Tag: exclusive

  • Junaid Khan will be playing a police officer in his debut film

    Junaid Khan will be playing a police officer in his debut film

    2020 is going to be lit for the Pakistan film industry because from where I see it, it’s going to be raining films.

    The first look of ace TVC and music director Jalal Rumi’s upcoming feature film Kahay Dil Jidhar, with Junaid Khan and Mansha Pasha in the lead has been shared on social media. The poster has a fun and millennial feel to it.

    While Mansha previously stole the show in Pakistan’s official entry to the Oscars, Laal Kabootar, Kahay Dil Jidhar, will mark Junaid’s debut on the big screen.

    When asked what made him choose this film, Junaid exclusively told The Current, “I have been offered a lot of films since my cameo appearance in Bin Roye (2014), but to be honest none of them clicked with me. Over the years I’ve gone through multiple scripts and I finally settled upon this one. It matched my expectations and the team associated with it is amazing, so here we are.”

    “Though it’s a commercial film, it comes with a strong message and I hope it has the impact we’re aiming for,” he added.

    Meanwhile, while sharing the poster of the film on Instagram Junaid had wrote, “It takes a lot of drive and passion to make a film and I am quite satisfied with how we have shot this one. Looking forward to bringing this out to you guys. Excited and nervous at the same time.”

    Sharing details about his character in the film, Junaid revealed that he will be a playing a policeman in the film.

    On working with Mansha again, Junaid shared,”Mansha and I have done television together and it was a wonderful experience. She’s very cooperative, professional and is a great performer. We’re very comfortable with each other.”

    When asked what he feels in missing in the Pakistan film industry, Junaid said, “We are in need of good scriptwriters who understand the needs of film writing.”

    “Apart from that, I think the genre of action has not been properly explored in Pakistan mainly because such films are very time-consuming and expensive. I’m a huge fan of out of the box action films like Hobbs and Shaw and I hope we can such grand films in Pakistan.”

    Meanwhile, Mansha also shared the poster on Instagram and wrote, “Something exciting is coming your way! It’s something I’ve never done before and frankly, all the best things in life come with some risk! I’m super excited to be working along with this team of kind people! Stay tuned!”

    Kahay Dil Jidhar has been written and produced by Kamran Bari, who will also be seen in it. Veteran actor Sajid Hasan is also part of the cast.

    While a release date has not yet been announced, it is expected to release sometime next year.

  • GO LOCAL? Yeah, We can eat that

    GO LOCAL? Yeah, We can eat that

    As the dollar rises and prices soar, all of us are beginning to feel the crunch. Can’t afford the cheeses you bought all so frequently? Or that cooking chocolate you loved? Here are some local alternatives that are tried and tested.

    Adams Burger Cheese

    Even though we have some local artisanal cheeses available, their prices are also really high. We tried Adams Buffalo Mozzarella and Burger Cheddar Cheese on homemade pizzas and grilled cheeses and are pleased to report that they are excellent. Will never go imported for these commonly loved cheeses

    Baker’s Choice Cooking Chocolate

    As home-based and small bakery owners cry about the rising prices of cooking chocolate, we tried Baker’s Choice Dark Chocolate for baking fudge brownies and damn, they’re just as good as the Malaysian counterpart.

    Opa! Frozen Fries

    Those bags of imported fries aren’t worth the price (and the import if you ask us). Opa! Fries are local, thin and crispy and perfect for you and your kids. Crunch!

    Quinoa

    No need to spend thousands on imported Quinoa. There are excellent local options, like The Soul Food Company and Green Horizon. We’ve tried the Soul Food’s quinoa and it’s super.

    Dipitt Sauces

    We aren’t missing Heinz as much anymore. Dipitt Sauces are great, a local, no preservatives and no MSG and their whole range is pretty darn good if you ask us.

    Nuts

    Hit shops selling dry fruits from Hunza and Gilgit Baltistan, especially if you’re in Islamabad. They’re just as good, if not better than their foreign competition.

    DISCLAIMER: This article is not sponsored and is unpaid.

  • What you need to eat at Lahore Eat this weekend

    What you need to eat at Lahore Eat this weekend

    You know you’re saying hello to winter when it’s time for food festivals. Just days after the smog somewhat settled and thandi hawa began to blow across Lahore, the first food event of the season, Lahore Eat, started with a bang at Jilani Park.

    We visited the event on the first day and here are the only places you should visit at Lahore Eat:

    DISCLAIMER: The Current’s food reviews are not sponsored and are unpaid.

    Burger Maestru

    Pizza Paratha was divine. Crispy on the outside and cheesy inside – it was a pizza lover’s dream.

