Suno Chanda: A Hit Sitcom
By Umar Siddiqui
Northridge, CA
The feelings that stirred inside me while watching both seasons of Pakistani sitcom Suno Chanda were virtually indescribable. I was able to understand most of the jokes, even though I was raised here in California. My favorite character is the one that is probably everyone’s favorite, Shahana.
The story revolves around two cousins, Ajiya (played by Iqra Aziz) and Arsal Ali (played by Farhan Saeed), who are engaged at the dying request of their deceased grandfather, Jahangir. The matriarch of the family, Bee Jan (played by Samina Mumtaz), wants to enforce the marriage and make it happen as do Arsal’s parents and the parents of Ajiya, or Jia. Shahana, (played by Nadia Afghan), or Channo, who is Arsal’s mother, is hostile to Jia in the first season. Jia’s friend Huma attempts to always mend relations between Jia and Arsal, as Jia goes to her when there is a problem. Two other characters are Jia and Arsal’s cousin Sherry (played by Nabeel Zuberi) and their other cousin Kinza (played by Mashal Khan). Anyway, there are multiple intriguing, distinct, and well-developed characters in the two installments of the hit sitcom.
The sitcom is not only entertaining, but it successfully tackles a multitude of social and cultural issues in the social climate in Pakistan. Its overarching issue to tackle is arranged marriage. Jia is opposed to the marriage as she wants to pursue higher education in the UK and Arsal and Jia want to be friends and cousins as opposed to life partners. The other issues in the show can be seen as Jia’s younger brother, DJ, or Danial (played by Sami Khan), uses his cell phone to make videos of secrets in the family and blackmails his family members into paying him to delete the videos. This is the issue of children abusing technology, even as it occurs in Pakistan.
In season 2, Shahana’s cousin, Parveen, or Pari, cons family members into favors using her beauty and wit. Kinza’s parents are Masooma Ali (played by Tara Mahmood) and Jalal Khan (played by Adnan Shah Tipu). Jalal married outside of Peshawar when he married Masooma, and this was looked down upon by Jalal’s elders, who did not approve of Jalal marrying outside of his cultural background. This is also seen with some other characters in the show. The second season centers around Arsal and Jia’s relationship but also Arsal’s cousin Mithoo (played by Raza Talish) and Maina (played by Sabeena Farooq), Kinza’s cousin.
The first season was recognized in multiple award shows, like the LUX Style Awards 2019 and the 7th Hum Awards, 2019. Nadia Afghan won her first ever Lollywood award for Supporting Actress as Adnan Shah Tipu won for Best Supporting Actor; they won there at the 7th Hum Awards. At the LUX Style awards 2019, Iqra Aziz won Best Actress for the sitcom and she also won Best Actress (Popular) at the 7th Hum Awards. Farhan Saeed won Best Actor (Popular and Jury) for Suno Chanda at the 7th Hum Awards. Aziz and Saeed won Best Onscreen Couple at the 7th Hum Awards as well.
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