Oye Motti” Addresses Societal Issues
It has been a few weeks since the drama “Oye Motti” started on Express Entertainment. As the name says, the story is about an overweight girl. But that’s not all! It addresses a deeper issue than just a superficial drama or a comedic play.
In a society where comedy-drama jokes revolve around jokes on overweight people, this drama tackles a severe problem. Body shaming is a problem that is much too common in our society. Any other overweight person, whether it be a male or a female, faces a lot of criticism from the community.
The story features two overweight girls and their struggles. Hajra Yamin has transformed into a chubby office-working girl for this drama. The other storyline revolves around TikToker Kanwal Aftab, who, in reality, is a slim girl.
The story revolves around Aliya, who weighs more than 160kgs. The story takes a turn, and she gets married to a smart young man. Her fiancé, on their engagement day, announces to the attendees that Aliya will lose 100kgs weight within a year. He threatened that he would call off the wedding otherwise.
Why the Drama Got Criticised?
Ever since the 9th episode’s teaser of the drama serial has been released, the public states that it promotes fatphobia and is highly offensive.
Many viewers state that while people who have been subject to body shaming have made a lot of effort to fight this stigma, this drama takes society five steps back in their efforts of several years.
Kanwal Aftab, the lead actor, states that she did this role because she stands with those who are facing this issue. She also noted that the drama does not intend to mock anyone but, indeed, is a reflection of the society which does not accept women beyond their size and weight.
The drama also got criticism from the masses because they believed that the role could have been portrayed by a plus-sized girl, and there was no reason to take a slim girl and transform her into an overweight girl through makeup for the role. Kanwal Aftab, who is a TicToker, is slim in reality. Hajra Yamin is also quite slim and has been made to look overweight for the role.
The public believes that while the drama claims to be addressing the issue and not promoting body shaming, it is skewed towards casting the actors because they want faces that look beautiful rather than average-looking actors.
Some of the audiences were hopeful that the drama would take a turn in which self-acceptance will be highlighted. Many state that they cast slim actors for the role because they wanted to show their transformation from overweight to slim people.
Many of the viewers also stated that the name of the drama, as well as its OST’s lyrics, were quite offensive even if the drama’s storyline wanted to address a more significant issue.
Let’s see how the story unravels and whether or not the drama will shatter the stereotypes that overweight women face in our society. The only option for us is to wait and watch the drama to see how Aliya fights the body0shaming world.