Sarwat Gilani, in an exclusive interview with The Current, has revealed that she has royal roots.
“My maternal grandfather was the Nawab of the princely state of Manavadar, which included 70 villages in India,” shared Sarwat in the interview.
“Junagarh and Manavadar were two princely states. Junagarh was his brother’s and Manavadar was his [Sarwat’s Nana’s] own state,” she continued. “And they chose to come to Pakistan at the time of Partition.”
“So they left everything over there: their palaces, their cars, guns, everything. They left all their treasure over there in love for Pakistan,” she added.
Sarwat then said: “When people ask me how I feel about being such a big star, they come to my mind. Because they are real stars who left everything for Pakistan and spent a very simple life after migrating.”
The actor had earlier revealed that her family did not approve of her career choice. When asked how she managed to convince them, Sarwat said: “I convinced them by being consistent at being decent. For me, convincing my maternal grandmother, my mother and her family was very hard. So I thought if I do well, and constantly do well, they will someday be convinced on their own.”
“And I think, I did that,” she added.
The actor in the interview also talked about her infamous kiss with husband Fahad Mirza, meeting Karan Johar, her Whatsapp group with Mahira Khan and Sanam Saeed and how she feels that the “government has nothing better to do, [other than being] busy with banning things and [getting involved] in petty issues.”
The banning culture in Pakistan seems to be getting out of hand. The week started with calls to ban Mehwish Hayat’s latest biscuit commercial and now original Pakistani series Churails has been banned from streaming in Pakistan.
The director and creator of the show, Asim Abbasi took to social media to express his disappointment and hurt over the move.
“How strange for Churails to be lauded internationally, and now be shut down in its country of origin,” wrote Abbasi on social media. “In the very country where hundreds of artists came together to create something that could initiate dialogue and open doors for new narratives. Artistic freedom squashed because it is wrongly perceived by some as a moral threat. Predictable, and yet, still disappointing.”
He added: “For this is not just my loss. This is a loss for women and marginalised communities that this show meant to re-represent.”
How strange for #Churails to be lauded internationally, and now be shut down in its country of origin. In the very country where hundreds of artists came together to create something that could initiate dialogue and open doors for new narratives. (1)
This is a loss for all actors, writers, directors and technicians across Pakistan, who were hoping for digital/OTT to be their saviour. And it’s a home-run for all the misogynists who have once again proven that they are the only voice that matters. (3)
Sarwat Gilani, who plays one of the leads in the show, also posted a cryptic message on social media after the ban.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGCXrW1jKMl/
Several Twitter users including Osman Khalid Butt and Sanam Saeed expressed their outrage over the ban.
Oh, you got Churails banned? Congratufuckinglations. Now please focus your outrage on the fact that police have failed to arrest the prime accused in the motorway rape incident.
Banning dancing ads, outspoken films and webseries will not end rape if that’s the agenda. Why are we riddled with such hypocrisy? Buss bandh darvaazon kay peechay ho sub. God forbid hamari bholi awaam influence na ho jai if we take creative liberty to be honest and open.
Honestly, banning #Churails just shows “maard ko dard” hogaya hai. I am happy a lot of people got to watch it as soon as it was released. It was bound to touch a nerve. Hopefully more of such shows to follow!
Pakistani Govt has its priorities sTraiGhT. They banned #churails, the content that engages in imp conversation but they won’t impose a rape emergency.
Though Churails released on August 11 and has already been streaming for almost two months, it is believed that the ban was imposed after a clip from the show went viral on social media. In the clip, Hina Khawaja Bayat’s character talks about giving a ‘hand job’ to a much older man for a promotion.
Featuring Sarwat, Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha, Meher Bano and Omair Rana among others, Churailsis the story of four self-proclaimed ‘Churails’ who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite. As their operations expand, they come to be saviours of abused, harassed and mistreated women. The 10-episode series covers a myriad of issues such as child abuse, sexism, the domination of class and race and aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill has hit out at Frieha Altaf and Sarwat Gilani, referring to them as ‘badbakht elite’ after a video of theirs on their way to the celebrity protest went viral on social media.
In the video, Sarwat and Frieha are telling their followers that they are on their way to the protest to demand justice for the motorway gang-rape victim and show a poster which reads ‘Rapped’ instead of ‘Raped’.
