Dobara (TV series)

Dobara is a Pakistani television series produced by Momina Duraid under banner MD Productions, directed by Danish Nawaz and written by Sarwat Nazir. It broadcast on Hum TV from 20 October 2021 to 15 June 2022 on Hum TV. It features Hadiqa Kiani as Mehrunisa who gets a chance to relive her life after the death of her dominating husband when comes across Mahir, a carefree and jobless bachelor, played by Bilal Abbas Khan. It also features Usama Khan, Nabeel Zuberi, Zoya Nasir, Sakina Samo, Sabeena Syed and Maheen Siddiqui in supporting roles.

At 22nd Lux Style Awards, it received a nomination of Best TV Actress - Critics' choice for Kiani and won Best TV Actor - Critics' choice for Khan.

Synopsis
When her husband Hidayatullah dies in his early seventies, Mehrunissa feels as a free spirit and recalls the bitter memories of her past when her dying father decided to marry her off at 16 years of age to Hidayatullah, who was 36 at the time. At the time of her husband's funeral Mehrunissa does not seem emotionally affected by his death. Mahir is a next-door carefree boy who is a tennis player and in search of a job.

Cast

 * Hadiqa Kiani as Mehrunnisa "Mehru"
 * Prerna Bajaj as Mehru (young)
 * Bilal Abbas Khan as Maahir, Mehrunnisa's second husband
 * Usama Khan as Affan, Mehrunnisa's son
 * Maheen Siddiqui as Minal, Mehrunnisa's daughter
 * Sabeena Syed as Sehar, Affan's wife
 * Nabeel Zuberi as Zameer, Minal's husband
 * Zoya Nasir as Narmeen
 * Dr. Sarah Nadeem as Nayyara, Mehru's friend and confidant
 * Angeline Malik as Naheed, Maahir's mother
 * Shabbir Jan as Jahangir, Maahir's father
 * Fareeda Shabbir as Adeela, Jahangir's second wife
 * Amber Khan as Ghazal, Sehar's mother
 * Raja Haider as Mubarak, Sehar's father
 * Salma Asim as Narmeen's mother
 * Mojiz Hasan as Babar
 * Nauman Ijaz as Hidayatullah (only in flashbacks)
 * Aurangzeb Leghari as Mehru's father (only in flashbacks)
 * Sakina Samo as Durdana, Hidayatullah's sister
 * Javed Sheikh as Ibtisam, Durdana's brother-in-law
 * Hira Umer as Nadia, Zameer's ex-girlfriend

Production
The project was first announced on 8 July 2021. Osman Khalid Butt was first approached to portray the leading role of Mahir, however due to his other commitments he could not do it. Later Bilal Abbas Khan was cast in the role. With Khan, singer-turned-actress Hadiqa Kiani was selected to portray the other leading role. It marked her second series after her debut in poetic-romamce Raqeeb Se. She revealed in an interview that Mehru [Dobara] is her attempt to break some norms as an actor regarding age.

Television rating
It led the rating charts for its 6th episode with 6.2 trps. It again led the slot in 11th episode by achieving 6.5 trps. The 13th episode of the serial received ratings of 7.2 TRPs. 15th episode received 6.7 TRPs. The 16th episode saw a boost and it led the slot with 7.6 TRPs. The 17th episode saw another boost and the serial achieved the whopping 8.8 TRPs. 25th episode received 6.1 TRPs. In the month of Ramadan, Dobara was continuously leading its slot with 5-6 TRPs and became No 1 drama of the week. After Ramadan, it received tough competition from rivals but still managed to receive decent ratings of 4-5 TRPs and ended on 6.5.

Critcial reception
Critically, the series received acclaim and praise for storyline and performances especially for the performance of the lead cast. DAWN Images lauded its diversified and plot and strong narrative against the societal stereotypes. Maliha Rehman of Dawn gave mixed review to its narrative stating, "Most of the time, Dobara is narrated with great sensitivity and attention to detail."

With the introduction of false allegations of sexual harassment, social media users criticized the script. Due to weak characterization of the male lead, the series' conclusion received mixed reviews from social media users.