Hamza Ali Abbasi’s wedding to is all anyone and everyone can talk about this week. Once everyone got over the initial shock, questions were raised as to who will be on the coveted guest list and what the couple will be wearing.
Like everyone else, we also wondered if Prime Minister Imran Khan will be attending the wedding given that he shares a close relationship with the actor.
“I don’t think so,” says Special Assistant to PM on Media Iftikhar Durrani. “Ever since he has become PM, he has not attended any social events except for two weddings one of which was his Military Secretary daughter’s wedding.”
PM Imran at his MS’ daughter’s wedding
Cricketer Imad Wasim has also invited the PM to his wedding which is being held on the same day as Hamza’s valima. But it appears that the PM will be skipping both.
It is pertinent to mention here that PM Khan also did not attend his nephew and niece’s wedding in April even though his sons were in attendance.
Hamza is getting married to actor Naimal Khawar this weekend in a “small nikkah” which will be held on Sunday, August 25 followed by a “small valima” the next day.
After the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) banned Mika Singh from working in India for performing in Pakistan, singer Mika Singh has apologised to the association and his fans and said that he will never work in Pakistan again.
Mika shared the update on Twitter and also held a press conference in which he apologised and said that he will not perform in Pakistan again. Other members of the FWICE were also present with Mika during the press conference.
Hey guys I’m very happy to announce that After meeting the #FWICE officials They have revoked the ban . I’m grateful to all .. Jai hind … pic.twitter.com/b1sci3jEPi
Mika explained that he had done the concert because it was a prior commitment. However, he admitted it was a mistake that he would never repeat.
“This was a commitment signed long back. The timing was wrong that I went there because the decision on Article 370 has just been taken. I called the federation and told them that this was a mistake. I apologise for the mistake and I won’t repeat it again. I got a visa, so I went (to Pakistan). If you get a visa, you will go, too,” said the singer.
When the media asked Mika why he even went to Pakistan in first place after the Pulwama attack, Mika started a heated argument.
“Do you know that Neha Kakkar and Atif Aslam performed here only two months ago? Do you know that Sonu Nigam also performed together with Atif four months ago? Why did no one say anything then?” he questioned.
Meanwhile, members of the FWICE said that they agreed to lift the ban after Mika explained his actions and regretted performing.
“We were in shock that Mika performed in Pakistan and at a time when India is bleeding due to Pakistan. Such an approach on part of Indian artists is not acceptable. However, we are now taking back the circular to ban Mika Singh,” they said.
They added that FWICE stood firm on its decision of banning Pakistani artistes from working in Bollywood and that they would ban anyone who works with a Pakistani artist anywhere in the world.
One of Pakistan’s hottest bachelors Hamza Ali Abbasi announced his wedding to actor Naimal Khawar Wednesday evening leaving the whole country divided over his announcement.
In case you missed it here’s Hamza’s announcement.
Yup, its true. P.S Massive respect to Naimal for being ok with a Ganja me on Nikkah ♥️ pic.twitter.com/8z9Uns0xo3
As expected, Hamza’s announcement had Pakistanis on Twitter divided. While some congratulated the happy couple, others began to dissect his post and called him out for being a narcissist.
MashaAllah, what a beautiful way to express the meaning of marriage. Congratulations Hamza and Naimal Allah aap donon ke rishtey mein barkat ata fermaye aameen.
Meanwhile, others called out Hamza for his lengthy explanations of why he is marrying Naimal.
careful with his choice of words. He has romanticized emotional unavailability and is feeding into the notion of marriage being a religious/societal obligation only, rather than a union of affection and compassion. We don’t need to propagate this toxic masculinity. It’s 2019.
Hamza Abbasi is such a great caricature of the born-again, consumed-by-guilt-but-still-macho Muslim dunce. A fairly common breed in Pakistan, though sadly this one’s become famous.
#HamzaAliAbbasi is marrying the most beautiful & young new tv star. Yet, goes on to give lengthy details, it’s not cuz of love. Brother! No friendship between na mahrem man & woman, platonic or otherwise is allowed in Islam, if u wanna play strictly Muslim. #Hamzawedsnaimal
Looks like hot, humid August is the month to be married in. And the biggest bombshell hit us last night when Actor Hamza Ali Abbasi’s wedding invitation went viral last night. People were asking anyone and everyone: is it true? If yes, who is Naimal Khawar? Believe it or not, you’ve seen her before.
Naimul’s mother is from Iran and her father is from Khyber Pakthoonkhua. She grew up in Islamabad and studied visual arts from the National College of Arts in Lahore.
She made her acting debut in Verna, alongside Mahira Khan.
She was discovered by Shoaib Mansoor who asked her to take an audition when he saw her pictures on social media.
In Verna, she played a supporting role as the hero’s sister.
