Despite several other Ramzan drama serials on-air, Chupke Chupke is constantly the center of discussion. Love or hate, you can’t help but add to the hype. The reason largely being the star character ‘Meenu’.
You can’t help but fall for the giddy grown woman, because ‘larki bari cool hai’. It’s refreshing to see a carefree and caring woman on-screen for once. Ayeza Khan did a phenomenal job bringing this character to life. From her hilarious reactions to her cheeky dialogue delivery. The character had a serious risk of crossing that line between jovial and annoying, but the Pyarey Afzal actress really held in the reins from going overboard.
Meenu is a much-needed change from the Pakistani drama tropes Ayeza Khan is usually boxed into. After seeing her play a damsel for so long from Mere Mehrban to Thora Sa Haq, she fell down the rabbit hole of scandalous female characters. After Yaariyan and Mere Paas Tum Ho that character was being done to death. Meenu finally gave the artist a chance to showcase her range as an actor.
We’re seeing her play a comedic, jovial character that is adorable, not the ridiculous ‘butt of the joke’. A rare opportunity for many actresses in the drama industry. Ayeza Khan was fortunate to land the role and showcase her talent.
Ayeza Khan Not Your Meenu?
However, all is not fine and dandy. Many Netizens strongly opposed Ayeza Khan as Meenu, regardless of her fine acting skills. The point of objection is that the actress is too old to play a college-aged character on-screen. Since Meenu is a university student that has flunked her final year of Masters a few times, she’s approximately in her mid to late 20s. Ayeza Khan, a mother of two, is also reportedly 30. So she’s not that much older.
How is that even an argument is surprising. This issue wasn’t raised when actors entirely in their 30s were playing teens in the military high school drama Ehd-e-Wafa. Why is this now a concern for an age-appropriate actress to play Meenu. By that standard, we’d have the same actors hogging the screen as most roles in Pakistani drama serials surround lead characters in their 20s.
Given her impressive performance, we ought to cut her some slack. Yet, if you are to blame anyone for not considering this ‘inaccuracy’, blame the casting couch. Turns out Ayeza Khan wasn’t their first choice. The creators of Chupke Chupke had reportedly chosen Sohai Ali Abro for the role. Writer Maliha Rehman shared the tidbit in an Instagram post.
We’ve already seen Sohai Ali Abro play a giddy grown-up in her film, Ye Jawani Phir Nahi Ani and her character in Prem Gali wasn’t far off either. Did we really want to see another actress play the same role she has in the past? We sure didn’t. Fate was in our favor when, despite shooting for two weeks, Sohai Ali Abro had to withdraw from the drama serial.
Ayeza Khan Made Us Love Meenu
Not only has Meenu become synonymous with Ayeza Khan through and through, seeing her flex those acting skills was an added win. The starlet is arguable the most successful drama actress among her peers. She deserved a shot to revamp her on-screen image from ‘the damsel’ and ‘scandalous wife’.
Ayeza Khan is our Meenu whether everyone can get on board or not.
Despite starting her career with the onset of private television in Pakistan back in 2008, not once has Ayeza Khan been given a beloved iconic role. There was Khirad for Mahira, Bunty for Saba Qamar, Khubsoorat for Ayesha Omer, but we’ve never seen Ayeza play a character that continues to stay relevant.
Despite delivering iconic performances in drama serials like Pyarey Afzal, Mere Mehrban, and now Mere Paas Tum Ho, there wasn’t a beloved character that came to mind when Ayeza Khan is mentioned. Yes, Mehwish is undisputedly an iconic character but not a beloved iconic character.
Meenu finally does that for Ayeza Khan. We couldn’t think of anyone else as the lively and loveable Meenu. What sane argument could someone present against that?
Working Mom
Ayeza Khan also shared how her children get to see her performance given how Chupke Chupke is a family drama. She shared how her children love Meenu too.
Ayeza Khan is married to her Meharposh costar Danish Taimoor. The celebrity couple has two children together, Hoorain and Rayan. Ayeza loves Meenu as much as her kids, to the point where she brought home her own Meenu. In an Instagram post, the starlet shared how they’re welcoming a new addition to the family, Meenu, a parrot.
The 30-year-old star posted a short video of the beautiful parrot.
“Introducing the new member of my house “Meenu”. Chupke Chupke will end soon but Meenu will be close to my heart always”, she wrote.
Despite these playful moments, the actress has shared her struggles as a celebrity mom. She talked about the hardships of striking a manageable work-life balance. Ayeza shared how she had to wake up at 7 am at times in order to make lunch for her children, feed them breakfast, drop them off at school and then head to work.
Even throughout the day she would run back and forth between work and home just to make sure everything was okay. That makes Meenu an even sweeter milestone for her. A beloved iconic character she can share with her kids.
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