A review on Pakistani Drama TV Serial, ‘Beshahram’ aka Shameless (2016). Its Production House is Six Sigma Plus while its Distributor is ARY Digital Entertainment.
+ Crew
- Directed by Farooq Rind
- Written by Sarwat Nazir
- Produced by Humayun Saeed & Shehzad Nasib
+ Note
Beshahram aired on ARY Digital from 10th May 2016 to 1st Nov 2016. In total it consists of 24 episodes. The name ‘Beshahram’ of the TV drama serial is based on modeling profession of Mishi which is not considered a respected occupation in the society and secondly because her sudden marriage on LIVE talk show with an aspiring politician Haider, have created a new gossiping talk in the social media and in the press.
+ Main Cast
1) Saba Qamar as Mishal Tahir Malik / Mishi
2) Zahid Ahmed as Haider Bakht
3) Atiqa Odho as Sara
4) Mehmood Akhtar as Sikandar
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+ Supportive Cast
5) Fia Khan as Sofia
6) Malik Raza as Wahab
7) Sundas Tariq as Humna
8) Shaista Jabeen as Khadija
9) Farah Nadeem as Shakira
10) Ghana Ali as Saba
11) Faisal Rehman as Jamal
12) Jahanzaib Khan as Daniyal
13) Rehan Sheikh as Tahir Malik
+ Plot
One day, two different occupational persons Mishi & Haider get into a bad argument and on the basis of ‘Dare’ get married LIVE on a talk show only to fulfill a challenge. However, this is just beginning of their problems. Since the families of the couple belong to two different social classes with huge difference of their life styles and upbringing, it brings both of them in great pressure where they start to think, to at least to give a chance to their marriage.
+ High Points
i – We have a strong, bold female lead character ‘Mishi’ played by Saba Qamar who has guts to face the harsh environment / situations, solving up issues in her as well as her loved ones’ lives.
ii – The two lead characters of Saba Qamar and Zain Ahmed are not only well written but greatly performed as well. Honorable Mentions: Fia Khan, Malik Raza and Ghana Ali.
iii – The story gets better and interesting as it progresses further.
iv – The direction is good.
v – The script is well written. The humor in some scenes is mild yet laughable to listen to.
vi – Malik Raza character as Wahab is a rich Punjabi paindu (redneck) person and a husband of Sofia. In the start, felt his performance as ‘Over the Top’ acting. But he cleared up the misconceptions from the viewers by making his character more likable to watch in later episodes due to his clumsy, goofy yet funny manner of talk and behavior.
+ Low Points
i – Although the female lead character Mishi is a strong, daring person but her straight forward, rude behavior, her anger and getting herself in unnecessary arguments would make the viewers’ very hard to like in the first few episodes. However, I do understand that this was intentionally done by the writer so that if her character shifts towards softer personality [in the later episodes] then the viewers as well as the people connected in her life including the society would gradually accept her… and perhaps would consider her as a role model.
ii – Easiest and quickest way to write a character is to make that character as a stereotype. Here we have the makeup artist character who is a dear friend of Mishi. Yes, I am aware that there are gay personality people also in this profession but the way his character is written and portrayed is very shameful. Although the writer has done a wonderful job in writing other characters but (unfortunately) here the writer’s creativity is totally lost.
iii – The photographer Kabir who starts to blackmail Saba; to show him as a bad person / villain, the director preferred the actor having his eyes wide open as if he is performing LIVE on-stage.
iv – There are several plot holes left behind in some of the episodes. For instance, when Haider is first time hospitalized; Sikander (Haider’s parental uncle) insists his wife & daughter to pay a visit at the hospital with him. After that scene, no mention of Sikander / his family visiting Haider at the hospital or shown in that / further episodes.
Second example is when Sikander informs Haider of the shop’s partial share (hefty amount) of being stolen from his house, we see Haider making a threat to register FIR against him for giving a false reason for not giving up his (Haider) share which is due on Sikander. Then even after several episodes, no complain to police or demand for his share is asked by Haider to his uncle. It seems Haider has lost interest of his father’s (deceased) partial share of the shop.
v – There are few mistakes in shooting up the scenes. Such as Qadeer tells his parents that he and his fiancée would dine out instead. Just as soon as they have walked out of the screen’s frame, his parents start to back bite of their son’s fiancée behavior and attitude. In real life, the couple would have taken only a step forward from their presence where Qadeer’s parents were back biting loudly and clearly.
vi – The character of Sikander is too loud. I believe that it can be tone down to make more believable and striking for the viewers. Even the ‘Want’ of this character is bit confused. Sometimes, he is working selfishly in able to get bigger share of the shop while in other times, he just feels that Haider is dear to him.
+ Overall
Beshahram’s lead performances, to cope up with acceptance of different social classes struggle to make marriage work is well handled.
Rate: 3.0 out of 5 stars
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