fourth episode of Barzakh. Shehreyar (Fawad Khan) unexpectedly lashes out at his father at a family dinner and calls him an ‘asshole’. I had my answer right there—there is something cathartic about watching characters say things to their loved ones that you’ve often held yourself back from.

Abbasi, the British-Pakistani filmmaker returns after his successful series Churails (2020), with one of the most innovative offerings from the sub-continent in the recent times. He has a knack for telling messy stories, and this time he has allowed himself to be riskier, even esoteric, with his material. As the writer, creator, dialogue writer, director of the show—this is perhaps his most personal work. The wounds are showing—the pain of losing those loved; both to death and to life, the apathy of caregivers that often turn into generational trauma, our deepest insecurities, how far we’d go to not become the worst versions of those who birthed us and mostly, the searing rage of being wronged by those who love us—all these thoughts are recurring motifs in Barzakh, which immediately hit home.

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