Tag: trending

  • Alia Bhatt, Suhana taught how to lip-sync by Shah Rukh Khan himself

    Alia Bhatt, Suhana taught how to lip-sync by Shah Rukh Khan himself

    To masterfully execute romantic lip-syncing song for the first time in her career, actress Alia Bhatt sought tuitions from the King of Romance himself, Shah Rukh Khan.

    At a special event held for the release of ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’, the actress said director Karan Johar encouraged her to reach out to Shah Rukh Khan, because she was nervous about shooting the song ‘Tum Kya Millay’.

    When she called up the Bollywood Badshah, the actor decided to give her and his daughter, Suhana, tuitions on the complicated art of lip-syncing.

    “I was going back to shoot after a couple of months. First time I was doing a full lip-sync song after Ishq Wala Love. There was nervousness in me. I was discussing with Karan and he said, ‘Why don’t you call Shah Rukh up, maybe he will give you some tips.’ So I called him up to talk on the phone. I just wanted to understand because nobody lip-syncs like him.

    “He said, ‘Tu ghar aaja.’ Suhana also was wanting to learn this toh dono saath mein tution kareinge. I went and I was there for 2-3 hours,” the actor said.

    The ‘Gangubai’ actress hilariously recalled how at the actor’s Mannat house, the trio kept going over the song over and over again to get the lip-sync right. By the end, even Shah Rukh himself knew the lyrics to ‘Tum Kya Millay’.

    “There’s this whole lip sync portion which Shreya Ghoshal has sung beautifully. The video of that extended version we will release shortly. It was quite fast and I was getting quite hyper. But the way he (Shah Rukh Khan) broke it down. He made me download some app. He said, ‘Baar baar karo.’ He had also learnt the song by the end of it. It just shows how generous and large-hearted a man he is. He is so wonderful, always willing to help.”

  • TW: New York based Pakistani man arrested for murdering wife, baby daughter

    TW: New York based Pakistani man arrested for murdering wife, baby daughter

    Trigger warning: murder, domestic violence, abuse

    A Pakistani-American cab driver, Zanoor Jaffari, has been arrested in New York city on charges of murdering his wife and two-year-old daughter, with their five year old son present during the slaughter.

    According to the Suffolk County Police, the wife, Misbah Batool, 33, and the couple’s toddler Izziah, were found dead in the bedroom of the family’s home in Brentwood at 4:40 pm. Other relatives also lived in the house, and it was Jaffari’s mom who reported the stabbing.

    Suffolk County Police Chief of Detectives John Rowan said the couple’s boy was unharmed, and is currently under the custody of relatives.

    The murderer was initially hospitalised after the cops reported he showed signs of overdosing, before being held on murder charges. Jaffari has pled not guilty to the charges and has been remanded without bail.

    Prosecuters have alleged that Jaffari has a history of abusing his wife, before the family shifted to a new home in Long Island City.

  • Bye bye National Assembly; Lower House to be dissolved on August 9

    At a dinner hosted for allies, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has revealed that the National Assembly will be dissolved on August 9, three days before the end of its tenure, DAWN has reported.

    The dinner, held at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, was in honour of the parties that were allies in the ruling coalition.

    If the National Assembly is dissolved before the end of its tenure, general elections will be held in 90 days.

    Shehbaz Sharif informed his guests that a final round of consultation with other members of the ruling alliance on Friday to finalize the caretaker setup.

    A source has revealed to DAWN that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) head and current Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held a long meeting with the Prime Minister on Thursday to discuss the interim setup.

    The reception was attended by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PPP leaders Yousuf Raza Gilani, MQM Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, JUI-F leader Asad Mehmood, Balochistan Awami Party leaders Khalid Magsi and Senator Ahmed Khan, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Chairman Shahzain Bugti, Aslam Bhootani, Mohsin Dawar and others.

  • Influencer who ate only fruits died of malnutrition, friends say

    Influencer who ate only fruits died of malnutrition, friends say

    Zhanna Samsonova, a vegan social media influencer who touted her diet of just “fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juice,” has passed away, her mother has confirmed.

    The 39-years-old, who used the same surname D’Art on social media, was based in Phuket, Thailand, however media reports have said that she was touring South East Asia at the time of her death. She passed away on July 21 in Malaysia after seeking medical help for an unknown condition.

    Her friends have alleged that she died of malnutrition as a result of her only-fruit diet. “You don’t need to be a doctor to understand where this will lead,” a friend was quoted by Newsflash.

    Another of her friends also recalled seeing her “exhausted, with swollen legs,” a few months before her death. “They sent her home to seek treatment. However, she ran away again. When I saw her in Phuket, I was horrified,” they said.

    On her social media pages, Zhanna would promote a raw consisting mainly of fruit and seeds. Her mother has said that the family is waiting for the death certificate for an official cause of death, however, she suspects Zhanna died of a “cholera-like infection”.

  • PM Shehbaz has huge announcement for youth

    PM Shehbaz has huge announcement for youth

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Youth Hub Portal’ has been launched on Thursday.

    The portal unites all of the initiatives the government has initiated to support the youth’s development.

    At the ceremony, Sharif gave his word that the government will use all of its resources and try everything in its power to empower young people.

