Tag: social media users

  • ‘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.”

  • Palestinian content leaves Israel miles behind on social media

    Palestinian content leaves Israel miles behind on social media

    While activists and civilians flood the streets across the world protesting for Palestine, social media is actively reflecting the changing tides. Currently, the hashtag #FreePalestine has over 2 billion views on TikTok, while in contrast the hashtag #standwithIsrael has over 162.8 million views.

    In a statement posted on Monday, the social media platform responded to US Representative (R) Mike Gallagher’s allegations that TikTok was “controlled by America’s s foremost adversary, one that does not share our interests or our values: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)”, calling for America to ban the app.

    TikTok said the overwhelming support teens have for Palestine is dominating the app’s algorithm.

    “Support for Israel (as compared to sympathy for Palestine) has been lower among younger Americans for some time. This is evidenced by looking at Gallup polling data of millennials dating as far back as 2010, long before TikTok even existed. A March 2023 Gallup poll, before the war, shows young adults have rapidly shifting attitudes towards the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. While an Echelon poll from October 26, 2023 shows that US TikTok users under 40 are more likely to support Israel (33% vs 28% for Palestine), and the proportions broadly reflect the split in the general under 40 population (32% for Israel, 23% for Palestine).”

    Other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram show more audiences engage with the pro-Palestinian content than with Israel’s. Instagram shows that the hashtag #FreePalestine has over 6 million views, while in comparison #IstandwithIsrael has gained only 233,000 views.

    Instagram was being taken to task by users for censoring and shadow banning prominent pro-Palestinian voices who were reporting on the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Freelance journalist Plestia Alaqad reported her Instagram account was hacked.

    Furthermore, journalist Ahmed reported he was locked out of his Instagram account and was warned it would be shut down for violating the company’s guideline.

    On Facebook, the #FreePalestine hashtag has over 11 million views while in comparison the #IstandwithIsrael hashtag has over 323,000 views.

  • ‘Young Al Pacino or young Robert De Niro?’ A Twitter poll has users shaking, crying and throwing up

    Ever had to make a life-altering decision but faced with two things you absolutely cannot pick between? Yes we’re talking to you.

    Social media is being asked to pick between two of the best actors Hollywood has ever witnessed: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

    A journalist Ashley Reese was the one who initiated this babe smackdown when she posted a poll on her Twitter account and asked her 60.9 K followers to do the impossible and pick the one who was hotter in their prime.

    The poll went viral with even Pakistani Twitter users stepping in and offer their two cents along with evidence to back it up.

    Like we had amazing fancams from Twitter users defending Al Pacino and his show stopping performance in ‘The Godfather’, ‘Dog Days’ and even ‘Serpico’.

    The gorgeous love letter he wrote for Diane Keaton? Sign us up please

    https://twitter.com/taytertotbitch/status/1657846246680281088?s=20

    As for Robert De Niro… we as well as other Twitter users have no words to describe how gorgeous he was as well.

    Twitter has given their verdict, and the poll came to a tie. But what does our audiences think? Let us know in the comments!

  • ‘Just get out!’: Sheheryar Munawar fights with director Sohail Javed in viral video

    A video showing actor Sheheryar Munawar fighting with director Sohail Javed has gone viral. The person responsible for sharing the video is unknown.

    While many people are claiming that the feud looks staged, neither Sheheryar Munawar nor his PR manager have commented on the clip while Sohail Javed has also chosen to remain quiet.

    The Current has reached to both for a statement. We will update the article as soon as we receive a response.

    If it is proven that this feud was staged, we would condemn it because such publicity stunts aren’t acceptable and should not be commended.

    Actor Imran Ashraf has so far been the only public figure to comment on this video. Underneath the video of the feud shared by Diva Magazine, the ‘Heer Da Hero’ actor had written:

    “I am well aquainted with both of them and I know that Sheheryar wouldn’t shout like this and nor would Sohail bhai. I hope that this is dramatized.”

  • ‘Domestic violence is not a personal issue’: Social media slams Ushna Shah for justifying support for Feroze Khan

    Actor Ushna Shah has been in hot waters in the past few days after she shared a picture of herself with controversial actor Feroze Khan at a gym on Instagram. She quoted a hadith that called for Ramzan to be a month of mercy and forgiveness. In her next post, she recalled the death of controversial televangelist Amir Liaqat, and asked her followers not to pass quick judgement that could lead to people committing irreversible acts.

    Feroze Khan has been accused of domestic violence and neglect by his former wife Aliza Sultan. The two divorced in 2022, after multiple celebrities including Oscar winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and actor Sarwat Gilani rallied behind her.

