Kabuli Pulao

Kabuli Pulao is a 2023 Pakistani television series. It is directed by Kashif Nisar and written by Zafar Mairaj. It features Mohammed Ehteshamuddin, Sabeena Farooq, Nadia Afgan and Abdullah Farhatullah. The first episode of the series aired on 11 July 2023 on Green Entertainment. It is the romantic tale of two individuals, a Lahori Punjabi man and an Afghan refugee girl, who not only come from different cultures but also have a great age difference.

The series received critical acclaim for the performances of the leads and Mairaj's script.

Plot
Kabuli Pulao follows the story of Haji Mushtaq, an upright man from Lahore, and Barbeena, an Afghan girl in need. Haji Mushtaq, a 51-year-old Punjabi bachelor, leads a simple and straightforward life until he meets Barbeena. He goes to Mardan for a religious tour where he meets her brother during his stay in a mosque. Her brother asks if someone would be willing to marry her but would have to pay the brother for it. Haji Mushtaq tried to counsel her brother that he should not be asking money for marrying her. He finds out that the money is eing asked for the operation of their other brother who lost the use of his legs. Haji Mushtaq lend the money without marrying Barbeena. However, Barbeena later insists on marrying him for the favour he did. Her brother also sks him to protect her by marrying her, as she is a widow and a brother of her deceased husband wants to marry her against her wishes. Despite all efforts to help her without having to marry her, Haji Mushtaq has to marry Barbeena on her insistence. Meanwhile, Shamim a woman who had been Mushtaq's neighbour since childhood and has a crush on him has not given up hope that Mushtaq would marry her some day. He returns to his house in Lahore with Barbeena on the insistence of his niece Ayesha who refuses to attend her engagement in his absence. He reaches his house where he lives with his younger brother Chaudhry Qayyum and his family and introduces Barbeena as a maid, who was eager to serve him in his house in return of the help that he has done for her brother's treatment. Within a few days, Barbeena gets attached to Qayyum's sisters and others family members begin to like her as well due to her taking care for the house.

Barbeena's elder brother comes to Lahore to meet her. Ilyas, the police inspector of Haji's hometown who has a past animosity with him comes to know that the Afghan girl living in his house is his wife. He tells it to his teacher Shamim and they both arrive there. They bring Khawaja sara with them to insult him for hiding his marriage and for his marriage with a girl much younger than him. Everyone including Qayyum gets disturbed on the reveal of the marriage and starts disliking Shamim for her behaviour. Farzana, the elder sister of Haji saheb stands by her brother and decides to announce the marriage with a grand Walima. Haji's younger sister Chammo does not have a good relationship with her husband Ghaffar due to her inability to give birth due to which Ghaffar doesn't love her and turns negative. He eyes on Barbeena but on revealing the marriage he gets furious and throws Chammo out of his house. He agrees to bring her back in front of Haji Saheb on the condition that he goes away leaving the city with Barbeena. Haji Saheb does so by telling the family that they are going with Barbeena on her brother's funeral. He goes to Mardaan but on reaching there he comes to know that his friend Mawlawi, the person with which he had decided to live, has died. In a state of utter restlessness and trouble, Haji Saheb travels to Rawalpindi where he comes across Hayat, a hotelier who provides them with shelter in her daughter's house where she lives with her husband. Hayat's daughter Hajra and son-in-law Asad has an unpleasant relationship and keep fighting due to which Hayat decides to make them share the house with Haji Saheb so that their relationship can improve considering that they will value the presence of an elder in the house.

Haji Saheb and Barbeena starts living there and earn their livelihood by selling Kabuli pulao. Initially, the pulaw didn't sell much but when Barbeena starts selling, it becomes popular among the people in no time. Hajra who has been a keen of filmmaking but her passion losts somewhere among her quarrels with Asad. She decides to make a documentary film on this unusual couple. She establishes relations with them first of all for this purpose, and makes their videos secretly without their consent. With the ending note of her realisation of the purity and mutual respect in their relationship, she ends the film. On releasing the film, it gets viral on internet and his family, who was looking for them since their departure, comes to know that the couple is living in there. Qayyum and Ghaffar come to bring Haji Saheb back. However, Qayyum meets there with a road accident and dies. They return to Lahore in their house with Qayyum's dead body.

Themes
The show explores various themes such as love, sacrifice, cultural differences, and the power of human connection. It also sheds light on the challenges that people from different cultures face when they try to build relationships and understand each other.

Main

 * Mohammed Ehteshamuddin as Haji Mushtaq.Barbeena's Husband
 * Sabeena Farooq as Barbeena, Haji Mushtaq's wife
 * Nadia Afgan as Shamim,In Love with Haji Mushtaq
 * Abdullah Farhatullah as Baran Afghani,Barbeena's Ex Husband

Supporting

 * Adnan Shah Tipu as Chaudhry Qayyum
 * Munazzah Arif as Zubaida
 * Raima Khan as Chammo,Haji Mushtaq's Sister and Ghaffar Butt's Wife
 * Farzana Taheem as Kulsoom
 * Momina Aiela Chaudhry as Rimsha
 * Saqib Sumeer as Ghaffar Butt,Chammo's Husband
 * Fajjar Khan as Ayesha Qayyum
 * Haseeb Khan as Zakir
 * Umer Dar as Inspector Ilyas
 * Faiz Chauhan as Hayat
 * Naina as Hajra
 * Sikandar Nawaz as Asad

Development
In February 2021, Kashif Nisar revealed that her upcoming series is about the relationship of two individuals who have a language barrier. Nadia Afgan was selected to portray one of the pivotal role. Nisar offered the role of Kulsoom to her, but she ended up playing the role of Shamim.

Broadcast
The series premier its first episode on 11 July 2023 airing weekly on Tuesday at 20:00 PST on Green Entertainment.It is based on 19 episodes with 35-40 minutes running time.

The series broadcast in India by Zindagi premiering on 11 November 2023, thus becoming the first ever Pakistani TV series with a simultaneous foreign broadcast.

Soundtrack
The original soundtrack ‘Aankhein’ was released in May 2023. It was performed by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, music was composed by Sahir Ali Bagga and lyrics were penned by Imran Raza. The OST gained 100 million views on digital platforms of the network within 2 weeks.

Critical reception
In a review by Youlin Magazine, the reviewer praised the series for its engaging plot, the theme of refugees' lives, lead characters and the portrayals of Ehteshamuddin and Farooq. In a review of the 3rd episode, a reviewer from Bol News praised the Farooq's performance. Foha Raza of Dawn Images praised it for its realistic characters and themes such as emotional support, depiction of evolving relationships and judgment on looks.

In the year-end articles, The Express Tribune praised the script for the portrayal of unconventional saga of love and focusing the refugees, while Dawn Images noted its main theme and the performances of the leads.