Tag: Tara Mahmood

  • Drama serial Umm-e-Ayesha is normalising girls driving scooty

    Drama serial Umm-e-Ayesha is normalising girls driving scooty

    ‘Umm-e-Ayesha’ is a TV show made by 7th Sky Entertainment for Ramzan. It’s on Geo channel every evening at 6 pm, starting on the first day of Ramzan. The show tells a story meant to inspire young girls who want to follow their faith and also achieve their dreams in real life.

    The story is about a girl named Ayesha, played by Nimra Khan. Saleem Ghanchi directed the serial, and Hina Huma Nafees wrote it. The cast includes Omer Shahzad, Mehmood Akhtar, Nida Mumtaz, Tara Mahmood, and others.

    The drama serial focuses on the teachings of Islam while keeping the dreams, lifestyle and challenges of the new generation in perspective. No doubt Umm-e-Ayesha is a notable effort in that direction.

    Here’s why you should watch the show:

    Normalising girls wearing hijab driving scooters

    Ayesha wears a hijab and drives a scooter. Seeing a young girl do both might seem unusual in shows, but this drama aims to make it normal. While we’ve seen girls driving scooters in dramas before, seeing a girl in a hijab do it is refreshing.

    Breaking old tropes

    When Ayesha’s father gives her a scooter for her birthday, her mother doesn’t like it. She thinks it would’ve been better if he gave her gold jewelry instead. This happens a lot in our communities. People often think it’s better to invest in property or gold for a girl’s future, rather than giving her the chance to get an education or live independently.

    Father standing up for his daughters

    It’s heartwarming to see the show portray the bond between fathers and daughters without the usual restrictions we often see. Ayesha’s father is her biggest supporter. Even though their relationship is made up, it reflects the real-life stories of many women who have succeeded with the help of a supportive male family member. ‘Umm-e-Ayesha’ shows these kinds of relationships and changes the way father-daughter relationships are usually shown on TV.

    Girls working while wearing hijab

    Ayesha gets treated unfairly because of her hijab. She almost doesn’t get a job because of it, and later, she faces criticism for it too. Ayesha represents many girls who struggle to keep wearing their hijab despite facing bias at work or pressure to look modern. But Ayesha doesn’t give up. She shows that girls can wear hijab and still do well at work. She dresses neatly and professionally, proving that her hijab doesn’t stop her from fitting in or doing her job well.

    In ‘Umm-e-Ayesha,’ we see a girl who has to prove herself not just outside her family, but also within it. Her mother wishes she was married and wants her to dress up nicely when there’s a potential match visiting. There’s also pressure on her to send pictures without her hijab to impress potential husbands’ families.

    What’s interesting is that her sister doesn’t wear hijab, which many families can relate to. Despite their differences, they have a good relationship and don’t force each other to change.

    In summary, ‘Umm-e-Ayesha’ is worth watching during Ramzan, especially if you’re tired of regular Ramzan dramas. Its messages are relevant to both young and old viewers.Top of Form

  • Osman Khalid Butt defends ‘Chupke Chupke’ for ‘presenting ghar damads in negative light’

    Osman Khalid Butt defends ‘Chupke Chupke’ for ‘presenting ghar damads in negative light’

    Soul Sisters Pakistan’s (SSP) Kanwal Ahmed recently called out Chupke Chupke for portraying ghar damads in a negative light.

    Ahmed, who was recently selected by Facebook as one of its 115 ‘Community Leaders’ using the social network to help others, criticised the serial for “disempowering audiences by reinforcing problematic stereotypes.”

    Referring to a character (played by Ali Safina) belittled in the drama for staying with his in-laws, Ahmed said: “Such as here the ‘ghar damad‘ character is an object of constant ridicule. Only yesterday a woman on SSP was asking how she and [her] sisters can manage her old parents as none of them can move in with them.”

    Responding to Kanwal’s tweet, Osman Khalid Butt – who plays the lead character in Chupke Chupke – said that in the context of the drama, the ‘ghar damad’ is not the victim.

