Is the summer heat getting to you or your work stressing you out? If the answer is yes, then it might be time for a short vacay. And where better to go than Pakistan’s infamous galiyat. After all, it also Prime Minister Imran Khan’s favourite mini vacation spot. According to recent reports, the PM had gone for a short trip just last weekend.
Here are a list of hotels and guest houses where you can stay if you’re planning to head North this weekend.
Note: All the prices are for one room that can be availed by two adults and for one night stay.
The 18th Lux Style Awards took place last night in Karachi and though it was a star-studded affair, with the industry’s leading ladies (Meera, Mehwish Hayat, Maya Ali, Saba Qamar) leading the show, we do feel that the star power was less than the previous years.
Here are all the faces missing from the red carpet and award ceremony.
Humayun Saeed
The evergreen hero of the Pakistan entertainment industry was missing from this year’s awards function. Could it be because he wasn’t nominated for Best Actor this year?
At LSA 2018
Hamza Ali Abbasi
To be fair, Hamza Ali Abbasi has lately been missing from the entertainment scene. Both his upcoming projects The Legend of Maula Jatt and Alif are in their post-production stage with no release dates announced.
Hamza was also not nominated for his last film Parwaaz Hai Junoon even though it did well at the box-office. So maybe that’s why he was no-show despite being in the city? Did he feel snubbed? His fans certainly did.
Fawad Khan
To be honest, we’ve gotten used to not having Fawad around anymore. We rarely see him. Does he even exist or was he a figment of our imaginations?
Fawad Khan & Sadaf Fawad at LSA 2016
Osman Khalid Butt
We were expecting to see OB at the red carpet considering his latest film Baaji just released, but he was missing from the LSA scene. Time to unwind?
Osman Khalid Butt at LSA 2018
Ali Zafar
Despite being nominated, Ali Z did not make it to the event. But keeping the mind the controversy surrounding him, he probably thought it would be better to sit this one out than invite more trouble. Our investigation (read stalking) has revealed that Ali is currently in the US doing concerts and shows. Smart move Ali.
Ayesha Omar
Ayesha is a constant at all Lux Style Awards and is seen flaunting her inner fashionista on the red carpet. Wonder why she didn’t make an appearance this year.
2018
2017
2016
Nauman Ejaz
Nauman Ijaz was part of the drama that ensued last year after the awards, in which people called out the award organisers for being biased. Looks like Naumaan is silently boycotting this year’s show.
Looking at this picture, we have to say we missed Vasay’s comedy as well.
Here’s what Nauman had said about last year’s awards:
Hania Aamir & Asim Azhar
Putting them together because, well they’re always together. Hania and Asim also skipped the LSAs even though their good friends Asad Siddiqui and Zara Noor Abbas were in attendance. The two were last spotted chilling in Dubai, so we guess they didn’t want to interrupt their vacay.
Javed Sheikh
Javed Sheikh is usually everywhere, but this time he was nowhere to be seen. And we have to admit, his presence was missed. After last year’s award ceremony where he was pulled into an unnecessary controversy, involving Mahira Khan, maybe Sheikh Sahab decided to sit this one out so he doesn’t get pulled into another one again.
Ahad Raza Mir & Sajal Aly
The newly engaged couple also did not make an appearance. Looks like they’re trying to stay low-key to avoid unnecessary media intrusion.
Sajal & Ahad at LSA 2018
Other notable names who were not in attendance include Urwa Hocane, Farhan Saeed, Hareem Farooq, Sanam Saeed, Muneeb Butt, Aiman Khan and Ahsan Khan.
Pakistan’s most coveted awards show, the Lux Style Awards, took place in Karachi Sunday night and were a star-studded affair as A-list celebrities descended upon the red carpet dressed to the nines in their finest clothes. Though this year’s award show was shrouded in controversy from the minute the nominations were announced, the awards show were a glitzy and glam affair with the entertainment industry’s who’s who present at the event. And unlike last year, this year’s event was more happening.
Here’s a rundown of all that happened at the 18th Lux Style Awards.
Iqra and Yasir get engaged
Possibly the biggest news from the night. Actor-comedian Yasir Hussain put a ring on fellow actor Iqra Aziz after a very public proposal. The two have allegedly been dating for a while now and fans were expecting an announcement soon. But itni bari announcement toh shayad hee kisi nay expect ki ho.
Yasir’s actions drew mixed responses from the public who referred to it as an attention-seeking stunt and called out the couple for their public display of affection. Social media is full of crass jokes made on the newly-engaged couple.