    Price – Rs 300/-

    Pizza Paratha

    A Piece of Cake

    Oh man, the Salted Caramel Brownie (Rs 180/-) and Gooey Fudge Brownie (Rs 170/-) was gooey, fudgey and so New York. They have the perfect ratio of chocolate and sweet and it’s a must have dessert with a cup of chai and perfect weather.

    Gooey Fudge Brownie
    Salted Caramel Brownie

    Didn’t try this cheesecake but it sure looks lovely.

    Awesamosas

    This fusion eatery never fails to disappoint – from their samosas to their chaats, we’re a fan. This year Awesamosas introduced a new ‘Botilicous Menu’ – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon and Satay Tikka – we absolutely loved. The strong flavour and spice level were perfect.

    Price – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon Rs 150 per stick, Satay Tikka Rs 200 per stick

    Aladdin Foods

    The bun in the bun kabab from Aladdin Foods was the real winner. It was crispy yet soft and took the entire snack to a whole new level. A must-try for anyone who enjoys street food and misses a good Karachi bun kabab.

    Price – Rs 80/-

    Apart from these, the Lahore Eat also had a variety of local eateries – there was Urban Kitchen, Burns Road, Novu, Savour Foods, Bombay Chowpatty, Delish, Upper Crust etc, restaurants you can visit everyday, which didn’t have anything new to offer. Karachi beats Lahore quite often when it comes to the food festival wars but this year, Lahore Eat did not disappoint.

    Send us your reviews and pictures and remember to take your masks along. You never know when the smog will strike.

  • If Maryam Nawaz joins the ‘Azadi March’

    If Maryam Nawaz joins the ‘Azadi March’

    PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz has been released on bail, the only condition being that she cannot leave the country. Speculations regarding her joining Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s ‘Azadi March’ have already begun.

    Read more: Maryam Nawaz granted bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case

    What will happen if Maryam joins the march? Watch the video to find out:

  • ‘Alif’ is slow-paced but intense

    ‘Alif’ is slow-paced but intense

    Hamza Ali Abbasi and Sajal Aly’s Alif hit screens early October amid a lot of hype and fanfare. This is their first pairing and fans were naturally excited to see two acting powerhouses come together. Not only that, the speculation that this might be Hamza’s last venture also added to the drama’s attraction.

    So far five episodes of Alif have aired and though the drama’s plotline is engrossing and interesting, it’s slow pace distracts you from it.

    Alif follows the life of two individuals Momin and Momina – oh the irony. The two belong to completely different worlds: Momin is a hotshot director who objectifies women and promotes vulgarity to sell his films, while Momina is a struggling actor, who is only in the profession to raise money for her sick brother. Their paths cross when Momina auditions for one of the Momin’s films and given their dissenting views, they clash.

    Till now, the drama largely focuses on Momin and his relationship with his grandfather with constant flashbacks to his childhood and Momina and her financial struggles.

    While the plotline and synopsis of the drama is captivating, the slow-pace makes your attention waiver. It is not gripping enough as yet but considering only five episodes have aired so far, we’re willing to let this go for now. The dialogues are also powerful.

    Both Hamza and Sajal have put up remarkable performances. Sajal as the struggling Momina is great – her expressions and the way she portrays the depth of her character is superb. Sadaf as Hamza’s love interest is also charming. We haven’t seen much of Kubra Khan but she does fit into the character of Husn-e-Jahan smoothly. The supporting cast is also commendable.

    Alif has been penned by Umera Ahmed and directed by Haseeb Hassan of Parwaaz Hai Junoon fame.

    The drama does appear to be promising watch given the teasers and cast but I do hope the pace doesn’t make it mundane and tiresome to watch.

  • Passive-Aggressive Danish sweeps one of the fastest episodes in Pak history

    Passive-Aggressive Danish sweeps one of the fastest episodes in Pak history

    You won’t be able to tell that 40 minutes went by in one of the fastest episodes of Meray Pass Tum Ho. Just 12 episodes in, the show is bound to be one of the biggest blockbusters in Pakistani drama history.

    Mehwish (Ayeza Khan) has decided to leave her son and husband for loaded Shehwar (Adnan Siddiqui). Husband Danish (Humayun Saeed) relents and tells her that she can go and as predicted serves her with divorce papers in this episode.

    READ MORE: Are those divorce papers in MPTH’s promo?

    Danish gives Mehwish a divorce

    She doesn’t flinch when he gives them to her but there is a flicker – of shock or happiness, one can’t be certain – but she is definitely taken by surprise when he hands them to her.

    One can’t be sure in the beginning of the episode of Danish’s motives. He brings a cake to celebrate his wedding anniversary with Mehwish, which seems like a really weird and creepy thing to do since she’s leaving him for another man.

    Making Mehwish cut a wedding anniversary cake with him

    The weirdness of it freaks Mehwish out too and she tell Shehwar to come over and get her – eight hours before she actually has to leave. We start to see cracks in Danish’s cool demeanour as he starts passing comments on his marriage with Mehwish – and we finally see that he really is incredibly angry and just very good at hiding it.

