Havelis have been serving as grand epicentres of supernatural thematic concerns in South Asian literature, cinema and folklore throughout history. This specific setting has stood the test of time, as Bollywood has still produced engaging content around the stately premises and motifs of havelis in recent years. Bhool Bhulaiyya 1, 2 and 3, Tumbadd and Bulbul are some prime examples. PTV has also attempted to replicate that phenomenon, but the results majorly came across as repetitive and substandard. Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahi, a Pakistani drama that was televised in 2013, is a classic exception because of its original treatment of supernatural and existential horror. This drama should have been the prototype for PTV directors and producers, but it has been wiped out from the collective memory even though it received critical and commercial acclaim.
The setting of this drama series was heavily impregnated with such daunting thematic concerns that the Haveli itself became the main protagonist as well as the antagonist. The Haveli was not merely a backdrop, but it actively participated in the development of the plotline and the unravelling of character arcs. The portrayal of the Haveli was so impactful that it instantly reminded me of the Gothic setting of Wuthering Heights (1847), as the colossal Haveli functioned as the brooding force. It silently calculated the motives behind the decadent choices of the characters, and it whispered back its earnest intentions of vengeance. The plot revolves around the mighty Malkanas, who refused any agency or autonomy to their women, so much so that the female members have either to get married within the immediate family or have to linger alone in the dark rooms of the haveli, ready to unleash tragedy at any time.
Haveli was the prime witness to numerous crimes and acts of violence. Malicious attempts to undermine familial ties and black magic thickened the air. The entire drama has been shot in the minimal lighting and haveli; throughout the drama, it appeared to be shrouded in shadows and phantoms whirling around. Haveli was situated away from the other population, and it even appears to be beyond civilisation. The time appears to be slow and even stopped within the premises of the Haveli, as if the Haveli itself has decided to not move forward without achieving any retribution or justice. Haveli was completely devoid of colours or any other signs of vitality. The writer intended it to be a metaphor for the raw and naked expression of humans’ animalistic emotions. The Haveli, thus, became a microscopic metaphor for the human soul and its vices.
The looming doom on Haveli was foreshadowed in the very first episode when the mentally unstable but spiritually gifted Dervish, son of a maid, was shown reluctant to inhabit the haveli. The apparently crazy man chose to settle under the shade of a bargad tree. It further hinted at how nature had been corrupted inside the haveli. The two sisters who wanted to get married and were yearning for companionship were not allowed to get married in order to keep the inheritance strictly within family. On the other hand, the brother was engaging in unlawful relations with the maid. So, there was sexual repression as well as sexual debauchery. The unmarried sisters desperately wanted a way out of the haveli, as the walls of the haveli were obstructing their autonomy. The youngest of them even dug holes in the walls and howled at the people outside the haveli. The Haveli resented its association with tyrannical treatment and had enough of its residents projecting their limitations and wickedness on the Haveli. Before the final strike, Haveli attempted to warn multiple times through the characters going through severe episodes of psychosis and the ghosts of murdered people. Haveli’s language was symbolic, as it wanted its residents to mend their debased ways and offer reparations. But the inhabitants misconstrued these warnings and imposed superstitious notions on their material realities. Amna Mufti blended the existential as well as the supernatural horror to highlight how material and spiritual worlds work in collaboration, and it is an injustice to separate two inextricably linked realities. This is exactly why she endowed living characteristics to the otherwise stagnant structure of the Haveli.
Moreover, the haveli did not offer escape to any character, and it suffocated everyone to death without any bias. The perpetrators as well as the victims did not receive any fraction of mercy or sympathy. The Haveli, thus, became nature’s messenger in the way it tackled the destruction caused by the corrupt ways of human nature. The aftermaths represented biblical punishment.
The eventual climax materialised as everyone either being dead through poison or completely unstable through a shocking turn of events. The Haveli, despite containing multitudes of windows and doors, offered no escape to any inhabitant, and the vengeance of the haveli outlived and overpowered the mighty Malkanas, and in the end, the Haveli stood still and intimidating, becoming a cautionary tale of how ruthless and adversarial nature can be if its rules are subverted.