Tag: Pakistani Celebrities

  • Pakistani media, stop obsessing over Sunita Marshall’s religion

    Pakistani media, stop obsessing over Sunita Marshall’s religion

    The country’s media has decided that the average citizen is not raging inflation but whether a fully grown woman has decided to convert from Christianity to Islam or not.

    In an interview with Youtuber and journalist Maliha Rehman, actor Hassan Ahmed, Sunita Marshall’s husband, was asked about how he deals with the negative comments, especially regarding his marriage to the ‘Sar-e-rah’ actress. The actor responded that it is his deepest desire that his wife converts to Islam, but understands that these things do take time. He further went on to say that Sunita will only come towards Islam when she notices the positive inside him.

    But newsflash for the two of you, Sunita isn’t special just because she ‘could’ convert to Islam. She’s a fully grown human being who can dress how she wants and follow what religion she chooses. It is shameful how this is a topic that needs a 10 minute long discussion.

    The discussion arose just a few weeks after Sunita was questioned by controversial Youtuber Nadir Ali about her religious beliefs. She calmly handled the situation saying that it was her choice whether she chooses to remain a Christian or convert to Islam. But the fact remains, Sunita’s religion is not something to debate, and it’s shameful that her husband is commenting on personal matters in the public sphere.

    We were incredibly happy to witness how a flood of celebrities and social media users applauded the ‘Khuda Aur Mohabbat’ actress for bravely handling Ali’s misogynist remarks, but it doesn’t mean she needs to be subjected to this kind of questioning time and time again. This is the Islamic Republic Of Pakistan, where under the law, people from all kinds of faiths are allowed to practice their religion without any fear.

    It’s the year 2023, you have people leaving the country because they’re unable to make a decent living, so obsessing over whether Sunita Marshall will become a Muslim or not is irrelevant. Celebrity tabloids, please do better and let her live without feeling like her religion is in the spotlight all the time.

  • ‘Shah Rukh Khan, 365 days star Michele Morrone wanted to work with me’: Meera

    ‘Shah Rukh Khan, 365 days star Michele Morrone wanted to work with me’: Meera

    Lollywood superstar Meera was recently a guest on the celebrity talk show ‘Hasna Mana Hai’. While speaking about her career and the challenges she faced, the ‘Baji’ actress revealed that not one, but two A-list actors had wanted to star her in their movies! It was Shah Rukh Khan, the actress claimed, who wanted to cast her in the film ‘Jab tak Hai Jaan’ before he eventually went with Katrina Kaif. However, the offer couldn’t work out because Meera wasn’t able to secure a visa to London.

    Then the other A-lister was the ‘365 days’ Italian actor Michele Morrone, who had reached out to Meera to do a film together.She confirmed on the show that the two are planning to do a film together once his current projects finish:

    “Yes, for work…He said, ‘Let’s work together.’ Once his current projects finish, we will work together professionally, God willing.”

    Meera has been the butt of misogynist and elitist jokes in the past because of her limited English speaking skills, among other absurd reasons, but the actress revealed she doesn’t let this backlash shatter her self-confidence or her resilience:

     “If you wish to be successful or live a peaceful life, you must forget about what people will say…If you love me, what does my age, personal life, or past have to do with it?” she declared.

    However, the actress said after living a public life, she now prefers to remain out of the news, humorously answering a question from an audience member:

    “When I was in the news, people had objections that I’m constantly in the news, always on television. Now that I’m not in the news, how do you feel now?” She continued, “Those in print media would write, ‘Learn the talent of staying in the news from Meera Jee.’”

  • Season 2 of ‘Fairy Tale’ is back and social media users are enchanted as ever

    Season 2 of ‘Fairy Tale’ is back and social media users are enchanted as ever

    Just a few months after receiving critical acclaim for Season One, Hum TV’s beloved drama ‘Fairy Tale’ is back with a second season. The series, penned by Sarah Majeed, revolves around the energetic, fun-loved Umeed Pasha (played by Sehar Khan), a middle class girl who dreams of getting rich. Farjaad Khan (played by Hamza Sohail), her complete opposite in many ways, finds her naiveness opposing with his stiff and cold demeanor, but slowly comes to fall in love with her.