She is also playing the role of Izzah in Hum TV’s drama Anaa. She plays a supporting role as the main character’s best friend.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari has written to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore regarding the Priyanka Chopra controversy.
As per the details, Dr Mazari has asked Fore to remove the Indian actor as UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Peace as she has “made a mockery of the title” by supporting the Modi government’s unlawful actions in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), besides “supporting a nuclear war”.
Sent letter to UNICEF chief regarding UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace Ms Chopra pic.twitter.com/PQ3vwYjTVz
Chopra had come under fire for her patronising and dismissive comments when asked by a Pakistani-American activist Ayesha Malik about her support for war with Pakistan.
After Priyanka Chopra, actor Sonam Kapoor has landed in the line of fire for her comments on Kashmir, Pakistan and patriotism.
After India revoked Article 370 which granted special status to Indian occupied Kashmir, tensions between the two neighbouring countries have reached an all-time high.
In a recent interview with BBC Asian Network, Sonam had said, “It’s heartbreaking to see where the situation has landed right now but I’m very patriotic. So I think for me now it’s better to keep quiet and let this pass because even this too should pass. Our countries were one country like 70 years ago and the fact that there is so much divisive politics at play is really heartbreaking.”
Sonam continued that she is very upset about the ban on Bollywood in Pakistan because “as an artist, you want to be represented everywhere and you want your work to be shown everywhere,” adding that she was heartbroken when her film Neerja wasn’t allowed to be screened in Pakistan.
Speaking about Kashmir, Sonam said, “I think it’s very complicated and I don’t understand it as much because there is so much contrasting news everywhere so I don’t really know what the truth is.”
“I believe in having a peaceful discourse and understanding what’s going on. So when I have the complete information is when I think I can give an opinion.”
Sonam’s comments irked people on both sides of the border. While Pakistanis called her out for not seeing beyond her nationalism, Indians called her a traitor for wanting her films to be screened in Pakistan and talking about her Pakistani roots.
“I am half Sindhi and half Peshawari. It’s heartbreaking to see that part of my culture is something that I can’t explore as well because of that,” Sonam had said.
As the situation continued to boil, Sonam took to Twitter and asked everyone to calm down and “get a life.”
Guys please calm down.. and get a life. Twisting, misinterpreting and understanding what you want from what someone has to say isn’t a reflection on the person who says it but on you. So self reflect and see who you are and hopefully get a job.
President Arif Alvi’s recent comments calling for the revival of arts and preserving of culture in Pakistan have upset Shaan Shahid. As of recent, the actor has regularly been tweeting to the Government of Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan to improve and promote the field of art and cinema in the country.
When President Arif Alvi called for promoting arts and preserving culture, Shaan responded, “Saying only…not doing anything about it.”
According to the media report to which Shaan had responded, President Alvi had laid stress on the promotion of arts and crafts through adequate preservation of the rich diversity of Pakistani culture and assured his support in this regard. Referring to the Islamic and European Renaissance, the president observed that civilizations could only prosper by promoting arts, crafts and architecture.
Meanwhile, here’s a look at Shaan’s efforts to work on the revival of arts and culture.
I’m sure sir the sports minister & culture min are busy defending the govts stance and not the people’s interest . No interaction , no policy in culture & sports . Sir Help us make it the best in the world ❤️
@ImranKhanPTI . Sir we need a policy and new initiative for #PTV to bring our drama industry in it’s true glory #letsbringourprideback our culture and sports❤️
#standbyme I call on all my artist community to stand by me in our cause let’s unite for our sports and culture , let’s rise together and find our space in naya Pakistan our hopes became our votes and our votes our expectation to find the promise land @ImranKhanPTI
There is no doubt that vloggers like Irfan Junejo, Mooroo and Zaid Ali T have a massive following and are watched by Pakistanis around the world. Which is why their silence on the ongoing issue in Kashmir is irking people.
The Indian government revoked Article 370 which gave Kashmir a special status as a result of which the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir has worsened for all the Muslims living there.
When a Twitter user called out Irfan Junejo for not raising his voice for the Kashmiris, Irfan strongly replied, “Please cancel me.”
Soon after, the hashtag, Irfan Junejo began to trend on Twitter and people started calling out Junejo, and other vloggers, for not raising their voice because they did not want to lose their “Indian” followers.
Among those who lashed out was, Nasir Khan Jan.
Did you notice guys ,our Youtubers specially zaid Ali , sham idrees, shaveer jaffery, ducky Bhai and many more jink millions followers hain ksi ek ne koi video ya koi tweet ki ho india k khilaf, Kashmiris ke liye ? Zulam k Khilaf koi awaz na never Money matter indian fans matter
Irfan later released a video in which he said that he will not be making a video on the Kashmir situation because he doesn’t want to use it as content to generate money. Irfan’s explanation did not please anyone and they were not ready to buy his ideas. They said that Irfan stayed away from talking about Kashmir because he knew that videos will be demonetized if he talked in support of Kashmir.
