Tag: Pakistani Actors

  • ‘Gunjal’; What is it about and when is it releasing? We have the details

    ‘Gunjal’; What is it about and when is it releasing? We have the details

    Upcoming thriller ‘Gunjal’ is the talk of the town, a film that promises to revive the industry with an insight into the crisis of child abuse in Pakistan. The film boasts of a star-studded cast with the likes of Ahmed Ali Akbar, Resham, Ahmed Ali Butt, Samiya Mumtaz and Amna Ilyas. The team behind ‘Gunjal’ was present at the prelaunch event held at University of Management and Technology (UMT) where we got some interesting details about the film, including the wholesome reason why Resham wanted to work with Ahmed Ali Akbar.

    When is ‘Gunjal’ releasing?

    Gunjal will release in theatres across Pakistan on 8th December.

    What roles will Ahmed Ali Akbar and Resham be playing?

    Ahmed Ali Akbar will be playing the role of journalist Shahbaz Bhatti, who investigates the murder of prolific child activist Iqbal Masih. Speaking at the event, Ahmed opened up about his reason for choosing the role.

    “Gunjal is inspired by the life of a prolific child activist and is an insight into the trials and tribulations of Iqbal Masih and what he went through, and the conditions he was working in under and the events that took place. It’s also about the life of a regular person who overtime, through the eyes of Iqbal Masih, starts to see things that are very common around us, yet we don’t notice them.”

    “It’s about the rights of children… and is inspired by Iqbal Masih’s legacy,” stressed Ahmed. “It’s very relevant, on what Iqbal wanted to accomplish, it was relevant then and is still now. It’s happening in front of us. So I feel it is our duty but it takes time to act upon it.”

    Resham said her role in ‘Gunjal’ was quite different from her previous films. She plays Sarwat, the founder of a newspaper ‘Nai Subh’. Resham explained that her character tries to ensure her journalistic stories are focused on truth and justice.

    The sweet reason behind why Resham wanted to work on Gunjal: Ahmed Ali Akbar

    Resham also shared the sweet reason that propelled her to take part in the film, revealing it was her desire to work with Ahmed Ali Akbar.

    “I had watched all of ‘Parizaad’ from that point on I really wanted to work with him. While Ahmed’s drama was airing I didn’t watch it because I was suffering from depression and had lost a lot friends. Then I decided to watch all the episodes on Youtube. After finishing it, I made a prayer to Allah while watching alone, that I hoped to work with this man some day. Two-and-a-half months later the film’s director Shoaib sahab reached out and asked if I would act in his film. I asked who would be the hero, and he said ‘Ahmed Ali Akbar’. I said ‘The Parizaad one!’ and was overjoyed!”

    Resham shared she had watched the last episode of Parizaad with Ahmed, which she said she was extremely lucky for. “Despite the fact that I’m his senior, but I’m still a huge fan of his.”

  • ‘Content creators are selling their families for influence’: Fahad Mustafa

    ‘Content creators are selling their families for influence’: Fahad Mustafa

    Actor and producer Fahad Mustafa was a guest on Shoaib Akhtar’s show where he was asked about the rise of social media influencers and content creators in Pakistan and whether he would accept them as co-actors in any drama he works in. The ‘Mayi Ri’ producer responded with a scathing remark on the lengths people from this profession are willing to go to for the sake of going viral.

    “They are selling their families for content,” asserted the actor. “Their content is making kheer in the kitchen, rubbing their mother’s feet and then going as far as visiting a graveyard…Matlab yeh kya hai, yeh kaunsa content hai?” [What is this, what kind of content is this?]

    Fahad further explained he would never want to be known for this kind of work. “I can tell both good or bad story, but I will never sell my house for the sake of views. I will never sell myself this way.”

    The ‘Mein Abdul Kadir Hoon’ actor further compared content creators to those working in the acting industry, and pointed out how such influencers would never survive in such an industry because of the extensive time it took to produce a project.

    “If you ever go on a shoot, or you’re sitting on a set here, it takes time,” shared Fahad. “There’s a process. They can’t work longer than two or eight hours. And how would they understand? They have their phone and can make something in 10 seconds.”

  • ‘IBA ya Pagal khaana’: Asim Azhar shuts down ‘Hania Amir’ chants at literary festival

    ‘IBA ya Pagal khaana’: Asim Azhar shuts down ‘Hania Amir’ chants at literary festival

    Asim Azhar was attending a literary festival held at the Institute of Public and Business Adminstration (IBA) when he was heckled by some members of the crowd while talking to Yasir Hussain. The crowd began taunting the singer by chanting the name of Hania Amir, the actress Asim had previously dated.