    “This is an interesting take. However, it’s important to mention that this ‘ghar damad‘ refuses to work despite being offered a job in the family business. He isn’t with his in-laws because of financial (or any) duress and while he’s played for broad comedy, he has his own arc,” said Butt.

    Ahmed, in response, argued the character’s incompetence is to deliberately put him in a bad light to validate age-old stereotypes.

    “My concern though is that comedy that identifies with problematic, existing stereotypes reinforces them in society. For example, how many men would want to be ‘ghar damads’ after watching this?” questioned Kanwal.

    Agreeing with Ahmed that the stereotype was not as nuanced as it should have been, Butt said: “But viewers will also be considering the fact that his wife is shown to be quite obviously dominating / demeaning (which she’s called out on, albeit in a comedic manner). And he’s a slacker, no?”

    Though the two are yet to reach a cohesive conclusion, it won’t be wrong to say our TV screens are yet to project behaviour that does not conform to societal norms in a positive light.

    Written by Saima Akram Chaudhry, Chupke Chupke is a story of two families of late Daar Ji (grandfather), who married twice. The first wife Bebe (Asma Abbas) is a Punjabi woman and the second wife Bakhto (Uzma Beg) is Saraiki. Both gave birth to two children (hilariously emphasizing his equal treatment of wives) and unfortunately, both lost one of their children. We see Farhan Ally Agha as Bebe’s stingy son who has two daughters; Meenu (Ayeza Khan) and Muneeba aka Mirchi. On the other hand, Fahad aka Fazi and Gul (Osman Khalid Butt and Mira Sethi) are twin siblings and grandchildren of Bakhto.

    If this seems confusing to you, embrace for more actors: Hadi and Wali (Arslan Naseer and Aadi Khan) are brothers, Ali Safina (Gul’s husband and a ghar damaad), Mishi (Aymen), and Roomi as OB’s sisters.

  • IN PICTURES: Saboor Aly’s intimate birthday bash

    Saboor Aly celebrated her birthday Wednesday night with close friends Aiman Khan, Minal Khan, Tara Mahmood, Raza Talish and Muneeb Butt. ‘Pawri Girl Dananeerr Mobeen was also part of the celebrations.

    Saboor stunned in a velvet navy blue dress on her birthday.

    Check out the pictures below:

    Saboor Aly thanked everyone on her Instagram account for ‘making her feel special’.

    “Thank you all for the for the wonderful birthday wishes,” wrote Saboor.

    She further added: “I had a great day, and hearing from all of you was one of the best parts of it!”

    “I’m nothing without my Family, Friends and Fans, I love you all,” She concluded.

  • ‘Please Abu ko kahen schools band kardein’: Students request Tara Mahmood to convince Shafqat Mahmood

    ‘Please Abu ko kahen schools band kardein’: Students request Tara Mahmood to convince Shafqat Mahmood

    Ever since students discovered that Suno Chanda’s Masooma aka Tara Mahmood is Minister of Education Shafqat Mahmood’s daughter, her social media has been flooded with requests and appeals from students who are asking the actor to convince her father to close schools. The government had announced that schools and universities will reopen in three phases from January 18.

    Read more – Memes break the internet after Shafqat Mahmood announces reopening of schools

    Ma’am please apnay Baba say kahen keh humaray papers online kar dein,” “Please colleges aur schools band karwa dein Abba ko keh kar” are just some of the messages the actor has been receiving on social media. Some have even commented that they are sure Shafqat will listen to her because “betiyon ki baat baap nahi taaltay”.

    While Tara has not yet responded to the comments, earlier while responding to a social media user, she had said: “Schools shut for long will harm many students who don’t have access to online education.”

    “As a minister, he has to think about everyone in this country. And there are people out there dying for educational institutes to open. Hang in there and protect yourself by wearing a mask. Trust me, nothing will happen,” she added.

    Earlier, in an exclusive interview with The Current, Shafqat had said that closing schools and universities late last year was a “difficult decision”.

    “I think children don’t want to go to school,” the minister had said. “But seriously it was a difficult decision to close schools, colleges and universities. InshAllah as soon as the situation gets better, we will open them again.”

    Shafqat Mahmood has three daughters, two of who are twins. The actor has often shared pictures of her family on social media.