Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: November 12, 2021 | 
| 中文
The lead cast of the drama serial 'Dobara', including Bilal Abbas Khan, Hadiqa Kiyani, Usama Khan, Javed Sheikh and Sakina Sammo
As our drama industry is busy making dramas about illicit love triangles and men lusting over underaged girls, Dobara is a breath of fresh air. Written by Sarwat Nazir and directed by Danish Nawaz, the drama departs from cliches by telling the story of a middle-aged woman who decides to take back control of her life after her husband’s death.
Played by Hadiqa Kiyani, Mehrunisa is a recently widowed woman in her 40s, who breathes a sigh of relief when her much older husband, Hidayatullah (Nouman Ijaz), passes away. Mehru gets the control of her life back after years. She not only takes control of her physical self, like wearing clothes that she likes, and going to places which interest her. She decides to marry a young man, Maahir (Bilal Abbas Khan), with whom she feels she has fallen in love despite him being much younger than her.
Bilal Abbas Khan and Hadiqa Kiyani's scene from Dobara.
On the other hand, Maahir is shown to be a young man who is up to no good. Shown to be a child from a broken family, Maahir has obvious abandonment issues that have transformed into anger, which he channels by stealing from both his parents. Maahir is shown to be in love with Narmeen (Zoya Nasir) and wishes to marry her, but with no job and no home to take her to, his chances of marrying her are pretty bleak.
Hadiqa Kiyani and Bilal Abbas Khan
If one is to speculate from the teaser, Maahir, frustrated by his situation, develops a relationship with Mehru while hiding from her his real love interest, but later ends up falling in love with Mehru. Mehru will try to end the relationship with Maahir when she realizes that it is not based on love, but rather a desire to step back into time and reclaim the years she lost being the subservient wife to her first husband. The storyline is an entertaining watch, and one hopes that the TV channel and the production house will not drag the serial, and keep it as crisp as its first three episodes.
Mehru’s children find it extremely hard to accept their mother’s new relationship with a man of their age. It will add to the drama’s pizzazz and help viewers see traditional relationships in a new light. Javed Sheikh also has a role in the drama, playing a man who is interested in marrying Mehru.
Director Danish Nawaz, Hadiqa Kiyani and Javed Sheikh
In terms of acting, Hadiqa Kiyani once again has managed to woo audiences with her portrayal of Mehru. The modern mother of two is ready to shed her ‘wife of wealthy old man’ skin and start living her life again. While she is shown to have a childish side, Mehru is also shrewd and understands the scheming of her cunning sister-in-law (Sakina Samoo). Kiyani, though a novice in the field of acting, with Dobara being just her second project, has been very selective about the characters she chooses to play. The actor’s choices have shown that not every woman above the age of 30 is condemned to play minor roles in dramas.
The younger version of Mehru is being played by an actress whose name we were not able to track down, but that girl has done justice to the role. Bilal Abbas Khan also nails his role with perfection, last seen in Dunk, Khan has completely shed Haider Nawaz and is now fully and truly Maahir. Zoya Nasir’s (Narmeen) acting skills have improved by leaps and bounds since her last appearance in Zebaish, and is now acting well in the role of a middle-class modern woman in Dobara. Sakina Sammo is performing well her role as the annoying Canada-returned overtly religious and yet scheming aunt, who wishes to exploit her brother’s family financially.
Sakina Sammo
Nouman Ijaz, Shabbir Jan, Fareeda Shabbir and Angie Marshel all completely understand their assignments and have done justice to their roles. Usama Khan as Affan (Mehru’s son) and Maheen Siddiqui as Minal (Mehur’s daughter) are both doing a decent job, while we are waiting for Nabeel Zubairi (Sameer, Minal’s husband) to break into his role and make it his own.
Hadiqa Kiyani with Nouman Ijaz
The drama is fast-paced and the only flaw one may point out is that the age gap between Mehrunnisa and Hidayatullah is said to be 20 years, but in the flashbacks, it seems like Hidayat was at least 30 years senior to Mehru. Other than that, the drama boasts of stellar production quality up till now.
Overall, the drama is an entertaining watch and viewers are hooked to it completely, for it deals with a topic rarely seen on television. It is refreshing to see production houses picking up stories based on the lives of middle-aged protagonists. One can only hope that the drama will continue to be a treat to watch with a strong ending, just like Kiyani’s first project Raqeeb Se.
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