With the current lot of dramas on air, “Ishq Murshid” stands out as the current success story, a show which has pulled in an audience organically with its sweet love story and, let’s give credit where it’s deserved, it’s beautiful original soundtrack. Bilal Abbas Khan and Durr E Fishan Saleem have been winning hearts as Shahmeer/Fazal Baksh and Shibra, two individuals from completely different worlds falling in love – but under false pretenses. The concept is unique, though farfetched and requiring a suspension of reality and still, audiences are lapping it up. Along with Bilal and Durr E Fishan, the cast includes Omair Rana, Salma Hassan, Noor Ul Hassan, Shabbir Jan, Srha Asghar, Hira Tareen, and others in a story written by Abdul Khaliq Khan and directed by Farooq Rind.
Episode 9 revolves around the relationships Shahmeer (Bilal Abbas Khan) is now building as Fazal Baksh. He has won Shibra’s (Durr E Fishan Saleem) parents over to the extent that he has become a part of the family. More importantly, Sukaina has accepted him as her brother and he is now willing to go to extremes for her. Hatching a plan with Faraaz, Shahmeer has Zohaib (Sajjad Paul) and Nargis (Rabia Noreen) kidnapped – once again at his previous kidnapping pool location – and threatens them to behave with Sukaina. It’s a cheer-out-loud, applause-worthy moment, but logically speaking, this could backfire horribly. Why wouldn’t anyone question Sukaina as to why or how she made a politician’s son her brother? It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
On the other end, Salman (Noor Ul Hassan) truly believes in Fazal Baksh’s goodness and it’s her father’s belief which is slowly making Shibra fall for Fazal Baksh as well. This is where things get messy. Both Shibra and her father are people of principles and, quite honestly, Shahmeer is not. He’s a good guy, sure, but we can see his slight arrogance at being mistreated, his anger towards Nargis and Zohaib, his vengeful attitude and the unethical way in which he extracts that revenge…..these behaviors do not suit Shibra and Salman’s ideals. So what will happen with this love story when the truth is ultimately revealed? As lovable as Shahmeer is, both as himself and as Fazal Baksh, he is, in fact, betraying this family and it’ll be difficult to see him being exposed down the line, as we’re truly falling for all of these bonds.
In upcoming episodes, we’re sure to see Dawood (Omair Rana) attempt to arrange Shahmeer’s marriage with Mehreen (Hira Tareen), which will only further the chaos. Honestly, the entire cast is doing a wonderful job, particularly Bilal Abbas Khan, who is the soul of the show, and Durr e Fishan Saleem, who has been performing very well in the last few episodes. However, special mention must be given to Noor Ul Hassan, who is excellent as Salman. Salman is an incredibly sweet, endearing character, made better with Noor Ul Hassan’s performance. This is a man with principles, but those principles are now slowly turning his wife and Sukaina against him – though it’s frustrating to see Sukaina and Safia (Salma Hassan) chasing after a marriage which has red flags printed all over it. With Shibra and Fazal Baksh’s love story now taking off, “Ishq Murshid” is only getting better with each episode. This is definitely a fantasy story, but it’s a beautiful one (so far).