Beyond the Veil
Common stories can be told in a variety of ways. Some creators use the same techniques, while others adopt a different approach to storytelling.
Comes the Beyond the Veil
If you are familiar with stories of women in the North, this series’ plot will not be surprising; however, its approach to telling the stories is laudable.
Beyond the Veil centers on the stories of five young Muslim women navigating the ups and downs of life, family, love, culture, and religion, among others.
It was shot in Abuja and Lagos. Mostly in Abuja.
Created by Sifa Asani Gowon Nadine Ibrahim
Characters
It starts with us meeting Ni’ama.
Played by Jemima Osunde.
Ni’ama is a successful entrepreneur who runs a spa.
She is bubbly, a workaholic, introverted, loves her family, can strike a good balance when needed, and is secretive about her struggles with friends.
Ni’ama questions her culture, believes it should evolve, and does not shy away from conversations around it.
It is a reoccurring theme with one of her love interests, Amir; however, she has struggled with anxiety for years and has checked into a hospital to get treatment and experience insomnia .
She is also challenged by love, as she is in love with someone not from her region or her faith: Matthew. She wants to please her family and, at the same time, be happy in love.
What I appreciate about her character is how self-aware she is of her problems and knows she needs help to improve.
The downside of her is a little self-sabotage, overthinking, and not wanting to hurt others’ feelings.
Hanifa
Played by Maryam Booth
Hanifa is the group’s married buddy. She married an older man at a young age. Hanifa is a wonderful housewife, mother, and wife. Hanifa, on the other hand, desires more for herself.
Hanifa’s ambition is to work as an architect.
Her spouse agreed before they married that she would return to school once she was done having children.
However, he is now opposed to her returning to school.
Although Hanifa teaches art on the side and earns money from it, her husband does not require her to complete her degree.
Worse, he laments about her only having female children and how he would like her to bear a son 😒
Hanifa is unconcerned by his threats because she has saved enough money to educate herself.
A drawback of her is that she suppresses her feelings and may disagree with her husband, but she does not say much even with her friends.
Next, Badriya, aka Baddie.
Played by Norah Ego
Badriya is the lively one of the friends; the social butterfly is a lover of luxury and attention.
Baddie is a social media influencer who desires to grow her personality into a stronger brand.
She had a public breakup and began doing damage control to keep up with appearances online.
Baddie began a relationship with a man, and everything about him was sketchy from the get-go, but she refused to see the red flag as he kept love-bombing her with cash and luxurious gifts.
Badriya is an over-pampered child who is clueless about life’s happenings and believes everything has to go her way at the expense of other people.
The downside to her is that she doesn’t listen to anyone. She got involved with a manipulative and emotionally abusive man and refused to leave him despite his forms of abuse before it got to full domestic violence.
She can be condescending.
Zainab, aka Zizi.
Zainab is the unconventional northern Muslim lady in the series.
Played by Ame Aiyejina, Zizi is brave, career-driven, rebellious, and doesn’t believe in marriage as it is told to girls and women. Continuously turning down an unruly suitor.
She is often described as having a cold personality.
With the exception of her grandfather, whom she adores and spends most of her free time with when she is not working, she has a difficult relationship with her parents, especially her father, feeling that she needs to keep proving to him that she is more than enough as an exceptional child.
Her grandfather wants her to live and experience life as a young woman.
Zizi gets involved with her boss’s son, which becomes a dilemma against all odds.
Aside from the disparity in status between them, Zizi deviates from the stereotype of a northern Muslim woman in terms of behavior; her love interest, Hassim’s mother, wants her son to get married.
Zizi’s drawback is that she is prone to excluding individuals from her life.
Surrayah
Played by Habiba Zock-Sock
Surrayah is a complex person. On one end, you will see her happy for one of the girls when she hears good news. On another hand, she wants to be in their lives like nothing happened, despite them not being close.
She is a good traditional beauty herb creator for Ni’iama’s spa
Sarruyah speaks about the process of her mixtures with so much knowledge and enthusiasm.
There is a feeling of guilt about her story’s truth particularly her divorce, which weighs her down without saying too much. She even has nightmares about it.
Downsides of her: envy clouds part of her judgment. It could be that she doesn’t feel welcome in the family.
Her obsession with someone who is not interested in her: Hassim.
Some Upscales
The series is conceivable how headstrong it chose to speak new nuances on young northern Muslim women in Nigeria on the topics it chose to address in the series.
It also showed that northern Muslim women are not monolithic; their peculiar experience doesn’t mean they interpret situations similarly.
How it doesn’t shy away from mental health is solid, particularly with the character Ni’iama.
Not shying away from the dynamics of money, secrets in marriage with Hanifa, and Ahmadu story in a difficult period.
Acting:- Except for a few little misses in the dialogues, it was excellent.
Production: superb
Script: The highlight of the whole work is captivating.
Although the trajectory is slow, it sets in.
Beyond the Veil is a must-watch. Hoping it gets another season.
Check it out on Amazon Prime.
