Nabeel Zafar, Hina Dilpazeer on 'Bulbulay' journey and the industry

‘Bulbulay’ stars burst the TV bubble on Time Out With Ahsan Khan

While Hina Dilpazeer and Nabeel Zafar have worked on projects such as Burns Road ki Nilofer and Mere Mohallay ki Larki, the duo is primarily known for their sitcom Bulbulay. The Bulbulay stars made an appearance at Time Out With Ahsan Khan and discussed behind-the-scenes of their decade-long TV show, experiences in the showbiz industry and personal lives.

Actor, director and producer, Nabeel Zafar recalled, “once an 80 year-old-woman approached me to comment on the success of the show. She said she has a four-year-old granddaughter and they watch the show together and that made me really happy”. The show was originally written for an older audience however it resonated with a much younger audience as well and ended up becoming a family entertainer in every house.

Before Bulbulay, Nabeel’s acting portfolio was full of serious roles. He was previously known for his acting in a 1994 produced TV series, Dhuwan. When asked about how Nabeel envisioned the switch to comedy and why he discontinued starring in serious roles, he said, “80% of the work in my early career, whether good or bad, were choices made due to financial constraints. I ran away from my family and needed money to survive and hence I signed projects out of compulsion and necessity.” Nabeel is originally from Faisalabad and he went to Lahore to pursue acting which eventually led him to Karachi. “Only 20% of the work I've done so far is out of my own will and heart,” he added.

“To be honest, no, I did not imagine working in comic roles. But since Bulbulay was my own production, I wanted to make cuts and save on budget and hence cast myself,” he replied to explain his switch from serious to comic roles. The director and actor’s body language said that he is content with what he has produced and doesn’t want to go back to playing serious roles. “Earlier people would often comment that ‘yeh acha lagta hai aise roles mai’ (he looks good in such roles) but I would rather have people say ‘kaam acha lagta hai (his work is good).’”

“This show cemented our identities on TV,” said Hina Dilpazeer. “Many people recognise us by our characters and not by our real names and that's a statement for how successful and relevant the show has been for our audience.”

Delving on Momo’s ever-loved character, Hina credited the writer Ali Rehman for a brilliant character sketch but also gave a shout out to her shared comic chemistry with Nabeel. Since the duo had shared the screen before as well, it was. “A lot of times, we had to do multiple takes, which would often irritate Khoobsurat (Ayesha Omar) because Nabeel, Mehmood and I would constantly laugh at each other’s gestures and cues,” reminisced Hina.

Commenting on Nabeel’s selflessness and somehow also selfishness to keep his show alive, the host Ahsan asked who would Nabeel let go if he had to out one of the four pivotal characters of Bulbulay. Hina replied on his behalf and said he’d rather give up himself from the show.

However, while the actor-friend duo shared a comfortable friendship and good times on set, Hina has also seen Nabeel at his worst. When asked about three things Nabeel should quit, she said, ``Anger, anxiety and being hyper.” Nabeel tends to stress a lot and gets impulsive in anger and Hina often takes the role of calming him down on set.

When asked about observing the dark gossip side of the industry, Nabeel agreed that he has seen a lot and gave a poetic answer, “Silvatein hain mere chehre pe toh hairat kyun hai”. Hina also hinted at the struggles she had faced following her recognition in the industry however she didn't expand on it. Her closing remarks on this subject were “I just hope I get enough strength to carry what I have created for myself so far. I have become selective with what roles I chose on television.”

Moving on to personal lives, Nabeel said his heart is now torn between Lahore and Karachi. It has been 22 years since he moved to Karachi and he had a poetic stance on that as well. “Kitaab -umar ka ek aur baab khatm hua, yeh shabab khatm hua ek azaab khatm hua” He continued, “Lahore, with its artistic culture, was fulfilling for my soul but here (Karachi) is where the food for my physical survival is. Here (Karachi) is where my talent gets a platform to flourish