The much-awaited second season of Netflix’s Sacred Games was
dropped on Indian Independence Day, and if you want us to save you some time…
we’re disappointed.
It isn’t easy to be divided between watching Ganesh Gaitonde
(Nawazuddin Siddiqui) back in action and sticking to the idea of shunning Indian
productions at a time when Pakistan and India aren’t the best of friends.
However, having watched the eight-episode series, we can
guarantee that you won’t miss out on anything as great as the first season, in
case you’re planning not to watch it.
Expanding beyond the novel by Vikram Chandra, the second season has left us disillusioned of Anurag Kashyap and co.’s ability to do wonders.
To quickly recap the first season, because Netflix won’t, Sacred Games is one drawn-out game of cat-and-mouse between notorious Mumbai gangster Gaitonde and his chosen police mark, Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan), trying to figure out the former’s dastardly (and as-yet-unknown) plans set in motion.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The second picks up halfway through the 25 days left to save
Mumbai from uncertain calamity. Singh dives back into the investigation,
following a trail that points to nuclear weapons, terrorism and Gaitonde’s link
to Khanna Guruji (Pankaj Tripathi).
Gaitonde, still narrating to Singh but actually to us, calls Guruji his third father, to whom he and so many others are drawn like moths to a flame.
But, as one could’ve imagined (keeping in view flashbacks and
those mysterious mandalas from the first season), the ashram is actually a cult
and its leaders the liaisons between Gaitonde’s drug trade and the weapons
Singh suspects will be used to attack Mumbai over a decade later.
Just after the new twists are registered – and half the season is gone – one starts waiting for things to get as interesting as promised by cast members time and again. You start looking forward to something big enough for the season to beat its predecessor… and in all honesty, to make sense.
It isn’t later you realise that Sacred Games has successfully
pulled a Game of Thrones and disappointed you more than Gaitonde was upon realising
how Guruji deceived him as a pawn, for his own plans to create a “new world”.
All this remains the tip of a story lost somewhere between
juggling too many balls – crowing Singh as the hero, unnecessary exaggeration,
Pakistan being portrayed as the villain, gang wars, Soviet-Afghan War, 9/11 and
26/11 attacks and so much more.
Without spoiling the not-so-much a cliffhanger finale, it’s safe to say that both Gaitonde and the show might have lost the legacy which followers strived to honour after the first season (and we don’t really mind).
After India revoked Article 370 which granted special status to Indian occupied Kashmir, tensions between the two neighbouring countries reached an all-time high. Following that the Government of Pakistan announced that they will cut all ties with India effective immediately. Bollywood films have been banned in Pakistani cinemas for a while now.
Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor who has a wide fanbase in Pakistan and has shared the screen with Pakistan heartthrob Fawad Khan spoke at length about the unrest in the IoK and said that she is very disturbed with all that’s happening.
Talking to the BBC Asian Network, Kapoor said, “It’s heartbreaking to see where the situation has landed right now but I’m very patriotic. So I think for me now it’s better to keep quiet and let this pass because even this too should pass. Our countries were one country like 70 years ago and the fact that there is so much divisive politics at play is really heartbreaking.”
Sonam continued that she is very upset about the ban on Bollywood in Pakistan because “as an artist, you want to be represented everywhere and you want your work to be shown everywhere,” adding that she was heartbroken when her film Neerja wasn’t allowed to be screened in Pakistan.
“I have a huge Pakistani following and my two best friends are Muslims and half Pakistanis,” Sonam said.
On her thoughts on the Kashmir conflict, Sonam remarked, “I think it’s very complicated and I don’t understand it as much because there is so much contrasting news everywhere so I don’t really know what the truth is.”
“I
believe in having a peaceful discourse and understanding what’s going on. So
when I have the complete information is when I think I can give an opinion.”
The Kapoors have been very open about their roots on this side of the border.
“I am half Sindhi and half Peshawari. It’s heartbreaking to see that part of my culture is something that I can’t explore as well because of that,” Sonam said.
The Kashmir situation on the Indian-administered side continues to divide people, including in Bollywood.
Actress Sonam Kapoor has been speaking to us about it and says it’s upsetting because of her family’s links to the region. pic.twitter.com/Uz5Leujiaz
Sonam shared that her parents named her when they visited the valley and that she hopes peace would return to the picturesque valley soon so she can also go and visit it one day.
“I hope there is a peaceful way of working things out. I don’t know how that’s possible but I think there should be because it’s a beautiful place but I think it’s been under so much duress and I don’t think anybody knows who’s right now,” Sonam finished.
