“Meherposh” has been a show that managed to hold interest despise a slower than usual pace. Starring Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor in lead roles, the show focused on Mehru’s life after a spontaneous divorce caused indirectly by Shahjahan. With a great supporting cast that includes Sania Saeed, Ali Abbas and Rehan Sheikh, the show has boasted of strong performances and despite being “slow,” it remained focused on the story – until now.
It would be great if shows could avoid the melodramatic angles and one would hope a show like “Meherposh,” which has a strong enough storyline to carry it through to the end, would stay away from the angles viewers are simply fed up with. Alas, in episode 21, the story takes a turn from the one-track plot and decides to throw in another batch of misery by keeping Mehru (Ayeza Khan) and Shahjahan (Danish Taimoor) apart. It has been clear to viewers and Shahjahan’s mother that Shahjahan has always been hopelessly in love with Mehru. But of course, his mother, who has been full of unexplainable hatred for Mehru (simply because she’s divorced), decides to play a game to get her own way. While Shahjahan and Mehru happily plan their future together, Shahjahan’s mother stabs him in the back by visiting Mehru’s house for his proposal – and puts the ring on Aayat’s (Zainab Shabbir) finger. Mehru is shocked and Shahjahan confronts his mother over her actions in a powerful scene, calling out her biases and betrayal. And while his mother may be coming around and understanding the depths of her own poor behavior, is it simply too late to fix the situation?
It is a hashed and rehashed storyline to watch two siblings fight over a man. It’s even more frustrating to watch such a storyline when it is an unnecessary plot point that only succeeds in dragging out an already slow show further. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great show that, despite the sluggish pace, has always managed to maintain interest due to its great performances, well-written dialogues and scenes that overall maintained a realistic tone. Unfortunately, the addition of this story comes across as unpalatable. It has been depicted from the beginning that Aayat has been in love with Shahjahan, but Shahjahan has never shown any interest in her. It is ridiculous then to see Aayat planning her own marriage to Shahjahan in her head without ever speaking to him about her feelings or seeking any form of validation. To add to the illogical, why is it that siblings on Pakistani shows, despite having “loving” bonds, never actually share their feelings or thoughts with each other? Mehru has gone through a terrible divorce and has found happiness with Shahjahan – why wouldn’t she share that with her sister? Aayat has been working at Shahjahan’s house in an attempt to impress his mother – why wouldn’t she share that with her sister? It simply leaves the viewer dumbfounded.
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The next episode will take a turn for the dramatic in a ridiculous turn of events when Aayat attempts suicide after finding out about Mehru and Shahjahan. Of course, after seeing her sister’s hatred and self-harming ways, Mehru will ask Shahjahan to marry her sister in a twist that is both predictable and pitiful. As an audience, we would love to see the female lead, who has been through hell, be supported by her family rather than watch a feud between sisters over the same man, particularly when Aayat’s love is completely one-sided and Shahjahan has zero interest in her. While it would be nice to say the show will recover from this twist, the entire scenario has left a bad taste in the mouth and it will be difficult to see a realistic patch-up between Aayat and Mehru after this. Their relationship has been destroyed for the sake of petty drama.
