In an industry over riled with drama upon drama never letting go of sexism, marital abuse and poor female representation, as a Pakistani woman sitting down to watch a drama would be more painful than impaling yourself with a knife over and over again. Finding good representation and a solid storyline has become a rarity as taking the this year all of our critically rated dramas like “Khudda Aur Mohabbat”, “Naand” and “”Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay” have a similar thing in common: slow pacing storylines and poorly written damsels in distress who refuse to leave their abusive partners.
However a television serial like Dobara is rare to find, and is the kind of content we need to keep urging our television industry to create because how it has brought a fresh story to the center which is dealt with empathy and clarity. The series opens with the newly widow Mehru Nisa, who is learning to take back control over her life after the death of her abusive husband to whom she was married to at the age of sixteen and had to give up her dreams of playing tennis. She forms a friendship with Mahir, a young man who is discarded by his parents because of his inability to find a job or a steady pay. When the two begin falling in love, the obstacles they have to overcome is a patriarchal and apathetic society that looks down over the plight of women.
For a number of reasons, Dobara is a show that every young woman must watch because it has brought a fresh, female-centered story to the audiences. It has dealt with topics like child marriages and female independence, and it is part of Haddiqa Kiyani’s brilliance as a performer that she moves audiences to tears with how bravely Mehru Nisa stands up to the relatives who cannot seem to imagine how a widow could reclaim her life. A clip from episode six received praise from social media users where Mehru-Nisa’s son and sister in law scold her for dressing up lavishly for her son’s wedding when she is suppose to be in iddat, she responds back by reminding them that before a mother, she’s a human being who deserves to celebrate her existence.
I wish I were watching this in the cinema. It deserves a long round of applause and many whistles #Dobara pic.twitter.com/4mNud6LCXu
— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) December 1, 2021
Along with this, the show is also receiving praise for the way it challenges social norms by making the central couple a middle aged woman and a young man and its beautiful to witness because of how they develop a close friendship with each other and help each other in difficult circumstances like Mehru Nisa helps Mahir get a job by making him her tennis instructor. We’ve been over-indulged in main couples in dramas involving a naïve woman and an abusive man who keeps abusing her while insisting that its love. It’s refreshing that this time, we have a couple where the woman never compromises on her independence for the sake of anyone and happily indulges in things like wearing tracksuits to parks or wearing bright colors and dancing on weddings.
Only six episodes in and the show has already gotten praises from social media influencers like Kanwal Ahmed who has remarked it to one of the best things to grace our television screens.
FINALLY found a new Pakistani drama that has such an amazing storyline. A must watch. Featuring powerful performances from @Hadiqa_Kiani @SakinaSamo @bilalabbas_khan
Touching on child marriage, finding love again & SO many other great topics. 😭❤️👏🏽#Dobara on @Humtvnetwork pic.twitter.com/0aqyMOD3d2— Kanwal Ahmed (@kanwalful) December 2, 2021
We can agree with the rest of twitter by saying that it is absolutely necessary that every woman, whether old or young, sits down to watch Dobara because of its outspoken message that it is never too late to restart your life all over again. We’re already hooked and we can’t wait what comes up in the rest of the episodes!
