Urwa Hussain proves her versatility and acting prowess as Dania in Meri Shehzadi

It is a rarity to see a TV serial  which is centred on politics. Written by Zanjabeel Asim Shah, ’Meri Shehzadi’ is one such story based largely on a political theme and  has something to offer for everyone. Directed by Qasim Ali Mureed, the TV serial has a star-studded cast, including Urwa Hocane, Ali Rehman Khan, Qavi Khan, Atiqa Odho, Shabbir Jan, and Nauman Masood.

The first episode of ‘Meri Shehzadi’  introduced Dania (Urwa Hocane) who lives with her maternal grandparents played by Qavi Khan and Shamim Hilaly. Since Dania is the child of their late daughter Zunaira both of them have raised her like a princess – hence the title of the TV serial. Zunaira was married to Salahuddin (Nauman Maqsood), who is a nephew of Dania’s maternal grandfather, while his elder brother Ghiyas Uddin (Shabbir Jan) is a politician and is serving as the chief minister of Punjab.

Dania’s maternal grandfather holds a grudge against Salahuddin for moving on with his life and forgetting Zunaira, who he once claimed to be so much in love with. She blames Salahuddin and his family for forgetting Zunaira too son.

Urwa’s portrayal of Dania has been terrific so far. Dania is a simple, soft-spoken girl with no interest in materialistic things and has been shown as an intelligent young woman, who is well aware of her rights, what she wants and what she deserves.

The two families are reunited once again when Ghiyas Uddin proposes the idea that his son, Shahroze should marry Dania.

While Salahuddin still honours the memory of his first wife, he has moved on and remarried. Dania’s stepmother (Najiba Faiz) is easily the most hateful character in the show. The actress has done a phenomenal job to make the audience despise her despite her little screen time. In Dania’s very own fairy tale, she has some resemblance to Cinderella’s stepmother.

Ali Rehman Khan as Shahroze enters the fray. However, the romance is short-lived as it is revealed that Shahroze already has a wife and a son, with whom he lived in America.

This revelation shocks Dania to the core because she genuinely believed that her paternal family wanted her to be a part of their lives. But, as it turns out, this marriage was just an attempt at political face-saving. Given the deteriorating health of Ghiyas Uddin and his impending death, he hoped this marriage would make his son more acceptable in the eyes of his allies and voters as their new leader.

Even though Dania’s world has turned upside down, Shahroze and his mother manipulate her into believing that it is all for her own good. They emotionally blackmail her for their personal gains. It is startling how Salahuddin, who claimed to love his daughter, is aware of this entire situation and gaslights her when she voices her concerns.

Ali once again proves his acting chops in this show. Ali and Atiqa also make an interesting mother-son duo as Shahroze is seen nodding happily at Shahana whenever she belittles Dania.

Atiqa as Shahana is simply a treat to watch. Although her character reflects every ounce of cruelty, selfishness and entitlement, the veteran actress has made her role so enjoyable to watch that viewers love to hate her. This role appears to be tailor-made for her as she has the authority, confidence and command to keep our eyes glued to the screen.

In the end, Dania decides to keep Shahroze’s secret for the sake of the family.

With regards to Dania’s relationship with Shahana, Shahroze, Salahuddin, and the various other characters, one cannot predict whether this TV serial will become a typical ‘saas-bahu’ story or whether it will surprise us with something out of the box.

The fourth episode ends with the death of Ghiyas Uddin, but what makes that scene a bit more interesting is that he was looking at Dania in his last moments. Was he regretting putting her in this situation or was it the look of hope that she’s going to carry on the family legacy as he wished to? Undeniably, audiences are looking forward to seeing more of this story to understand how family dynamics impact or strengthen the political reputation of these characters, and how one incident can derail years of hard work and struggle. -Ends