Best entertainment news in the industry, we break entertainment stories as soon as celebrities post on their social media and do Pakistani drama reviews.
Former ‘String’s singer Bilal Maqsood had taken to Twitter today to slam users for making social media accounts of his father, veteran playwright and host Anwar Maqsood. He requested his followers to block such accounts as they could put his father’s life in danger.
“These kinds of fake tweets only put my Abbu’s life in danger. This guy has already blocked me. Please can you all report this account. Abbu does not post anything on social media. His actual account has only 3 posts. We made that account so we can report all the fake ones.”
These kinds of fake tweets only put my Abbu’s life in danger. This guy has already blocked me. Please can you all report this account. Abbu does not post anything on social media. His actual account has only 3 posts. We made that account so we can report all the fake ones. pic.twitter.com/BP5G749sEy
The celebrated screenwriter had clarified in 2020 with a video to prove that he only had one Twitter account.
“My name is Anwar Maqsood and because of circumstances, I had to make this video to tell you that this is my official Twitter account,” he was seen saying in the video.
This is my official account. I request you to report all other accounts that are impersonating me. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/2qTXtCZJ6n
It warms our hearts to see kay aaj kal kay tidday kitnay jazbay say apnay shauq dikhatay hain. Particularly how popular Korean bands are among them.
A BTS fan Alina, took her love for the Korean musicians to the streets when she promoted Jung Kook’s single ‘Seven’ across the streets of Karachi by posting images everywhere, and we must say this is the kind of planning and task execution even senior officials cannot show!
Alina, whose Twitter account goes by kimtnam, shared pictures of the posters she had plastered in different areas of Karachi like Dar ul Sehat, Rufi Lake Drive Gate and Pedestal Bridge opposite Karachi University.
Jungkook’s SEVEN posters are up in Gulistan e Johar Karachi Pakistan Pedestal Bridge Opposite Karachi University Universal Medicos (behind one of the fridges) near Continental Bakery beside Stylo, Kamran Chowrangi Dar ul Sehat Rufi Lake Drive gate Perfume Chowk pic.twitter.com/gLwHIQCEkg
The newly launched serial ‘Nauroz’ is based on the effects of social media in our daily lives, with an approach that is definitely out of the box. Mawra Hocane has opted for a very different role, a fierce character based in the beautiful northern areas of Pakistan. The cast of the drama is phenomenal with names like Manzar Sehbai and Shamil Khan attached to it. The drama is written by Kashif Anwar and directed by Shahzad Kashmiri. The show opens with Shamyl Khan’s character, Ramish Khan, telling his daughter a story of a post-apocalyptic world. He then mentions the year is 2046 which is bound to get your gears turning.
The show does deserve credit for bringing the audience in with these reveals and making you question everything that him and his wife are telling their daughter. The story also seems heavily inspired by Rapunzel, of a girl trapped in a closed room with no access to the outside world.
We then get a Disney-esque montage of the little girl growing up in the confines of her room into a twenty-year-old Mawra Hocane. We also find out that the year is not decades in the future.
The first half of the episode is exciting and revealing, while the second half with flashbacks gives you context.
The episode also got positive reviews from social media.
Pop singer Ariana Grande has reportedly separated from her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez, according to TMZ. The two have been separated since January and are reportedly heading for a divorce.
A source told the tabloid that the two had been separated since the Grammy award winning singer had been filming the upcoming musical film ‘Wicked’ and it seems like the rumors are true because the singer was spotted without her ring at the Wimbledon final held on Sunday.
TMZ further revealed that the two had remained friends and talked a lot on the phone, but there is no chance of their relationship improving.
The ‘7 rings’ singer had gotten engaged to the real-estate agent in December 2020, getting married in 2021 in an intimate wedding ceremony where only their family and friends were present.
Claim: Afghan singer Hasiba Noori had been killed in Peshawar
On Monday, social media was ablaze with news that Afghan singer Hasiba Noori had passed away in Pakistan under mysterious circumstances, having taken refuge here after the takeover of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Conflicting news reports emerged on social media where accounts said she had passed away in Peshawar, while others said that she had been killed in Quetta.
A journalist, Izharullah, shut down rumors of Noori’s death in Peshawar, saying that there was no such information available with the police.
Where in Peshawar?Who said?What is the source?
One of her music directors told me she died in Quetta and cause of death is not known to him. She was living with her mother in Quetta.
However it was senior journalist Iftikhar Firdous who took to his Twitter account to say that the news was fake, and the Afghani singer is alive and well in Quetta.
