Badshah Begum opens to an ensemble cast that promises madness, magic & mystery…with a heavy dose of intrigue, a mix of romance & lots of grandeur!
The first episode sketched a fairly complete opening narrative as Jehan Ara & Roshan Ara play siblings on opposite sides of the personality spectrum.
An Intro To The Characters
Zara Noor Abbas’s character Jehan Ara is not as simple as it seems, though we can’t quite put our finger on it … adding much to the intrigue formula there.
The episode was tailored to shock as Hakim Be hands out punishments with brutal force. On that note, we wish the scene with the young, pregnant girl deprived of her legs could have been avoided, or a trigger warning mentioned in captions.
Farhan Saeed as Shahzeb impresses in an entirely new avatar. From cute rom-com to ‘waderay ka beta’ – a far cry from Prem Gali days & Farhan seems to be thriving in his new-found role!
Yasir Hussain’s first look as Qaiser elicits a sinister feel with his heavily blackened eyes ( a tad over done in the makeup department?) However, subsequent scenes were more credible. Audiences await perpetual showdowns between Shahzeb and Qaiser, Shahzeb and anyone in fact, such is the mood of the show.
Direction from Khizer Idrees was crisp as expected, scene shifts kept us riveted as Shahzeb raises his hands in prayer & then sets off to pronounce the death sentence on a puny villager, all in one go.
Will Bakhtiar Get His Lady Love?
Ali Rehman as Bakhtiar strikes the perfect match most girls would be happy to show off to their moms … but will he be able to overcome Roshan Ara’s jealous tendencies to get to his lady love?
Let alone the fact that will Jehan Ara even consider him?
From the onset, initial reactions suggest that Komal Meer as the errant younger sister Roshan Ara needs to wear more shades in her personality. We hope that’s coming soon because we don’t want a lost opportunity here.
On the other hand, audiences need zero persuasion to vibe with Ali Rehman’s charm, but ahem… it’s really Jehan Ara he’s aiming for. But will he get her?
It was refreshing to see Abul Hassan (from Ghisi Piti Mohabbat) back onscreen again, relishing his new role as Murad. The pigeon scene was both impactful & disturbing – precisely the effect the makers sought, we assume – you got it bang on!
A word on Shahzad Nawaz as Pir Shah Alam & Saman Ansari as Hakim Be
Shahzad has slipped into character with a snap of his fingers, however Hakim Be (quoted as 48 years old online) seems much older in the dramatisation. We appreciate the suggestion of grandeur & authority being palmed off in her persona but we felt the caricature to be a tad too stiff. Perhaps she will grow on us, or us on her, however the journey continues. Certain characters are larger than life and Qaiser & Hakim Be have that cross, or challenge to bear. We await subsequent episodes to see how the two carry the load.
The episode delivered a fleeting glance of Tania Hussain as Zulekha, enough to know there’s planning afoot.
We await Hamza Sohail and Hiba Aziz in coming episodes.
A drama such as Badshah Begum undertakes a monumental task – To retell stories of the past in a way that they resonate with audiences or… teleport them into a dream world that is so magnetic that, despite the fact they do not live in it, they are happy being pulled in.
The task requires gripping storytelling, super performances and sharp direction to pull it off. Can they do it?
If the first episode is anything to go by, maybe they just can. The odds are evenly balanced and we’re about to find out more pretty soon!
Keep watching Badshah Begum!
