Abu Bakar green flag: why Indian women are swooning over Dar-e-Nijaat
India Today asked why women are yearning for Abu Bakar after his Episode 30 confession. What Indian viewers and writers say, and the flaws they skip.
Indian women are calling Abu Bakar, Sheheryar Munawar’s character in Dar-e-Nijaat, the internet’s newest “green flag”, and now Indian newsrooms are writing about it. On Saturday, 14 November, India Today ran a column asking why women are yearning for this fictional man, a day after his long-awaited confession to Zaryab in Episode 30.
One small correction first: India Today’s headline calls it a PTV drama. Dar-e-Nijaat is an ARY Digital serial, written by Umera Ahmed, and its episodes go up on ARY Digital’s YouTube channel with English subtitles, which is how most Indian fans watch.
What did India Today say about Abu Bakar?
The column, by Sana Farzeen in Mumbai, starts from a familiar place for many young women: bad dates, situationships and men who cannot communicate. Against that, she argues, Abu Bakar stands out because he is in no hurry. He does not demand that Zaryab love him back, forget her past or become the wife he imagined.
It points to the small things viewers rewind: the extra toffee he brings home, helping her with an earring, picking up the phone and slippers she throws in anger, switching on the air conditioner for her. And it singles out his faith. Unlike Zamil, who uses religion to judge Zaryab, Abu Bakar tells her that her relationship with God is hers, and his belief makes him gentler, not harsher.
What are Indian viewers saying?
ARY News reported on Friday, 13 November, that the drama has become “a full-blown phenomenon” in India and Bangladesh. It collected comments from Indian women saying Abu Bakar has “impossibly raised my standards” and asking when they will meet such a man in real life. A line doing the rounds on Indian social media, according to ARY News, rewrites an old proverb about the reward of patience into “Abu Bakr chahiye”.
Some Indian viewers compared him with Ajay Devgn’s patient husband Vanraj in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, ARY News said, while others set him against the angry, possessive heroes of Animal and Kabir Singh. ARY News also cited an Indian Express piece arguing that women are not swooning because he is perfect, but because he offers emotional safety that does not have to be earned.
Why did Episode 30 make it louder?
In Episode 30, aired on 13 November, Abu Bakar finally tells Zaryab he has loved her for a long time. Reviewit.pk called it one of the show’s best confession scenes, and ARY’s upload of the episode had passed 6.3 million views by Sunday morning. The episode then ended on a cliffhanger, with cancer medicine found in his home, which has fans guessing who is ill. One viewer quoted by Reviewit summed it up: it began with C for confession and ended with C for cancer.
Is Abu Bakar too perfect?
Not everyone thinks so, including the actor. India Today noted that Sheheryar has described the character as a people-pleaser with a saviour complex, someone who feels he must rescue everyone. The column also cited Umera Ahmed asking why kindness, empathy and forgiveness are treated as extraordinary when they should be ordinary.
That is the real point of the Indian reaction. It is less about one handsome man on screen and more about how rare a calm, respectful husband still is on television, on both sides of the border.
Episode 32 is next on ARY Digital, and the promo is already up on the channel.
