Actor Ayesha Omar reflected on the unforeseen path of Bulbulay, disclosing that the comedy was initially intended as a limited 26-episode venture and that Hina Dilpazeer’s entrance as Momo eventually altered its own direction.
Speaking throughout an appearance on Good Morning Pakistan, Omar additionally opened up regarding her two-decade career, her battles with stress and trust, her connection with painting, and the qualities she cherishes in a life partner.
When Omar entered Bulbulay, there was scant indication that the comedy would proceed on to become one of Pakistan’s longest-running television shows. “I signed for 26 episodes since Bulbulay was only meant to run for 26 episodes,” she stated.
According to Omar, the initial concept centred on three characters — Mehmood Aslam’s Mehmood Sahab, Nabeel Zafar’s Nabeel and her role Khoobsurat — who were supposed to reside together in an apartment without being married.
The format shifted when Dilpazeer appeared as a guest to portray Nabeel’s mother. Omar stated the episode got such a strong reaction that the creators chose to make her a permanent part of the comedy.
“It was a quite odd thing. We all three stayed in an apartment, so it was strange, there was no connection,” she explained. “Then Hina entered the picture and she married Masood Sahab and me to Nabeel. Then it became Bulbulay.”
Omar praised Dilpazeer’s arrival as a key turning point for the show. While its title and music stayed unchanged, the inclusion of Momo helped transform the comedy into the hit audiences eventually came to know.
The comedy ran for years, with Omar noting that “now it has been 17 years” and remembering that the cast celebrated its 16th birthday last year.
Yet despite the show’s rising popularity, Omar said she often considered leaving. “I stayed even though I used to tell him every two weeks that I should leave it,” she said, explaining that she did not initially enjoy working on the comedy.
Looking back, however, the show became a vital part of Omar’s professional identity. Her portrayal of Khoobsurat remains one of her most identifiable roles, while Bulbulay later returned for a second season.
Her career in showbiz, meanwhile, started with music rather than acting. “My first project was not acting, it was a song for one of the earliest soap operas,” she said. “So I have truly been here for twenty years.”
Over those two decades, Omar’s appearance and personal style also changed.
Recalling the early days of her career, she said people often remarked on her physical transformation, including the ‘baby fat’ she had during Bulbulay. She attributed the changes to shifts in her lifestyle as well as her personal growth.
“My dressing sense and physical appearance has changed. I didn't use to plan before. But the Khoobsurat character forced me to change,” she said.
Behind that evolution, Omar said, were experiences that had also shaped the manner she approached independence and relationships. “I don’t like to receive help from others. I have always been very hyper independent since I was little. I was raised by a single mother and had no father,” she said.
Omar acknowledged that learning to accept help was something she believed women should permit themselves to do, especially as women often readily offer support to others. “I do not know how to receive help,” she said, adding that learning to accept it was important.
The actress also admitted that she did not build trust easily because it had been broken in the past. She said she tended to overthink situations and often found herself worrying about things.
She traced some of those tendencies to patterns she had noticed in her mother, who, she said, also experienced a great deal of stress. Becoming conscious of those patterns, however, had helped her manage them.
“I overthink a lot and I think that is something that was passed to me from my mother because she always used to have a lot of stress but this can be controlled if you start to realize that they are patterns,” she said. “If you become aware you are repeating those patterns, you do it less,” she explained.
Omar said she now tried to help both herself and her mother by deliberately considering the best-case scenario instead of constantly focusing on the worst possible outcome.
Away from acting, painting remained another significant part of Omar’s life — and one she hoped to pursue more seriously again. “I would like to pursue my degree in painting which I had abandoned,” she said. “I stopped painting when I began acting but I think if I had done that, I would have gone in my original direction.”
Omar described herself as a painter before entering acting and recalled earning exceptionally high marks during her studies. “I was just a painter. I topped the subcontinent. My marks were 99% and even in NCA, I received a distinction,” she said.
Her thoughts on relationships were equally candid. When asked about the qualities she would want in a life partner, Omar named kindness as her top priority.
She was also clear about what she would not want to experience again, naming emotional and physical abuse as deal-breakers. “I put up with abuse before. I was in a relationship,” she said.
The admission brought another deeply personal layer to an interview that moved between the milestones of her career and the experiences that shaped her understanding of independence, relationships and self-worth.
Omar’s career has since expanded across acting, producing and television. Her recent work includes the 2024 film Taxali Gate, while in 2026 she starred in Mera Lyari as Behnaz Baloch and is also credited as its executive producer. She also hosted Lazawaal Ishq, a dating reality show that debuted on YouTube in 2025.
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