    He claimed that through the initiative, easy-to-repay loans are given to high-achieving girls and boys so that they may support themselves. To date, 30 billion rupees in loans have been given to deserving, talented youth.

    The Premier pointed out that the government is also providing laptops to deserving students as part of the scheme, while millions of rupees worth of computers have already been handed to young people so they can pursue higher education.

    The current administration has allotted 80 billion rupees for youth development throughout the course of the current fiscal year.

    Shehbaz Sharif stated that young people can register on the Digital Youth Hub Portal to receive financial aid and benefit from government initiatives aimed at improving their well-being.

    Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, said that the portal
    will integrate all the steps and programmes launched across the country for youth development.

  • 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.

  • Hajj pilgrims will be eligible to receive refund of up to Rs185,000, NA body told

    On Wednesday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony that each pilgrim who attended the Hajj under the government programme would receive a reimbursement of up to Rs185,000.

    The committee applauded Hajj preparations at its meeting in Parliament House, presided over by Syed Imran Ahmad Shah.

    The committee was informed that each pilgrim who performed Hajj under the regular scheme paid Rs 1,175,000. However, before their departure for Saudi Arabia, Rs55,000 was returned to each pilgrim.

    The pilgrims who went for Hajj under the hardship quota were asked to pay a deposit of Rs 1,120,000.

    The meeting was attended by MNAs Chaudhry Faqir Ahmed, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Pir Syed Fazal Ali Shah Jillani, Shagufta Jumani, Muhammad Anwar, and Shahida Akhtar Ali, as well as a special invitee (through a video link), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani.

    Top officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, including the secretary and joint secretary (Hajj), were also in the meeting.

    The committee shared an optimistic outlook, hoping that good practises and ongoing efforts would keep giving advantages to the pilgrims in the days to come.

  • 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.”

  • NA continues hasty legislation despite outrage

    NA continues hasty legislation despite outrage

    According to the report filed by Amir Wasim in Dawn, the National Assembly (NA) approved 12 more bills on Wednesday.

    Along with debates over legislation, the NA saw a verbal altercation between Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf and South Waziristan MNA Ali Wazir when the legislator accused Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of “installing” the Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan and demanded that those responsible for bringing the Taliban back to Pakistan be held accountable.

    The angry speaker warned the MNA not to talk about sensitive matters related to Pakistan’s security forces, and then switched off the mic for Ali Wazir, declaring his words “anti-Pakistan”.

    During the passage of the bills, members of different allied parties in the coalition government complained that the PML-N didn’t take them into confidence in the matter of the bills.

    Some members were also concerned about a bill passing amendments to the Secrets Act, granting powers to intelligence agencies to raid and detain common citizens without warrants.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch has also said that BNP-M doesn’t want to be part of this hasty legislation. PPP lawmaker Shahida Rehmani and JUI-F’s Aliya Kamran were also against the passage of the bill.

  • Social media shocked at sudden take down of popular Facebook group Soul Bitches

    Social media shocked at sudden take down of popular Facebook group Soul Bitches

    Social media users were left shocked on Wednesday when they discovered that popular community group Soul Bitches has been taken down from Facebook without any warning.

    Soul Bitches was a popular community group on Facebook where women from all over Pakistan could share their stories and seek refuge in situations of abuse or domestic violence.

    In a statement to The Current, the co-founder Rabeeya revealed that the platform gave no warnings before abruptly shutting down the group:

    “Facebook didn’t get any prior warning! They just took it down. I am working with meta to get it back up.”

    On Soul Bitches’ Instagram page, a statement was posted explaining what had happened.

    “We deeply regret to inform you that Facebook has unexpectedly deleted or disabled our beloved Soul Bitches page. We want you to know that we’re tirelessly working to understand the reasons behind this action to get our cherished platform back up and running,” the post read. “We want you to know that we are tirelessly working to understand the reasons behind this action and to get our cherished platform back up and running.”

    The co-founder of the group, Rabeeya, shared a post on her Instagram stories, where she thanked social media users for their support.

    “Throughout its existence, this group had not only ralied for women’s causes but extended its compassion to animals as well. It was built for women navigating different circumstances, a space where friendships had forged, unwavering support, regardless of the highs and lows we encountered…The countless instances of being targeted, bullied, and made a spectacle of are not unfamiliar to us. We, as a community, fought those lows together to preserve the openness and freedom of Soul Bitches.”

    Social media users expressed their dismay at the shutdown of the website, lamenting how online spaces for women were shrinking rapidly.

    “People hated Soul Bitches,” one user wrote. “Because women exchanged stories & became smarter about what they should or shouldn’t tolerate. Women told each other about their legal rights. Women gave advice to those in need. The page empowered women. This is sad. Not shocking.”

    “Facebook is a toxic place for women,” tweeted Digital Rights Activist Hija Kamran. “But SB was a way to seek care, support & a sense of community for them. I’m not sure why the group must have been deleted, but it sure seems like an attack on women’s access to safe spaces on a deeply misogynistic platform.”

    The Current has reached out to the co-founders of Soul Bitches, as well as to Facebook for a comment and will update the story as soon as they respond.