Best entertainment news in the industry, we break entertainment stories as soon as celebrities post on their social media and do Pakistani drama reviews.
After a picture of Gigi Hadid’s spice cabinet went viral on social media, Shan Foods has released an ad featuring the supermodel.
“People ask us if we are the best. We say ‘Ji, Ji‘,” says the ad as a box of Seekh Kabab Masala peeks from the side.
Gigi’s love for Shan Masala came to the spotlight when the model took the ‘Post a Picture of’ challenge on Instagram. When a follower asked her to share a picture from September 15, Gigi shared a picture of her spice cabinet which was full of desi masalas including zeera, haldi, garam masala and tandoori masala. Pakistanis were also quick to the spot the box of Shan Seekh Kabab masala on the side. The supermodel shared that she ate them during her pregnancy.
ARY Digital has finally dropped the first teasers of its most-awaited drama Pehli Si Muhabbat’, featuring Maya Ali, Sheheryar Munawar and Hassan Shehryar Yasin.
The first teasers give audiences a glimpse into the upcoming drama and introduces the main characters of the show: Aslam (Munawar), Rakshee (Ali) and Akram (HSY).
The teaser introducing Aslam is titled ‘Every time I see your smile…I fall in love all over again’, while the one introducing Rakshee is titled ‘Love doesn’t need to be perfect…It just needs to be true!”
Meanwhile, the one introducing Akram is titled ‘You can’t buy love…but you can pay heavily for it’. It is pertinent to add here that Pehli Si Muhabbat will mark HSY’s television debut.
Written by Faiza Iftikhar and directed by Anjum Shahzad, Pehli Si Muhabbat is expected to be an intense love story. The OST of the drama has been composed by Ali Zafar.
Aray. Humbled my friend. But I strongly feel that that you are one of the best song writers and deserve more credit. From Aadat to “Pehli Si Mohabbat”. Brilliant work. Let’s hope people enjoy it as much as we did. https://t.co/NfsGuVmRsX
Sharing the teaser on social media, Munawar thanked the director for being “the right kind of crazy” and his co-stars for making “every day on set a wonderful experience”.
Addressing the audiences, the actor wrote: “I hope you like the project as much as we liked shooting it.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA and TV host Aamir Liaquat Hussain’s first wife Bushra Iqbal has opened up about her divorce and has revealed that Liaquat divorced her over the phone at the behest of his second wife Syed Tuba Aamir.
In a social media post, Bushra Iqbal confirmed the separation and wrote: “Salam. I think its I bring about some clarity regarding my relationship with my ex-husband Aamir Liaquat.”
“He has divorced me,” stated Bushra adding that he did it over the phone in front of Tuba at her request.
“Divorcing me is one thing, but doing it in front of Tuba on call at her request, was perhaps the most painful and traumatic thing for my children and I,” said Iqbal.
Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan remake of 1995 hit Coolie No. 1 released on Christmas and fans were more than just disappointed with how the film turned out. So much so that the film ranks lower than the Salman Khan starrer Race 3 on IMDb.
The movie which also features Javed Jaffery, Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever in pivotal roles has been directed by David Dhawan himself. Dhawan had also directed the original version starring Govinda and Karishma Kapoor in the lead.
Govinda fans are also very upset with the director and cast for remaking an iconic movie by ripping the best parts into shreds. While the director brought in more vibrancy and colour to the film as well a modern touch, it doesn’t seem to have resonated well with the audiences.
Race 3, which released in 2018, was ranked 1.9 on IMDb, which was considered one of the poorest ratings ever. However, Coolie No. 1 has beaten Race 3 with an IMDb rating of 1.4 only. It fares only better than Sadak 2, that has an abysmal 1.1/10 rating on IMDB. Sadak 2 stars Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapoor.
Minal Khan’s upcoming project with Yasir Hussain Pyaas will highlight the life of underprivileged women of Kohala Paien, Haripur who walk many miles every day to fetch water for their daily use.
Sharing pictures from the sets and details about her character, Minal said: “Shameem is a window for me to look into the life of underprivileged women of Kohala Paien, Haripur who walk through many miles to fetch water for their daily use.”
“Portraying a girl who goes through all this was really a lifetime experience for me,” remarked the actor.
Minal also shared that the film will highlight water crisis in the country.
“Water we consume daily and don’t realise how precious it is for someone living nearby,” said Minal. “Pyaas is the first drop to a series by Wajahat Hussain who is aiming to highlight such issues through a number of plays/ short films.”
Wishing Hussain good luck, Khan wrote: “Thank you for giving me a challenging character. I am available in all my capacity for any such opportunity next time too.”
Earlier, Yasir had also shared a picture with his co-star Khan and Wajahat from the sets of the film.
According to details, Pyaas is expected to release next month. Besides Yasir and Minal, the short film will also feature Nazar Hussain, Tipu Shah and Madiha Rizvi.
Iftikhar Thakur has expressed his desire to build a hospital for children suffering from thalassemia in his native town Mian Channu.
According to reports, the veteran comedian has said that he wants to build a state-of-the-art facility that would provide free of cost treatment to children with thalassaemia. He said that work on the hospital, which would also provide liver transplant facility to the patients in need, would begin in January 2021.
Thakur said he decided to build the facility while doing charity work at a hospital in Multan. He shared that he felt that there was a lack of treatment facilities for children with thalassaemia in the country.
