“Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi” immediately had Pakistani drama viewers groaning after the promos, realizing that Danish Taimoor would be playing yet another toxic, obsessive hero who cannot take no for an answer. While our actors are wonderful at playing such intense roles, it almost seems as though our audiences, writers, actors, producers and so forth have taken several steps backward into a realm many others are now leaving behind – the promotion of toxic heroes as exactly that……heroes. Starring Danish Taimoor, Durr E Fishan, Nauman Ejaz, Atiqa Odho, Hammad Shoaib, Shahood Alvi, Laila Wasti, Zainab Qayyum, Laiba Khan and others, the story has been written by Radain Shah and directed by Ahmed Bhatti.
After the first two episodes, there isn’t any doubt that the story is gripping and the execution pulls the viewer in completely. Mehak (Durr E Fishan) has a chance encounter with Shamsher (Danish Taimoor) when her father, Akram (Shahood Alvi), steps out to argue with him during a traffic incident. Shamsher spots Mehak and falls “in love” with her on the spot. While Durr E Fishan is a beautiful girl, the casting is odd for a love-at-first-sight scenario. Regardless, since then, Shamsher has done everything to pursue Mehak and make her “his.” This entire situation is made more uncomfortable by the fact that Mehak is already engaged to her cousin Ahsan (Hammad Shoaib) and the two are in love.
Meanwhile, we have also been introduced to Dilawar (Nauman Ejaz), Shamsher’s father, who is a politician or a landowner of some sort. It’s not clear, but this is a man who cannot take no for an answer. If he wants something, he will have it – and so, it’s not difficult to see where Shamsher gets it from. He is a chip off the old block and however little Dilawar and Shamsher get along, Shamsher has taken on the very worst of his father.
Up until now, there isn’t anything to complain about with “Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi.” The plot is interesting, the scenario is believable enough and we can see that Shamsher is a thoroughly obsessive young man. He has set his sights on Mehak and that’s the end of the discussion – her engagement is meaningless, her refusal is meaningless, her father’s opinion is meaningless. Shamsher can bully and threaten his way through anything to get his way – and what he wants is Mehak. It’s a very scary situation and Danish Taimoor is playing the role incredibly well. The problem arises when viewers begin to idolize such a character and this is something we can already see in the comments section for the episodes with fans making excuses for Shamsher’s behavior and calling it romantic. If Shamsher remains a villain, which is what he is, then “Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi” has a lot of scope and room to highlight a message…..don’t stalk women and force a relationship on them against their will. But if the show moves on to make Shamsher a hero and whitewash his actions later on, this could be (yet another) a dangerous show for young viewers to be exposed to. It remains to be seen which direction the show is headed in, but Danish Taimoor is doing a phenomenal job as Shamsher and Durr E Fishan is sweet as Mehak, while the supporting cast is pleasant to watch. As of right now, “Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi” is worth a watch, as long as it does not become yet another tale of a toxic lover excused because of, well…….”love.”