FACT CHECK: Just spoke to Haseeba Noori, the Afghan Singer who was reported to be killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She is well and alive. She is in Karachi. Social media and some news websites had shared the news of her death. Her picture was taken while she was undergoing an… pic.twitter.com/61nEM4brM2
The Current spoke with Firdous on how he reached out to the Afghan singer, and he revealed that he had managed to get in touch with Noori after contacting at least 300 people for 12 hours. Firdous had a video call with Noori, which confirmed that his source was reliable and the news that she died was fake.
On the viral picture of Noori’s alleged corpse lying in a hospital bed, Firdous revealed that it was taken after a surgery in Karachi, the singer had clarified.
Currently, Noori is in Quetta, and has informed Firdous that she will post a video to squash these rumors.
The claim is false.
The singer also shared a video on her TikTok account to silence the rumors.
It’s no surprise that Pakistan is bursting with stories that desperately need to be told on the big screen, but our attention always falls back to the same old ‘saas bahu jhagray’. But this time, Green Entertainment is proving that good, diverse story telling is back in the game with a series of dramas released last week that have been receiving praise from audiences. Among them ’22 Qadam’ looks like a real game-changer because it is truly the first time that we’re getting a good sports drama, that too about women.
There haven’t been good sports biopics made on Pakistani players, considering how impressive the list of icons is. There was the rare gem of a telefilm ‘Bhaag Amina Bhaag’ released in 2011, starring Amina Sheikh as female Pakistani athlete Naseem Hamid, who won a gold medal at the 11th South Asian Games in Bangladesh. Since then, a biopic on Shoaib Akhtar was in the works but the former cricket star announced that he was leaving the project. It’s disappointing how no attempt was made by our entertainment industry to explore the lives of sports stars, but it feels like ’22 Qadam’ is taking a step in the right direction. The story revolves around a woman’s passion for cricket, leading her to becoming a national player.
Helmed by the powerful performances by Hareem Farooq and Wahaj Ali, ’22 Qadam is for all those who grew up loving the Bollywood film ‘Chak De! India’ and how it championed women in sports, a long neglected issue that remains pushed out of the spotlight because of patriarchal assumptions that women can’t play sports, and how underfunded this issue remains. The series focuses on a spirited, confident woman Fari who dreams of becoming a cricket player, and her luck turns around when she gets an opportunity to meet the famous cricket player Sana Mir, who makes a cameo in the second episode as a visitor in a girl’s college, and advises Fari to never give up on her dream. As Fari is climbing up the ladder to success, the series alternates with the story of Jimmy, a former cricket star who after an injury, was forced to give up on the game and take a back seat.
“When we came up with this concept,” Farooq told The Current when the series was announced. “The thought behind it was that we need to empower women in the best way possible and there is no way better than projecting women in sports. Cricket, especially being the most loved sport in South-Asia.”
She also stressed on the importance of such a drama that would not only be enjoyed by people, but also educate them about breaking stereotypes, calling ’22 Qadam’: ‘the voice of the unheard’.
Since the two episodes went up on social media, clearly online audiences share our joy because the feedback has been nothing but positive.
So far #Junaid is a young boy with big dreams! He has health issues leg injury & heart problem still fighting for his dreams going against the will of family!#fari is college going passionate girl loves cricket immensely!
#22qadam is refreshing with it’s concept. Fari is typical representation of bubbly in PTV. Fari’s love and craze for cricket her dream to be part of WCT one-day, all of this was shown in 1st episode. The bond between two sisters and character Naz Kiryana I liked them. pic.twitter.com/uLVrs0TUyr
The Wimbledon final was held in London on Sunday, where Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz made history by defeating Novak Djokovic, becoming the first outsider who broke the reign held by the big four of the game: Raphael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Djokovic.
But what was equally thrilling as the game, was the attendance of A-list stars glittering among the audience, taking up more space than we have ever seen at a public event.
Here we have pictures of some of the celebrities who attended yesterday’s thrilling final.
Among the recent stream of K-dramas that have arrived on Netflix, we highly recommend that you check out ‘See You In My 19th Life’. Based on the popular webtoon comic by the same name, the series follows Ban Ji Eum (played by Mr Queen’s Shin Hye Sun) as a woman who has a secret: she has had at least 19 past lives, remembering all of them even though she doesn’t know why and how it started. In her 18th life, she meets a young boy Moon Seo Ha (played by Yumi’s Cells Ahn Bo Hyun) when they are children, but her life is quickly cut off because of a horrifying car accident. Now reborn with a new face in her 19th life, Ji Eum is determined to trace down Seo Ha, and also meet others in her journey to understand her ability.