    In a viral video clip, Asim can be seen shutting down the misogynist chants by responding “IBA hai ya pagal khaana?”

    Yasir also slammed the hecklers by telling them to act like educated people.

    We have to applaud Asim for refusing to be bullied by hecklers. It’s not so hard to understand that nobody deserves to be taunted in such a demeaning manner about their private lives, let alone at an institute that is recognised as one of the superior universities of Pakistan.

  • Misogyny rears its head once more with Mohib Mirza’s sexist comments

    Misogyny rears its head once more with Mohib Mirza’s sexist comments

    What is this, misogyny month?

    Another male actor has decided to raise the misogyny flag with a gross comment and this time, its Mohib Mirza. The actor was featured in a podcast for FHM Pakistan where he talked at length about his career and the controversy surrounding the actor’s marriage to Sanam Saeed. Everything was going well, and we were quite proud of how Mohib shut down allegations of cheating against his first wife Amina Sheikh.

    But this was all shot down when Mohib was asked about whether it was him or Sanam who controlled the house.

    To which Mohib responded:

    “If you’re a man you cannot be shareef. No one should remain in this delusion that a man can be innocent. A woman can be innocent but not a man. It can’t be possible because of genetics. The way it was made it’s not possible for that reason. Do you know how many cells you generate in THAT specific area? Billions! You are made like a machine so you are a machine.”

    Where do I even begin with this nonsense. Why do women need to deal with this?

    Sab say pehlay tou Mohib sir, equating manliness with strength and femininity with weakness is a relic of the past. If such a thing were real, then men wouldn’t be throwing around chairs and breaking television sets every time their favourite team lost a cricket match. And women wouldn’t be quietly toiling while suffering intense period pain. Have you ever had a chance, Mr Mohib, to read up on our history? Or even perhaps spoken with the women of this country? Sit down with an ordinary Pakistani woman who is not only working at a job, but also taking care of her children, cleaning her house and then dealing with her in-laws. While men in this country, who were apparently born with superior genes, can’t provide proper financial support for the family. The gender you’re calling weak by associating it with femininity is the one holding families together.

    And also sir, this is not the first time you and Sanam went viral with your sexist comments. Earlier this year, both Mohib and Sanam were guests on Fahad Mustafa’s show. Sanam was asked whether men need to be dealt with like babies, to which she responded: “You need to take care of men like they are children.” The statement reeks of entitlement and ignorance, and as a couple with a lot of power and social status, you need to be mindful of the kind of words you say publicly.

    But you’re lucky Mr Mohib, you’re not the only celebrity who made us want to slam our heads on the wall this week. Javed Sheikh decided it was super cool to publicly announce that he refuses to believe in the slogan ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’. He emphasised that a woman is beautiful when she is covered.

    Please tell us when and where did any woman ask you for your opinion? Did Haseena Moin ask you for reference when she cast you in her critically acclaimed drama ‘Ankahi’ where you acted opposite a head-strong, opinionated woman who didn’t need to cover up to demand respect from a man? Exactly, sit down.

    Why are we still addressing this topic? There’s a war in the Middle East. India is making more progressive movies like ‘Rocky and Rani’ centring around consent and holding men accountable for misogyny, and we’re still debating whether femininity makes a woman weak?

    All we will say is these are distractions from real issues, and we are done lecturing men on the basic elements of feminism. Which is why I didn’t bother to go into any details in this piece. Google is free, and at this point celebrities need to realise we can see through their PR attempts. We know what you’re doing when you bring up sexism because it will bring along another month’s easy coverage. Women don’t owe any man an explanation for why they deserve to be respected, and we’re done doing so as well.

  • Armeena Khan slams Shaniera for staying silent about Palestine

    Armeena Khan slams Shaniera for staying silent about Palestine

    Actress Armeena Khan slammed philanthropist and wife to former cricketer Wasim Akram, Shaniera, for remaining silent about the genocide of Palestinians.

    Shaniera tweeted her sorrow at the recent tragedies around the world, writing:

    “Helpless. I feel so totally and utterly helpless. Ive never been scared of saying what I want or how I feel, but right now im very emotional and actually just don’t have any words left to give and i am really sorry if that offends anyone”

    To which Armeena had responded:

    “You have plenty of words to give when it’s Pakistan. Either talk about Palestine openly or keep your dramatics to yourself.”

