The writer of the hit drama, Baby Baji just answered some of the most popular viewer questions! Read on to know the answers.
Without compromising on the entertainment factor, Baby Baji seems to have been integrating positive messaging for the audiences, should they choose to accept them. A possible new for daily soaps – maintaining the quality of content and performances both to be at par with the top dramas. The most viral drama that is currently, audiences’ guilty pleasure and has characters that are relatable for every family. Baby Baji is directed by Tehseen Khan, written by Mansoor Ahmed Khan and features veteran actor Samina Ahmed as the lead in the story. As the drama defies all past trends of daily soaps, there’s also a lot of realism infused. It’s a saas-bahu oriented drama but the kind with a message and breaking moulds.
The parents, Siddiqui, his wife’s anchor (Munawar Saeed) runs a shoe store and Baby Baji (Samina Ahmed) is the unifying force of the household as the mother of 4 sons amongst whom 3 are married. Each of the 3 son’s (Saud Qasmi as Jamal, Hassan Ahmed as Naseer and Junaid Khan as Wasif) wives’ are different and pose a different reality of struggles for Baby Baji and depict many facets of society’s viewpoints. Azra (Javeria Saud) is the feisty, argumentative and rebellious daughter in law who wants to move out into a separate setting sparking the debate between joint families and nuclear families, Farhat (Tuba Anwar) is the younger daughter in law who is not afraid to speak up about her rights when needed and Asma (Sunita Marshal) the eldest is the most demure, meek daughter in law who cares for the well being of the entire family quite extensively but both her and her husband aren’t happy with their marriage!
This storyline sheds light on the various matters and perspective such as the consequences of individual and parental decisions, financial troubles, power dynamics in a desi household, mistreatment of women, females and their resilience, privacy vs protectiveness. We also see the younger son clashing with his mother to be able to choose his love but Baby Baji wants to be able to find her son a suitable partner herself.
As the drama ended just recently followed by noteworthy applause from fans, we invited the writer of the mass hit drama, Mansoor Ahmed Khan to delve deeper into the sad ending, the messages weaved in the drama and if there will be a season 2!
What Was The Writer’s Inspiration?
Starting of with how realistic the audiences found the drama to be, we wanted to know if the writer was inspired from his surroundings or a was there a story he witnessed unfolding around him. He shared: “two factors motivated me, I wanted to write a story on brotherhood exploring how brothers grow apart and divided, secondly focusing on how a woman who rules her household, keeps it knitted together, and begins to loose the thread after her husband’s passing. B
How she begins to be dependent on her sons! Further, the joint family system is a topic most of our masses related to, so I incorporated that along with the 2 factors above.”
On The Sad Ending
As audiences, Baby Baji’s death was an ending that reduced most to tears – thus we wondered and want to know why the writer left us with such a sad ending. He replied: “If baby baji’s death wasn’t shown, the drama would have lost its hard hitting punch, how children fight and relentlessly disagree with their parents while they are alive but after they die, inconsolably cry, visiting their graves. Why not make efforts to love them and take care of them, pay them back for all their hard work in raising us while they are still around us? It was important to show her death, for the drama to be hard hitting”
When Was It That He Realised It’s About To Become A Hit?
On a moment that made him recognise the show becoming a hit, he surprisingly shared: “the realisation hit way before the drama actually aired, during the writing process, all the cast members, directors production house and the channel’s content department were all praise for the script. If it wouldn’t have been a hit, it would have been sad.” He particularly thanked the director, Tehseen Khan for executing it so well. He went on to say it would be shallow of him if he didn’t rightfully point out the director’s job was well done when speaking on the script’s success.
The Writer’s POV On Joint Families
Given it’s a significant debate in our society, we wanted to know the viewpoint on nuclear VS joint family systems, directly from the writer. He says if a joint family has even one member similar to Azra’s character then it’s best to separate but with caution he adds, “Uss alag honay ka yeh matlab nahi hai kay jesay baby baji kehti hain –
Alag honay say jhagray khatam honay chahye, rishtay nahi. Thats the point! Alag beshak hou likin apnay maa baap ke taraf say ghafil na hou.”
Mansoor Ahmed Khan Writer, Baby Baji
Why Didn’t Asma Leave Naseer?
When we shared our views on Asma’s character mentioning her dialogue about having trouble forgetting all the injustices in her marriage despite Naseer returning, we wanted to know, did Asma not have the option to leave him? He says: “Option hai, Option abhi bhi baqi hai. This a technique in writing we use to leave it open ended, left for discussion for audiences. We wouldn’t question it otherwise!” But personally, When asked if Asma should have left Naseer or not, he responds: “Asma’s character is of a peace maker, her character won’t leave Naseer. It’s a different debate if she should leave or not!”
He says the best part about the drama was all the thought provoking conversations for audiences and my theatre background helped me bring that impact on screen!
Will There Be A Season 2?
We asked if, for a reveal if by any chance, will we getting a season 2? He says: “Its a hot question for us right now but all I can say is, let’s see!”
Surprisingly, a big chunk of the audience was the younger generation, did you intend for it to be that way or did not consider any specific age group? “We didn’t expect that a large percentage of the viewers would turn out to be from the younger generation, I think the young characters of Saman and Waleed were relatable for audiences when they started watching, and because of them, the entire family was soon hooked, that was intentional!”
What did you think about the last episode? Let us know below!