With its gorgeous story telling and moving performances of Hye Sun and Bo Hyun, we should give our followers a list of reasons why they must absolutely check out this drama.
1. Heart tugging and gorgeous story telling
The series really activates your tear ducts from the first episode when it touches upon themes like childhood abuse, trauma and loneliness, while exploring the lives of both Seo Ha and Ji Eum as they navigate dealing with adulthood while overcoming the abuses they suffered as children.
2. Perfect for all those who love Korean fantasy dramas, especially the mortal x immortal relationship
If you’re a fan of Korean fantasy dramas like ‘Goblin’, ‘The Legend Of The Blue Sea’ and ‘Doom At Your Service’, which all revolved around a relationship between an immortal being with magical powers who falls in love with a human being, then this is definately your kind of drama. The trope is reversed where this time, the woman is the one with magical powers, doing all in her power to make the mortal man, her long lost lover, come back to her and fix their torn relationship. With their undeniable chemistry and how they help each other heal from past wounds when they were tragically torn apart, will definitely keep you hooked to this drama.
3. Shin Hye Sun is captivating as a free-spirited and confident female lead
Hye Sun has outshined in several dramas in the past like Mr Queen but this is the drama where she proves that her talent is unmatchable. The female lead Ji Eum is a headstrong and fearless woman, whose many talents compel her to becoming a cash cow for her leecherous father, who keeps coming to her for money despite abandoning her. But most importantly, how Ji Eum connects and eventually consols the loved ones she had abandoned when she died in her past life, and how she unabashedly seeks to protect and heal Seo Ha, is what makes her a compelling female lead.
4. Ahn Bo Hyun moves audience with his heart tugging performance as the shy and lovable male protagonist.
Bo Hyun had previously played second leads in dramas like ‘Her Private Life’ and ‘Yumi’s Cells’ but it is with ‘See You In My 19th Life’ where he really makes the audience wail with how he plays Seo Ha. A troubled man who is dealing with the grief of losing his mother and later the love of his life, a disability that makes him the brunt of bullying by his father and step mother, it is how charming and versatile Bo Hyun is with the way he plays the character, and also how he matches the powerhouse Hye Shin, truly making this Netflix’s top rated Korean dramas.
Geo Television’s serial ‘Jhoom’ has turned into a hit, with Hashim Nadeem’s writing and Ali Faizan’s direction garnering accolades.
A 7th Sky Entertainment presentation, Jhoom features the love story of a couple with a sizable age difference. Haroon Kadwani plays the character of angry young man Aryaan while Zara Noor Abbas is playing the character of the hardworking and mature Doctor Maryam. Audiences became immediate fans, with each episode of the drama garnering more than 10 million views on YouTube.
The last episode of the drama has aired and fans were in rapture, saying that the last episode made them cry with Maryam and Aryaan. Many fans were of the view that Aryaan should have not forgiven Maryam because she didn’t stand by his side when he needed her the most but mostly fans loved the happy ending.
Many fans are already demanding a second season while others were sad that the drama ended early. Read audience comments about the ending:
TikTok sensation Sehar Hayat tied the knot with musician Sami Rasheed in a grand nikkah ceremony last year in December. The remaining wedding festivities kicked off this month with a fairytale bridal shower, leading to a colorful and glamorous maayon and barat.
Sehar looks stunning and gorgeous in every event. Here are a few pictures of newlyweds from their mayoon ,qawali night, mehndi and barat. Sehar can be seen in a gorgeous sleeveless blue kurta with a matching mirror-work sharara whereas the groom looks like a prince in a coordinating mirror-work blue kurta and white shalwar. Both of their outfits are from Agha Hassan’s design studio.
Sehar wore a mehndi lehenga with heavy embroidery whereas Sami chose an embellished shalwar kameez with full embroidery coat on it. The bride’s outfit was by Mohsin Naveed whereas Sami’s outfit was from Agha Hassan’s design studio and coat from Darweshman.
Sehar also donned an Arzoo black saree with golden embroidery and her groom put on a black kurta shalwar from Agha Hassan’s design studio. The couple slayed in matching black outfits and danced the night away with their close friends and family.
Sehar wore a bridal red lehenga with heavy jewellery whereas, the groom looked handsome in a traditional black sherwani. Both of their outfits are from Mohsin Naveed design studio.
Famous TikTokers attended the wedding.
Sehar Hayat is a multi-talented social media influencer with more than two million followers. Apart from being an influencer, she is also a model and actress and has collaborated with many popular TikTokers as well.