Watch the full video of the proposal here:
Iqra-Yasir
Ali Zafar wins Best Actor Viewers Choice for Teefa in Trouble
The man who stirred the entire LSA controversy took home the award for the Best Actor for his performance in Teefa in Trouble. Though Ali himself wasn’t present at the awards show to receive the award in person, he took to social media to thank his fans for voting for him.
It is pertinent to mention here that following Ali’s nomination several people, including Meesha Shafi, model Eman Suleman, Faris Shafi and Saima Bargfrede withdrew their nominations because they did not want to “share the platform with an (alleged) harasser.”
Meera, Maya and Saba pay a glorious tribute to Shabnam
LUX girls Saba Qamar, Maya Ali and Meera took the stage by storm as they paid a heartfelt tribute to Pakistan’s legendary actress, Shabnam by performing dance sequences on some of her hit songs.
Meera has truly revived herself and was a treat to watch as she danced away on stage with Asad Siddiqui on Wada Karo Sajana. She truly is a star.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzoXR0qhNUc/
Maya Ali performed on Chitti Zara Saiyaan Ji while Saba Qamar gave a fiery performance on Runa Laila’s Mera Babu Chail Chabila.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzobeBVhVih/
Atif Aslam’s performance on Thaam Lo
Everyone’s favourite singer sang his award-winning song Thaam Lo from the film Parwaaz Hai Junoon mesmerising the crowds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzoTW3nhk-Z/
Mehwish Hayat & Fahad Mustafa’s performance
Meera makes an appearance with Captain Naveed
Not sure what this means but Meera Jee was spotted on the red with Captain Naveed with whom she will reportedly also be doing a film soon.
Meera Jee is without a doubt the undisputed Queen of Lollywood. Though Meera hasn’t had any filmy appearances in recent times, she has often dominated headlines, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. But that hasn’t stopped her from expressing herself and this is perhaps the single most reason why I’m such a fan of hers.
Meera’s much-awaited comeback film Baaji released the past weekend and I jumped at the first opportunity to watch it. As I sat through the film, I couldn’t help but connect the Meera onscreen to the Meera I had grown to know over the course of the past 3 months.
Let’s rewind to March 2019. I had just joined The Current and we were making a list of people we can interview. I had previously briefly spoken to Meera about her various plans and met her at the Lux Style Awards. On every occasion, Meera had been forthcoming, friendly and cooperative, contrary to what I heard about her superstar behaviour, so I added her to our list of interviewees. Her onscreen character, Shameera, was a reflection of this. Shameera was also someone with a big and open heart.
March 7 2019
I gave Meera Jee a call and to my surprise, she picked up the phone on the first bell. I introduced myself and expressed my desire to interview her. She told me that I will have to come and meet her at her parlour within half an hour because she wants to meet me before she can commit to an interview.
Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in the parlour’s lobby waiting for Meera to get free. The wait lasted for more than an hour before someone finally came and escorted me to the makeup room where Meera was getting ready. She was on the phone when I entered. Her superstar persona could be felt everywhere and she gestured me to sit on the seat next to her’s. As soon as her phone call ended, she turned to me and asked me what exactly I wanted. I rattled off, explaining to her the interview we want to do with her before she dramatically cut me off with the wave of a hand and told me to first tell her about myself.
After satisfying her questions, I once again started talking about the interview when the phone interrupted us again. Khair by then Meera was ready and she decided that we should move the meeting to her house.
Ignoring all warning bells in my head, and the fact that it was a close friend’s mehndi that day, I followed Meera to her house, where I stayed for more than 2 hours. Out of those 2 hours, a little more than one was spent waiting for her to get free. When we finally got down to talking about the interview, it was almost 8′ o clock. Meera wanted me to run through the questions with her and design the interview so we can shoot it in one go. Meera and I discussed everything down to the smallest of detail and she was good with everything but when I asked her for a date, she said she will discuss with her manager and let me know. All good. I left her house feeling proud of myself for scoring an interview with the one and only Meera.
The next few days were spent trying to get a follow-up from her but with little success. By then Baaji had also been announced, so I was sure that I’ll be able to get an interview. Little did I know.
April 10
In a miraculous twist of faith, we were able to get through to Meera and she asked us to come over and discuss the interview with her and finalise a date. Once again, I went over to her house where we spent 2 hours discussing the interview. Once again, Meera didn’t give us a date and told us that her manager will be in touch.
The next week and weeks to come were spent constantly trying to get in touch with Meera. She continued to remain unavailable. It turned out that she had gone to the United States for a visit. Meera sent me pictures from her trip and told me that she’ll give me an interview once she’s back. She also asked me if I could go over to her house and get her phone fixed for her.