    In a now-deleted tweet, Shaniera criticised Armeena’s response by writing: “Seriously? With the state of the world and the pain we are seeing daily, you are still throwing hate at me. For what? You don’t know me or what I am dealing with. Whatever we are, we are both mothers, you should be using your voice to promote unity and sisterhood. I think it’s about time you grew up. You are really sinking pretty low for headlines now.”

  • ‘This is so sad’: Armeena Khan calls for end to Afghan refugees deportation

    ‘This is so sad’: Armeena Khan calls for end to Afghan refugees deportation

    Pakistani actress Armeena Khan has called for an end to the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Armeena wrote:

    “It would be CRIMINAL of me not to talk about 1.7 million Afghans who are being displaced from Pakistan, their homes being bull dozed. This is absolutely vile! How can we treat them this way? I cannot talk about Gaza without talking about the plight of the Afghans. This is so sad.”

    When a user tried to school her, Armeena slammed him on the double standards of Pakistanis who are protesting for a Free Palestine but on the other hand, are pushing Afghan refugees out of their country.

    “People like you are no different than the war mongering factions of the Israelites. Two sides of the same coin. Spare the Palestinians your hypocrisy. The Pakistani Afghans are also your Muslim brothers and sisters.”

    Veteran actress and model Iffat Omar also joined in by sharing a picture of a boy stranded on a truck and writing in the caption “This is really heart breaking.”

  • ‘The gora complex is still present among Pakistanis’: Shaista Lodhi

    ‘The gora complex is still present among Pakistanis’: Shaista Lodhi

    Actress and aesthetic surgeon Shaista Lodhi appeared as a guest at the late night talk show ‘Mazaaq Raat’ where she criticised Pakistani obsession with fair skin.

    The actress revealed that several women come to her clinic to improve their skin tone by makin it fairer.

    “Literally, I say to them do you want to look like pigeons? Kyun kay wo already is tarhan ki complexion ki hoti hain kay aur zarorat nah hain. Ab sirf rang phat sakta hai.”

    Previously, speaking on ‘The Talk Talk Show’, Lodhi opened up about coming across clients who came to her after being bullied by their husbands on their physical features. She recalled a patient coming along with her husband, who jokingly suggested to the surgeon to make his wife look like her.

    Previously, speaking on ‘The Talk Talk Show’, Lodhi opened up about coming across clients who came to her after being bullied by their husbands on their physical features. She recalled a patient coming along with her husband, who jokingly suggested to the surgeon to make his wife look like her.

    READ MORE: ‘A patient revealed she was kicked out of her house by her husband because of her stretch marks’: Shaista Lodhi

    “You can see the way women are treated in our society,” lamented the ‘Pardes’ actress. “That girl was sitting in a corner and politely laughing while I wanted to slap him right away. But that woman kept silent, even though it must be torturous for her to stay with such a man who keeps taunting her with things like ‘Tumharay baal hain’, ‘tumharay boaht ziada baal hain’..”

  • ‘Show more mercy’: Sanam Saeed calls for Pakistani government to stop deporting Afghan refugees

    ‘Show more mercy’: Sanam Saeed calls for Pakistani government to stop deporting Afghan refugees

    The Pakistani government is set to deport more than 90,000 Afghan refugees by November 1, prompting protests among civil rights activists. Actors, too, are condemning the expulsion. Viral videos show Afghan children in tears as they say goodbye to their friends, expressing sadness over being deported.

    Actress Sanam Saeed has appealed to the government of Pakistan asking that in light of circumstances around the world, Pakistanis must extend their kindness to people seeking shelter in this country.

    “Deporting refugees who seek shelter here will not make our fundamental issues go away. It looks like we are deflecting blame from challenges that the govt or the country overall is facing. At a time like this in the world right now, we need to show more mercy.”

    Veteran actress Nadia Jamil expressed her outrage over a post showing how Afghan children were taken to court and treated as criminals. She shared Osman Khalid Butt’s post and wrote “Statelessness. Their crime is their families Afghan refugee past. Most of them were born here.”

    Columnist Fatima Bhutto shared a video of an Afghan child tearfully saying goodbye to his classmates as he was set to be deported. In the caption she wrote:
    “This is just wrong of Pakistan. It’s inhumane. We must protect the Afghan refugees of this country and allow them a chance to rebuild their lives.”

