Breaking stereotypes, the upcoming serial Badshah Begum seems to have a lot at stake as the release date of the show is approaching. With a large production and a hefty budget, an ensemble cast with the best actors of our industry, the brainchild of Rafay Rashdi, who seems to have put his blood and sweat into this show, and the return of Zara Noor Abbas after a year’s break- Badshah Begum has set expectations over the roof!
The drama serial has already had its highs and lows before seeing the light of the day! First meant to be a television series, the drama was approved with a different cast. Later, the makers changed it to a web series but again, it was decided to cast it as a drama for television, as a joint venture of MD Productions and Rafay Rashdi. After a five-month hectic shoot in Larkana, which was shot in the backdrop of Rafay Rashdi’s renovated Hawali, the drama is set to air on HUM TV soon. It is written by Saji Gul of ‘O Rangreza’ & ‘Dour’ and directed by Khizer Idrees of ‘Laapata’ & ‘Superstar.’
The Story
Badshah Begum is a story that goes beyond your conventional approach of narration in Pakistan and pushes the boundaries to new content and scripts.
It is the story about a ‘Pir’ named Shah Alam (Shahzad Nawaz), and his five children from two wives.
Shahzeb and his younger brother Murad (Farhan Saeed and Abul Hasan) live in the fictitious state of Peeraan Pur, while the other three children have moved to the city: Jahan Ara, Roshan Ara, and Shahmir (Zara Noor Abbas, Komal Meer, Hamza Sohail).
However, due to undesired circumstances, the three children move back to their hometown to find themselves girdled in politics and power play.
The antagonist, Qaisar (Yasir Hussain) is the cousin of the five siblings. His defiance for Badshah Begum’s authority would create obstacles for her during her rule.
With grey characters and an intricately woven story line, Badshah Begum promises to bowl the audience over and we look forward to seeing more!
Momina Duraid on Badshah Begum:
There is a general impression that the masses will not digest anything other than mainstream stories — that it would not get TRPs [Television Ratings Points], and in stories like this, there is a thin line between being commercial and non-commercial. Walking that line is a challenge
Momina Duraid
The Characters
In the fantasy world of Badshah Begum, there is no white or black character, instead, all are permutated with shades of grey and an arc line of their own.
Badshah Begum is centered around (but not narrowed to) Zara Noor Abbas playing Jahan Ara who is the Badshah Begum. Zara Noor Abbas looks fierce, in control of her character, and stunning at the same time. This will be a break from the characters she plays and will enable the audience to see a different streak in her.
She shared the poster of the drama on her Instagram:
Komal Meer will be playing Roshan Ara, who is Jahan Ara’s younger sister. Hers is a grey character (just like most of the characters in the drama). We are expecting to see Roshan Ara play the evil sister who will have conflicts with Jahan Ara over the throne – and a common love interest played by Ali Rehman.
Coming to Ali Rehman Khan, who will be essaying the role of Bakhtiar. He falls for Jahan Ara and is insouciant to the whole political tensions escalating in Peeraan Pur.
According to Ali, Bakhtiar is a forward-thinking, casual, and funny guy from the city, to whom ideas of culture and town life are very alien. He’s an emotionally intelligent person, in an intricate story. He’s the aashiq — the romantic. He has nothing to do with all of this, yet he does have a stake in this — but that’s all I am going to say,”
Credits: Dawn Images
Other cast members include Farhan Saeed as Pir Shahzeb, Yasir Hussain as Pir Qaiser, Abul Hassan, Hibba Aziz, Hamza Sohail, and Tania Hussain.
To conclude, Badshah Begum seems like an ‘out of the box’ story that is sketched with the smallest details kept in the loop. It is expected to be released towards the end of February but these are unconfirmed sources. We are certainly anticipating the release date of this one.