    Mehwish on the other hand, couldn’t care less and one loses a little respect for her in this episode. When Danish hands her her phone, she finds that the phone is covered in Danish’s blood – blood from an accident he had had the same night. She ignores it – and checks for Shehwar’s message. Ouch.

    Mehwish realizing Danish’s blood is on her hands

    Her soon-to-be ex-husband and father of your child is bleeding and she couldn’t care less. Seems like a whole new Mehwish. Ayeza Khan had warned her fans not to watch this episode since they would hate her at the end of it. Don’t hate her but definitely don’t like her anymore.

    Danish’s biting responses and out of the blue reactions make this episode a truly riveting watch. Humayun Saeed has done it again, proving he is the best actor in the industry. He succeeds in making everyone watching feel for him and also feel incredibly uncomfortable watching him behave and react so strangely. He offers his cheating wife and her lover tea and asks them to sit in his house- until he tells Mehwish to leave with Shehwar.

    Danish made Shehwar and Mehwish chai after he gave Mehwish permission to call Shehwar over to take her

    When walking them to the door, he says to Shehwar that, “waisey tou bohat intelligent businessman lagte hain aap, lekin yahan bhao karte huye hairaan kardia aapne mujhe. Is do takay ki larki kay liye aap mujhe 50 million dey rahe thay…“
    and that’s it.

    Danish telling Shehwar that Mehwish is a do take ki aurat

    Mehwish hears it and realizes that that’s the moment she truly lost her husband – not when she told him she wanted to leave, not when he found out that she had an affair, not when he gave her divorce papers.

    Mehwish realizes she’s lost her husband forever

    She realizes that she’s lost the man who truly loved her when she’s walking out of her house and he reveals how he truly feels, you can tell – she has a flicker of admiration and fear for him. Admiration that he finally, finally stood up for himself and fear because now she knows that she can never come back.

    READ MORE: The episode that broke the internet: MPTH EP 11

  • ‘Ye Dil Mera’ is off to a mysterious start

    ‘Ye Dil Mera’ is off to a mysterious start

    The anticipation for Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly’s latest drama Ye Dil Mera was high. Even though the drama’s teasers made headlines for all the wrong reasons and were touted to glorify workplace harassment, fans and audiences were excited to see the real-life couple on the big screen.

    The first episode of the drama aired this Wednesday and it was off to a mysterious start as audiences are introduced to the characters.

    Noor-ul-Ain, played by Sajal Aly, is a happy-go-lucky girl with a dark past – viewers are just shown snippets of it. She lives with her overprotective Agha Jaan, played by Adnan Siddiqui, who has his daughter followed by guards at all times. Agha Jaan is so possessive of his daughter that he has his men beat up Aina’s university colleague because he flirted with Noor. So we’re a little wary of Agha Jaan’s character – he seems dubious.

    On the other hand, we are introduced to Amaan, played by Ahad Raza Mir. From the glimpse the audiences are given, we’re assuming that he also has a mysterious past. Amaan is confident, successful and rich and Ahad gives off strong Christian Grey vibes as Amaan. There is more to Amaan than what meets the eye.

    Noor and Amaan cross paths at a dholki where Amaan draws a sketch of Noor. What’s puzzling to both Aina and the viewers is that Amaan in his sketch drew a mark on Aina’s neck, a reminder of a haunting past, that she has covered up. The two later meet again when Amaan visits Aina’s university for an internship drive.

    The pace of the first episode was a little slow while the flow was slightly bumpy because of weak editing. But considering it was only the first episode, we’re prepared to give it some time.

    As far as the acting is concerned, Sajal, Ahad and Adnan delivered strong performances. Particularly noteworthy was Ahad’s performance as Amaan. Amaan has many shades to him and Ahad played them all finely – his expressions, mood and body language changed swiftly according to the mood of the show and deserve a round of applause. Looks like all his theatre work has polished his acting skills – not that he didn’t have them before.

    Ye Dil Mera has been penned by the award-winning Farhat Ishtiaq and directed by Aehsun Talish of Suno Chanda fame. Along with Ahad, Sajal, and Adnan, the drama’s cast also includes Rabia Butt, Zarnish Khan and Mira Sethi.

    Hum TV has described it as a tale of “love and revenge” and from the look of it, the drama will be a thrilling one – unusual for the Pakistani screens.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Sneak peek into Sheheryar Munawar’s diary

    EXCLUSIVE: Sneak peek into Sheheryar Munawar’s diary

    There is more to Sheheryar Munawar than what meets the eye.

    In his exclusive interview with The Current, the actor revealed that he keeps a diary where he not only records his day-to-day activities but also his thoughts and feelings.

