Tag: interview

  • Imran Nazir’s battle against mercury poisoning

    Imran Nazir’s battle against mercury poisoning

    Imran Nazir, known as one of the most powerful hitters in Pakistan cricket history, recently opened up about his experience with mercury poisoning.
    He played a key role in Pakistan’s victory in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. Despite facing injuries and inconsistency in form, Nazir remains a popular figure in cricket history.
    In an interview with host Imran Ashraf, he revealed that he suffered from mercury sickness for six and a half years because someone intentionally put the toxic metal in his food.
    Imran talked about how the disease started, thinking it was just regular pain from playing cricket. He said, “I thought it was normal, like when you swing a bat and your muscle gets a bit twisted.” But the pain got worse and spread to all his joints. Worried, he went to see a doctor, and when he got the test results, the doctors told him to go back to Pakistan right away.
    Mercury poisoning happens when mercury gets inside the body through eating, breathing, or touching. It can cause joint pain, problems with thinking, and damage to organs. Imran’s experience shows how tough it can be for people with this sickness, and it reminds us how important it is to stay strong and have support from others during difficult times.

    Imran went through a tough time when he found out about his illness. “The doctors couldn’t explain what happened.” Even after trying different treatments, like herbal and spiritual healing, Imran realised there wasn’t an easy fix. He said, “I had the idea that there is no cure for this disease.” But through it all, Imran stayed strong. He believed, “Whenever difficulties arrive, you must always stay strong. No one could have ever imagined what I went through.”
    For six and a half years, Imran battled his illness, spending all his money to fight it. He said, “I spent all the money I had during that time.”
    Imran also talked about how the disease affected his personal life, mentioning that people treated him differently. He explained, “When times were tough, I saw how people changed.” Despite facing questions about his health, Imran showed appreciation for his wife’s constant support and care. He said, “I salute her honesty and how she took care of me during those difficult times.”

  • What name did Shah Rukh Khan’s grandmother pick for him?

    What name did Shah Rukh Khan’s grandmother pick for him?

    Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan always surprises his fans with interesting stories. During an episode of ‘The Anupam Kher Show’, the King of cinema revealed something special from his childhood.

    He shared that his maternal grandmother, whom he calls Naani, first named him Abdul Rahman. When Anupam Kher asked if anyone called him Abdul Rahman, Shah Rukh Khan replied, “I don’t know, but my maternal grandmother had named me Abdul Rahman in childhood.”

    The name wasn’t officially recorded, but she wanted him to accept Abdul Rahman. Shah Rukh Khan joked, “I felt weird. Just imagine Baazigar starring Abdul Rahman… It wouldn’t sound good. Shah Rukh Khan in and as Baazigar sounds better.”

    This story gives us a glimpse into Shah Rukh Khan’s early life and the special bond he shared with his grandmother. It’s interesting to know how he went from being Abdul Rahman to the iconic ‘
    Shah Rukh Khan we all know and love today.

  • Exclusive: Are Sidra Niazi and Khaqan Shahnawaz related?

    Exclusive: Are Sidra Niazi and Khaqan Shahnawaz related?

    Two new stars from the Pakistan showbiz industry, Sidra Niazi and Khaqan Shahnawaz, recently addressed rumors about being related to each other in an interview.

    Exclusive story:

    In an interview with The Current, Sidra Niazi told us that she is not related to Khaqan Shahnawaz. “No, we are not siblings, but many people ask this question when they see us.”
    The interview will be out on Sunday.

    Here is a clip from the interview:

    During their appearance on a morning show, both Sidra and Khaqan discussed their roles as siblings in a drama serial.
    When the host inquired about their off-screen relation, both artists shared a laugh and explained that the director, Sirajul Haque had cast them as siblings in the drama. Sidra Niazi emphasized that they are not siblings and have no familial connection.

  • Shiraz Uppal talks about ‘Funkari’ controversy with Aima Baig

    Shiraz Uppal recently gave an interview to a private TV channel and talked about the controversy with singer Aima Baig regarding the song ‘Funkari’ released this year.

    “I resolved the issue because at the stage of my career that I am at now, after creating the music of many famous singers’ famous songs, it should not be tolerated that anyone takes away credit, and people in our industry are very good at denying credit.”