    In November, Feroze Khan was criticized for leaking the personal phone numbers and home addresses of ten celebrities -including Mira Sethi, Osman Khalid Butt and Yasir Hussain- who had declared that they would take action by suing Khan for emotional and mental trauma.

    On Saturday, Shah once more defended her stance by sharing a detailed statement on Twitter, where she called herself a “human sympathizer” rather than an “abuser sympathizer”.

    Shah went on to reveal that as someone who became the target of unfair bullying, like the backlash to her Indian lehnga that Shah wore on her Mehndi, she didn’t think that social media users should abuse a person and their families for something they “allegedly did”.

    “The backlash at my choice to wear the supposed ‘Indian style lehnga’ and dance at my own wedding, was prime example. So when hundreds and thousands of people abuse a person for whatever they allegedly did and abuse their families relentlessly, day and night, non-stop, I know what that can do and it isn’t fair punishment.”

    https://twitter.com/ushnashah/status/1644702178458710017?s=20

    Shah’s statement has received extensive backlash on social media for refusing to recognize how problematic her stance to support Khan is, and for being an abuse apologist.

    One Twitter user wrote:

    “Sympathizing with a human who is an alleged abuser/involved in domestic violence is basically being an abuser apologist. “even if the alleged criminal was found guilty” so u r telling me that a guilty criminal shouldnt have to face the consequences. also what even’s w the lehnaga.”

    “Pakistani celebrities are hypocrites,” another user wrote.

    https://twitter.com/peesho444/status/1644992794442993665?s=20

    “Why is it always ”let’s forgive abuser Muslim m3n because it’s Ramzan”, that man has literally brutalized his wife, you are not only a domestic violence apologist but a traitor to your own women class, using your privilege to disregard the voices of numerous DV women victims,” another user wrote.

    https://twitter.com/auratsoch/status/1644970742549819393?s=20
  • From dream boy to bad boy: Twitter shares why certain Pakistani dramas have aged badly

    If you’re a citizen of Pakistani Twitter, then you would be familiar with cult dramas like ‘Zindagi Gulzar Hai’, ‘Humsafar’ and ‘Tere Bin’, that have dominated social media with swoon worthy romances as well as dreamboats like Fawad Khan and Wahaj Ali. We’ll admit it, we have been obsessed too.

    But it might turn out that all that is old is not gold? And sadly, our fav heroes might not actually be the shehzada of our dreams but actually toxic men who needs to be re examined again.

    A Twitter user shared a tweet of the main leads from the most popular Pakistani dramas: ‘Tere Bin’, ‘Zindagi Gulzaar Hai’, ‘Humsafar’ and ‘Mere Humsafar’, and in the caption she shared that arranged marriage might not be such a bad idea if it were with men like them.

    But in today’s climate when more women are asking for better representation on television screens, a man like Ashar or Zarrun won’t sit well with audiences, regardless of how good looking Fawad Khan is. With that, more twitter users began sharing the ways audiences had overlooked how regressive and sexist these male leads actually were, and should not have been projected as the standard kind of man women should look for.

    Users shared that in ‘Humsafar’, Khan’s character Ashar, kicks his wife Khirad (played by Mahira Khan) out of the house while she was pregnant because he suspects her to be cheating on him with her friend, Khizar.

    Twitter users shared how toxic Murtasim was in ‘Tere Bin’ because he slapped Meerab in episode 5, and in the most recent episode he asks her to jump to prove she wasn’t having an affair behind his back.

    We hope that the entertainment industry takes a note of this and works on improving their scripts to stop romanticizing toxic men, who can only offer the bare minimum to the women in their lives.

  • Dastaan, Kuch Ankahi: Drama OSTs Twitter users declare will remain top class

    It’s common knowledge that Pakistanis will disagree and kickstart phadda’s over every topic, but the one thing we can all agree on is that our drama OSTs will remain unmatched.

    When a new drama pops up on our screen, it might not manage to shake off the already established regressive stereotypes, but there is always a good chance that we get a fun new track to listen to for the next few weeks.

    Yesterday this Twitter user asked their followers about their favourite drama OST, and the responses were a like a tribute to our music industry.

    We’re adding these new recommendations to our listening list.

    Like always, we weren’t surprised to notice how the most popular response remained the Dastaan title track sung by Sohail Haider.

    Another popular verdict was the title track ‘Dildara’ sung by Azaan Sami Khan for ‘Kuch Ankahi’

    Another underrated but incredibly loved title song was from the drama ‘Mata-e-Jaan Hai Tu’ which was sung by Bilal Khan.