    Sheheryar shared what his diary looks like. The Current also had a special mention in the diary. Watch it in this video:

  • Sheheryar Munawar reacts to his viral interview with ‘The Current’

    Sheheryar Munawar reacts to his viral interview with ‘The Current’

    Sheheryar Munawar in an exclusive interview with The Current revealed that his engagement was called off at the behest of his family.

    When we asked Sheheryar what is the most daring thing he’s done, Sheheryar said, “The most daring thing that I’ve done is telling my mother, that I’ve tried once on your call and you yourself ended it. But this time, I’ll choose the girl I want to get married to.”

    When probed further, Sheheryar laughed it off by saying, “Akalmand kay liye ishara hee kaafi hai.”

    Sheheryar got engaged to Halaa Soomro in March 2019. Though the event was a private affair and very hush-hush, pictures from the event had gone viral.

    Sheheryar & Halaa with his sister, brother & brother-in-law

    Following the social media outburst on the news of his engagement, Sheheryar released an official statement on the matter.

    “I will not comment on a decision taken by my family. This is a private matter that involves two families, and I would like to take this opportunity to request everyone to give our families, myself and my ex-fiancé our due share of privacy and time to deal with this new development in our lives.”

    “I would like to thank my fans for all their love and understanding and members of the media for their continued support and request everyone to respect my need for privacy at this time. I will not be commenting any further on this matter,” he said.

    Meanwhile, when we asked him what he thinks is the most important thing in a relationship, Sheheryar said, “Loyalty.”

    “Loyalty encompasses everything. If you love, you love loyally. If you fight, you fight in a loyal way. Everything is loyalty because loyalty brings you trust and peace. It is loyalty that ensures that even if you fight, you won’t have the fear of losing them.”

    Check out the full interview here:

  • EXCLUSIVE: Bhuttos haven’t approved BB’s biopic, Mehwish Hayat responds

    EXCLUSIVE: Bhuttos haven’t approved BB’s biopic, Mehwish Hayat responds

    The mystery shrouding Benazir Bhutto’s biopic keeps getting complicated.

    While the Bhutto family maintains that they have given no consent for a biopic (read full story here), Mehwish Hayat, who is set to play the former prime minister in a recent interview confirmed that a film on her is indeed in the works.

    The Current reached out to Mehwish for further details and she told us that she “cannot say much at this stage” as she has “signed strict NDAs (non-disclosure agreements).”

    However, she said that a film was indeed in the works and it is “currently in the early development stages.”

    “We are just beginning to talk to writers at the moment,” Mehwish said. “The basic understanding of biopics is that we actually don’t need formal approval from the family.”

    She continued, “Just look at The Crown – they don’t get permission or clearances from the Royal family or any of the other people portrayed. There are many other films in the West where information is taken from what is in the public domain.”

    Mehwish further said that “when we get further down the line, I am sure that the producers will engage the family to ensure that our script is factually correct.”

    “I for one would love their [the family’s] insights to help my research,” she concluded.

    Perhaps it is pertinent to mention here that Sarmad Khoosat also did not seek formal permission from Sadaat Hassan Manto’s family or engage them in the making of the late writer’s biopic.

    News of Mehwish playing Pakistan’s first female prime minister had first surfaced in June 2018 when Mehwish on Benazir’s 65th birthday had shared that a biopic on BB was on the cards and that she was preparing to “play the role of a lifetime.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BkShLv1Db4A/?utm_source=ig_embed

    The announcement had taken social media by storm and everyone was excited to see the life of the slain Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader come to life on the silver screen. However, Benazir’s daughter, Bakhtawar, slammed the idea, saying that no consent was sought from the family for the project.

    Mehwish at that time had responded to Bakhtawar saying that the project was in its early stages and that it would not progress without “the consent or blessing of the family.”

    While the conversation on this project died soon after, it resurfaced again recently when an interview of Mehwish with BBC Urdu started doing the rounds on social media.

    In the interview, Mehwish confirmed that she will be playing Bhutto.

    “InshAllah. It is a huge subject and a very complicated one,” Mehwish told the host when asked her whether the news was correct. “The story is one of a hero – Benazir Bhutto is a hero to me and I love that woman. Her story is so inspirational. [I think] that our current generation and the one that is to come, need to see her contributions, struggles, progress, her life.”

    Mehwish continued, “While people write about [her] in books, films are easy access for people to know about things.”

    When the host asked Mehwish that expectations with the role will be high, the actor responded, “Indeed it is a difficult character to play. It is being written as of now and it is going to take some time, but I cannot wait to play it.”

    Has Mehwish started preparing for the role?

    Mehwish said, “I’ve been reading up about her. The more I get to know her, the more inspired I get and I feel a lot of pride. But at the same time, I feel sad also that we lost such a great leader.”

    “But the world needs to see her whole story.”