Aakhri Station (; English: The Last Station) is a seven-part Pakistani television drama mini-series, created by Sarmad Khoosat and Kashf Foundation. It premiered on ARY Digital on 13 February 2018 and concluded on 28 March 2018. Written by Amna Mufti, it is directed and co-produced by Khoosat with Roshaneh Zafar of Kashf Foundation Productions and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Series consist of seven episodes.
The show introduced an ensemble cast with Sanam Saeed, Nimrah Bucha, Malika Zafar, Anam Goher, Eman Suleman, Ammara Butt and Farah Tufail portraying seven strangers with different economic, social and cultural backgrounds suffering from domestic and mental issues, meeting on a train compartment en route to Karachi. The show aims to explore women-eccentric subjects that its creator feel have not been emphasized in Pakistani shows openly, such as women's rights, drug abuse, HIV, PTSD, acid attacks, forced prostitution, and domestic violence.
The OST, a beautiful rendition of an Amjad Islam Amjad poem, ‘Mujhe Apne Jeenay Ka Haq Chaihiye‘ has been composed by Arshad Mahmood and sung by Tahira Syed. The last verse of the poem is recited by Indian actress Shabana Azmi.
Episodes
Episode 1
A group of women, each belonging to a different socioeconomic class, sit together in a train compartment, going to Karachi.
They are joined by two more; a mother, Yasmin, and her daughter, Mahno, and a transgender lady.
The transwoman was being insulted in another compartment, whereupon an old conductor intervened and told the culprit to fear God, as He created all and that all people have a right on the land. He advised the transwoman to move to a place in the front, and call for him in case of any trouble.
Back in the main compartment, the lady in the saree, Tehmina, commented on the various new colours of nail polish, causing Yasmin, who was wearing turquoise on one hand, to say "i hate this, it's not coming off". Tehmina offered Yasmin cotton and nail polish remover.
It is revealed that Yasmin belonged to a very poor family, and lived with her parents in law and husband, Waqar, who would not work. They were knee deep in debt, to the extent people had started to shame her. The man she was married to was an alcoholic, a gambler and had sold every sellable item in the house.
He stole Yasmin's gold earrings, which her mother had gifted her before she passed away, sold them, and lost all the money in a bet. His friends offered to give him a loan for another game, in exchange for a night with his wife. The man agreed.
Yasmin was traumatized. The man boasted of a "business" to his parents, who were clueless. At night, he told her soon their daughter would run this (inhumane) business and earn for them, and then the "clients" were about to arrive.
She put on an act, and fooled the man into thinking she was okay with his crimes. She asked him to go buy some ice for the alcohol that he brought.
As soon as he left, she grabbed her daughter and made a run for it.
Episode 2
The other women consoled Yasmin and assured her she did the right thing.
But Yasmin's pain triggered another passenger, Gul Meena.
Gul Meena was very nearly due, and had left her village with her husband, Yousuf, and in laws, to escape war.
They travelled from refugee camp to refugee camp on buses, looking for a new place to restart life.
In a camp one night, everyone was awoken by a woman's wailing. She too had left to flee the war, but while she was asleep, a man got into her tent and snatched her only family, a young daughter.
Contractions hit Gul Meena, who started to cry out in pain. Her mother in law, Ma Gul, forbade Yousuf from looking for a gynecologist. He went anyway and returned late in the night with the doctors address and a horse ridden cart.
Yousuf talked his father into travelling to the next camp with Ma Gul and brother, Younas, while he himself would take his wife to the city to visit the doctor.
On the way to the city, Gul Meena was in pain again, and Yousuf asked the driver to take him and his wife to his, the driver's, place.
Yousaf was given the good news of the birth of his first child, a son.
The new parents tried to track down Yousuf's family but could not find them. Some time later, while going for the Fajr prayer, Yousuf suffered a sudden heart attack, and passed away before he could be rushed to a doctor.
Gul Meena's in laws were finally traced, and they came to take her and her son, Rustum Khan, home.
Ma Gul, who already disliked her daughter in law as it was, began to loathe her, accuse her of Yousuf's death, and curse her.