Seher Hone ko Hai: Episode Discussion thread 1 - Page 17

https://www.indiaforums.com/article/bhavika-sharma-shakti-aroras-moun-ragam-to-take-up-parth-rishitas-seher-hone-ko-hai-slot_230141

Maybe SHKH will shift to 10:30 timeslot.. as per this article

Originally posted by: Ivacaftor

I liked the fact that they showed Mahid opening up about his trauma to Dr Fareed. I thought this would take ages but it happened so quickly. I like the pacing of this show..Mahid's first step towards healing has started!

Tbh, now the flashbacks don't seem as triggering as they were when they initially played out and editing was off. The way the scene was playing + the flashbacks, adds more value to the scene + Fareed listening to the backstory to understand his PTSD from the incident. Hopefully, this opens up more because it still looks like that there is more to be explored behind her demise.

Originally posted by: Ivacaftor

I liked the fact that they showed Mahid opening up about his trauma to Dr Fareed. I thought this would take ages but it happened so quickly. I like the pacing of this show..Mahid's first step towards healing has started!

So today the makers have addressed an important issue..about the legality of Seher and Mahid's marriage. So according to the Muslim Personal Law 16 years is considered legal for marriage if there is consent. Im assuming something's going to happen that would make Kausar and Seher willingly choose the marriage so that they can avoid a bigger problem.

I haven't watched the original, but I heard that Zeynep married Cuneyd in order to avoid getting married to a much older man and her mother also agrees cos Cuneyd had ocd about touching people so she thought Zeynep would be safe. Not sure how that would play out here

Thank you for clearing these matters. I think Mahid has no ocd. Coz he touched Seher, and she did the same few times without it being a big deal.

Apurva Agnihotri on playing Dr. Fareed.

Just posting some of the interesting bits that stood out to me from this article. The preparation and the understanding of the character really comes through the acting. Dr. Fareed feels grounded as a person as well as stressed in his home life.

His misunderstanding with Kausar where he was annoyed that she was not showing professionalism felt very adult like. In some dramas, the need to create connection between two characters always devolves into a kind of childishness.

I liked the small scene this week where he is exasperated and instead of talking to each other, she tells dad about making lunch and he speaks to dad about no need while dad just stands there exasperated. It felt like a married people vibe or long standing relationship without the kind of romance.

Both Kausar and Fareed come across as adults with adult problems and there is a serious weight to how they see the world. So when they connect, it is through that weight and they see each other almost suddenly. When Kausar cries that he was the first one to offer help and no one was there to help young Kausar, it is sad but Fareed offers no random solutions or lectures or platitudes. Instead, all he does is offer a handkerchief. In another scene, he reminds her that God is there. For me, those small touches felt more realistic and grounded the drama.

In many dramas, we often go into lecture mode where the FL or ML is ranting some unrealistic philosophy that makes no sense in real life or coming up with idiotic solutions. Here, the helplessness of the situation is subtly acknowledged and so support looks very different.

Am looking forward to see what happens when Fareed is down and he is the one needing consolation and he gets it from the person least expected -- Kausar -- someone who is so different from him in terms of education, life experience.

From the interview:

Tell us what attracted you to your tole?

What attracted me was the duality of Dr Farid. On the outside, he is a respected doctor, a man everyone turns to help. But inside, he is a father still figuring out how to emotionally reach his adopted daughter Amal. Then Mahid walks into his life as a patient and suddenly there is this unexpected bond forming between them. Add to that the unexplored history he shares with Kausar and Farid becomes a man constantly pulled logic and old, buried emotions....

How did you prepare for this show?

I really wanted to get this right, so I started by reading up on basic neurology and some psychiatric frameworks just to understand how someone like Farid, thinks, observes and holds space for other people while keeping his own storms tucked away. I even went through a few real case studies to understand the emotional fatigue and discipline that comes with this profession. And of course, I worked a lot on my Urdu because Farid comes from a world of calmness and tehzeeb, and that must come through in the way he speaks....

To read the full article, see below.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/apurva-agnihotri-on-seher-hone-ko-hai-from-calling-my-mother-ammi-to-waking-up-to-the-azaan-fahid-slowly-slipped-into-my-life/articleshow/125761083.cms

Mahhi Vij on playing Kausar

Just posting the interesting bits that stood out to me from the interview.

This drama isn't something I can watch daily especially the interactions with Parvez. However, it is Kausar who feels like the heart and beat of the show. Without her, this would collapse and I love the small details they have included that makes this show in a weird way light.

Since I watched some of the dizi, I can do a bit of comparison. Mahhi plays Kausar with a much more courageous as well as lighter spirit. It comes down to even clothing. Kausar isn't all dressed in black and sombre and almost lost hope. She smiles easily when life offers those moments. There is a twinkle to her eye and kind of mischief that tells you that if she hadn't been trapped in an early marriage, Kausar would be a vivacious woman.

