The hottest show of the season, Meray Paas Tum Ho is finally about to reach its conclusion, and the buzz around the show is at an all-time high. The Nadeem Baig directorial is not just the most successful drama in recent times but has also become a hot topic of discussion, especially regarding content some think promotes misogyny. The kind of brouhaha the show has managed to create over the course of its run reminds one of masala-flick Kabir Singh that sparked a similar conversation across the border. Beyond the kind of buzz both the projects have generated, there are interestingly even more parallels, and here we take a detailed look.
The similarities
Kabir Singh featured a not-so-hot cast but stunned with its theatrical business in its domestic market, grossing about 250 crores. While it received an overwhelming endorsement from the masses, it polarized the critics and media alike since the film’s heroine is shown to be treated rather harshly by the male lead. Be it the infamous slap scene or the extremely possessive and entitled behavior of the male protagonist towards his girlfriend, the film received its fair share of criticism from prominent Bollywood critics such. Even the online community on various social media platforms voiced its concerns about the toxic content of the film.
Meray Paas Tum Ho too is an extraordinary success, earning TRPs that are the highest in Pakistani television’s history. Like Kabir Singh, it too has received backlash regarding its content from a certain section of viewers and entertainment commentators despite breaking TRPs with literally every episode. The drama’s take on gender relationships and its alleged advocacy patriarchy has come under much scrutiny and has been seen some prominent media personnel to be stereotypical, even though the show packages it in an intriguing storyline and top-notch production values.
Depiction of women
Meray Paas Tum Ho has faced some flak for lacking nuance and is seen by some to be one dimensional in depicting its characters. It is narrated through the lens of Danish’s character, and his wife Mehwish played by Ayeza Khan is shown as a gold-digger who leaves her family for a wealthy man. Although Ayeza’s understated and nuanced performance saved Mehwish’s character from being a caricature, the role on paper seems to be dark and has few redeeming qualities. On the other hand, Kabir Singh has been panned by naysayers due to its depiction of violence and abuse towards women as being a legitimate part of romance. The fact that the male protagonist raises his hand on his lady love in the name of affection has been seen as highly problematic.
Both these projects have their infamous slap scenes. In Kabir Singh, Preeti, the female protagonist gets slapped in the name of love. In Meray Paas Tum Ho Mehwish is slapped by Shehwar’s wife essayed by the veteran actress Savera Nadeem for her extra-marital affair with the latter’s husband. The question arises — Why was Shehwar spared the slapping ordeal? Is only the female character involved to blame? These are the questions that the writer has brought to the forefront.
Writers share similar controversies
Interestingly at the time of the Bollywood film’s release and MPTH’s telecast, the writers of both these projects got involved in heated controversies due to their misogynist remarks. Sandeep Vanga (writer of Kabir Singh) was bashed by feminists for stating on record that if a man can’t hit his girlfriend in a relationship, it’s not love. Similarly, Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar irked a large section of the media and audience for ridiculing industry’s respectable female personalities such as Saba Hamid and Urwa Hocane and also made comments where he stated that women should “rape” men, too, since it’s in male psyche to be entitled to women.
Despite receiving criticism, the writing has been the biggest asset of both the projects. Writers Sandeep Vanga and Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar have penned down compelling scripts with well etched out characters and dialogues which have worked well with the audience. Some of the dialogues have become mired in controversy, though.
Meray Paas Tum Ho’s “Do Takkay Ki Aurat” line was thrashed by progressive online commentators and critics for being derogatory towards women. Similarity Kabir Singh has a monologue by male lead Shahid Kapoor in which he warns his on-screen girlfriend’s classmates to stay away from her as she is his “property”. Interestingly, the tone of both scripts is in sync with the off-screen statements of the writers. That doesn’t come as a surprise since the writer of Kabir Singh stated that the film is based on his experiences. Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar has also stated that the character of Roomi is drawn from his life.
The two projects also have to their credit some popular music, with MPTH’s title track being all the rage these days.
Final Verdict
While some comparisons can be drawn between the two projects, it’s fair to say that Meray Paas Tum Ho is relatively more subtle when it comes to controversial content compared to the heavy-handed treatment of Kabir Singh. MPTH’s writer has stated that the play draws some influences from his own life whereas Kabir Singh was a fictional story and a remake of a South Indian film Arjun Reddy, hence it could have been handled with more sensitivity.
Both these highly successful ventures started a debate in their respective countries and received polarizing views for content. With the last episode of Meray Paas Tum Ho coming out in a few days, we hope that the conclusion of the script allays some of the concerns that have been raised about the play.
