Sunita Marshall & Hassan Ahmed AKA Asma & Naseer from Baby Baji speak to us on their characters, joint families and more POVS in an exclusive!
The most viral drama that is currently, audiences’ guilty pleasure with characters 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. Its a saas-bahu oriented drama but the kind with a message and breaking molds. 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.
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 sons’ (Saud Qasmi as Jamal, Hassan Ahmed as Naseer and Junaid Khan as Wasif) wives’ are different and pose a different reality of the 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 wellbeing of the entire family quite extensively but both she and her husband aren’t happy with their marriage!
The real life couple also stars in Baby Baji as a reel couple! Cast as Asma and Naseer in the soap drama, their characters have highlighted quite a significant issue our society faces. Asma is a devoted, meek character who is also Ms. says yes to everything. She doesn’t speak up even when wronged by her in-laws or her husband and continues to withstand all the mistreatment by Naseer who is a bitter, negative man – unhappy in his marriage to Asma and now interested in his returned love interest, his cousin. Though recently, the drama is developing her character, showing Asma to be realizing the importance of why girls should be independent and she is trying to work, to earn her own money.
The Real Life Couple On Working Together
The couple shared they last worked together about 6-8 years ago and that they enjoyed working on sets together once again.
Does The Negative Naseer End Up With The Couple At Home?
When asked if Hassan stays in his negative role when he goes home? He said:
“What happens is, I tend to be very fatigued and tired. All the bitterness and carrying the weight of the negative character, the cheekhna chilana scenes impact you. I eat, watch an episode of a show but no! Naseer never comes home. Negative characters actually take a very big toll on your body, health and emotions.”
About his character’s love interest despite his marriage he said: “Some people bind you in a spell and that may be the case with Naseer who is charmed by Rakshi. He is hooked onto her.”
Sunita and Hassan Share Their Take On The Joint Family System
Sunita Marshall: “Every one has their own point of view, personally if it’s a small family then it could work but if it’s a larger family like in the case of Baby Baji’s house then it’s more likely to create issues so that would be a no from me. But there are many big families in Pakistan. It’s just apki situation kay liye kya behtar hoga!”
Hassan Ahmed: “The same problems could appear in small families too but culturally joint families ek bohat pyara system hai likin agar chalana hai tou dono sides ko effort karna parta hai, Maa baap aur bachoun, dono ko.”
He continued to point out the importance of adapting in this day and age: “Our parents belong to the generations of the 60’s and 70’s, we are parents in the 21st century so adaptability is essential. We need to adapt to my kids time, the onus lies on me then. The ideal scenario would be both sides making an effort, then there’s nothing more beautiful.”
The Takeaway The Drama Has For Girls & Families
Sunita Marshall: “They will at least think about the topics touched if they want when they watch the drama, there are some people who grasp the messages being given in the drama, some don’t.”
Hassan Ahmed: “There are a-lot of takeaways, but whether some one wants to take it or not, their choice at the end of the day!”
Sunita’s Advice To Girls In A Similar Situation
For girls in a similar situation like Asma, Sunita’s message to them is:
Itna bechari bhi nae hona chahye! Become financially independent.
Sunita Marshall
Lastly, we asked the couple what would be their advice in the case of Asma and Naseer as an outsider? Hassan answered: “Its very simple, Naseer needs to starts taking care of Asma, at the very least to be nice to his son, the son is getting hurt and feels his father is beyond taking care of them. It’s quite settled.”
Who else is hoping Asma’s character sees a journey to independence?
