KARACHI:
(Spoiler alert!)
The internet is having yet another field day with a Danish Taimoor drama. No, it is not him handcuffing himself to a woman like he did in Mann Mast Malang but it is his portrayal of mental illness in the latest episode of Sher that took things to a whole new level.
Let’s rewind: Fajar was supposed to marry Sher’s younger brother. She bailed. Drama ensued. Sher got shot, or well, his aunt did. And now? Sher is in a full-blown mental health crisis and has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Last night’s episode featured a scene so unintentionally hilarious that it hijacked TikTok and sparked a thousand memes. In this now-viral clip, Sher sits slumped on the floor of his room, surrounded by a wall of scribbles. Among the chaotic scrawls are phrases like “Shut up, I am sad,” “Kill me,” and bizarrely, “Corona Virus” written in Urdu.
For reasons best left to the production team’s imagination, the psych ward room is also decorated with stock photo-style framed diagrams of brains presumably to remind every patient that yes, they are indeed crazy. Very subtle, very sensitive, very… not how psychiatric care works.
Perhaps the most bizarre and frankly unsettling aspect of this entire arc is that Sher Zaman is shown shackled to his hospital bed as if he were a high-risk prisoner rather than a patient in professional care. It’s a jarring image, one that evokes more of a prison drama than a medical facility.
Social media reacts
One user on TikTok commented, “Me as a little kid in my bedroom after being yelled at by my parents.” Relatable!
Another user said, “How I feel trying to explain something logical to my desi coworkers.” We’ve all been there!
“It literally said coronavirus.” We really wonder why?
“‘Shut up I am sad’ 😭 im gonna use this everywhere now.” Us too!
While the memes are undoubtedly hilarious and the virality is free promo, this scene does raise an important question: when will our dramas start treating mental health with the nuance it deserves? Is this our understanding of treatment?
The regression from something layered like Main Abdul Qadir Hoon, a well-thought out and executed drama that explored mental health and personal growth to Sher’s wall-of-doodles is disappointing.
It’s high time big production houses, veteran writers, and star actors collaborate to depict mental health with dignity.
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