Introduction
I’ve seen a lot of pakistani dramas. I started watching them on Zindagi channel. They have content. The language, Urdu, is naturally close to my heart. their acting is awesome, AND they do not show every scene 3 times with high-octane background music (I mean to say background noise). People who have seen hindi TV dramas would understand what I am saying.
After some unfortunate series of events, Zindagi channel stopped airing Pakistani content. I reverted to youtube. I have been watching a lot of new and old dramas, that are recommended by various bloggers and reviewers. One fine day, I saw a top 10 of Saba Qamar video on youtube and started watching besharam. I was blown away from first episode itself.
Let’s meet the cast and characters now.
Cast & Characters
Saba Qamar as Mishal Tahir Malik
Supermodel, Tahir Malik and Sara’s daughter, Sofia’s maternal half-sister, Haider’s wife, Khadija’s daughter-in-law and Humna’s sister-in-law, Mannan’s half-sister
Zahid Ahmed as Haider Bakht
Khadija’s son, Mishal’s husband, Sofia’s brother-in-law, Humna’s brother, Qadeer and Saba’s paternal cousins and Sikander and Shakira’s nephew
Atiqa Odho as Sara
Mishal, Sofia and Mannan’s mother, Tahir Malik’s ex-wife, Jamal’s ex-lover and Haider’s mother-in-law
Rehan Sheikh as Tahir Malik
Mishal’s father, Sara’s ex-husband, Jamal’s friend and Haider’s father-in-law
Ammar Ahmed as Qadeer
Shakira and Sikander’s son, Humna’s ex fiancé, Saba’s brother, Haider’s cousin
Faraz Ahmed Farooqui as Mannan
Mishal and Sofia’s maternal half-brother, Sara’s son and Haider’s brother-in-law, Humna’s fiancé
Faisal Rehman as Jamal
Daniyal Ahmed’s father and ex-lover of Sara and Tahir Malik’s friend
Fia Khan as Sofia
Mishal and Mannan’s maternal half-sister, Sara’s daughter and Haider’s sister-in-law
Jinaan Hussain as Humna
Haider’s sister, Mishal’s sister-in-law, Qadeer’s ex-fiancée, Khadija’s daughter, Saba and Qadeer’s paternal cousin and Sikander and Shakira’s niece, Mannan’s fiancée
Shaista Jabeen – Khadija
Haider and Humna’s mother, Mishal’s mother-in-law, Sikander’s sister-in-law and Qadeer and Saba’s paternal aunt
Mehmood Akhtar as Sikandar
Haider and Humna’s paternal uncle, Shakira’s husband, Qadeer and Saba’s father and Khadija’s brother-in-law
Farah Nadeem As Shakira
Sikander’s wife, Qadeer And Saba’s mother
Jahanzeb Khan As Daniyal
Jamal’s son
Ghana Ali As Saba
Shakira And Sikander’s daughter, Qadeer’s younger sister, Haider and Humna’s cousin. She likes Haidar, and wants to marry him.
Plot Summary
Besharam deals with the social issues of glamor industry, upper-class family, and its struggles. Haider Bakht is an aspiring politician who has aims and missions to make the country better and lives in a small house compared to Mashal with his sister and mother. Mishal is a model, and is used to living a luxurious life-style.
And then these two extremes are forced to live together as husband and wife.
Besharam is essentially a forced marriage romance. Haidar Bakht and Mishal Malik both are invited to a TV show. They get arguing. One thing leads to another, and before we know; they challenge each other–that Haidar would marry Mishal.
And they do.
Yep!
Both Haidar and Mishal are short-tempered. And it is their ill-temper that brings them together in a holy matrimony. And now they are forced to live together in Haidar’s humble abode.
If that’s not the perfect recipe for romance, what is?
Review
The chemistry between the lead couple, Haider and Mishi, is electric. Zahid and Saba have done a brilliant job. I had seen Saba’s work earlier, and she is amazing as usual. Zahid is a treat to watch. His voice, specially, leaves an impact. I am so impressed, I started following him on facebook.
All actors seem to have become the characters they are playing. The characters were real, a shade of grey. Nobody was saint, nobody was pure devil. I particularly liked Wahab Sunaira and Saba. Wahab’s blunt commentary about his sasuma, and Saba’s blabber with a childish expression on her face; they leave a mark whenever they are on-screen, however short the duration is.
The story-line is engaging. When I checked the credits for writer, I was surprised to see “Sarwat Nazir”. Surprised, since I have read many of her novels; Main Abdul Qadir Hoon, and Roshan Sitara being two that come to my mind right now. Did not know she writes for TV as well. She’s GOOD.
My all time favorite pakistani drama is Zindagi Gulzar Hai, for its sheer perfection – from direction to writing to acting. This is very close to that now. Haider and Mishi, Kashaf and Zaroon, these characters are so powerful, they make you want to be like them.
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Until we meet again, check out my books on Amazon. You can subscribe for Kindle Unlimited for free for the first month, just saying 🙂
Shabana Mukhtar
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