Bulbulay

Bulbulay (Urdu: بلبلے‎, English: "Bubbles") is a family sitcom and is aired daily at 6:30 pm ^[2] about an unconventional Pakistani family and the troubles they get into.^[3] The show is directed by Rana Rizwan and is written by Ali Imran. It is produced by Nabeel who is also the lead character of the show.^[4] The show gained popularity after the introduction of Hina Dilpazeer, who plays Momo,^[5] It is a successful sitcom in the country with high TRP.^[6]

Bulbulay was first aired 22 October 2009 on ARY Digital and was later broadcast on ARY Digital in UK. It also holds the record for the longest running television series of Pakistan.

Plot

Most episodes are about Nabeel and friends being conned, robbed or just having bad luck. Every episode ends with the family being ripped off, or either of the men getting a beating from their wives for flirting with other women. The storyline starts off with Nabeel and Mehmood living in an apartment as bachelors and progresses to both of them getting married and having children. The show is known to break the fourth wall all the time.

Episode 1-25 (Before marriage)

Nabeel's childhood friend Ahmad moves abroad and tells Nabeel to look after his apartment. Nabeel takes advantage of this and starts living in the apartment as landlord and rents out a room to Mehmood. Khoobsoorat, who ran away from her wedding just fifteen minutes before it took place, arrives at the same apartment looking for her friend Saima who is married to Ahmed. Although Nabeel tells her she cannot move in, he changes his mind after she threatens to tell Ahmed the situation of his apartment.

When Khoobsoorat's father Siddiqui comes to take her back, she tells him that she is married to Nabeel to stop him from taking her back. Similarly, when Nabeel's mother, Mumtaaz, comes to visit him, he says that Khoobsoorat is the housemaid, as she would not accept him living together with a woman.

Later in the series, Khubsoorat's father finds out his daughter is unmarried and informs her that he is coming to take her back home. Nabeel's mother Mumtaaz comes to visit her son and tells him that Khoobsoorat is a good girl and that they should get married. When Mumtaz asks Khubsoorat, she is shocked and decides to leave. Later, Nabeel tells Khoobsoorat that he really loves her and fell in love with her when he saw her for the fourth time (chothi nazar main), and, so, he wants to marry her. Elsewhere Mehmood and Mumtaz also start to like each other and want to get married. At Nabeel and Khubsoorat's marriage after their Nikkah has finished, he announces he will marry Mumtaz and tells the "Qari" to wait and read their nikkah as well. Nabeel is shocked by this and feels very uncomfortable about his mother close to Mehmood. At this moment, Siddiqi arrives to cancel his daughter's wedding. When Nabeel tells him that the nikkah is already read, he gets really angry.

Episode 26-82 (Post marriage)

(Nabeel's mother becomes a regular cast member after episode 25.) Soon after the couples get married, Ahmad calls Nabeel to tell him he has found someone who will move in the apartment, which meant that they had to move out. Luckily, Khubsoorat's father arranges a new place for them to live in and pays the advance so that they do not struggle. Her father regularly sorts out a job for Nabeel, but Nabeel quits because he says he is made for much bigger things and will not work for anyone who does not see his true potential.

Episode 83-87 (Bulbulay in Dubai)

The Bulbulay Family Goes on a trip to Dubai but (without telling each other). Nabeel and Khoobsurat goes for a trip to Dubai from a lucky draw. Mehmood and Mumtaz goes also to Dubai for honeymoon by their own money. Accidently there hotels were same in Dubai. There they meet each other's but didn't believe. Then both families plans to got to Dubai Mall. Mehmood and Nabeel were taking showers in their respective bathrooms. Khoobsurat and Momo goes to lobby to wait for them. There saw each other clearly and believed what they saw. In this tension, Momo accediently goes out of the hotel to avoid Khoobsurat although he didn't knew any route. She rushed towards the nearest taxi and off to a mall. "Dubai Mall". Khoobsurat, Nabeel and Mehmood goes for a search to find Momo. After they meet, they goes for shopping again in Dubai Mall the next day. There they meet a F.M team which offered them for a job in there F.M Studios. But didn't goes right.

Episode 88-100 (Pre-Parenthood)

After returning home from Dubai, Momo loses the bag at the airport. Khoobsoorat becomes ill and the others start avoiding her in the fear of catching her disease. Later, Khoobsorat is found out to be pregnant shortly after which Momo also becomes pregnant. Most of the episodes involve the family making preparations for the arrival of their children. Nabeel, however, is unhappy that her mother is having a baby at this age. These episodes also include their pre-parenthood lifestyle in the Holy month of Ramadhan. On the 100th Eid-Special episode Momo and Khoobsoorat give birth to a baby son and daughter, respectively.