“When I worked on this subject, I came to know that there were mobile hospitals for such children [in some countries],” said Thakur.
The comedian further said that later during a show in the United Kingdom (UK), he appealed for donations for a mobile hospital, adding that responding to his appeal one of his fans donated funds for the facility that was working here. Thakur said over 25,000 children were registered as thalassaemia patients only in south Punjab.
Thakur also hailed late journalist, poet and playwright Munno Bhai for establishing the Sundas Foundation which works for children with thalassaemia.
Meanwhile, responding to a question, Thakur suggested that in order to bring improvement in the local commercial theatre, there should be proper script scrutiny committees to eliminate “vulgar content”.
To another question regarding the Artist Support Fund, Thakur suggested that the government should create job opportunities for artistes, instead of giving them Rs5,000 per month scholarships.
Mahira Khan penned a heartfelt note for veteran actress Marina Khan on her birthday.
Sharing a picture of the two, Mahira wrote: “To the world, Marina Khan is Pakistan’s ultimate sweetheart! To me Marina is my first friend in this industry.”
“Her and her husband Kuchu were the first people to make me feel welcome,” revealed Mahira. “They have unconsciously, had a very big part to play in who I am today.”
“The way I conduct myself, the way I am with my juniors and seniors, the way I try to handle success and failure.. so much of it is because of all those days and nights spent at their home,” she continued. “A home which is always open to all, where I met some of the most amazing people.”
Forty odd episodes after Nand lost her mind, she has come back with a bang and brand new face.
After ruining everyone’s lives and getting exposed Gohar (Faiza Hassan) got perfect retribution for her evil deeds – she lost her mind and started living on the streets following which audiences believed the drama was close to an end. But turns out the makers had other plans up their sleeves. They turned the drama into a Pakistani version of Star Plus dramas.
After Saqib (Shahroz Sabzwari) found Gohar and had her admitted to the hospital, Gohar had an accident which destroyed her face and left her unrecognisable because of which she had to undergo reconstructive surgery.
The surgery gave her a brand new face. According to details, Faiza is no longer part of the drama and has been replaced by Javeria Saud, who will now be playing ‘Nand’.
In a recent interview, Javeria Saud revealed why she replaced Faiza and shared her experience of working in the drama.
“It happens in life, man does many things and then leaves them. For many years I have left acting in a way that I haven’t worked with other production houses. I just worked in my own production house JS,” said Saud.
“I last worked for a Humayun Saeed production in drama serial Anna and now 20 years later I am working on a Fahad Mustafa production,” she continued. “I really liked this character and Faiza has played it really well. She had some personal reasons due to which she couldn’t continue.”
“When I was approached for the character, I talked to Saud about it and he told me to do whatever I want,” added Javeria.
Nand is one of Pakistan’s most popular dramas particularly because of its storyline. The drama has been trending ever since it started. Faiza’s power-packed performance remained the highlight of the serial but Javeria has also done well as Gohar in the comeback episode of Nand.
Shoaib Malik has revealed that his two favourite things include spending time with son Izhaan and sunsets.
Posting pictures of himself and Izhaan enjoying time together at the Desert Safari in Abu Dhabi, Malik wrote: “Sunsets and Izhaan have to be two of my favourite things in the world.”
Malik’s wife Sania Mirza also shared some pictures of their vacation. Former fast bowler Azhar Mahmood and his family were also part of the Mirza-Malik’s trip.
Ah, the long weekend is here and with COVID-19 still posing a threat, time to kick back and binge-watch movies and shows while staying cosy at home. Here’s a list of new releases hitting streaming platforms this weekend.
AK vs AK
Termed a mockumentary (a film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary), AK vs AK features Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap with Sonam Kapoor also putting in an appearance. The film’s official synopsis reads: “A brash film director (Kashyap, as himself) kidnaps the daughter of a movie star (Kapoor, as himself) and films the star’s desperate search for his daughter in real-time as his next blockbuster.”
The film has received raving reviews and looks very different from what Bollywood usually has to offer.
George Clooney heads to the post-apocalyptic world in this new space drama for Netflix which he has directed himself. While the film has opened to mixed reviews, Clooney’s performance and getup in the film have been highly appreciated. The film is already trending at number one on Netflix Pakistan.
Coolie No 1
Featuring Sara Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan in the lead, Coolie No 1 is a remake of the 1995 film of the same name starring Govinda and Karisma Kapoor. The film is a through and through Bollywood masala film with colourful dances, sets and crass comedy. While it probably does not have anything new to offer, we’ll just sit through it to make comparisons and trash Bollywood for repeating the same problematic tropes and not coming up with anything new.
Bridgerton
Netflix’s big Christmas drop, Bridgertonhas been described by several reviews as a period drama which sees Downton Abbey meets Gossip Girl. Based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling romance novels, the show follows the powerful Bridgerton family as they navigate London high society in the 18th-century. According to reviews and critics, the series is fuzzy, romantic and highly bingeable but hollow at the same time. But if you’re a sucker for period romance, you’re bound to enjoy it – I know I will.
The Undoing
Though this murder mystery featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant is a couple of weeks old, it is totally worth the watch. The six-episodes series is gripping, intense and will have you on the edge of your seat as you guess who the killer is. And while it does drag at a few points, the stellar performances more than make up for it.
