Saba Hameed has range as an actor. Take, for example, the ARY Digital show Bas Tera Saath Ho. In the show, Hameed plays the wife of the male lead’s uncle (Faran Tahir). A more recent project she’s doing is ARY’s Dar-e-Nijaat where she plays the mother of the female lead’s dad (also Tahir).

And the audience is definitely not alone in thinking it’s quite weird. In a reel, content creator K Khan asked the team behind Dar-e-Nijaat which angle they looked at Hameed from to think she was even remotely fit to play Tahir’s mum, especially when she’s playing his spouse in a show that airs on the same channel.

In the comment section, actress Zhalay Sarhadi said only women seem to age in Pakistani society, as men never really stop being boys. “Hence our industry keeps on submitting to this cultural and generational brainwashing. All over the world, it’s changing, just not in this part of the planet.” She said female actors in Pakistan needed to get “more appropriate roles written for us with better, more realistic casting”. Atiqa Odho also thought the whole situation was ridiculous. In a clip from her drama review show Kya Drama Hai, posted on YouTube, she said, “The cast is fantastic, except I don’t understand how Saba Hameed can play Faran Tahir’s mother.” Odho said Hameed’s look in the show seemed forced because she does not look like a grandmother.