Meera does know how to travel in style
May 30
Baaji’s trailer releases and promotions begin in full swing. I reach out to the PR team of Baaji and ask them to set up an interview with the cast of the film.
June 22
Baaji’s team lands in Lahore and the movie’s PR representative invites us to the hotel, where the team is staying, for a media interaction between 5 and 8 pm. At 6.45pm we reach the hotel only to find out that the media interaction has ended and that there has been a change of plans so the team will now be leaving for a mall visit. This totally puts me off because I had come with everything ready and no one had informed me that the scheduled has been changed. I get into an argument with the PR representative who kept insisting that I came late and that I should have asked her before coming. Ridiculous right? It’s not like I was late or anything. But what can one do?
Meera Jee is seated in the hotel’s restaurant and I walk up to her hoping that maybe she’ll be more accommodating. Nishoo Jee and Meera’s manager are also sitting on the table with us. After we exchange pleasantries, Meera tells me that she’s exhausted since she hasn’t eaten food all day and that I should ask the director to line up something later at night. I have no problems with that so I agree and we move on to having a conversation about her film and how tiring promotions can be.
Meera then tells the PR lady, who’s also in the background, to line up an interview. She curtly informs me that the cast of Baaji has back-to-back mall visits that day and that they will give me an interview when they return from Dubai. Talk about being a total let down. Uss point tak bilkul bas hogayi and I was so upset that I have no words for it.
Uskay baad, cast Dubai say jakar wapas bhi aagayi aur film bhi release hogayi magar mujhe interview nai mila.
As I sat through the film, it felt almost unreal watching Meera on screen. The woman who I had been chasing for the past three months was right in front of me and every movement of hers, every word she spoke was so real that in a few scenes I almost felt I was sitting with her. Kudos to Meera for giving a flawless and natural performance. As someone who enjoys over the top drama, I absolutely loved the film.
The film’s storyline was not the most original, but it was captivating. Each scene flowed into the next and there was no part of the film which felt dragged. It might have been Saqib Malik’s debut film but his years of experience shone through in every scene. The shots and the aesthetics were beautifully done. The hair, wardrobe and makeup team deserve a special round of applause. The leading ladies look absolutely gorgeous in every scene.
Each actor nailed their roles but Meera stole the spotlight. The film was made for her, or rather she was made for this film. Whichever way she likes. Meera is proof that no matter how many faces come and go, she will be evergreen. Like her character in the film says, “Love me or hate me, but you can never replace me.”
When Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp all were down earlier this week, we all panicked slightly and wondered to do with all the free time. Because let us admit, social media is a very important part of our lives. But imagine having to do without it for long periods of time and having to use emails for communication.
Students of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) might have the answer to that as the university has banned the use of social media on campus, as well as the hostels. As per reports, students will no longer be allowed to use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube or WhatsApp. They will only be permitted to use those social media pages that have been approved by the Vice Chancellor. Official Facebook pages of university societies have also been instructed to shut down.
Negative comments on any UET page will also be checked and action taken. Students who continue to use social media will be investigated under the Pakistan Cyber Law 2016.
This is not the first time the UET management has taken such actions. Previously, UET made it compulsory for female students to wear a scarf or dupatta while imposing a ban on sleeveless shirts and capri pants. For male students, wearing shalwar kameez on Fridays was made compulsory.
You sometimes come across people who restore your faith in humanity. Firefighter Waseem Abbas is one of those dedicated workers who lost his life in the line of duty while saving lives.
According to details, Waseem Abbas was part of a rescue team which was undertaking an operation to douse fire in an old house in the inner city of Lahore. The fire damaged the roof of the house due to which it collapsed. Waseem came under the wreckage and died on spot. His dead body was found after two hours.
District Rescue Office Shahid Waheed said that Abbas was a dedicated and hard-working official. The entire rescue team expressed grief over his demise.
No one knows what is happening… no one
knows what will happen… but we are all freaked out!
Dollar floats and soars as freely as Imran
Khan’s sky-high claims of rectifying the economy in the past, buying gold is
the gossip of old times, stock market plunges are a routine matter. Basic
necessities are now luxuries, taxes are piling up these days more quickly than
the fats on one’s bones, education was never free, but wasn’t even as expensive
as of today.
Jobs are scant. Health facilities are
sparse. Incomes and earnings getting more and more exiguous. The economy is
shrinking, debt is accumulating, investors are wary, traders are worried, farmers
are distraught, businessmen depressed and youth distressed.
Everyone is caught up in a whirlpool of
stress and strain, yet the Khan government assures us on a daily basis: “All is
well… all will be well”.
