From “Pawri Horai Hai” to playing the bubbly, ever so loved Roshi, and now to a cinematic debut, Dananeer Mobeen has proved herself time and again. And this time, it’s with her playing Afsana Baloch in her debut movie, Mera Lyari.
If there’s one thing our Pakistani entertainment does so well, it is that it portrays the REAL thing, so when they are taking on the ever so talked about area of Karachi, LYARI, you know the portrayal is going to be brutally RAW, might be HARSH but will always be REAL and not propaganda-based, fabricated, or fake. Mera Lyari, now released in cinemas nationwide, is one such attempt to show the truth, and the other side of Lyari. Starring Dananeer Mobeen, Ayesha Omar, Samiya Mumtaz, Nayyar Ejaz, and more, the movie, through its teasers, promises to show LYARI in its purest form, with women at the center stage playing football, and Dananeer is playing Afsana Baloch as an aspiring football player, and Ayesha Omar as the coach.
We were curious to know why Dananeer said yes to this particular script, what convinced her, and how did she prepare for this character? We got the opportunity to sit with her and talk about her movie. Get a sneak peek into the conversation below!
This article is an excerpt from the YouTube interview!
“So Warm, So Welcoming”: Dananeer Mobeen Talks About Lyari
We were genuinely curious when we sat down with Dananeer Mobeen about her experience in Lyari. What was it like meeting the people there, especially the girls? Did it match what she had imagined, or was it completely different?
She didn’t hesitate before smiling and saying that the experience completely shifted her perspective. “When I met the girls in Lyari,” she shared, “I was honestly surprised. They were so confident. You usually go in with a certain mindset that it might be a backward place, and you don’t really know what to expect. But when I actually went there, the girls were just so fun.”
She described them as lively, full of energy, and extremely expressive — almost the opposite of the stereotype people often carry. “They were so chirpy, so quirky, so fast in the way they talk and express themselves. That really surprised me. I was like, wow… this is not what I expected at all.”
One of the biggest revelations for her was about education and talent in the area. “Honestly, there is a high level of education there. There are so many games and activities too. I didn’t know that before because I had never been there. I was completely unaware. But when I went, I saw it for myself — even their English was very refined. So I was really pleasantly surprised.”
We also asked her if there was any particular story or moment that stayed with her — and she immediately lit up. “There’s something I really want to share,” she said. “The people of Lyari completely won my heart. They are so hospitable, so kind, so sweet.”
She went on to describe how deeply welcomed she felt during the shoot. “Every single day on set, someone from the neighborhood would bring something for me. Random things — one day it was a really big teddy bear, another day someone brought a cake. It kept happening again and again.” “It was really wholesome,” she added. “I genuinely felt at home. Everybody took such good care of me and welcomed me with open arms.”
Dananeer Mobeen Gets Real About No-Label Relationships – Situationship!
We asked her what she thinks about situationships, and she didn’t hold back at all. Her first reaction was simple — “So draining.”
She explained that the problem, for her, starts with the imbalance. “Because there is no commitment, no strings attached. But your feelings are attached. Emotionally, you are committing to it like a relationship, but societally there is no label on it. There is nothing officially going on.”
And that, she feels, is where things start getting messy. “But you are investing everything the same way,” she added. “And I think situationships might be one of the worst things that has happened to our generation. It has drained the absolute life and love out of people.”
For her, the emotional impact is the biggest concern. “It’s very bad for mental health,” she said. “You invest in someone you see a future with. You give your energy, love, effort — everything. But in a situationship, there is no future, no clarity, no confirmation that anything will happen.”
She paused, then summed it up in a simple analogy. “It’s like walking without a destination. You’re just walking on a road with no end point.”
And that, she believes, is what makes it so damaging.
“No One Can Fill That Void”: Dananeer Mobeen On the Importance of a Father’s Support
She believes a father’s support plays a very important role, especially for daughters. “I’ve seen girls from broken families, or where parents are separated, or they don’t have a good relationship with their father,” she shared. “That void cannot be filled by any man in the world. No one can replace that space.”
She paused on what that emotional gap really means for a girl. “That confidence you get from your father takes you to a different level of fearlessness,” she said. “Because you know, I can do anything. My father is standing behind me. No one has the guts to do anything. No one can say anything.”
For her, it’s not just emotional support — it’s a sense of security that shapes how a girl moves through the world.
“And another thing,” she added, “when your parents trust you, especially your father, everything feels set. Because my father trusts me, my mom trusts me — they know I can make the right decisions. They trust me.”
And with that trust, she believes comes a confidence in life.
Want to hear more? Stay tuned for full conversation coming out soon on FUCHSIA’s YouTube channel!
