Tag: trending

  • Four Pakistani dramas that broke stereotypes to introduce wide age-gap couples

    Four Pakistani dramas that broke stereotypes to introduce wide age-gap couples

    . We are all familiar with the stereotypical Pakistani lead couple, a toxic and underwhelming boy who is ‘edgy’ and ‘dark’ because of his traumatizing past, and the hoor-pari good girl who has never walked outside apnay ghar ki chaar dewariyan, and has apparently never interacted with a man in her life. They meet, stalk, harass, fall in love, shaadi, divorce, phir pyar and then happy ending.

    But quiet rarely, Pakistani dramas take a step to break these stereotypes and introduce us to a couple where either both or one person is a middle-aged woman. It’s a rare stand against stereotypical depictions of women disappearing after they turn forty.

    But it’s important now that women are reminded that their beauty and desirability doesn’t finish the moment they turn thirty. Life doesn’t end.

    Thankfully, Pakistani dramas have slowly been catching up on breaking this stigma by giving us a few very poignant and well-written dramas that had cast a middle-aged woman in a romantic relationship as the central lead of their drama.

    1 Dobara

    Pakistani dramas OST

    Dobara was embraced with open arms by Pakistani audiences when it debuted. Hadiqa Kiana starred as Mehru Nisa, a woman in her forties with two grown children who was learning to re-live her life on her own terms after being forcibly married when she was sixteen years old and deprived of doing everything she had ever loved. Mehru Nisa’s relationship with Maahir, a man who was in his twenties, is the most heart warming aspect of this drama because of the way he helps her gain confidence in doing whatever she wanted to do, and also defends her from her family members who consistently bully her.

    2 Jhoom

    This upcoming drama features Zara Noor Abbas and Haroon Kadwani as lovers with a wide age gap between them. According to the trailer, the premise revolves around backlash from society who cannot accept an older woman marrying a younger man.

    3 Samjhota

    Shahista Lodhi’s on-air drama revolved around an old man’s marriage. After his wife passes away, he decides to marry Nargis. But his re-marriage at this age doesn’t bode well with his children, who refuse to treat Nargis with kindness.

    Speaking on the importance of approaching this topic, Lodhi who starred as Nargis in the drama, said that she wanted to do this project because of how it reminds that the elderly that life doesn’t end when they grow old:

    “It showed that at a certain age when we think our elderly mother and father are only around to take care of our children, but instead you’ll witness the love story between these two main characters in the drama. I thought this was such a great example being set. The other thing is in our society at a certain age our parents are left lonely while we get busy building our own lives. We seem to think that our parents can’t find a new partner after their own spouse and they don’t have a life of their own.”

    4 Teri Raah Mein Rul Gayi

    Samiya Mumtaz essays the role of a middle aged woman whose husband passed away a year after their marriage, leaving her in grief. Her brother-in-law stands up to society by providing for her every single need, and declares that he has fallen in love with her.

  • ‘Ennu koyi bahir thokay’: Ex-CJP Saqib Nisar and Khawaja Rahim’s alleged audio leak about Maryam Nawaz

    Former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and former Governor and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s lawyer, Khawaja Tariq Rahim’s alleged audio leak has surfaced on the internet.

    In the alleged audio clip both Nisar and Rahim are talking about Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz.

    The transcript of audio is as follows;

    Nisar: Asalam o alikum sir.

    Rahim: Waalikum Aasalaam, Sir we need to … need … need… to give a proper answer. We should file a case against her what she says. This woman [Maryam Nawaz] who speaks.

    Nisar: Sir I have thought something for her.

    Rahim: Yes, yes.

    Nisar: I recalled the words of the elder Tarar Saab. He used to say that when dogs bark some people stand afar.

    Rahim: This is also okay. You have given a good answer to ARY.

    Nisar then went on to praise himself and said that he thankfully is very courageous, and can bear anything. He further adds that he will not get confused or go in depression.

    Nisar: Whenever I need you for help, I will ask.

    Rahim: You just have to tell me and I will do accordingly.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemning the audio tweeted, “Society, especially women, should strongly condemn this speech and abusive thinking about women. Only collective condemnation can stop this negative thinking in the society.”

  • ‘First army chief to be appointed on merit in Pakistan’: PM Shehbaz lends support to COAS Munir

    ‘First army chief to be appointed on merit in Pakistan’: PM Shehbaz lends support to COAS Munir

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, in a series of tweets, has lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, slamming his criticism of the establishment and current Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.

    Calling out Khan, Shehbaz Sharif wrote, “PTI’s disgusting smear campaign against COAS Munir at the behest of Imran Niazi is deserving of the strongest condemnation”, adding that “Khan is going to the extent of damaging the country and undermining our armed forces and their leadership.”

    In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Shehbaz strongly condemned the “vile campaign” against the Pakistan army and COAS Munir and called on overseas Pakistanis to raise their voice against it.