Either it’s the innocence, ignorance or
some blind inference that we still sustain some hope in the current regime.
Probably, we are left with no other option. Probably we still want to test
Khan’s delivery.
Either it’s the incompetence of the
government or it’s the incompetence of the collective social judgement. We are
in a state of love and hate relationship with Khan — exactly like our cricket
team. On a rare, unexpected occasion; it delivers something and we are all
cheering up.
Most of the times we are let down,
crestfallen; yet we have no other option. Do we?
Opposition, on the other hand, the prime
task of which is to safeguard the public interests and to keep an eye on
government functioning, is failing to perform too. Though we see a lot of brouhaha
and hubbub by the opposition parties in the National Assembly these days as the
budget session goes on, it fails to substantially affect the smooth passage and
approval of the finance bill.
Reason: united we stand, divided we “sit”.
This division was quite obvious at the
opposition’s All Parties Conference (APC) convened two days back in Islamabad
when the joint communiqué lacked any solid and affirmative strategy.
The ostensible joint opposition had a clear
difference of opinion and strategy between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and
Maulana’s Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F); between within Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Shehbaz Sharif versus Maryam Nawaz; between smaller
parties and PPP plus PML-N.
So far the synthetic joint opposition is
granting more benefit than inflicting any harm upon Khan’s government. Under
the cloud of thunderous claims by the opposition, it all seems to rain down
well upon the government.
Khan smartly managed to politically
“epoxy-fy” disgruntled Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and
Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), hence securing not just the sanction
of Budget 2019-20, but acquiring a few months’ more time to stabilise his
administration.
Opposition can rely upon mere verbosity via
pressers, media talks, statements and tweets till then. And we are all left at
the mercy of tight economic clenching till then.
October is the new November, they say.
No one knows what is happening… no one knows
what will happen… but we are all freaked out!
On International Day against Drug Abuse, The Current decided to spread awareness on the subject considering what a grave matter of concern it is in our country. We’ve already posted a list of drugs which are very popular among the youth. Here’s a list of drugs you probably had no idea existed.
Bichoo
Bichoo is a local term for scorpion. In order to make a drug out of a scorpion, the bichoo is first killed and then dried in sunlight or burnt on coal. The burnt body is then crushed and mixed with tobacco or hashish and smoked. A bichoo’s tail is what is most important as it contains the venom which gives a high. Bichoo as a drug is most common in KPK.
Shrooms
Though shrooms are not available easily in Pakistan, they are apparently the most organic form of drug available as they don’t leave you with a hangover. You can eat them raw, dried, cooked or stewed.
Samad Bond
As strange as it sounds, Samad Bond is also used as a drug. The glue is poured on a piece of cloth and then inhaled to get a high.
Withdrawal pills for heroin addicts
Medicines which are used to help heroin addicts deal with their addiction is also used as a drug.
ADHD cure pills
Pills used to counteract attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also surprisingly used as a drug. According to our source, the pill when taken with alcohol gives a high like cocaine.
It’s World International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and though Pakistani authorities keep talking about cracking down drug abuse in the country, it’s unfortunate that the number of drug users have increased in the country. Statistics on the number of drug users in the country are not as easily available as the drugs themselves but the fact remains that drug abuse is a cause for concern. Earlier this year, minister Shahryar Afridi claimed that 75% of students in Islamabad’s educational institutions are drug addicts.
We did some research on which drugs are the most popular among teenagers and the results are listed below. This article can serve as a guide to parents and friends and help them identify if those around them are using drugs.
Coke
Cocaine is allegedly the most popular drug among the youth, though a gram of coke can cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 20,000 depending on the quality. News reports also suggest that overdose of it is the reason behind so many young deaths in the country.
Hash (chars)
Hash or weed, locally known as chars, has become very popular among the youth so much so that it is no longer considered a drug. It is either rolled into a cigarette and smoked or people add it to their sheesha for a stronger effect. 100 grams of chars cost Rs 1500 depending on where you get it from. You can roll about 25 cigarettes with 100 grams of chars.
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD for short, is a hallucinogenic drug. Depending on the strip potency, this drug can cost between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4000.
Crystal Meth/Ice
Use of meth and ice has drastically increased in our country. The powder-like substance, which can keep you alert and active for hours, typically costs around 500,000 rupees for a kilo.
Ecstasy
The ecstasy drug is available in the form of a pill which can cost between Rs 2500 and Rs 4000, depending on the variation.
MDMA
MDMA, better known as molly, is a compound of the ecstasy pill. Its price is approximately Rs 9000 per gram and one typically swallows it to feel high. However, it can also be smoked.