    The first season wrapped in April, with fans across India and Pakistan showering praise on the powerful female lead, the romance and the stellar script writing. The overwhelming praise

    Newcomers Hamza and Sehar were taken aback by the meteoric rise of the show, while in an interview with Fuchsia, Ali Safina admitted being shocked by how popular the show was.

    In this season, Umeed and Farjaad are more in love than they were previously, as she gears up to start her career as well as being married to Farjaad. The story wouldn’t be memorable without hilarious road blocks between our beloved kharoos and his larki right? The fanbase has not gone anywhere, already heaping praise on the first episode.

  • If you loved ‘Fairy Tale’ then watch the classical drama ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’

    If you loved ‘Fairy Tale’ then watch the classical drama ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’

    Since ‘Fairy Tale’ is set to arrive back this month with another incredible new season, we get that fans are rewatching the episodes over and over again. For the first time, a Pakistani drama managed to actually enrapture women, with a non-problematic male-lead as well as a fun-loving, well written female lead. Yes its true that there is nothing good to watch out there that won’t make you cringe in the first 15 minutes. But plenty of our followers need to discover classical dramas, their incredible story lines about powerful, hilarious women not abiding by toxic patriarchy, and one of them is Syed Muhammad Ahmed’s ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’.

    Directed by Sahria Kazmi, the five episode drama starred Marina Khan as Hira, a witty and fearless woman whose crush on a stranger accidently leads her to be mistaken as the fiance of a man in coma. Many Twitter users even began drawing a comparison between Hira, and the protagonist of ‘Fairy Tale’ Umeed Pasha, played by Marina Khan, as a viral tweet showed.

    And honestly, we’ve been waiting for the public to realize this so we could write another piece to praise this classical drama and just to write about how brilliant Fairy Tale is for catering to an audience nostalgic about the brilliant dramas of the 90’s. So if, like us, you’re patiently waiting till August 5 arrives when Season 2 of Fairy Tale drops, watch ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’

    1. Brilliant, hilarious and talented female leads

    It’s no shocker that Umeed won the hearts of Pakistani women because of how similar she was to the women from dramas like ‘Tanhaiyaan’ and ‘Dhoop Kinare’, stories of head-strong, independent women who were complex and completely unlike the wailing women trope we see in dramas these days. Hira Muzzaffar from ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’ is a wonderful example of how progressive 90s dramas were. She lived alone, was independent and fearless about pursuing what she loved. She didn’t hide away her love, and expressed it bluntly. And she didn’t adhere to the crazy tropes our dramas today think all women want, like being slapped by useless men, or engaging in some cold war with her saas.

    1. Wholesome family dynamics

    If you loved the crazy family dynamics of family members like Aghoo Jaan, Pasha Saab, Mimi and Nigo aunty from ‘Fairy Tale’, then ‘Tum Se Kehna Tha’ will draw you in without any haste because of how every single character has a hilarious role, there is no part where it feels like the episodes are dragging. Every character, like Hira’s boss Sajjad, has a special part in the episodes, even if a small one.

    1. Wholesome, well-written male leads

    We’ll get to the meat of what made a drama like ‘Fairy Tale’ so engaging for audiences: because of the rare occasion where men aren’t toxic, worthless creatures and are actually the opposite of that. Many users loved the male lead Farjaad from ‘Fairy Tale’ because aside from the splendid acting of Hamza Sohail, this intoverted and shy man matched the fierce and loud Umeed in an amazing way. Rather than taming her fire, he encouraged her to embrace it, and kept loving her regardless of how clumsy or oppinionated she was. In the same way, Bilal from ‘TSKT’ and Hira stand out because of their hilarious banter and how he becomes the loving family she had constantly longed for.

  • Humayun Saeed reveals Shah Rukh Khan once told him Pakistani films should release in India

    Humayun Saeed reveals Shah Rukh Khan once told him Pakistani films should release in India

    Humayun Saeed spoke with Indian publication Bollywood Hungama where he talked about his hit drama ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ which is set to release on Zindagi across India. The actor also opened up about his memory of working next to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan back in 2005, when the two performed together for the Zee Cine Awards.

