Spoiler Alert!
The internet can’t stop laughing — or cringing — at Danish Taimoor’s latest drama Sher, where a recent episode unintentionally launched a meme fest, thanks to an over-the-top portrayal of mental illness.
This time, it’s not handcuffs and melodrama à la Mann Mast Malang, but Sher’s attempt to depict a psychiatric breakdown that has viewers raising eyebrows and hitting “share.” The storyline sees Sher, after a series of family feuds and a failed wedding, spiraling into a mental health crisis. Cue: a dramatic psychiatric ward admission.
But what truly lit social media ablaze was a scene showing Sher slumped on the floor of his room, walls covered in chaotic scribbles with phrases like “Shut up, I am sad,” “Kill me,” and, inexplicably, “Corona Virus” scrawled in Urdu.
The set design didn’t help — brain diagrams in picture frames awkwardly adorned the walls, as if to scream, “This is a psych ward,” in the most on-the-nose way possible. And just when you think it couldn’t get worse, Sher is shown shackled to a hospital bed — an image that evokes a prison cell more than a place of healing.
Naturally, the internet had a field day.
TikTok users poured in with reactions:
- “Me as a little kid in my room after getting scolded by my parents.”
- “How I feel trying to explain something logical to my desi coworkers.”
- “It literally said coronavirus. Why???”
But the viral quote that’s now everywhere?
“Shut up, I am sad.” One user summed it up best: “I’m using this everywhere now.” Same here.
While the memes are undeniably hilarious and the clip has become unexpected promo gold, it raises an important question: when will Pakistani dramas take mental health seriously?
This overdramatized regression is especially disappointing when compared to nuanced portrayals in past dramas like Main Abdul Qadir Hoon, which explored mental illness and personal transformation with depth and care.
In a time when global media is pushing for accurate and respectful mental health representation, scenes like this reflect an industry still stuck in stereotypes. It’s high time major production houses, seasoned writers, and leading actors come together to portray mental health with the dignity it deserves — not as a punchline.