    The singer said, “I wanted to set an example for newcomers in the industry because newcomers are not able to raise their voice for their rights. They fear that they will have trouble getting more work in the future.”
    He said that he was in a position to speak up for his right, adding, “I replied to Aima Baig so that the new people who are coming in the industry also have the confidence to raise their voice for their right. Aima was arguing with me that the song ‘Funkari’ was written by Shakeel Sohail, who was my close friend.”
    Shiraz Uppal said, “I made it clear to Aima that Shakeel Sohail had passed away in June 2020 and that I had written the lyrics for the song ‘Funkari’ in November 2020.”

    Stressing that he would never take his friend’s credit, Uppal emphasized, “I wrote this song 6 months after his death. I have all the proofs which I showed to Aima and she admitted her mistake.”

    Aima Baig had claimed that she wrote Funkari together with Sohail Shakeel.

    At the time, Uppal refuted Aima Baig’s statement, stating, “He had written the song on his own six months after Shakeel Sohail’s passing.”
    Following Shiraz Uppal’s clarification, the disagreement persisted but eventually got resolved when Aima Baig acknowledged her mistake.

  • Egyptian comedian combats Piers Morgan with satire

    Egyptian comedian combats Piers Morgan with satire

    Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef is being hailed all over social media after a recent interview on Piers Morgan show.

    Bassem, an Egyptian comedian, political satirist, and television host, replied to the British television host with a satirical tone throughout his 26-minute conversation with the controversial and outspoken presenter.

    The interview was centred on the current Israel-Palestine escalation and, like any other Western news show, there was a sense of undermining of the Palestinian suffering, to which Bassem responded with sheer brilliance.

    Piers quoted the October 7 attacks, which he believes “supersedes anything else” in the Israel-Palestine “conflict”, adding that “the question then becomes again about proportion” and that October 7 was “on a different level altogether, quite deliberately by Hamas, designed to provoke “.

    He asked Youssef, “If you were Israel and that had happened to you, what would you think would be the appropriate way for the country to respond”.

    “I would do exactly like Israel did: Kill as many people as possible since the world is letting me do it,” Bassem responded. “I mean, I can do it because I can,” he said.

    “Let’s for a minute imagine a world without Hamas. What will this world look like? Let’s give this world a name and let’s name this word the West Bank. Hamas has absolutely no control in the West Bank… Only through August, 37 Palestinian kids were killed. No music festival, no paragliding, no Hamas. Since the occupation of the West Bank, 7,000 Palestinians were killed; no music festival, no paragliding, no Hamas. I can go on and on and on and on.”

    At this point Morgan interrupted, saying that “You’re preaching to the choir” to which Youssef responded, “Don’t interrupt me and interrupt my points. Because this has to be fair because if you want to only hear your opinion, I can just condemn Hamas and go home. I can do that… Do you want to do that or do you want to have a much more nuanced conversation?”

    When asked, “How do we get from where we are now to peace,” Youssef said, “You need to change the perception.”

    “If you have already decided someone is good, he can do no evil and if you decide that someone is evil, it’s good to kill them.
    killing them is good… it is not like something new.”

    He added that the West first treats people “like savages”, giving examples of the native americans:

    “They’re savages, kill all the savages and when they are almost extinct you start feeling sorry for them like animals.

    So, maybe the solution is we kill as many Palestinians as possible so the few of them who remain do not bother you.”

    When Pier Morgan asked Youssef to leave since he gave “half of the show” to Bassam Yousef, Yousef left after making another dig.

    “By the way, my wife’s family’s alright and they sent us a house, its bombed, it beautiful , it’s going to be a good halloween theme,” he said of his in-laws who are in Gaza.

    Morgan: “I’m very sorry for what your family is going through in Gaza.”

    Youssef: “I haven’t actually met them. They didn’t come to my wedding. They couldn’t because they are stuck in Gaza and she never saw them because, you know, Gaza is not a destination. We hear their voices, they die, it’s fine.”

    Morgan said, “Bassam, I wish your family all the very best, thank you for joining me. I appreciate it.”

    Youssef replied, “I don’t, thank you.”

