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Baby Baji is the first season of a Pakistani family soap television series produced by Abdullah Seja under his production banner iDream Entertainment. The ensemble cast of the series includes Samina Ahmad, Munawar Saeed, Javeria Saud, Saud, Junaid Niazi, Sunita Marshall, Hassan Ahmed, Fazal Hussain, Syeda Tuba Anwar, and Aina Asif. The series revolves around the family of Baby Baji and her struggle to keep it united during her husband's illness.

Plot

Baby Baji is the story of a household where Baby Baji lives with her four sons(Jamal, Nasir, Wasif and Walid) and husband. Jamal is the oldest and has two grown kids with his wife, Azra. Azra is a very evil and immmoral woman, who fights with everyone in the household, and disrepects her father-in-law and mother-in-law. She is known for having a great temper and verbally degrades everyone who upsets her even the slightest.

Nasir has one son and lives with his wife, Asma. Asma is loved by everyone due to her kind-hearted personality. She takes care of everyone, is reliable, patient and friendly. However, her husband Naseer doesn't love her, as he was forced to marry her, since his parents didn't approve of his lover. Naseer always verbally and physically abuses both Asma and their son.

The third son, Wasif gets married to Farhat, across the course of the drama. Farhat is a modern and independent woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind. After moving into the house, her and Azra never get along, as she always fights back with her, unlike Asma.

Waleed is Baby Baji's youngest son, the only one who isn't married. He is interested in his neighbor, Saman.

The story revolves around the problems of this joint family system. After the illness of her husband, Baby Baji took the responsibility of holding her family together. Baby Baji whose elder three sons are married, struggles to maintain a balance among her children in the joint family system. Every day a new quarrel took place in the house because her oldest daughter in law, Azra, is a very cunning, rude and manipulative woman. After the death of Baby Baji's husband, all the sons took their part from the property and separated. All this happened because of 2 of the daughter in laws of Baby Baji, Azra and Farhat, who kept fighting daily. The only good daughter in law was Nasir's wife, Asma as she always treated her in laws with respect and kindness despite her husband mistreating her.

After seperating, the sons created a system where Baby Baji and Walid would live at a different son's house every month. She kept constantly moving between the 3 houses as no son wanted her to stay for too long. Baby Baji tried her best to reunite her sons but she is kicked out of the house by Azra. She became homeless and went to an old-age home. Walid, after returning home from Lahore, finds her in the old-age home and yells at his brothers for neglecting to care for her. After facing the consequences of their own deeds, all three sons realized the importance of their mother. Jamal kicks Azra out of the house and she is diagnosed with cancer. Naseer gets conned by his lover on the wedding day and returns to apologize to his mom, as she was right all along. She forgives him. However, it has become too late then and in the end, Baby Baji died. She dies after getting Waleed engaged to Saman. Wasif, who had gone abroad without meeting his mom, doesn't make it back to Pakistan in time for her burial.

Cast

• Samina Ahmad as Rashida Begum aka Baby Baji
• Munawar Saeed as Siddiqui Sahab
• Javeria Saud as Azra
• Saud as Jamal
• Sunita Marshall as Asma
• Hassan Ahmed as Naseer
• Aina Asif as Saman
• Junaid Jamshed Niazi as Wasif
• Syeda Tuba Anwar as Farhat
• Fazal Hussain as Waleed
• Faiza Khan as Rameen
• Farhad Ali as Ali
• Javeria Nayyar as Gulshan Aara
• Afshan Qureshi as Azra's mother
• Mizna Waqas as Rakshi
• Fareeha Jabeen as Rakshi's mother

Production

Hassan Ahmed was earlier offered the role of Jamal, which he rejected and he was again approached to portray the character of Naseer. Hassan's spouse Sunita Marshall portrayed the Asma, Naseer's wife, for which she was not the first choice.

Soundtrack

The ost was performed by Bisma Abdullah with Eva B as a rap artist. The lyrics and composition were by The Loop Men.

Reception

Galaxy Lollywood praised the series for tackling the various common and relatable problems of a joint family. A critic from the Daily Times reviewed that the story of the series is a bit hard to be comprehend. Javeria Saud's performance as a cunning and outspoken daughter-in-law was well-received by critics and audiences. A reviewer from The News International lauded the performances of some actors, clever characterisation, fast-paced narrative and depiction of traditions.

The soap opera gained high viewership both on television and digitally on YouTube. It gained the highest rating of 15.7 TRPs which became the highest rated last episode of the year.

Sequel

In December 2023, The sequel for the Baby Baji announced with the title of Baby Baji Ki Bahuwain and it will be broadcast in 2024 on the same network.

References

1. "Tuba Anwar speaks up about the 'Baby Baji' experience". ARY NEWS. 23 May 2023.
2. "A family as big as 'Baby Baji' is a no-go for us: Hasan, Sunita on joint family system in Pakistan". The Express Tribune. 27 July 2023.
3. Mossadiq, Zainab (10 July 2023). "Baby Baji Takes Bold Steps Towards Documenting Joint Family Troubles". Galaxy Lollywood.
4. Khan, Bushra Zafar (8 June 2023). "The story of 'Baby Baji' is a bit hard to comprehend | Reviews". Daily Times.
5. "Javeria Saud wins hearts with portrayal of Azra in 'Baby Baji'". Daily Times. 30 May 2023.
6. "Supporting Actors Who Are Doing a Marvellous Job". Galaxy Lollywood. 15 June 2023.
7. "Javeria Saud says 'Baby Baji' exceeded expectations of success". The Express Tribune. 12 July 2023.
8. Usman Ghafoor (13 August 2023). "Dissonant but agreeable | Shehr". The News International.
9. "Drama serial 'Baby Baji' successfully manages to capture millions of views". Associated Press of Pakistan. 12 June 2023.
10. "#BabyBaji - Record-Breaking Entertainment! - The last episode received highest rating in all dramas of 2023!". 2 August 2023. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023 – via Instagram.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
11. "ARY Digital Announces Sequel 'Baby Baji Ki Bahuwain': A Fresh Take On Family Dynamics And Domestic Politics". Galaxy Lollywood. 30 December 2023.

• 2023 Pakistani television series debuts