  • ‘Depression is not being away from God’: Anoushey Ashraf, Zara Noor Abbas encourage followers to recognise mental illness

    ‘Depression is not being away from God’: Anoushey Ashraf, Zara Noor Abbas encourage followers to recognise mental illness

    After the tragic news of Maulana Tariq Jameel’s son passing away in what is being said was suicide, celebrities are urging their followers to recognise the importance of taking care of their mental health. Asim Jameel, the younger son of the Maulana, passed away after shooting himself with a gun at his ancestral home in Tulamba.

    Social media was left heart broken after Yousef Jamil confirmed to the press that his brother Asim had passed away from suicide. Now more public figures like Zara Noor Abbas want people to understand that depression should be recognised as an illness.

    “For all those who say that depression happens because of deen say duri, please take the example of Maulana Tariq Sahab’s son who was suffering from it even though he had a house full of religious activities and his father being such an honoured religious scholar,” the actress penned.

    “Please understand that depression is real like any other illness,” Zara stressed to her followers. “It sucks everything out of you. Please seek help and support for it. My heart goes out to the family of the deceased. May Allah grant him Jannah and peace after all.”

    Actress and VJ Anoushay Ashraf slammed the common assumption that depression happens when people are away from God, and spoke about how it should be recognised as a medical issue.

    “I hope those celebs who unknowingly but hurt fully speak about how depression is being away from Allah (SWT) realise that it’s very much a medical issue. Many troubles and issues in life can perhaps be because of your disconnect with the higher being, I get your viewpoint but depression is a ‘real’ sickness and disease. It’s not being away from God, it’s being ill. Very ill in such cases.”

  • Ushna Shah’s opinion on McDonald’s workers has divided social media

    Ushna Shah’s opinion on McDonald’s workers has divided social media

    Ushna Shah’s recent take on boycotting McDonald’s and other international franchises has divided social media. The actress is currently among the vocal celebrities calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Yesterday she expressed her outrage at a video showing IDF soldiers in Israel enjoying McDonald’s. The Israeli franchise was subjected to international backlash when they announced they were providing free meals to soldiers. Ushna shared the video and urged her followers to boycott the brand, writing:

    “I swear to God if I see anyone touch #McDonalds or have it anywhere near me I’m going to rage. Keep it the hell off my sets & if you choose to eat it or endorse it stay the hell away from me, & be prepared for an earful. And for Muslims, consider it as Haram as pork.”

    A commentor under her X post questioned if Ushna was thinking about the countless workers in local McDonald’s franchises, who would be jobless if the restaurant was boycotted. To which the ‘Habs’ actor responded:

    “Shut up. Those people can find employment at a local fast food chain . McDonalds is a Franchise and as a Franchise it has chosen to send 4000 daily meals to an army that is annihilating Gaza. Closing this franchise in Pakistan will open doors for local businesses to flourish which is far better for our economy. This argument is ridiculous. McDonalds needs to be banned. Simple.”

    While some users agreed with Ushna’ take to boycott McDonald’s, other’s felt her tweet reeked of elitism.

    There were users on X who agreed to stop purchasing McDonald’s to ensure their support for Palestine remains strong.

    “Mcdonalds is next to where i play football in Singapore. I sometimes had it on my way back. Today, i chose to walk 2 km to a local joint instead. If i can, you can.”

    But others felt her tweet especially regarding workers finding job elsewhere read like elitism, and many users pointed out there needs to be conversation on how the middle class survives boycotts like these.

    “an elite woman telling people who live the consequences of poor economy to go find another job is insane,” a user wrote.

    This user pointed out that we should help employees find new jobs so they’re not affected by the McDonald’s boycott.

    “An average #McDonalds employee earns 25 to 30K, and in a country where people beg for jobs, you’re asking them to leave their jobs? Who will provide them with new jobs? First get them jobs at local chains with same salary and a ration of a month then lash out at them. #Pakistan“

    “Someone please tell her that your boycott wont have any impact on global chain of McDonalds since they operate via franchise in Pakistan and the only loss would be Pakistan’s economy and people employed there. Get them job first then come up with such activism.”

    “and until those ppl dont get re-employed at a local chain, they’d be on Ushna’s payroll ? Its easier said then done. people do not estimate the impact. Its 5,000 to 8,000 families getting affected if a chain closes. Its not really about not having a big mac, that’s the easy part”