اکیلی عورت ذمہ داری ہوتی ہے؟ کس کی بھائی؟ اور یہ rapped کیا لفظ ہے مطلب کیا کوئی نیا پاپ/پوپ کلچر سے نکل کے آیا یہ لفظ؟ خواجہ سرا ہمارے ستاروں کے پاس ہی احتجاج کر رہے تھے مگر یہ توفیق نہ ہوئی کہ انکے ساتھ یکجہتی کا اظہار کر لیں بلکہ انکی طرف متوجہ میڈیا بھی اپنی طرف راغب کر لیا pic.twitter.com/SQkWXgha1b
It is incredibly difficult to call out women fighting for the same cause because you don’t want to hurt the cause and you want to be a good soldier for this war to protect women.
But honestly I’m exhausted by the fauxtrage, the empty words & the activism that goes with this https://t.co/SPdBU0axu0
Stop turning towards mediocrity. Write your own narrative. Stop looking towards anyone in the entertainment industry because unfortunately ours is just full of tripe. There are thousands of amazing women and men who are shouting slogans for the rights of women. Support them.
While Frieha and Sarwat are yet to respond to Dr Gill’s comments, Sarwat earlier clarified that a second protest was held because “a lot of celebrities were busy with work on the first protest’s date, [so] we decided to get out a day when most of us were available.” According to details, the protest was organised by Yasir Hussain, Frieha Altaf and Asim Jofa.
Sarwat has now made her Twitter account private and only those who follow her can view her tweets.
Meanwhile, fashion designer Maheen Khan, who was also part of the protest, also responded to some users who questioned why the celebrities felt the need to organise a separate protest. She also addressed the allegations that they hijacked the transgender’s protest.
Some of them attended that too . #stoprape was part of the Aurat march agenda and the Monday one was purely for #stoprape . The more people stand up against these atrocities the better. The momentum must not be lost
To all thosewho r questioning the #stoprape protest,the whys&the wherefors.The transgenders whobtw wereverymuch therewith us.Please remember these men&women came because they care about the terror raging in our country.not enough came but those that did i salute them . pic.twitter.com/dLkuxZ3PFZ
Other celebrities present at the protest include Mahira Khan, Sarah Khan, Ayesha Omar, Adnan Siddiqui, Ali Rehman Khan, Aijaz Aslam, Bushra Ansari, Anoushey Abbasi and Gul-e-Rana.
Step aside folks, Pakistan has truly arrived at the web series front with Churails. Though this is not the first original web series to come out of Pakistan, it is indeed the one that has put us on the map and from this point onwards, there is no looking back.
Created and directed by Cake director, Asim Abbasi, Churails features Sarwat Gilani, Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha and Meharbano as the four churails (witches) who are here to shake things up. Bakhtawar Mazhar, Sameena Nazir, Zara Khan, Mareeha Safdar, Amtul Baweja, Meher Jaffri and Shabana Hassan play the chosen seven while the male leads include Omair Rana, Kashif Hussain, Fawad Khan and Sarmed Aftab. There are plenty of cameos in the series, some of which are bound to surprise you and keep you hooked even more.
The series is about four women from completely different backgrounds come together one rainy night and decide that they have suffered enough at the hands of the men in their life. They come up with the idea of setting up a detective agency under the guise of a hijab and burqa store with the aim to get justice their way. They then set up an army of baby churails – the Chosen Seven – and train them to carry out their spying and sleuthing missions. The interesting bit is that their team is not all women – their army also consists of two men, one of whom is a hacker. All is going well for the Churails until of their own goes missing and the women come face to face with the powerful men of the city.
Churails has been wonderfully directed and presented. I like how the director made sure to strike a balance. Contrary to popular belief, the series is not anti-men or ‘fahash (vulgar)’ from any angle – it aims to challenge the system of patriarchy and break stereotypes surrounding outspoken and confident women. While the series shows plenty of ‘bad’ men, on the other end it shows decent men also, who support the women around them. Similarly, while they show mazloom and oppressed women, they also show women who support the system and enable the men around them. At the same time, I also liked how Asim cleverly combined fiction with reality. While the concept of Churails and all-women superhero team is something we all wish for, it is unrealistic at the end of the day. However, the situations the Churails find themselves in are very much real and oftentimes uncomfortable.
