Author: Mr. Khan's Reviews

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 16 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – Episode 16 brings in a closure for Dania as to which direction she should like to move; fighting injustice towards her in the Shehroz household or furthering her career as a politician? The chairman of the party personally calls Dania, strongly advising her to return back to her family and not throw away her potential political career in the process. I am glad that the show has brought in a new perspective to the plot which deviates away from the usual ‘Saas/ Bahu’ politics at home. Dania should have aspirations beyond being a good wife/ mother, she should be smart enough to understand that quarreling with her In-Laws the whole time will ultimately spell the end of her.  

ii – I like minor details in the show like the Photo session scene. It brings a sense of realism to the world of Dania and how her life is divided between the public image and the tortured personal life behind the curtain. 

+ Low Points

i – Meri Shehzadi is becoming incredibly repetitive with the tug of war between Dania and her mother in law. Every episode contains at least two scenes where they both hit off at one another without adding anything new to the plot of the show. I believe it is high time that the show should move on from this plot point and Dania should focus now more on her career as a politician.

ii – I sincerely do not understand what the motive of the Shehroz family was to publicly defame Dania by accusing her of having an affair. By publicly humiliating her, they are inadvertently denying the trust of the people. And how is the chairman of the party allowing all of this without interference of any kind? 

iii – Although some characters like the Mother in Law have had hints of sustainable emotional torture behind the facade (as she admitted once that her husband also in fact betrayed her trust), the rest of the cast is still incredibly devoid of any real characterization. The father, the stepmother and other supporting characters bring nothing substantial to the table. They either defend or plot revenge against Dania. Everything revolves around her. They have no ideas or aspirations of their own. The lack of in depth characterization has clearly made the show repetitive and centered solely towards the internal family conflict rather than playing along the political life of the family as well.

+ Overall

Meri Shehzadi definitely has the potential to be unique with its storyline if it manages to create a good balance between the political and the social drama.

Rate: out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 15 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – Even though it’s a very selfish move, I like that Shehroz has a certain level of allegiance to Cam, his first and only love. The marriage with Dania was and will always remain a political tool for him. This adds such a unique layer of intrigue in the characterization of Shehroz.

ii – It is appreciated that Nana jaan is finally aware of the emotional tricks of manipulation that Shehroz possesses and chose to support his granddaughter in this situation. In many Pakistani shows, characters act dumb and oblivious when the script requires them to be but Nana jaan has proven to be written with some realistic intelligence.

+ Low Points

i – Episode 15 is an unfortunate mess in terms of plot direction and consistencies. From exploring political nepotism in Pakistan, the show has decided to head once again into the tried and tested waters of family melodrama. Since Shehroz has refused to divorce his first wife, Dania has decided to separate from her husband which of course, has led to the question of the custody of the children. For a short period of time, Meri Shehzadi was swimming in uncharted waters, taking thematic risks and trying something new. Dania was learning her ways of playing the political game but the show (for some unexplained reason) decided to concentrate once again on Dania’s woes with her husband and in-laws. And none of it can qualify as engaging television.

ii – It is HIGHLY unlikely that a political party would deliberately wash their dirty laundry in public. There is no logical reason why Shehroz’s family would smear their daughter in law’s name to the press. Technically, Shehroz and Dania are still married and even though Dania has never held office, she was nominated and has publicly represented her party. There is no way that the party would willingly question the credibility of their own family to the public. 

iii – Fifteen episodes in and Urwa Hocane as Dania still feels like a miscast. Her performance is not up to the mark of what is required from the script. Instead of innocent and pure hearted, she largely sounds confused and slow. Whether Dania is happy, sad or depressed, the tone of her voice remains the same and I cannot solely put the blame on Urwa but also the director Qasim Ali Mureed for not getting the desired emotions from his cast of actors.

+ Overall

It is quite disappointing to see Meri Shehzadi going down the old route of family melodrama rather than an exploration of nepotism and corruption in Pakistani politics.

Rate:out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 14 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – Episode 14 indulges yet again into the relationship dynamics of the Shehroz political family. Through new leaked photos on the social media, Dania comes to terms with her husband’s backdoor shenanigans with his secret first wife, Cam. Personally, I preferred the direction that Meri Shehzadi was going for when it started focusing on the rise of Dania as a politician but since last week, the show has reverted back to its family dynamics. Having said all that, Dania’s abrasive reaction towards Shehroz was completely justified and I am glad the writer has given her more courage to stand up to all this internal bullying within the family. Even though most of the history behind Shehroz and Cam is out of her control, Dania can always make decisions on her own personal happiness and it’s great to see her take control of her own life. 

ii – The talk that was held between the Chairman of the party, Shehroz and his mother was fantastic. The snappy dialogue exchange and the harsh life lessons that Shehroz had to face were the most entertaining part of this episode. In the life of a politician, all that matters at the end of the day is the image that you have projected of yourself to the general public. And in Shehroz’s case, his skeletons in the closet have come to haunt him time and time again. His love, his addiction towards a non-political life has led him to act against his best judgment. 

iii – I really enjoy the relationship that Shehroz and Cam have. In the most destructive of ways, it is utterly genuine and built upon true love. With all his flaws, Shehroz is madly in love with Cam and try as she might, Dania can never replace her. I truly wish that Cam had a more prominent role in the show as their relationship is proving to be one of the best aspects of the show.