The scene when she refused to let Parvez close the door was powerful. It was not overboard but at the same time, it is sad. You know that this is a losing battle but Kasur still refuses to give up.

I love that she saw Parvez getting married again as a good thing and wasn't going to be drawn up with jealous battles with second wife. Her relationship with her stepson also is warm and feels real. Sometimes ITV makes these mom characters like maha good and it is annoying.

I particularly liked how Mahhi noted in the interview that Kausar is not some crusader who is trying to change the world. That lack of activism or lectures makes Kausar a refreshing FL as well as mom character in ITV.

The actors in the drama seem to have a good framework of what the makers have intended and also know what they want to portray. In that perspective, it is well done. Let's hope the makers don't botch this up as the episode count start moving further along.

From the interview:

What drew you to your role in particular?

... Returning to fiction with a character who carries such dignity and courage just felt right. She is a chikankari artist who creats beauty even on days when life tests her spirit. She won't let daugher inherit the darkness she endured;she chooses to pass down love instead of fear....

How did you prepare for this show?

.....What I focused on instead was understanding the quieter, the internal parts of Kausar, the exhaustion of fighting same battles again, the guilt of not being able to give her daughter more, and the tiny moments of strength she gathers just to push through one more day....

If you had to sump up Kausar's life in one line, what would it be?

If I had to sum up Kausar's life, I think it would be, "Kausar isn't trying to change the world, she is just trying to change her daughter's world".

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/mahhi-vij-on-playing-kausar-in-seher-hone-ko-hai-the-mother-daughter-bond-in-the-show-didnt-need-heavy-preparation-it-needed-honesty/articleshow/125742317.cms

In this week, I liked the character of the brother -- because the second wife is so spiteful, I was expecting him to be spoilt as well but he is a nice kid and has a warm relationship with Kausar and Sehar.

He cares about both but as a child, he is also helpless in this home. Any help or sympathy he gives to Kasuar and Sehar has to be done in secret and there is risk involved.

A small throwaway line where he tells Kausar after he gives the letter is that if he doesn't run quickly to school, he too will get beaten up. So he too is powerless and is just as prone to being hit in this house. Being a son does not give him special privileges and in a way, Parvez is almost equally mean to all.

Second wife is more smart with how she manages to massage his ego but it is a dicey game. She knows that anytime, he can turn on her too and she can suffer the same way. So she isn't anymore safer than Kauser or Sehar. However, instead of seeing them all in the same boat, she sees herself, son and Parvez in one boat while Kausar and Sehar are in a parallel track.

So part of the drama's draw for me is Kauser and Fareed's relationship and how it will play out. In the original, they eventually do get married as something that develops after their divorces. Am curious to see if and how CVs show a mature romance. That is why I was struck by this week's episodes. Basically we are having the beginning of skinship except there are no freeze frames, no wind blowing, no staring eyes, no music. Instead, there is drama and neither is even seeing the steps they are taking towards each other. I am glad they didn't any of those typical romance moments as it would disrupt the story but I like that if you care to look, those moments are there underneath all those big emotions...

Part 1

What I found interesting is that while they have interacted before, there was always other people and it wasn't the two of them alone. Here, she has been shut out and that creates a space where these two meet. If we were to look at it as foreshadowing, we can see that it is Parvez closing the door on her, their marriage. Except this time, she meets someone when she is out.

Part 2

Normally we see this whole fall and catch scene reserved for the leads. Yet nothing about this is coded romantic outright and is instead a moment of exhaustion and just humanity. We see Fareed bang the door but the ones who should be caring for her have left her out.

Part 3

Another moment that is often shown as romantic in dramas but here, just shown as tenderness and humanity. Fareed could not leave her there outside the house and brought her home. He cares for her foot and bandages her -- perhaps, he will do the same later for her bruised spirit as well

Part 4

I wasn't expecting Fareed to grab her hand as we usually see this for romantic leads. Here, he does it out of concern. While the makers don't magnify it like they would with the leads, we still see those camera lenses linger just a tiny fraction here more and that shows us a deep bonding is beginning. The question is what colour will this bond take.

Part 5

Another catch fall as Kausar tries to leave and fix the problem on her own. However, Fareed stepping in lays hint that he is not going to let her figure this out on by herself. For the first time, she has support. I also liked that her opening up to him was done without big dramatic swells of music or huge arguments or flashes of frame freeze. It almost takes place quietly.

As we see him give a quiet support through giving her the handkerchief, we also have Amal sleeping in the background. That is going to be their tie which will make them more than employee and employer.