Ayesha Omar reveals 'Bulbulay' was originally planned for just 26 episodes

Actor Ayesha Omar looked back on the unexpected journey of Bulbulay, revealing that the sitcom was originally planned as a limited 26-episode project and that Hina Dilpazeer’s arrival as Momo ultimately transformed its trajectory. Speaking during an appearance on Good Morning Pakistan, Omar also opened up about her two-decade career, her struggles with stress and trust, her relationship with painting, and the qualities she values in a life partner. When Omar joined Bulbulay, there was little indication that the sitcom would go on to become one of Pakistan’s longest-running television shows. “I came for 26 episodes because Bulbulay was only supposed to be for 26 episodes,” she said. According to Omar, the original concept revolved around three characters — Mehmood Aslam’s Mehmood Sahab, Nabeel Zafar’s Nabeel and her character Khoobsurat — who were meant to live together in an apartment without being married. The format changed when Dilpazeer appeared as a guest to play Nabeel’s mother. Omar said the episode received such a strong response that the makers decided to make her a permanent part of the sitcom. “It was a very odd thing. We all three lived in an apartment, so it was weird, there was no connection,” she explained. “Then Hina came into the picture and she married Masood Sahab and me to Nabeel. Then it became Bulbulay.” Omar credited Dilpazeer’s arrival as a major turning point for the show. While its title and music remained unchanged, the introduction of Momo helped shape the sitcom into the hit audiences eventually came to know. The sitcom continued for years, with Omar noting that “now it has been 17 years” and recalling that the cast celebrated its 16th birthday last year. Yet despite the show’s growing popularity, Omar said she repeatedly considered leaving. “I continued 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 sitcom. Looking back, however, the show became an important part of Omar’s professional identity. Her portrayal of Khoobsurat remains one of her most recognisable roles, while Bulbulay eventually returned for a second season. Her career in showbiz, meanwhile, began with music rather than acting. “My first project was not acting, it was a song for one of the first soap operas,” she said. “So I have actually been here for twenty years.” Over those two decades, Omar’s appearance and personal style also evolved. Recalling the early days of her career, she said people often commented 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 evolution. “My dressing sense and physical appearance has changed. I didn't use to plan before. But the Khoobsurat character made me change,” she said. Behind that evolution, Omar said, were experiences that had also shaped the way she approached independence and relationships. “I don’t like to get 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 allow themselves to do, particularly as women often readily offer support to others. “I do not know how to receive help,” she said, adding that learning to receive it was important. The actress also admitted that she did not develop trust easily because it had been broken in the past. She said she tended to overthink situations and frequently found herself stressing about things. She traced some of those tendencies to patterns she had observed in her mother, who, she said, also experienced a great deal of stress. Becoming aware of those patterns, however, had helped her manage them. “I overthink a lot and I think that is something that was attributed to me from my mother because she always used to have a lot of stress but this can be controlled if you start to release 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 consciously considering the best-case scenario instead of constantly focusing on the worst possible outcome. Away from acting, painting remained another important 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 left,” she said. “I stopped painting when I started 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 achieving exceptionally high marks during her studies. “I was just a painter. I topped the subcontinent. My marks were 99% and even in NCA, I got a distinction,” she said. Her reflections on relationships were equally candid. When asked about the qualities she would want in a life partner, Omar identified 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 added 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 premiered on YouTube in 2025.