Perhaps the strongest part of the whole series were the performances, cinematography and music. The performances were absolutely phenomenal – it was like each role was written with the actor in mind – whether it was Sarwat as Sara ‘the perfect wife’ or Yasra as the hippie wedding planner Jugnu or Meharbano as Zubaida the young girl aspiring to be a boxer, each actor put forward their best foot. As for Nimra Bucha, she was on another level as Batool. She spoke little and had limited dialogues but the way she communicated with her eyes and expressions was just brilliant. The male actors also deserve a round of applause, especially Hussain as Shams and Aftab as Dilbar. Not only were they great in their roles, but their characters were also likeable. Omair Rana was fantastic as the manipulative politician and Sara’s husband Jamil as were the Chosen Seven.
Mo Azmi is a master of his craft and with Churails, he did his thing with finesse. He shot each frame meticulously, paying attention to detail, because of which the entire show was so aesthetically pleasing. The way he shot the frames in which the faces weren’t showing was simply mind-blowing. I particularly liked how Azmi played with lights to create an impact. The music of the series was also well-thought-out and each track and sound perfectly complemented the mood of the scene and added depth and character. Kudos to the music director for using music so deftly.
Production value of the series was also high with beautiful sets and chic costumes. I particularly loved Sara’s wardrobe – so glamourous.
Churails HQ
While everything seems to be going right with the series otherwise, the one department which was I felt was a little weak was the editing, which would have been crisper. Each episode is approximately one hour long. Most web series have 45-minute episodes. Keeping that in mind, I do wish the episodes were a tad bit shorter. However, given how much I enjoyed the series, I’m willing to overlook this.
Shams
Overall the show is fun, fierce and full of sass. Asim attempted to shake things up with his series and I think he definitely did because these feisty and badass ‘Churails’ are here to stay. I would highly recommend everyone, especially all women to watch the series because I’m pretty sure you all will thoroughly enjoy it.
Churails is currently streaming on Zee5, which is accessible in Pakistan. The service operates similarly to Netflix and Amazon Prime and requires a subscription. While the subscription is usually Rs 2500/year, they are currently offering a deal through which you can get the subscription for Rs 1500 for the whole year. Payment can be done via a credit card.
Sarwat Gilani has revealed that she took inspiration from Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada for her character in Churails. Sarwat plays a lawyer turned trophy wife Sara in the series.
In a recent interview with an Indian media outlet, Gilani shared: “In TV and films, you have to emote a lot for the audience to feel the pain or happiness but for the web it had to be altered to zero. I had to unlearn and start new. In The Devil Wears Prada, Streep doesn’t say much but her aura is so powerful. I even got inspired by Angelina’s [Jolie] film Mr and Mrs Smith, I wanted to take that subtleness.”
She added, “Basically, I adapted the subtleness of these strong personalities in my character.”
Talking further about the show, Gilani said that director Asim Abbasi’s aim was to break the stereotype that a woman who steps out of the house is bad and the one who stays home and takes care of the house in good. She said Pakistani dramas are often unable to portray women like they are and end up sugarcoating them and presenting an unrealistic character.
“The stories are fictional. There is not much reality attached to it, although we see some stories in the news every day. Like a guy throwing acid on a woman because she refused to marry him. But we don’t want to talk about it in the entertainment sector, we want to sugarcoat the story. Asim wanted to break this,” said the actor.
“In Churails we didn’t need a man to rescue a woman, we wanted to show that a woman can stand for herself and uplift other women going through problems.”
Meanwhile, Gilani is thrilled about the response they are getting for Churails.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD3gppMD2bn/
Created and directed by Cake director Asim Abbasi, Churails is now streaming on ZEE5. The series also features Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha, Omair Rana and Meharbano in the lead roles.
The trailer of Cake director Asim Abbasi’s original web series Churails, featuring Sarwat Gilani, Nimra Bucha, Mehar Bano and Yasra Rizvi, has finally dropped and it is more than what we could have ever wished for. The trailer promises lots of action, drama and badass women taking on misogyny head-on. It is unlike anything Pakistan has ever seen before.
