Domestic violence and ‘saving face’ is at the core of TV3’s latest TV drama, Andainya Takdir
I FIND it disturbing whenever I hear about people (usually married women) who prefer to suffer in silence when they have abusive husbands who do not think twice before hitting them in the heat of an argument.
So imagine how irritating it was for me to watch Fatihah (played by actress Nina Iskandar) being hit repeatedly by her extremely jealous husband Airil (Shukri Yahya) in the drama series Andainya Takdir, currently airing on TV3’s Samarinda slot.
Never mind that it’s just make-believe for our local TV audiences; it’s just hard for me to comprehend how some endure such torture, all because they want to keep up appearances.
I’ve seen this so many times not just on the small screen; unfortunately, in real life as well. In fact, as I write this, I have a friend who’s suffering a similar fate to Fatihah’s. And the worst part is, as an outsider, there’s nothing you can really do except to offer advice, which falls on deaf ears.
Liza (Adiba Yunus), Fatihah’s colleague, finds out by chance about her friend’s predicament. You care for your friend, and you certainly don’t want to read about her sad fate, and God forbid, unfortunate end, in the newspapers.
Fatihah and Airil have a young daughter, Aleeya (Puteri Balqees). Life for this little family is stressful due to Airil’s double dose of bad traits — jealousy and volcanic temper.
Airil’s intense love is beset by jealousy as he controls Fatihah’s every step and move. He can’t trust her with any man — restaurant workers, former classmates, even her own cousin, Rozali (Putra Amaris).
When Airil sees his wife chatting with another male, she’s sure to end up getting slapped and beaten.
He eventually comes to his senses once he’s cooled down and promises to control himself the next time. However, when Fatihah asks him to seek professional help, he refuses.
One day, when the couple are at Airil’s parents’ house, her father-in-law Jalal (Idris Md Diah) tells Fatihah that Airil is just like his mother Normah (Sheila Mambo), whose attitude he sometimes cannot bear.
In the meantime, back at Airil and Fatihah’s house, Saidah (Dilla Ahmad) their neighbour who takes care of Aleeya after school, also suspects that something is not right when Aleeya shows up at her place one night.
When she returns Aleeya to her parents’ house, Saidah advises Airil to be a better father so Aleeya won’t run away from home again, hinting that he should also be a good husband to Fatihah. However, the couple still manage to keep their dirty little secret from others, except for Liza.
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What this 16-episode drama does in highlighting this issue is commendable. It just goes to show that things like this still happen in this age and era. It’s still very rampant today and among educated career women too. Most want to keep up appearances and bury the issue for the sake of their family, and to protect their young children.
In a rather politically-correct plot, the drama alludes to the fact that abuse doesn’t just come from jealous husbands but can also be perpetrated by the wives, as portrayed by Normah.
Besides not being an exemplary wife, Normah is also not liked by her neighbours for her attitude. Apparently, Jalal tried to divorce her several times, as he too could no longer bear with his wife’s shenanigans. However, he never went through with it because he was thinking of their children, Airil and Norlin (Annie Ariffin).
Andainya Takdir has a decent and believable storyline, the performances by the cast are compelling to the point where I was just so irritated with Shukri, Sheila and Annie whenever they misbehaved. You know what people say: If an actor is hated for his baddie role, he must have done a good job!
Although I expected a different kind of drama to be aired during the fasting month, like the ones aired on the Samarinda slot in past years, this drama has a good message.
It made me wonder though if Andainya Takdir would attract more TV viewers compared with a certain other drama being aired simultaneously on another channel, starring a “hotter and sweeter hero”.
Andainya Takdir is currently airing every Monday to Thursday at 10pm on TV3.