    You can watch the entire interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idQbwsvtUo

  • ‘They don’t like being told what to do’: Imran Khan holds back from criticising Taliban ban on girls’ education

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, in an interview with Matt Frei for Channel 4, talked about the rigid ban imposed by Afghanistan Taliban on girls’ education.

    When asked whether he will tell them to let the girls go to school, he responded by saying that he knows Afghan character much more than anyone else in the West. “They dont like being told what to do,” Imran Khan said.

    He then urged the world to engage with the Taliban, stressing that only then the group will listen to them.

    He said, “If the West wants to influence them, they must mainstream them. I kept telling them to engage. If you isolate them, what influence are you going to have on them.”

    “My advice is to get them involved, give them a stake in the international community so when you tell them to educate girls, they will listen to you.”

    According to him, right now they react when the world questions their policy toward women.

    We are heading toward martial law: Imran Khan

    In the interview, the deposed prime minister said that the postponement of elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is a violation of the constitution.

    He said that five judges of the Supreme Court categorically said that elections should be held on April 30.

    “The worry right now is that we are heading towards martial law”, said Khan.

  • State should handle PTI in the same way it handles terrorist organisations: Maryam Nawaz

    Senior Vice-president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Maryam Nawaz, has said that the state should handle arch-rival Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the same manner that it handles terrorist organisations.

    The PML-N leader sat down with Mansoor Ali Khan for a long interview about a host of topics including her promotion in the party, PTI’s clashes with the police outside Zaman Park in Lahore and judiciary, the first part of which has gone on air.

    “I stood by Hamza when he became Chief Minister”

    When asked whether she deserves the spot of Chief Organiser of the party, Maryam referred to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s interview with Hamid Mir. “I spent 5-6 years working very passionately for the party. This is an acknowledgment of my relation with the people that was forged in what was the toughest period of my life and for the party,” she observed.

    Mansoor pointed out that she is now holding a position above her cousin Hamza Shehbaz. “When he became Chief Minister, which is a big post, I stood by him like an elder sister,” Maryam pointed out.

    Dispelling a question about whether Hamza was upset with the decision, Maryam Nawaz said that he has only one daughter who has heart problems and had surgery for it two years ago. “His daughter is unwell,” she revealed. The host asked that if the two cousins both win their respective seats to reach Punjab Assembly, who will be the candidate for Chief Minister. Maryam demurred and said the party will decide.

    On the matter of PML-N losing the 2022 by-elections, Maryam said that their own workers did not accept the candidates who were from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). She also rejected that the Vote of No Confidence was a mistake, implying that there was a 12-year-long plan to rig multiple elections.

    “The entire front line of PML-N was put in jail. I spent five months in jail once and then give months again. Whoever was put in jail could not come out before six months,” she reminded the anchor.

    “Let’s build a bullet-proof court inside Zaman Park”

    Dismissing the 84 cases filed against Imran Khan, Maryam Nawaz said that if he was innocent, he should prove it in court. “We showed up in court for 200 hearings,” she reminded Mansoor.

    About whether it was fair to use pictures of sitting judges while criticising the judiciary, she said, “When the law will have double standards, then it is Maryam Nawaz’s right to speak up about it.”

    Referring to Imran Khan’s reluctance to attend court proceedings, she said that she went again and again to court hearings herself when she was facing a trial. “If his life is under threat, are his workers also not facing the same who fight outside?” The host said that was there a need for such vindictiveness when Pakistan had already lost a former Premier, Benazir Bhutto, to an assassination. “Let’s then build a bullet-proof court inside Zamam Park,” she sarcastically replied.

    “State should handle Imran Khan and PTI in the same way it does terrorist organisations”

    She did not hold back when it came to the Supreme Court bench that disqualified her father Nawaz Sharif when asked about the “atmosphere of civil war” at Zaman Park when police clashed with PTI protestors. “Justice Khosa who led the Panama bench must have realised who is ‘Don’, ‘Sicilian Mafia’ and ‘Godfather’.” She said that terrorists were hiding inside the house in Zaman Park while police from Gilgit Baltistan was also there. Pointing out that this is the first time any political party had used petrol bombs to fight the police, Maryam Nawaz said only terrorists and proscribed organisations do so. “I think the state should handle Imran Khan and PTI in the same way as it does terrorist organisations,” she stressed.