+ Low Points

i – I just cannot get behind Urwa Hocane’s portrayal as Dania. Her performance seems utterly lost at times as her naivety gets tangled with her cluelessness of each and every situation at hand. Her acting does not do justice to the character and feels like a miscast time and time again. 

ii – Some of the family drama in Meri Shehzadi has become incredibly repetitive. The mother in law scolds Dania, Dania retorts. Her step mother complains, the father defends Dania. Rinse and repeat. The show really needs to move past all this as none of this enhances the plotline of the show but rather, drags it further down to mediocrity. 

+ Overall

An entertaining episode but by focusing solely on the family melodrama, Meri Shehzadi limits itself from being original.

Rate: out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 13 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – After 13 episodes, we finally get to witness Dania standing up for herself against the patriarchy of the Shehroz family. And even though the episode devoted a bit too much time on this plot point, it was still fun to see each individual of the chaotic family reacting differently to this “unheard of” situation.

ii – The dinner table scene was undoubtedly the highlight of the show. The performances, the family dynamics, everything played to perfection. It just goes to show that Meri Shehzadi works the finest when the actors just work off one another, creating drama and tension just by their performances.

iii – With each passing episode, the vitality of Ali Rehman’s performance becomes more and more apparent. His character Shehroz is undeniably my favorite character of the show and credit needs to be given to the writing as well as Ali Rehman’s portrayal of him onscreen. 

+ Low Points

i – A decent but not a great episode unfortunately. With Episode 13, Meri Shehzadi has diverted back to family melodrama and unengaging power struggle within the house. Personally I do not have anything against family politics but it seems like the show relies heavily on this plot point to make itself seem attractive to its audience. The new developments of previous weeks need time to develop. Let the general public first get used to Dania winning her people over. The biggest issue with Meri Shehzadi is that the premise itself is an exciting one but the logistics of reaching those twists and turns do not seem earned by the writing of the show.

ii – Speaking of logistics of the show, I still do not understand why Dania was forcefully brought into the family business in the first place. And if Dania is being portrayed as the “Mother Teresa” for the people, isn’t it beneficial for the party just to go along with it? Dania creates the clean facade for the party, hiding the rotting corpse of their evil deeds; it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Why is Daina being discouraged from her philanthropy act? 

+ Overall

Meri Shehzadi works best with its family dynamics and really needs to move beyond it if they would like to separate themselves from the rest of the Pakistani TV shows.

Rate: out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 11 & 12 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – There have been some major developments in the plot for Meri Shehzadi since the past two episodes. Episode 11 and 12 have brought some very exciting prospects for the future and longevity of this show. Dania has invertedly made some major strides into the family politics and is working alongside her mother in law who has been successfully nominated as the new Chief Minister. But Dania in a rude awakening? Such questions are left for the upcoming episodes to explore and as a viewer, I am glad that Meri Shehzadi has moved beyond the “Saas/ Bahoo/ Second wife” drama into something more substantial and spells a breath of fresh air into the show.   

ii – Although the performances have not been exceptional by any stretch of the imagination, the entire main cast do their part well enough to bring a sense of urgency to the plot of the show. They act envious, excited, devious in very exaggerated ways but somehow, this all plays well with the political melodrama of the show. Does it all make sense? No but it does make for exciting television.

iii – Shehroz might be the most complex and intriguing character of the show. His past, his motivations and his incompetence brings a lot of depth to his role. In an interesting twist, Shehroz is somewhat a victim of his own destiny. He is forced to live up to his father’s shoes, not allowed who to love, whom to marry and now, needs to play a second fiddle to his wife’s new found success. A pitiful character indeed. 

+ Low Points

i – There are some major, logical inconsistencies with the new plot development that damper the legitimacy of the show, namely the trust that the party (for whatever reason) developed onto Dania. And this is not just to make the face of their party “clean” after the recent scandal involving Shehroz and his second wife, they really want to give her a position as the Human Rights minister. Why? This process was never really explained by the show. Just the fact that the higher ups of the party have really developed a trust in Dania. A proper explanation was in order but nothing was really provided by the show.

ii – Even though the plot has taken a positive turn, the dialogues of the show have not. The characters speak ridiculous, unrealistic nonsense to one another and always end up taking one out of the world that the show is trying to build. The dialogues never felt realistic in any sense of the word and only convey incredibly superficial emotions that make the show lack in quality writing. And it is a pity since the show has such an interesting premise to bounce off on. 