    Saeed revealed that the Bollywood Badshah was incredibly sweet, treating the actor with a lot of respect because Humayun was not sure about how the performance should take place. Khan also told Humayun that he felt Pakistani dramas should be released in India:

    “There was a lot of excitement when I met Shah Rukh. He was very sweet to me. We were in his room and he made me sit with him and discussed Indian and Pakistan films with me. That time there was a Mehreen Jabbar and a Shaan film in the theatres and SRK was talking about them. He said that Pakistani films should be released in India and vice versa. He made me comfortable. Since I had just come the previous day to the sets, I did not know exactly what to do. Shah Rukh said ‘main sambhal lunga.’ The overall moment was very special.”

    Actor Adnan Siddiqui also gave an interview to Indian Express where he said that there should be no boundaries when it comes to art, and also felt that Pakistani audiences were much more tolerant compared to Indian ones.

    “Art has no boundaries, but artistes have a certain boundary, which shouldn’t be there. There should be healthy cultural exchange. I believe that the kind of tolerance–pardon me for being so blunt–but our tolerance, in comparison to Indian audience is much higher. We accept Indian artistes, Indian cricketers, we accept everything good about India. But when this thing goes across the border, it becomes very political. I don’t know why.”

  • ‘Sirf Tum’ is a love story about obsession and the limits of madness

    ‘Sirf Tum’ is a love story about obsession and the limits of madness

    Geo TV’s new drama serial has quickly gathered a lot of eyeballs. The series is about two main leads who are poles apart in their personalities, family background and lifestyles.

    Starring Anmol Baloch and Hamza Sohail, written by Seema Munaf and directed by Mazhar Moin, ‘Sirf Tum’ is a production of 7th Sky Entertainment.

    Love and jealousy are the cornerstone of the story. Hanan (played by Hamza Sohail) and Abeer (played by Anmol Baloch) are the main characters. Abeer lives abroad with her mother and stepfather. At the beginning , we see that Abeer and Hanan are close friends while Hamza (played by Mohsin Abbass) falls in love with Abeer.

    The drama is a showcase for the acting skills of both the main leads and Mohsin. Supporting cast is also engaging.

    We can expect the drama to go further into exploring the jealousy and obsession angles as the story progresses.

  • ‘Our tolerance is much higher’: Adnan Siddiqui thinks Pakistanis are more accepting than Indian audiences

    ‘Our tolerance is much higher’: Adnan Siddiqui thinks Pakistanis are more accepting than Indian audiences

    Pakistani actor Adnan Siddiqui spoke with The Indian Express about his 2019 hit drama ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ which is set to appear on the Indian channel ‘Zee Zindagi’ which has also aired previous Pakistani dramas like ‘Qissa MeherBano Ka’ and ‘Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay’.

    Touching upon the topic of the ban on Pakistani music and films in India and vice versa, the actor said that there should be a healthy cultural exchange between the two countries as he feels Pakistanis are more tolerant in comparison to Indian audiences:

    “Art has no boundaries, but artistes have a certain boundary, which shouldn’t be there. There should be healthy cultural exchange. I believe that the kind of tolerance–pardon me for being so blunt–but our tolerance, in comparison to Indian audience is much higher. We accept Indian artistes, Indian cricketers, we accept everything good about India. But when this thing goes across the border, it becomes very political. I don’t know why.”

    Adnan, who starred in Bollywood film ‘Mom’ in 2017 which starred the late veteran Bollywood actress Sri Devi and our very own Sajal Aly, and was met with applause by audiences both in India and Pakistan. But the actor recalled how after the Fawad Khan controversy, the filming had to be kept quiet.

    “I remember when I was filming Mom, it was kept very hush-hush, because the whole Fawad Khan controversy had happened. Boney was saying that we can’t do interviews, public appearances. This shouldn’t be happening; the responsibility should be taken by both the governments and the political parties, to at least be a little lenient when there is art involved somewhere.”

    Speaking further on the ban and his dissapointment on not being able to establish a career in Bollywood, Siddiqui revealed that it was actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s manager who reached out to him with some jobs, but it eventually didn’t work out.

    “I was thinking to have my career over there, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s manager was in touch with me, he was offering me some work over there and I was looking at those also, but then it didn’t happen. No regrets, really.”

