Best entertainment news in the industry, we break entertainment stories as soon as celebrities post on their social media and do Pakistani drama reviews.
While the coronavirus has made the whole world to go under lock-down but it has not stopped Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali from creating music. The singer recently released a new song Dost on April 10 for his fans across the world.
Sajjad Ali not only wrote the song but recorded it while practicing social distancing. He released the song on various social media platforms.
Ali took to social media and wrote, “This video has been made during the ongoing two-week, 24-hour complete lock-down.”
The song is melodious with beautiful lyrics. The video of the song only featured Ali, keeping in view the rules of isolation.
Taher Shah came, he saw and he conquered. And though his latest offering Farishta failed to impress fans who wanted more from the singer, the song managed to create a buzz and was trending on all social media platforms.
While everyone kept referring to Farishta as the Urdu version of Shah’s previous song Angel, the singer has now stepped forward to explain the philosophy behind his latest masterpiece.
“The philosophy of the song Farishta is that children are like angels,” wrote Shah. “Angels are sacred so we can righteously equate them with angels. These little individual are the essential component of our life.”
The singer proceeded to explain the importance of children in our lives before writing, “The basic tale of the song video is, one cute child who as a king visits the fantasy world with his loyal friend unicorn who comes from the skies and take the child to beautiful fantasy world and where one butterfly meet with child which ultimately becomes fairy for the child and then like an ‘Farishta‘ both fall in love with each other for forever.”
The singer added the kid’s personality resembles his own son and that he has dedicated this video to him and all children in the world.
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has warned Indian singers and musicians against working with Pakistani artistes and said that failure to comply would lead to “strict disciplinary action”. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the film body issued this warning after a collaboration between Indian artistes and Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was brought to its notice.
“We are pained to inform all members that despite being fully aware that FWICE has issued a total non-cooperation circular advising all members not to work in any manner whatsoever with all Pakistani artistes, singers and technicians, some members are blatantly violating the non-cooperation circular,” a letter from FWICE read.
“We have been informed that more such Entertainment products and songs are being planned and made. We have to strictly inform all the members of our affiliates to kindly note that the non-cooperation circular is valid and subsisting and anyone found cooperating or working in any manner with any Pakistani artistes, singers and technicians, in any mode or media of entertainment will be subject to strict disciplinary action,” the letter further added.
“One should also realise that while the entire world is fighting against the coronavirus, Pakistan is still busy killing our soldiers on the borders. Kindly note no violation of this circular will be allowed and we are sure all members will follow our advice in their own interest,” it added.
Saach baat bataoon toh Neelum Munir and Imran Ashraf’s Kaheen Deep Jalay on Geo was my guilty pleasure. The drama was full of well, drama, and it had a heavy dose of masala complete with over-the-top twists and turns which were oh-so-fun to watch. But the last couple of episodes have turned the serial into a painful watch.
Let’s take a quick run through the plot. Rida (Neelum Munir) is the only sister of three brothers: Hatim (Hammad Farooqui), Fahaam (Ali Abbas) and Asim (Syed Arez). The brothers dote on their sister and pamper her to no extent. Rida’s maternal cousin Shamila (Nazish Jahangir) gets married to her eldest brother Fahaam. Shamila is a conniving and manipulative girl who is jealous of Rida because of the attention she gets from her brothers. Shamila’s only brother doesn’t pamper her much and seeing Rida get so much attention from her brothers irks Shamila who then uses every opportunity to mentally torture her sister-in-law.
Meanwhile, Rida gets married to Zeeshan (Imran Ashraf). Zeeshan, who was Hatim’s colleague had fallen in love with Rida from the moment he saw her. The two get married and are happy but soon Zeeshan’s insecurities coupled with Shamila’s manipulation cost them their marriage.
The recent episodes have seen the plot spiral completely out of control. A misunderstanding on Zeeshan’s part leads him to believe that Rida cheated on him. This gives Shamila a chance to lash out on Rida even more and Rida’s brothers who doted on her through the course of the drama now refuse to even acknowledge her to the point that they wish that she was dead. It is impossible to understand how Rida’s brothers just suddenly turned their back on their sister and refuse to believe her innocence. This plot twist is beyond my understanding.
Hatim, Asim and Rida’s mother
Though Zeeshan later realises his mistake and asks Rida for forgiveness, she refuses to forgive him (and rightly so) and the two spend their days crying. Zeeshan, in particular, is very annoying. He cries all the time (not that I’m against men crying) and feels sorry for himself and doesn’t really make much of an effort to make amends. He just hopes that Rida will come around.
On the other hand, Shamila, whose husband Fahaam is shot dead, manipulates her brother-in-law Hatim into marrying her so that she can once again become the bahu of the house. Another over-the-top and absolutely unnecessary plot twist. It’s so annoying to see how the men in the family are so oblivious to Shamila’s actions.
Shamila and Hatim
Despite the frustrations, I don’t want to overlook the positive which is Rida’s relationship with her mother-in-law (Saba Faisal). It is refreshing to see a mother-in-law stand up for her daughter-in-law and criticise her son for being unfair to her. Her character is probably the only balanced one in the entire drama – the rest of them are an emotional mess.
