Bulbulay

Plot

Most episodes are about Nabeel and his 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 his wife for flirting with other women. The story line 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 first tells her she cannot move in, he changes his mind after she threatens to tell Ahmed about the misuse of the apartment.

When Khoobsoorat's father, Siddiqui, comes to take her back, she tells him that she is married to Nabeel to stop him. When Nabeel's mother, Mumtaz, comes to visit him, he says that Khoobsoorat is the housemaid, as his mother would not accept his 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 comes to visit her son and tells him that Khoobsoorat is a good girl and that they should get married. When she asks Khubsoorat, Khubsoorat is shocked and decides to leave. Later, Nabeel tells Khoobsoorat that he really loves her and had fallen in love with her when he saw her for the fourth time (chothi nazar main); and, so, he wants to marry her. Mehmood and Mumtaz start to like each other and want to get married. At Nabeel and Khubsoorat's marriage, after their nikah is read, Mehmood announces he will marry Mumtaz and tells the qadi to wait and read their nikah as well. Nabeel is shocked by this and feels very uncomfortable about his mother being close to Mehmood. At this moment, Siddiqi arrives to cancel his daughter's wedding. When Nabeel tells him that the nikah is already read, he gets really angry.

Episode 26-82 (after 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 into the apartment, which means that they have to move out. Luckily, Khubsoorat's father arranges for a new place for them to live and pays in advance, so that they do not struggle. He also finds a job for Nabeel; but Nabeel quits, saying 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 win a trip to Dubai from a lucky draw. Mehmood and Mumtaz go to Dubai for their honeymoon, with their own money. They happen to be booked into the same hotel. There they see each other but don't at first believe it. When both families have plans to go to the Dubai Mall and both Mehmood and Nabeel are taking showers in their rooms, Khoobsurat and Mumtaz (Momo) wait for them in the hotel lobby and see each other clearly. Momo goes out of the hotel to avoid Khoobsurat and rushes off to the mall in a taxi. Khoobsurat, Nabeel, and Mehmood go to find her. After they're reunited, they go to Dubai Mall the next day, where they meet FM radio producers and are offered jobs that don't work out.

Episode 88-100 (pre-parenthood)

While returning home from Dubai, Momo loses her bag at the airport. Khoobsurat becomes ill and the others start avoiding her in the fear of catching her disease. Later, Khoobsurat is found 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 his mother is having a baby at her age. These episodes also show their pre-parenthood lifestyle in the holy month of Ramadan. On the 100th, Eid-Special episode, Momo and Khoobsurat give birth to a baby son and daughter, respectively.

Episode 101-139 (parenthood)

Both couples become parents. Mehmood Sahab and Momo name their son Sona, which means gold; and Khoobsurat and Nabeel name their daughter Chaandi, which means silver. These episodes involve events taking place after Sona and Chaandi's births. Nabeel and Mehmood are pressured by their wives to take up jobs to support their children. When the children are admitted into school, the couples compete to see who can provide better for their children.

Episode 140-143 (Bulbulay in Lahore)

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

Episode 205-209 (Bulbulay again in Lahore)

The family have returned to Lahore. In episode 205, Siddiqui invites Khoobsurat and Baytab to his new house in Karachi; but before leaving, Baytab misplaces the address. In episode 206, the fun starts, when they all get to papa Siddiqui's new house.

Episode 210-217

They return to Karachi.

Episode 218-260

They are normal, with performances by Momo and Nabeel.

Episode 298-present (back to the classic Bulbulay)

Siddiqui pays Javed Sahab the family's rent. The family realizes that the Ramadan moon has appeared, and episode 298 is all about the family making Siddiqui do all their work because he isn't fasting. It's back to the situations of the early episodes in which Nabeel and his family have 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 took calls from those who weren't. The Bulbulay characters were highly appreciated by their fans.

On 20 May 2016 the cast and writer Ali Imran were invited on ARY Digital morning show Good Morning Pakistan to celebrate 400 episodes of Bulbulay.

Cast

Reception

Bulbulay achieved the highest-ever rating of a Pakistani comedy series, with a rating of 8.0 TRPs (Television Rating Points), which is more than any other Pakistani comedy drama. Bulbulay also won the "Best Sitcom" award for three consecutive years, from 2010 to 2012, at the Pakistan Media Awards.

Due to its popularity, the series is shown in other countries, including the UK; and soon it will be aired in India on the Zee Zindagi channel.