  • ‘What even’: Sahir Lodhi’s philosophy has people scratching their heads

    ‘What even’: Sahir Lodhi’s philosophy has people scratching their heads

    Recently, a Sahir Lodhi quote featured in Tribune Lifestyle has left people scratching their head. The website quoted Lodhi’s interview with Cinevision Youtube channel where he said: “‘Sahir’ and ‘Sahir Lodhi’ are two different people. Sahir is somebody that I know. Sahir Lodhi is somebody that everyone knows. Everyone has access to Sahir Lodhi. But only Sahir Lodhi has access to Sahir.”

    Is this the plot to Inception? When the quote went viral on Twitter, users took their best shot at trying to decipher what Sahir meant. We’ll share some of the hilarious responses to Lodhi’s philosophy.

  • ‘Nothing decent to talk about’: Imran Abbas slams talk shows for insulting actors

    ‘Nothing decent to talk about’: Imran Abbas slams talk shows for insulting actors

    Actor Imran Abbas has taken to his Facebook account to discuss how entertainment talk shows have fallen in quality, after a series of controversies surrounding talk shows. The saga begun when model Ekra Faiz said Hania Amir was an overrated actress who was everywhere on television, and a resurfaced clip showed Sadaf Kanwal making demeaning comments about Mahira Khan’s appearance.

    Now, the ‘Tumharay Hussn Kay Naam’ actor has stated that he refuses to go on talk shows anymore because the conversations are focused on criticising one’s appearance, looks or deciding whether they are religious or not.

    “It’s one of the major reasons for me to refuse to go to these talk shows conducted by those fame-deprived hosts, who are known to no one, doesn’t have any claim to fame, and don’t have any acheivements under their belt, who even talk publicly about celebrities’ personal lives and at times about their religious and personal beliefs too and have the audacity to judge people and their work as well without any personal accomplishments of their own and without knowing these celebrities journey’s..”

    The actor urged talk show hosts to stop focusing on mundane, senseless issues that only seek to profit off other people’s misery, and to focus on important issues one can discuss in society:

    “Don’t you have anything decent to talk, any important issue left in our society to discuss and ponder, can’t you sit for a while for something deep and meaningful which needs our focus or anything which is humorous yet not derogatory?”

    Imran also urged other actors to join him in refusing to attend talk shows so that hosts can learn to remember their responsibility to make moral and ethical shows:

    “I request our fellow actors to discourage them by stop being a part of these ‘wanna be funny/ popular talk shows’…Please have some morals and set a precedent since we all have lots of responsibilities when we come on stage even as guests/ hosts.”

    Read his complete post here:

  • ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho’ set to air in India from August onwards

    ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho’ set to air in India from August onwards

    Pakistani drama ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho’ is set to air on Indian channel ‘Zee Zindagi’. The Humayun Saeed and Ayeza Khan starrer will join the ranks of Pakistani dramas like ‘Qissa Meherbano Ka’, ‘Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay’ among others, all of whom have enjoyed popular airtime on the Indian channel ‘Zee Zindagi’.

    On the official Instagram page, the channel had announced:

    “What happens when you feel money CAN buy happiness?  Here’s a glimpse of the much-awaited show!  #MerePaasTumHo, Coming Soon on Indian Television screens!”

    Penned by Khalil-ul-Rehman Qamar, the show revolves around Danish (played by Humayun), a traditional man who lives a simple life in a small flat with his wife and son. However, his wife Mehwish (played by Ayeza Khan) is an ambitious woman who dreams of acquiring wealth. When the couple meets Shehwar (played by Adnan Sdiddiqui) she falls for him and soon after, leaves her family to marry him.

    Siddiqui recently made an appearance on Junaid Akram’s podcast where he spoke about the success of the drama, playfully suggesting that he should have charged more for his role had he known how big a hit the drama would become:

    “If I knew how successful it would be, I wouldn’t have charged the money that I did. I would’ve taken a lot more. For the first time ever, Humayun asked me to play a role that he had in mind, and he was right. It was very big of him to suggest that. He told me that people had already cast me for it since like 6 years ago. Like, they had my name in mind,” Adnan shared.