What Caused Dobara to Fall From the Graces?

Soaring high and basking in love; Dobara toppled down with a plot twist no one saw coming.

Last year, Dobara began its supremacy on television with a story we all thought our society needed and was worth a watch. The firecracker pair of Bilal Abbas as Mahir and Hadiqa Kiani as Mehru made it all the more promising and we started falling in love with their enticing equation.

Critics lauded it for promoting marriages with widows, condemning forced and child marriages while breaking taboos revolving around aged women marrying later in life. Drama buffs adored Mahir’s character and how it was growing throughout the story. Mehru became a fan favorite, especially because it was essayed by Hadiqa and how gracefully she essayed the role of a woman whose teenage aims were killed when she married a dominating partner.

The success was too good to be true for Dobara. Soaring high and basking in love; it all of a

sudden toppled down with a plot twist no one saw coming.

The Unredeemable hero

We have witnessed the progression in Mahir’s character as an unemployed, young boy who is madly in love with his materialistic girlfriend, Narmeen portrayed by Zoya Nasir. He even stole some gold just so he could marry her. Later, when all his tactics go south, he marries Mehru- a rich, good-looking widow to take revenge on his old flame. But somewhere, we saw hope for Mahir along the plot. While he stood up for Mehru when her family ridiculed her, took a bullet for her, and smartly handled her business; we deep down wished that Mahir falls in love with his wife.

But then came a twist in the tale that led to Mahir losing all the fan love. Narmeen’s entry changed the whole game of the story as Mahir forgot his friendship with Mehru and his eyes got enchanted with Narmeen’s beauty. From here kick-starts a chapter of cheating in Dobara, where our hero goes on dates with his former beau and plans his marriage while including his mother in the decision. Next we see that Mehru’s touch starts to disgust him and he feels appalled even sitting next to her.

The turn of events also created a spree of ageist dialogues in the drama that caused immense social media outcry. Time and again, Mehru was labeled as Mahir’s mom- which is surely an insult to Hadiqa. Despite the fact she is older than her male counterpart, she has poise and beauty that makes her look timeless on the television. We also hear Mahir go on a rant about Mehru’s wrinkles and how she wants a younger companion for himself. Of course, this unexpected shift in the male protagonist’s character came out as a disgusting surprise for fans, who were shipping for Mehru-Mahir from the beginning. But is this all a facade by Mahir to unmask Narmeen?

 Once a fraud, always a fraud

While this article is being penned as we await Dobara’s ending, the drama has become the hotbed of aggressive social media conversations. Women are revolted how their favorite drama is going downhill with its profound message of  wedding with widows and aged women being lost over time.

There is a possibility that Mahir might realize his mistake in the last episode or even is planning this all to bring Narmeen to book. However, none of this will justify his candid meetings with Narmeen as being loyal to his wife. What’s more, his harsh comments about Mehru’s age and looks cannot be vindicated by any good gesture by him. We should not forget that Mahir and Mehru’s journey never started on honest terms. Mahir always had selfish motives and perhaps, nothing might change that in him. He was a con man who can never appreciate true love due to his materialistic attitude toward life.

If truth be told, characters like Mahir have become a norm on our screens. In the much-popular Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay, Aswad portrayed similar characteristics. He was a toxic chauvinist from the beginning and even his change of heart, in the end, didn’t make him a hero in the eyes of the viewers.

Unfortunately, Dobara  lost its essence when it began promoting the message that married men can cheat on their spouses over more beautiful women, at any time during their relationship. It also broke our faith in second marriages and the idea that widowed women too can find love in life. All in all, we hope for a happy end for Mehru, where perhaps she is an independent boss woman and content with life sans men who manipulate her and mock her for being her own person.