Actor Iqra Aziz is returning to the television screens with a magnum opus project after taking a brief post-pregnancy break. The Raqeeb Se heroine will star opposite Imran Ashraf and Feroze Khan in Geo TV’s next project, Sanwal Yaar Piya. Written by Hashim Nadeem, this Wajahat Rauf directorial will be produced by Shazia Wajahat.
The director took to Instagram and confirmed all speculations. Feroze Khan, Iqra Aziz, and Imran Ashraf are working in his forthcoming project Sanwal Yaar Piya which is written by renowned playwright Hashim Nadeem.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce this labour of love called Sanwal Yaar Piya in association with Geo TV, featuring this dream cast Feroze Khan, Iqra Aziz, and Imran Ashraf along with some of the most talented actors in the country. It is an honour teaming up once again with the great Hashim Nadeem sb (after Raqse Bismil) who has given us this intense story!” he wrote.
Wajahat also posted a picture of the first look of the drama with the three actors in it.
While Aziz previously worked with Feroze in blockbuster drama Khuda Aur Muhabbat Season 3, while she collaborated with Imran Ashraf in Hum TV’s Ranjha Ranjha Kardi.
The filming will commence on September 12th. It is indeed a great cast which has never appeared together on screen.
Sima Taparia of Indian Matchmaking fame is back with the second season of her show on Netflix. While several original cast members returned to the show, such as Pradhyuman Maloo, Aparna Shewakramani and Nadia Jagessar, the highlight of the season was the matchmaker rejecting Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’ pair.
In the second episode of the latest season, Taparia asks Jagessar about how her relationship with Shekhar, the bachelor she set her up with, is going. She told the matchmaker that despite giving multiple hints, she doesn’t feel he has the same feelings for her as she does for him. But Taparia knew the truth that Jagessar had flirted with another single at a party and she had not told Shekhar about it. The person whom she flirted with, Vishal, was seven years younger than her.
To prove that Jagessar’s relationship could work, Taparia jokingly gave the example of Chopra and Jonas who have an 11-year age gap. “But I don’t feel it’s a good match, sorry to tell them,” Sima said. She added, “Just they have married, but it’s not a good match. He looks so small and petite in front of her, and she looks elder.” Jagessar let out a shocked laugh in response to what the matchmaking aunty said on the show.
Chopra and Jonas tied the knot in 2018 in a grand Indian wedding after a whirlwind romance. Earlier this year the couple welcomed their first child via surrogate, a baby girl whom they named Malti Marie Chopra Jonas. Clearly, they’re doing just fine, regardless of what a random matchmaker says.
Netizens are calling out Sima for her ageist remarks.
People who used to bully Priyanka-Nick and Arjun-Malaika as couples, have problems with Indian Matchmaking Show. That show is the most realstick Indian reality show, I have seen recently. They show, what you are. #indianmatchmakingnetflix
— Prince Vij ਪ੍ਰਿੰਸ ਵਿਜ (@Iam_PrinceVij) July 26, 2020
Last year Indian television actress Nausheen Ali Sardar, known for her role in Kkusum, revealed that Sima refused to find her a match because she’s Muslim.
In a recent interview, Nausheen said that she was “blatantly” told by Taparia that she doesn’t cater to Muslims or Catholics.
Speaking to Pinkvilla, Sardar said: “My family was insisting on getting me enrolled on a matrimonial site since the lockdown was going on, and I wasn’t even going on dates or anything as such. So they thought of approaching Sima Aunty, the famous marriage maker from the show Indian Matchmaking.”
“We were in for a shock when she blatantly told us on our face that she did not cater to Muslims or Catholics,” continued the actor.
“I mean it’s 2021! Yes, I am a Muslim, so what? I have an equal right too in society…I had gotten so annoyed at this that I put this entire bitter experience on her social media page where I had asked her to broaden her mindset,” said Sardar further, adding that she later took down the post on her family’s insistence as they feared that someone would try to hurt Nausheen.
In the same interview, Nausheen shared that this wasn’t the first time she had to face discrimination on the basis of her religion.
The actor shared that she was rejected by housing societies because ‘they do not give houses or flats in their building to Muslims.’
“I was shocked! It’s so important to respect every religion and if any society is going to be so rigid in their thoughts, it will be extremely difficult to survive there,” lamented Sardar.
Nausheen made her television debut with Ekta Kapoor’s hit soap opera, Kkusum in 2001.
Actor Amna Kareim has shared that she has been receiving calls and messages from an anonymous man.
The Meenu Ka susral star shared a screenshot of a chat in which a man is messaging her, in which he offered her to meet in PC hotel (Pearl Continental).
She shared that this man is calling her from two different numbers and said that his name is Danish. While she also shared that she has lodged a complain in Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
“I already did complain by myself but we all should expose such things to save our ladies,” she wrote.
On the work front, she was last seen in HUM TV’s Abro.
Speaking to a local magazine, Zaidi shared that before her divorce, she requested her husband to leave their house as their children were growing up but he refused because the other woman had told him to end things with her first. Zaidi has two children – a daughter and a son.
“I don’t understand why women cry after divorce for a person who is leaving them,” said Zaidi. “Crying is for when your husband passes away and you are in shock. I always wished that my house would not break or my husband should not divorce me. And even if he has no relations with me, his relationship with the children should not be bad so that it does not affect them.”
She shared that after being in a relationship with the other woman for two years, her husband forcibly divorced her at the behest of his second wife.
“I told him to do whatever you want but do not break our family as our children are growing but the other lady made sure to end our family,” said Ismat.
The actor went on to say that when her husband divorced her, her in-laws stepped in to support her.
“After the divorce, my husband wanted me to leave the house but my in-laws were very supportive. They said no one will leave the house and no extra person will enter this house. She will live here because we brought her,” said Ismat, adding that she was married for 23 years.
