Love at first sight, some beautifully shots scenes, a dukhi hero, a well-paced story, the poetic sadness of a mother-son relationship and the mystery surrounding it gave us an intriguing first episode of Ishq Murshid.
Background Story
Ishq Murshid in the very first episode established what the audience should expect from each character, informed us about the background of the two families and set the pace for upcoming episodes. It is clear that Shibra is extremely principled, outspoken, gives back to society and has zero patience for elitist mentality in her life. Shahmeer misses his mother, has this poetic sadness about him, cannot get along with his father and despite being very wealthy, is drawn to the simple and basic life.
The screen appears beautiful at multiple points in the episode; especially the rain and cycling scene, making it a visually appealing watch.
The Character Dynamics
For all the die-hard romantics out there, the drama offers a healthy dose of some heartwarming romantic scenes between Shahmeer and Shibra. The way they unknowingly cross each other’s path and how Shibra catches Shahmeer’s attention, and then how he is drawn towards her – the script introduces us to the concept of how they are meant for each other by fate, making this a deep love story as opposed to a regular run-of-the-mill narrative.
Sukaina’s character highlights how nikah binds a girl and families. How they have to put up with their in-laws’ demands, despite not wanting to. Zohaib doesn’t receive her calls when her father was in emergency and seems to believe that a simple apology is enough to make everything okay. Shahmeer sitting with his mother on the bench was a heartwarming scene, bringing out a very vulnerable part of his character. It was also an innovative manner to tell the story about how his mother had passed away, yet we get a glimpse into the relationship he shared with her and how he still misses her presence in his life.
However, a few things that we wish the creators had taken care of or can consider in upcoming episodes:
The editing of the episode seemed disjointed and lacked flow which compromised on the viewing experience, saved only by the fact that some of the audiences’ favorite stars are cast in Ishq Murshid. Did Shibra’s character really have to be this preachy? We would love to see confident women who can be assertive without being preachy. We want empowered women characters to respond tactfully but not employ over smart responses to make their point. These fine details help make the character a whole lot likeable and relatable onscreen.
I am from the UK. Ahem ahem… could we not just say, “ jee bahir hota hoon”. If you are shown teaching underprivileged children, maybe you can use words other than “ bachon yeh adopt na kerna”. Perhaps words and language children can understand and phrases that we also use in our normal life might get the message across better, like “ bachon yeh achi aadat nahin hai”. Was Salman Sahib, Shibra’s father cleared of the corruption allegations? Maybe this could have been made clearer. Because it seemed that the very person who has been accused of “Gaban” has now been awarded the job of director finance – the story twist was a bit confusing to grasp for many viewers.
Did Shibra have to tell her friend that she won’t attend her wedding as everyone will be taking about how rich they are? Well, when we last checked, you attend a wedding for your friend’s sake, and not to listen to strangers doing social talk. Did it seem that Ishq Murshid was trying too hard to establish Shibra as a person who is hugely against any type of elitist social gathering?
And now just for fun…
How painful was it to listen to Shibras emotional speech, even at 1.75 speed? How many times did you rewind the airport scene to figure out which one of the men wearing black clothes was Shahmeer? Did the well-placed coins in Salman sahib’s pocket that seemed to appear just at the right moment, make you laugh out loud at this weakly put together and perhaps, forced scene? Any chance we can un see this? Shahmeer was all dressed up (and looking super sharp, jbtw) for his friend’s Shaadi he specially came to attend but refused to get out of the car.
