A press release said that Mahira Khan, probably Pakistan’s biggest actress, had recently won the Indus Valley International Film Festival’s Best Actress – Short Film prize for her performance in Prince Charming.
Khan and Zahid Ahmed appeared in Sheheryar Munawar’s short film Prince Charming last year for the first time, following his success as an actor. In a very original and imaginative approach, Prince Charming discusses post-marital sadness, a very serious problem in our contemporary society.
In a statement, Khan stated, “This award goes out to all the females who are secretly suffering from post-marital sadness.””We don’t discuss it in our society because we view such subjects as taboo, yet here we are. I’m happy that this part had an emotional impact on the audience; it will always hold a special place in my heart. I want to express my gratitude to my close buddy Shehryar Munawar for having faith in me.”
In 12 minutes, Munawar’s feature film debut conveys the marooned reality of an otherwise “stable” relationship. This reality initially appears misdirected because the movie suggests an extramarital relationship to represent an unhappy woman’s attempt to inject some colour into her life.
However, the grey is what the movie centres on because it accurately portrays the shape that every relationship eventually takes at some point.The dull, worn-out attractiveness of this bond damages the people it binds, sometimes in ways that are incomprehensible to others.
Munawar, who illuminates post-marital depression with this brief flick, has thus displayed the perplexity of what might appear to be “ungraciousness” with sheer sensitivity.