Episode 101-139 (Parenthood)

Both the couples become parents. Mehmood Sahab and Momo name their son "Sona", which means gold, and Khoobsoorat and Nabeel name their daughter Chaandi, which means silver. These episodes involve events taking place after Sona and Chaandi's birth. Nabeel and Mehmood Saab, being pressurized by their wives to take up jobs and support their children, admit their children into school. The couples compete on who can provide better for their children.

Episode 140-143 (Bulbulay in Lahore)

The family races to Lahore to visit Khoobsoorat's father Siddiqui, who they cannot contact and are worried about. and

Episode 205-209 (Bulbulay again in Lahore)

Once again, the family have returned to Lahore. In episode 205, Siddiqui takes Khoobsurat and Baytab to his new house in Karachi, but, before leaving, Baytab leaves the address of the new house; then in episode 206, the fun starts. They all go to papa Siddiqui's new house.

Episode 210-217

Once again they return to Karachi.

Episode 218-260

Once again they are normal with brilliant performances by Momo and Nabeel.

Episode 260-297 (The Rich and The Poor)

They meet a ghost, a ghost who likes Momo and wants to take her to Koekaaf (place where ghosts live). He is ready to complete all the wishes of Momo. Momo asks him for everlasting wealth which he gives but continues taunting Mahmood Sahab. Nabeel calls a magician to get rid of ghost. The magician encloses the ghost in bottle. Some kidnappers accidentally open the bottle and the ghost comes out. He takes all the wealth from them and leaves.

Siddiqui and Baytab go for honeymoon.

They become poor and continue making attempts to get rid of the poorness. They are waiting for Siddiqui and Baytab so they come and help them.

Javed Sahab, the owner of their old house, returns to the show. He calls them multiple times, but the family doesn't answer his calls, because they know he will ask for the year rent they owe him. Momo shows up and tells them that she answered his call and told him their address. While getting to the address, Javed Sahab stumbles upon Jaggu Dada, the neighborhood's local gangster, and Javed Sahab is robbed. When Javed Sahab arrives at the Bulbulay house, the family doesn't recognize him, because he got a plastic surgery and his appearance is different. Javed Sahab tells them who he is; after knowing that, Nabeel and Mehmood run and hide, but Javed Sahab convinces them that he is going to take them back to their old house. He says that a Baba told him that if he brings the Bulbulay family back to the house without asking for rent, his situations will get better. Nabeel and Mehmood take advantage of that and demand more stuff. While leaving, the family stumbles upon Jaggu Dada and say their goodbyes, since they might never see each other again. The family is really excited when they return to their old house, and is surprised by the return of Butt Sahab, the show's local cop. Butt Sahab tells them he is going to arrest them for not paying Javed Sahab's rent. The family runs to the gate and are once again surprised by the return of Siddiqui.

Episode 298-present (Back to The Classic Bulbulay)

Siddiqui pays Javed Sahab the family's rent. The family realizes that Ramadan moon has appeared. Episode 298 is all about the family making Siddiqui do all their work because he isn't fasting. It's back to the original episodes in which Nabeel and his family end up with bad luck.

Bubbles Show Special

This was a special two hour episode (live show) in which the Bulbulay characters were live on ARY digital where they met their fans who were present there and received the calls of those who were absent. The Bulbulay characters were highly appreciated by the fans.

Cast

• Nabeel as Nabeel
• Ayesha Omar as Khoobsurat
• Mehmood Aslam as Mehmood Sahab
• Hina Dilpazeer as Mumtaz (Momo)
• Faatima Nadeem as Chandi
• Nyle Rizwan as Sona
• Khawaja Akmal as Siddiqui
• Sheeraz Hassan as Moti (Kidnapper)
• Shahid Khawaja as Dr. Shahid612

Reception

Bulbulay achieved highest ever rating of a comedy series. Bulbulay has achieved rating of 8.0 TRPs (Television Rating Points) which is far more than other Pakistani comedy dramas. Bulbulay also won the Best Sitcom Award for three consecutive years in 2010 to 2012 on Pakistan Media Award.

On 2011 the series was In tough competition against another TV series Nadaaniyaan and later it broke its record because of which that series went off-air; the character of Momo, Nabeel, Mehmood and Khoobsorat are different in nature, and, because of their funny nature the series is still on top. Due to its immense popularity, the series is loved in other countries^[7] (including UK), and soon it will be aired in India on Channel Zee Zindagi.

See also

• List of programs broadcast by ARY Digital

References

External links

• Bulbulay on Facebook