Sheheryar, Sajal's steamy photo shoot inspired by Marilyn Monroe, Meena Kumari's toxic relationships

Sheheryar Munawar and Sajal Aly's recent photoshoot for a local magazine has been all the rage ever since it surfaced on social media. On one hand, the actors’ sizzling chemistry attracted quite the ruckus and on the other, many couldn’t get enough of them together.

In the said photo shoot, we see Sajal as Sheheryar's muse, the former seemingly obsessed with the latter. The Parey Hut Love star has penned an elaborate note, detailing the concept behind the shoot, which is a brainchild of Rao Ali Khan and has gone viral for all the right reasons.

"Sharing the last bunch of shots I really admire from this shoot," Sheheryar penned on Instagram while sharing a few posts from the aforementioned photo shoot. The actor posted a carousel of pictures and penned, "Very film noir (after the advent of colour) is a very old world. That’s why I love them. Please keep in mind we’re actors playing characters - enjoy them for what they are - art."

Talking about the idea behind the concept, the 7 Din Mohabbat In star added, "The concept behind the shoot was to follow the story of a self-indulgent, narcissistic and emotionally unavailable artist and his muse. To show the repercussions of being in an emotionally abusive relationship."

He shared how the idea is "inspired by true life events - the courtship and later marriages of Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe and Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari."

Sheheryar went on to add, "There are some hints to this story in the pictures - for example in the sculpture sequence, even though it seems like the artist is making his lover's sculpture - but it’s actually his own sculpture - a male sculpture - (hinting at his self-love) In the fashion film from the shoot that I realised earlier, the man’s character shoots someone at the end - this is a metaphor for the abuser killing the abused metaphorically in a toxic relationship with emotional abuse."

He concluded with, "I hope all of you enjoyed watching the pictures as much as we enjoyed working on them."

Many took to social media and praised the actors for their recent project. Fellow actor Ushna Shah, too, lauded the actors for fittingly portraying the characters. "As much as I no longer want to advocate the glorification of abusive relationships (difficult to do when one works in Pakistani dramas), art does represent life and this is indeed very reminiscent of old-world Hollywood life," she commented on Sheheryar's post. She added, "This shoot is more than just a beautiful shoot, it truly IS art. Rao Ali Khan, you’ve outdone yourself! Rizwan Haq is a genius storyteller and the subjects of this shoot are beautiful artists. Mashallah and bravo, guys!"

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