Rida and her mother-in-law
While Kaheen Deep Jalay continues to test my patience, the only reason I will continue to watch the drama is because I’m curious to know Shamila’s end. And I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a pleasant one. So that should make up for the frustrations. In my opinion, things could have been accelerated and the drama should have wrapped up by now.
Another thing that has been bothering me is how Geo repeats the last ten minutes of the previous episode in the new episode.
Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a masalaydaar drama which does not require too much of your brain cells, give Kaheen Deep Jalay a go. Otherwise given how it’s progressing, or regressing, you can skip it.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has sent a Rs13 million tax notice to Pakistani YouTuber Nadir Ali, who runs a channel called “P4 Pakao”, a private media outlet has reported.
Nadir’s videos show him and his team pulling pranks on unsuspecting people and attract a lot of internet traffic. The combined views of his channel are over 820 million, making his channel one of the largest in the country.
According to reports, tax authorities suspected him of concealing his income and subsequently launched an investigation against him, and their suspicions were confirmed when they contacted YouTube to learn about his actual income.
Reportedly, Nadir received more than Rs10 million in foreign exchange during the year on which exemption was claimed without furnishing proof to the tax department and at the same time, he maintained a bank account, which he did not declare in the wealth statement.
The report also quoted tax officials as saying that the YouTuber was served a number of notices during the course of the investigation but he did not respond to any of them and now he has the option to appeal the order before a commission in Karachi.
Nadir also spoke to the media outlet through his lawyer and denied having not responded to the FBR. “We received their notice and responded in person. We later applied for an extension in the time to file a response and our application was approved. We are now working to resolve this through all proper channels,” he added.
The Donkey King has made his comeback with a coronavirus anthem.
Mangu – the popular character from the animated movie Donkey King has sung a song ‘Darna Nahi, Larna Hai‘ which is the latest coronavirus anthem urging people to take all the precautionary measures.
In the video for the anthem, Mangu urges everyone to practice social distancing but keep our hearts connected. The video also features other characters of the movie as they ask us to avoid going out of the house unnecessarily. The video ends with the message, “Stay home, stay safe.”
Shuja Haider and Asrar lend their vocals for the anthem. The lyrics have been written by Donkey King director Aziz Jindani.
Donkey King is Pakistan’s comedy animated movie released in October 2018. The movie has been released in cinemas around the world and has also been dubbed in many languages, including Turkish, Ukrainian, Russian, Korean, Spanish, Basque, and Catalan.
Pakistani actor Hira Tareen revealed in a recent interview that she has synesthesia, a medical condition in which people associate objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people’s names with a sensory perception such as smell, colour or flavour.
In a recent interview, Tareen shared that as a child she used to associate numbers with colours, and did not think it was anything out of the ordinary. She did not know it was a medical condition with a proper term until she was in America for a clinic checkup.
“I was in America at a random clinic for a checkup when I saw something on TV that actually described my condition. When I saw that documentary on CNN, I was shocked to discover that whatever they were describing was what I did in my childhood. It’s a condition called synesthesia and in it, people join objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people’s names with a sensory perception such as smell, colour or flavour.”
The 32-year-old model/actor is married to Ali Safina since 2013, and together they have a daughter.
The coronavirus lockdown is affecting us all in different ways. While some of us are increasing our social media activity in a bid to remain connected, others are using this time to disconnect from the world and isolate themselves in the truest sense.
Maya Ali, who has always maintained an active social media profile, has shared with her fans that she is taking a break from social media “to detox, to find inner peace and reset my whole system.”
“Sometimes we need time to think and count our blessings,” she wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-o1XMonUhe/
Maya added that her team will keep her fans updated about the ration bags that she and her friend Faiza Saqlain are distributing among the needy people in the society. In an interview, Maya had revealed that she had raised almost four million rupees in donations for these ration bags.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-KGnBYHihv/
Maya’s last appearance was in the film Parey Hut Love alongside Sheheryar Munawar. The actor has hinted that she will be seen in another film very soon.
Pakistan Television (PTV) is revisiting its golden memories with re-runs of PTV classics like Tanhaiyan. The state network has started ‘PTV Gold‘ on which old classics will be aired.
PTV will be airing Tanhiayan, every Sunday from April 5 at 3 pm. They will also be airing repeats of past episodes at 11 am on Sundays.
The story of the drama revolves around two sisters who lose their parents and go to live with their aunt. One of their efforts to buy back their parents’ house leads them to realise what makes a house a home.
It was directed by Shahzad Khalil and written by Hasina Moin. Some of the very legendary actors like Marina Khan, Shehnaz Sheikh, Aasif Raza Mir, Behroz Sabzwari and Badar Khalil were among the cast of the project.
However, Twitter users were not pleased with his ‘half-baked’ apology.
Apologies *IF* I hurt you. Bro you used a known racial slur and don’t even have the decency to acknowledge that it’s a big deal. Makes sense you opened for Ali Zafar, birds of a feather
Shamoon later released a new song, which possibly was a way to hit back at all the haters. Because the opening line of the song is: “Mein label te nae jaanda, Teri cable te nae aanda, Teray table te nae khaanda, Ey sab mera apna.”