“After my divorce, I have been really strong because my in-laws were really supportive and they even kept me in their house.”
She shared that because of their support, she started working in the television industry right after her divorce and has been working since.
Zaidi has been part of several super hit dramas including Mann Mayal, Beti, Meri Guriya, Deewangi, Meherposh and most recently Fitoor.
Ever since the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020, there has been a lot of debate on nepotism in the film and entertainment industry. While the debate did not gain a lot of traction in Pakistan, it is still being discussed. Ahad Raza Mir, whose father Asif Raza Mir is an established actor, recently discussed the topic on Anas Bukhash’s talk show.
Talking about his childhood, Ahad, who grew up in Canada, said that his father always kept him away from the limelight.
“When I moved back to Pakistan in 2009, I had no idea what this industry was like,” said Ahad.
The actor went on to say that the reason behind this was probably that his father wanted him to make his own independent decisions and not be influenced in any way.
“He just wanted me to live my life,” said Ahad. “He himself is the same outside as he is indoors, it’s not like he becomes a star as soon as he walks out of his house. So I guess he never wanted it to get to my head.”
Ahad then went on to say how there are people who think his presence and success in the industry has everything to do with his father.
“There will always be that criticism that you’re an actor because your father was an actor. But no, I never knew he was and I went to university, studied, worked professionally in Canada for many years and I think I was just fortunate when I came to Pakistan,” said the actor.
He continued: “My career started doing well and people said it’s cause I’m a star kid. But there are doctors whose kids are doctors, there are generations in the army and generations in politics, no one bats an eye. But as soon as there’s a child of an actor who starts doing well, everyone starts yelling ‘nepotism’.”
It is pertinent to add here that Ahad, who debuted in 2017 with Sammi, has several successful projects to his credit including Yakeen ka Safar (for which he bagged a Lux Style Award for Best Actor), Ehd-e-Wafa, and Parwaaz Hai Junoon. He also won the prestigious Betty Mitchell Award for his performance in Hamlet in Canada.
The Betty for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama, sponsored by Erin Flash, Realtor, goes to Ahad Raza Mir! #Bettys19pic.twitter.com/IGdUK2xruW
— BettyMitchellAwards (@BettyMitchells) June 25, 2019
During the conversation, Ahad also opened up about his childhood, his decision to move back to Pakistan and marry young.
“I think it was good, pretty normal, kind of hectic because I moved between Pakistan and Canada, so I guess sometimes identity is a challenge,” said Ahad when asked about how his life was while growing up.
Speaking of his relationship with his parents, Ahad said that he is very close to his parents.
“My mom is my best friend and with my dad, there’s this respect factor, not that there’s any formality, but I’m good friends with my dad too,” he said.
Ahad is married to his Yakeen ka Safar co-star Sajal Aly. The two tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Abu Dhabi in March 2020.
Meanwhile, Ahad is reportedly all set to step in as executive producer for upcoming film Kalasha.
Kasautii Zindagi Kay star Cezanne Khan has been accused of fraudulently marrying a Pakistani-American woman. However, the actor has denied the claims, saying that the marriage certificate has been ‘morphed’.
According to reports, the woman Aisha Pirani came forward with the allegations after Cezanne, earlier this week, announced that he has been in a relationship for the past three years.
In an interview, Pirani, who is a US citizen of Pakistani descent, said that Cezanne ‘used’ her to obtain a green card, and filed for divorce promptly after receiving one.
“I don’t care if he gets married 50 times over now, but why is he hiding the fact that he was married earlier? He cheated on me and used me to obtain a green card in the US and lived off my money. The moment he got the green card, he filed for divorce,” Pirani told The Times of India, sharing pictures of them along with a marriage certificate. The couple was reportedly married from 2015 – 2017.
Sharing details about their marriage, Aisha said that Cezanne was the reason for her divorce from her first husband.
“I had some issues in my first marriage and that’s when Cezanne started showing affection towards me when I met him at my husband’s house in Mumbai,” she said.
According to Aisha, Cezanne moved in with her in her US home after she divorced her husband and shuttled back and forth between US and Mumbai.
“He hid our marriage from his mother saying she wouldn’t approve of it, being an orthodox woman, who would want a younger daughter-in-law,” stated Aisha. “I let the matter go since I was in love with him, until the second year of our marriage when he began chatting with his former girlfriend. When I objected, he started fighting with me.”
Aisha also claimed to have written to the US Immigration authorities, and Mumbai police in January and March 2020 in which she alleged that Cezanne has two passports, both of which have a different date of birth. Aisha added that Cezanne started sending her abusive messages after her complaint, which she has saved.
Rubbishing Aisha’s story, Cezanne said: “I was never married to her. This is a case of an obsessive fan. It’s irrelevant to talk about such people. She is just trying to gain publicity through me.”
He further said: “She is the sister of my cousin’s wife who lives in Karachi, that’s how I know her. I have no idea about any marriage certificate.”
“She morphs a lot of stuff. She has been posting messages on social handles for two to three years and my fans have been asking me whether all this is true,” he added.
He went on to say the woman’s ‘obsession’ was ‘going overboard now’.
“The fact that she was married to me and we are now divorced is her fabrication. I haven’t said anything to her because I know she is obsessive,” he said.
Earlier this week, the actor, best known for playing Anurag Basu in the original Kasautii Zindagii Kay, announced that he will tie the knot soon.
“She is someone special and I am dating her for the past three years. She is from Amroha (Uttar Pradesh). I am in a happy space with her and looking at tying the knot soon. We had planned to get married by the end of 2020 but postponed it owing to the pandemic. We will tie the knot this year,” he had revealed.