    “This is cowardice”

    When Mansoor Ali Khan asked her why her party was reluctant to name former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Maryam Nawaz said that he himself had admitted to mistakes in interviews. “No he hasn’t,” the host said. The PML-N leader responded that her father had named General Bajwa in a rally and she had given an application against the then Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence General (retd) Faiz Hameed in court. Stating that she does not agree with Imran Khan’s criticism of Bajwa, she reminded viewers that he used to praise the former army chief when he was prime minister. “Till one day before his retirement, they were meeting him, to ask him to bring them back into power” she stated, adding that now Imran Khan was demanding court martial for General Bajwa. “This is a huge dichotomy, this is cowardice. I do not take a coward’s statements seriously,” she firmly said.

    However, Maryam Nawaz did not give a direct reply when Mansoor Ali Khan asked whether her govt will court martial Generals Bajwa and Hameed. “Bravery is to challenge cruelty when it is in full might,” she said.

  • ‘Dili afsos hai’: Maryam Nawaz condemns death of PTI worker in Lahore

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz has condemned the death of Ali Bilal, a worker and supporter of rival party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who lost his life allegedly at the hands of police on Wednesday when a clash took place in Lahore.

    Maryam extended her condolences to the deceased’s family, saying, “Aik siyaasi kaarkun ki jaan gayi, mujhe is cheez ka behaad afsos hai aur dili afsos hai” (I feel grief that a political worker lost his life).

    The PML-N leader also said that whatever has happened should be investigated.

    On Wednesday, on the call of PTI Chief Imran Khan, PTI workers came out on the roads, resulting in a clash between PTI workers and Lahore police at Zaman Park. PTI leaders claim that the administration is to blame for Ali Bilal’s death.

    During the interview with Adil Shahzeb, Maryam also said that now that ex-Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Faiz Hameed has confessed, the establishment should take notice of his statement.

    “General Faiz will be held accountable by the institution itself,” she said.

  • Ali Haider Zaidi says will leave PTI if it allies with Zardari

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi said that he will leave his party and politics altogether if Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and former President Asif Ali Zardari allies with the party.

    In a wide-ranging podcast with Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, the former minister said, “Mei chordoga PTI, mei polticis bhi chordoga“(I will leave PTI, I will even leave politics).

    Zaidi said that saying Karachi is being ruled by Zardari’s “mafia”.

    When asked why PTI did not deliver on its promises to Karachi when Imran Khan was in power, the PTI leader was of the view that circumstances were different at the time, however, he admitted that the party could’ve done more.

    He also added that “Imran Khan is a figure whom everybody wants to be close with.”

    Answering Shehzad’s question about why Imran Khan didn’t visit the victims’ families of the 2020 PIA plane crash in Karachi, Zaidi said that he was overburned at the time.

    It is pertinent to mention that very few visits have been made by the-then prime minister Imran Khan to Karachi.

    Earlier this year, PTI suffered a major setback in Sindh local body elections when PTI Karachi Chapter President and Sindh Assembly lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman suffered defeat in UC XI of Sadar Town for his nomination for Karachi mayor slot to the PPP candidate.

  • Ranbir Kapoor opens up about how fatherhood has changed him

    Ranbir Kapoor opens up about how fatherhood has changed him

    Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor was a guest on the BBC Asian Network where while promoting his upcoming movie ‘Tu Jhooti Mein Makaar’, the actor opened up about the birth of his daughter, Raha.
    Kapoor and actor Alia Bhatt got married last year and announced that they were pregnant in June. They told their fans the name they had chosen for their baby in an Instagram post.

    Speaking on how fatherhood had changed him, Kapoor revealed that he was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of love he felt for his baby:
    “There’s nothing that matters anymore but yet everything matters also. It’s a new emotion and it’s something that even I’m scared to talk about because it fills you up so much that you get scared thinking ‘will this go away?’”

    Kapoor also confessed that the love he felt towards his daughter was not something he had experienced before.
    “In the back of my mind I know there’s one thing that’s gonna live eternally with me till the day I die which is the love, and joy and the gratefulness that I feel. I haven’t felt that towards anything, any person, any movie, anything professionally,” the new father said.

    Watch the complete interview here: