Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: November 01, 2022 | 
| 中文
Press Conference Scene (L to R) Nauman Masood, Ali Rehman, Shabbir Jan, Atiqa Odho, Urwa Hocane, and Najiba Faiz
Have you watched Indian TV soaps? That’s what Meri Shehzadi would remind you of, but unfavorably. In a nutshell, it is about a girl stuck in a second marriage to a man who only married her to fulfil his dying father’s wishes, and to secure his political position. This girl, of course, is the kindest and most caring person towards the less fortunate, and was sucked into this family drama without fully understanding the implications of marrying her politically influential cousin.
Ali Rehman as Prince Shehroze and Urwa Hocane as Dania
Written by Zanjabeel Asim, directed by Qasim Ali Mureed and produced under the banner of MD Productions, the drama had aimed to tell the story of a young woman aspiring to change the world but six episodes into the show, all we have seen is a family drama that has been elevated to the political level. There’s a shrewd and borderline evil mother-in-law, a wicked stepmother, a dying father-in-law and two doting grandparents that raised the girl after her mother lost her life while giving birth to her, while her father chose to remarry. The only difference is, Daniya’s in-laws and her father are from a strong feudal political background and firmly believe in dynastic politics, so all of their evil actions are motivated by their political ambitions.
(L to R) Shabbir Jan, Qavi Khan, Nauman Masood, Najiba Faiz, Atiqa Odho and Ali Rehman
There has been discussion about the fact that the storyline is loosely based on the life story of Princess Diana, but no one from the production has outrightly admitted this. Why would one want to write a drama on the life of a princess who lived seven continents away in an aristocratic setup, is beyond me! Do Pakistani writers not have one single creative bone left in their bodies?
Secondly, while the casting of the drama is on point, Urwa Hocane needs to do something about hiring herself a costume/wardrobe designer so that she does not end up looking exactly the same in every show. While we know that Urwa has said in a recent interview that an actor should be more than their appearance, she needs to realize that TV is a visual medium and how one looks, plays a major part in the way a character is perceived by the audiences. From Mushq to Amanat to Badzaat to Meri Shehzadi, Urwa’s appearance has remained consistently the same even though her characters have been drastically different in each show.
Other than this, the show has a decent production quality, the houses where the show has been shot are suitably grand, the security protocols of the politicians are accurately depicted and even the characters are credible.
Nauman Masood as Salahuddin and Najiba Faiz as Almas
To his credit, Ali Rehman Khan has done a decent job as a man who has married someone just because his father asked him to do it for political mileage, but does realize that he now has to placate her by sweet-talking her. Ateeqa Odho, as the mother-in-law, fits in really well into her role, but the actress that surprised me the most in her role is Najiba Faiz, who plays Daniya’s stepmother, Almas. Najiba’s presence as an actor first registered with viewers as Mastan Singh’s sweetheart in Sang-e-Mah. She has played the role of a rich businessman and politician’s wife extremely well. Veteran actors Qavi Khan and Shabbir Jan have nailed their parts as one would expect from actors of their caliber. Shabbir Jan, as a dying politician who wants to leave a legacy and a political heir, appears a decent man despite his selfish character in the drama. Qavi Khan as a doting grand-parent to Dania and as a man who wants to keep his family united, has done justice to his role: from facial expressions to dialogue delivery and screen presence, he has artistically handled the complexities of his character. Nouman Masood is also a welcome return to the television screen. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him on television, and he’s played the part of Daniya’s father quite well.
(L to R) Urwa Hocane, Atiqa Odho, Nauman Masood and Najiba Faiz
Coming to Nani's character, she’s downright annoying. We get it, you lost your daughter in childbirth but to expect her former husband to not move on in life is unfair, also to act like the whole family is somehow evil because your daughter passed away is downright insane. Also, per Zanjabeel’s style as a writer, our expectation is that Daniya would soon die on the show, because that’s what the writer typically does to characters she depicts as “good people”.
Urwa Hocane, with her maternal grandparents, played by Qavi Khan and Shamim Hilaly
In spite of all of these flaws, we do see the attraction a drama like Meri Shehzadi would hold for an average TV drama viewer, that said, the drama really has not been made for an intelligent viewer's pleasure. The final verdict then is that Meri Shehzadi is a good watch, and the show has the potential to entertain. One never knows, maybe Daniya learns to use her new found political influence in a positive manner and ends up living a fulfilling life.
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