The most controversial drama serial ‘Baaghi’, based on the story of slain social media star Qandeel Baloch, recently came to an end. This drama didn’t just bring Qandeel Baloch back to life. It depicted the story of an ambitious, fun-loving young girl who had the world resting on her shoulders.
The ending of drama didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It opens with an excited Kanwal listing out all the arrangements her best friend Rehan (Khalid Malik) has to make for her wedding with Shehryar (Osman Khalid Butt).
The episode moves on to Shehryar bidding Kanwal farewell at the bus station, as she makes her way home for Eid. Once back, she lets her family know of her decision to get married and as expected, they disapprove. This makes the struggling youngster feel alienated from her family and she goes on to claim that they only want her when they need her money.
After everything she did for them, this is what Kanwal gets in return. In her final scene, she is seen sitting in the room, quietly admiring her ring when her younger brother Munna walks in to serve her a glass of milk. She willingly drinks it, not knowing it would be her last.
The next few minutes show Munna having flashbacks of how his friends had taunted him about his “baghairat” sister, until he walks in to Fouzia’s room to take her life. He puts his arm around her, ultimately suffocating her. Meanwhile, there are evocations of all the good times the two siblings once shared.
The story of Baaghi was created by Shazia Khan, penned down by Umera Ahmed and directed by Farooq Rind. Saba Qamar portrays Qandeel’s ethos beautifully. The spark, the grief and the pain were all depicted beautifully by Saba in Baaghi. According to her, she had taken a big risk in doing this role considering the amount of controversy that surrounded Qandeel’s life.
The series ends with some very heart-wrenching questions being posed by Qandeel:
Main jaisi bhi thi, aap ki dunya se chali gayi. Ab toh burayi khatam ho gayi na? Logon ke ikhlaaq bhi bach gaye. Aur muashra, uss ka kya hua? Muashra theek ho gaya?
I believe Baaghi has not been written with an intention to reanimate Qandeel Baloch. It has been written to tell young girls not to give up. No matter how difficult things get.
Because remember, if you listened to all these men trying to bring you down, and telling you how you cannot accomplish anything else in life, remember what they did to Fauzia Azeem when she gave up. Remember Qandeel Baloch.