+ Overall

Meri Shehzadi continues on with its engaging storyline with interesting plot twists and cliffhangers. But the dialogues of the show are in dire straits of quality writing. 

Rate: out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 10 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 episode started off slow and overly melodramatic but with time, the plot got more engaging and ended on a high note. The scandalous storyline of Shehroz has dire consequences on the family and his political career. The rumors have spread so wide amongst the general public that some shocking decisions need to be made namely Shehrorz out of the contention for a Chief Minister nomination. Episode 10 was clearly divided into two parts; the first dealt with Dania and her ‘betrayal’ towards her grandfather. The other dealt with Shehroz’s political career in jeopardy. Overall, it was an engaging hour of television.

ii – I did particularly enjoy the mental breakdown of Shehroz as his heartbreak went beyond love and career. It was also a great insight from the show how important Cam has been to Shehroz and perhaps, the love that he possesses for her can never be comparable to Dania’s. Dania is an anomaly in all this. She will always remain the ‘outsider’ as she has only served as a pawn in the political game of Shehroz and his family. The next few episodes will be fairly interesting considering the party has now decided to take a different stance as to who will serve as the ‘face’ of their political future.

+ Low Points

i – An intriguing episode all around but the lack of depth in some vital performances was very evident throughout its runtime. Some scenes had fantastic writing but the performances by the main actors such as Urwa Hocane or Ali Rehman did not feel powerful enough to elevate the scenes to even greater levels of success. The dialogue delivery was a tad bit monotone or not in the same tone as was the requirement of the scene.

ii – The writing scenes of Dania’s Nana feel somewhat flat and unnecessary. Personally I do not feel that his inner thoughts contribute much to the overall plot of Meri Shehzadi. I do believe that internal monologues of Dania on the other hand, could provide a whole lot more to the narrative of the show. 

+ Overall

Since the past couple of episodes, Meri Shehzadi has been consistently engaging and an intense hour of political melodrama.

Rate: out of 5 stars 

A review on Pakistani drama TV series, Meri Shehzadi Episode 9 (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

1. Urwa Hocane as Dania
2. Ali Rehman as Shehroz
3. Sabeen Farooq as Bisma
4. Muazzam Ali Khan
5. Sonia Mishal
6. Najiba Faiz
7. Atiqa Odho
8. Shabbir Jan
9. Nauman Maqsood
10. Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana
11. 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 – Meri Shehzadi portrays politics to perfection. Not only on a regional level but also within the walls of the Shehroz family. Throughout the first half of the episode, Shehroz tried his level best to convince Dania’s grandfather of his innocence. The lies portrayed by the media and the horrid, estranged wife of his; they are all in cahoots just to betray Shehroz’s confidence towards his voters. Nobody ever comes out of political life unscathed and Sheroz also has to play the ‘game’ of lies and manipulation of the innocent in order to stay in power. And by the end of the episode, Dania’s Nana learns that lesson the hard way.

ii – And with that, Episode 9 was categorically dedicated to Qavi Khan as Dania’s Nana. We, as an audience, went along with his journey of being lied to, manipulated in front of the global media and then finally coming across self realization of why the corrupt always abuse the blind. It was tragic for Dania’s grandfather to finally realize that by constant lies and misdemeanors, Dania has in fact become one of them. The innocent grandchild of his has perhaps been forever engulfed in the world of eternal politics and high class stature. 

+ Low Points

i – Dania is essentially the contrast of Shehroz. Unlike her husband, Dania wants to see the good in others and can never exploit them for her own personal gain. Unfortunately that portrayal of character seems incredibly muddled if one judges based on the conversation they had in the car. So as the story goes, Dania secretly caught her college friend taking cash out of her purse. In order to not make her feel guilty or uncomfortable with this act, Dania purposely let the act occur as planned because she did not want to make anyone feel bad about themselves and their flaws should always be hidden “behind a curtain”. And… this story makes no sense. What lesson did her friend learn from this? Absolutely nothing. She was committing a crime and never got caught for it so her friend learned absolutely nothing from all this and probably will try to do so again. And most likely will get caught by someone who would not be as kind as Dania is!

From my understanding, Meri Shehzadi wants to portray Dania as an open hearted person who wants to see the best in others. Nothing wrong with that but there is a fine line between being a people’s person and being naive. According to the story, Dania could have interrupted her friend during the act, given her the money and told her that next time if she ever needs extra money, all she has to do is ask. That would have been a perfect lesson for her friend; honesty is indeed the best approach.

ii – Almost every episode has too many internal monologues and other time wasting techniques just to lengthen the life of the show. There are also a couple scenes which are generally very identical in their content and dialogues. 

+ Overall

In the past few weeks, Meri Shehzadi has improved its content and pacing. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Rate: out of 5 stars