    Giving you serious flashbacks to every single wedding you attended since the moment this song dropped online.

  • ‘This is how I stand out from other people’: Qudsia Ali hits back at body shamers

    Qudsia Ali has been on a roll- with her spectacular performance in ‘Betiyan’ and now as Taniya in ‘Kuch Ankahi’, she has been recieving rave reviews for her performance as the headstrong, youngest daughter of the family who actively pursues her dream to become a filmmaker.

    Recently in a talk with Fuchsia Magazine, Ali opened up about how she struggles with criticism about her weight. She revealed that a lot of feedback she received at auditions was about her weight:

    “Whenever I would go for auditions, I was told directly if I wish to come on to the main screen, then I would have to lose weight. But if we look at international work, you see people with different skin tones and body types, no one cares about such things because it is your skills that matter. Then why is it so important here?”

    Ali revealed that she had recently started losing weight, but did it more for the sake of her health rather than to please the critics because she doesn’t want to change herself to prevent standing out, alluding to a remark made about her curly hair:

    “I will never lose weight because of someone’s criticism, but I started this journey because I cared about my own health, to stay fit and healthy. Not for work, industry or for anyone.

    People often tell me that I look overweight in scenes because of my hair, and I should get keratin treatment. No! This is how I stand out from other people. How many people do you know who have curly hair? If I’m going to find work based on my skills, then I will find it. I’m going to wait for that. I’m someone who can wait.”

    Ali opened up that in the beginning of her career, hearing such negative feedback sometimes took a toll, but eventually with a positive mindset, especially with the help of colleagues like Sajal Aly, she was able to let it go and keep doing what she liked:

    “In the beginning of my career, whenever I heard comments like these I had thought sometimes to listen and change my appearance. But what is the guarantee that after changing your appearance you will find work? You become slim and straighten your hair, whats the guarantee that you will find work?.. This was my own thought process. Ahmed saab and Sajal Aly would advice me a lot that I should do what makes me happy, rather than for others.”

    Watch the complete interview here:

  • Video: When Will Smith slapped a reporter for kissing him in public

    Hollywood star Will Smith shocked everyone when he recently slapped Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards’ live broadcast.  

    Before presenting an award at the Oscars 2022, Chris joked about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, looking like ‘GI Jane 2’. This enraged the Aladin star who stormed the stage, lapping Chris and warning him to keep his wife’s name out of his ‘f*cking mouth’. 

    The confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars has been debated around the world in the days since. 

    However the Oscars 2022 incident was not his first slap in public. 

    Back in 2012, during the premiere of Men In Black 3, the 53-year-old actor had raised his hand on a red carpet reporter who tried to kiss him on the cheek. Yes, you read that right! Later, the reporter turned out to be a prankster named Vitalii Sediuk. 

    Smith, enraged, drew away from the man, raising the back of his left hand and making contact with the reporter’s chin. “Hey, man, what the hell is your problem?” Smith said as he walked away and added, “he tried to kiss me on my mouth”. 

    Back then, the actor described the encounter as ‘just awkward’. While talking to David Letterman about the incident, he shared, “He says, ‘I’m your biggest fan, can I have a hug?’ So I go to give this joker a hug, and he tries to lean in and kiss me!”

    ALSO READ: ‘Oscar jeet gaya magar izzat hargaya’: Transnational celebrities blast Will Smith for slapping colleague at Oscars

    ALSO READ: ‘Considered murdering my father’: Oscar winning actor Will Smith’s shocking revelations going viral

  • PCB releases Atif Aslam, Aima Baig’s PSL Anthem ‘Agay Dekh’, netizens compare it with ‘Groove Mera’

    PCB releases Atif Aslam, Aima Baig’s PSL Anthem ‘Agay Dekh’, netizens compare it with ‘Groove Mera’

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday released the much-awaited Pakistan Super League (PSL) anthem for the seventh edition of the tournament.

    The song, Agay Dekh is produced by Abdullah Siddiqui which features the rockstars Atif Aslam and Aima Baig.

    Sharing the official video of the anthem on the official Twitter handle, the PCB wrote: “The wait is over. Presenting to you the official #PSL7 anthem.”

    Last year, the PSL anthem ‘Groove Mera’, featuring Naseebo Lal, Aima Baig and Young Stunners, had become a hit. At first, a few netizens did not like the song but later it became a treat for cricket lovers.

    This is the first time that Atif Aslam sang a PSL anthem and his fans are gushing over his new style in the song and many are showering their love on his PSL debut.

    We have collected a few reactions of Twitterati, have a look:

    A few thought that ‘Groove Mera’ was better than ‘Agay Dekh’.