A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 1 (2022). The new TV series is directed by Qasim Ali Mureed and written by Zanjbeel Asim Shah. Meri Shehzadi is a story of a girl with a tragic past but is destined to become Royalty. Can she handle the responsibilities that come with it? Meri Shehzadi is an MD Productions and HUM TV Production.
+ Crew
- Directed by Qasim Ali Mureed
- Written by Zanjbeel Asim Shah
- Produced by Momina Duraid
- Production by MD Productions
+ Note
The story of Meri Shehzadi is inspired by the real life story of the late Princess Diana from the United Kingdom. The show explores the expectations that corrupts the innocent and discourages empathy towards the common man.
+ Main Cast
- Urwa Hocane as Dania
- Ali Rehman as Shehroz
- Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
- Muazzam Ali Khan
- Sonia Mishal
- Najiba Faiz
- Atiqa Odho
- Shabbir Jan
- Nauman Maqsood
- Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
- Shamim Hilaly as Dania’s Nani
+ Plot
Raised by her loving Grandparents, Dania is born in a royal family who is destined for greatness in life. After meeting her future husband and entering the political monarchy of Pakistan, Dania must face the trials and tribulations that come along with the life of royalty.
+ High Points
i – The first episode of Meri Shehzadi is well written and a near perfect way to introduce the viewers to the world of Dania. The episode was smoothly paced, with each tibit of information communicated to the viewers with finesse and never did the exposition become overbearing. The credit should be given to Zanjbeel Asim Shah for her sharp writing and perhaps a perfect platform for this show to build upon.
ii – The performances from the main cast was one of the key elements for this first episode’s success. Urwa Hocane is arguably perfect casting to play the role of a wide eyed, innocent Dania who is suddenly forced into the world of politics and family drama mind games. Urwa’s dialogue delivery was gentle but never timid. She excellently displayed her character visually through her body language without going into long, unnecessary expositions. The rest of the cast was also exceptional in their respective supporting roles. Qavi Khan and Shamim Hilaly are also picture perfect casting as the Grandparents who brought up Dania and kept her away from the dirty politics of the family business. Ali Rehman as Shehroz was also a great choice as he is much better in playing the role of smarmy, devious life partner. For me, Ali Rehman was born to play the role of an antagonist and hopefully, this is the direction Meri Shehzadi will also follow.
iii – It should also be mentioned that showing Dania’s father in a bit of a sympathetic light was a marvelous choice by the writer of the show. How often do we see evil parents who abandoned their child to live their own selfish life. Yes, he is a flawed character but like Dania, he also suffered from the loss of his wife and had to learn to live again.
iv – The locations (particularly the bungalows) have a slight pre-partition look to them and it played a superb role in creating the atmosphere to the show. I also liked the wardrobe design for Dania as they conveyed her simplicity without dressing her up in a bland bedroom curtain. Its safe to say that the team behind the camera has done a good job in setting up the world in which Dania will have to survive.
+ Low Points
i – Even though I like the premise of the show, it does feel that Dania lacks any sort of motivations in life. Throughout the episode, we didn’t really get to understand the psyche behind Dania. Her personality was well communicated by the show but the characterization lacks inspirations or personal impulses. Apart from being a Princess, the real life Diana did humanitarian work on the side. Will our Dania also have similar motivations in life? Hard to say just from a single episode but the characters feel a bit too bland for my taste and lack qualities one expects from a well rounded character.
ii – Some people are evil for the sake of being evil. And that was part of the writing that I was not a particular fan of. With exception to Dania’s father, the rest of the family played cartoonish antics towards Dania and felt really flat in execution. It felt forced and unnecessary. There are good and evil people in this world but both also should share some human traits that could justify their emotions.
+ Overall
An episode with sharp writing and good performances, Meri Shehzadi will intrigue its viewers enough to follow Dania’s journey into the world of mischief and uncertainty.
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