Churails “is the story of a lawyer(Gilani), wedding planner(Rizvi), convict (Bucha) and boxer (Meharbano), who come together to form a secret detective agency with the purpose to find and expose unfaithful husbands amongst Karachi’s elite, operating under the guise of a fashion store named ‘Halal Designs’. As their operations expand, they come to be saviours of abused, harassed and mistreated women.”
According to a press release, the show “aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies that vanquish women and their rights.”
“The gripping and fast-paced storyline covers myriad of issues such as child abuse, sexism, the domination of class and race and aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies that vanquish women and their rights,” it adds.
The makers of the show define churails as “she who takes ownership of her life and is unapologetic of her being. She who breaks the glass ceiling and every prejudice that society has created against women.”
“She who is strong, she who is fierce, she stands for what she believes in… she is a ‘churail’.”
Director Asim Abbasi, while speaking about the project said that the story is about “strong women, embarking on a journey of self-discovery, empowerment and sisterhood.”
The 10-episode series is expected to stream from August 11 on ZEE5 Global’s Zindagi channel. Omair Rana, Adnan Malik, Sania Saeed and Hina Bayat are also part of the ensemble cast.
The trailer has already made noise and has received praise from both sides of the border.
Cake director Asim Abbasi’s original web series Churails, featuring Sarwat Gilani, Nimra Bucha, Mehar Bano and Yasra Rizvi, is all set to stream from August 11 on ZEE5 Global’s Zindagi channel. Churails is the first of five original Pakistani web series expected to stream on the Indian platform.
According to a press release, the show “aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies that vanquish women and their rights” and will narrate the story of “four self-proclaimed Churails who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite. As their operations expand, they come to be saviours of abused, harassed and mistreated women.”
“The gripping and fast-paced storyline covers myriad issues such as child abuse, sexism, the domination of class and race and aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies that vanquish women and their rights,” it adds.
The makers of the show define churails as “she who takes ownership of her life and is unapologetic of her being. She who breaks the glass ceiling and every prejudice that society has created against women.”
“She who is strong, she who is fierce, she stands for what she believes in… she is a ‘churail’.”
Director Asim Abbasi, while speaking about the project said that the story is about “strong women, embarking on a journey of self-discovery, empowerment and sisterhood. I believe Churails is a timely show with pertinent themes that will resonate with audiences globally.”
Meanwhile, the cast of the show expressed their excitement on social media and shared a preview of their characters. They even changed their handles on Instagram, adding the word ‘Churail‘ before their name.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMBmb5DUTk/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDL_iQ9p0Hd/
ZEE5is the digital entertainment destination launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, a global media and entertainment platform. The platform launched across 190+ countries in October 2018 and has content across 18 languages. ZEE5 brings together the best of originals, movies and TV shows, music, cineplays, live TV and health and lifestyle content.
Award season means there are plenty of red carpet looks to get inspiration from. The first Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) were held on Friday (February 7) in Dubai and our stars made sure to put forward their best fashion front.
From Mahira Khan to Meera Jee, everyone dazzled on the red carpet and looked like a million dollars. What was trending on the red carpet this week was sparkles, glitter and bling. Check out the pictures below:
Mahira Khan
Mahira cut a svelte figure in a dress by Lebanese-American fashion designer Rami Kadi for the red carpet before changing into a sparkly sari by Élan for the after-party.
Meera Jee
Meera Jee is sure bringing her A-game in this blingy power suit.
Ayesha Omar
Va-va-voom. Ayesha looks fab-u-lous in this gold outfit by labourjoisie.
Reema
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat dons a midnight blue sari by Soshai.
Hareem Farooq
Hareem looks like she came straight from the galaxies in this shimmery sari by Élan.
Aima Baig
Sana Javed
Sana Javed stuns in this anarkali-style dress by Nomi Ansari.
To say that Sarwat Gilani and pictures from her vacation have stirred controversy is an understatement. The actor and her husband Fahad Mirza were brutally trolled and bullied after they publicly displayed their affection.
Now, that the couple is back from their trip, Sarwat took to social media to lash out at her haters and trolls telling them to stop following her if they hate her so much.
“Just cause us celebrities don’t say anything doesn’t mean you bullies have the right to say everything,” she remarked, adding “It’s time for a much awaited SHUT UP CALL! With love, of course!”