    Referring to the COAS as the “first army chief to be appointed on merit in Pakistan”, Shehbaz Sharif stressed that such a campaign could only be the agenda of the enemies of the country.

    He said that “toxic politics” was being spread through overseas Pakistanis.

    The premier called on patriotic Pakistanis living abroad to raise their voices against the “foreign-funded campaign” and not become a part of such conspiracies.

    In response, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said the statement is only to create distance between the people and the army so “PDM can continue looting”.

    On the behalf of the party, he clarfied that the party wishes well to the army chief.

    A day earlier, hundreds of Pakistanis Americans gathered outside the White House, in the United States (US) to demand an end to the government’s actions against Imran.

    During the demonstration, one of the protesters said that the “establishment must realise its mistake”.

    On March 3, the PTI chief said that he is ready to hold talks with the COAS for the sake of the country, claiming that the army chief considers Imran his enemy.

  • ‘Small role, big impact’: Seven years later, Fawad Khan still shines in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’

    Fawad Khan has not acted in many films, but the few select projects he has starred in have become cult favorites among fans.

    Khan, who had made a successful foray into Bollywood before tensions between India and Pakistan forced him to come back home, starred in three films, ‘Khoobsurat’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Kapoor and Sons’.

    Seven years later after ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ was released in cinemas across the sub-continent, it seems like no one has forgotten the charm and appeal Khan oozed, even though it was showcased only a limited number of times.

    On Monday Twitter users were discussing the films in which an actor had a small role, but made a powerful impact. And rightfully, Fawad Khan was the one whom both Indian and Pakistani fans cannot forget.

    Looks like that smoldering stare still has the girls on their knees.

    https://twitter.com/rukhsaaruwu/status/1637535289299329025?s=20

    Lagta hai peace talks shuru ho jani chahiye because asal dukh ho raha hai.

    Lest we forget, Khan was suppose to be the antagonist who was stealing Ranbir Kapoor’s love interest, Alizey (played by Anushka Sharma), but it looks like when the looks are a 10 then there’s no competition.

    Can somebody build a Fawad Khan cinematic universe for us cult followers?

  • PTI spent more than Rs100 million on social media influencers monthly, says KP minister

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Caretaker Minister for Information, Barrister Feroze Jamal Shah, has claimed that when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was in power in the province, they spent Rs150-160 million rupees on social media influencers “to create and run trends in favour of PTI”.

    Talking to a private channel, he said that a total of 5000 social influencers were recruited by the provincial government in its last days and they were being paid between Rs25,000 to 30,000 per month.

    He said that the recruitments were illegal as they were not done according to the procedure, nor was any advertisement issued for the posts.

    He said that there was no area in the province where these influencers were not working.

    The minister stated that an investigation will take place as the government has sent the case of these 5,000 recruits to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

  • ‘Police ko free hand de diya hai’; Mohsin Naqvi says writ of state will be established

    ‘Police ko free hand de diya hai’; Mohsin Naqvi says writ of state will be established

    Caretaker Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi has said in a press conference that he has given a “free hand” to the police to establish the writ of the state in the province.

    “We told the policemen this morning that you can do what you want to do to establish the writ of the government. If anyone challenges the police, they will break their hand,” warned Naqvi in the press conference.

    Naqvi said he had given the provincial police chief full powers so that he could do what he deemed appropriate. “I won’t interfere,” he added.

    He further said that no political party reacted the way Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did during its protest. “In every condition, we have to establish the writ of the government.”

    Criticising PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s conduct, Naqvi said that if he did not trust the police, the security that is provided could be withdrawn.

    Naqvi added that police personnel could not offer protection to someone who verbally abuses them at night and expects the same force to safeguard them.

    “I assured them that if anyone resorts to violence, they will get a stern reply. Political activity is your right but no one can react this aggressively,” he said while referring to the protesters.

    He added that the “terrorism” PTI was doing is not something that political workers do.

    “They are terrorists. A joint investigation team will be formed and a notification will be issued by evening,” said the CM. He also added that the caretaker government is writing a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan sharing details about what had been happening in the province.

  • Singer Annie Khalid slammed by Twitter for calling Malala ‘puppet of the West’

    Singer Annie Khalid, an icon of our childhood music scene, had given Pakistani audiences such hits as ‘Mahiya’ or ‘Princess’ but looks like not everything that is old is gold. Because now Khalid is getting slammed by social media users for making a controversial statement about education activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

    In reply to a random post which had asked users to share an opinion they found controversial, Khalid thought she should provide an opinion that is not only outrageous but also insensitive.

    “That Malala is a puppet of the west,” the singer tweeted.

    Twitter users were horrified, asking what exactly had Malala done to prompt such bullying from Khalid? Malala has not made any such comments about Imran Khan, aside from calling him out for his racist views on Pathans, so why solely target her for living in the West because of the threats on her life?

    Twitter users demanded that Khalid apologize, shedding light on the fact that Malala had made more efforts to speak up on the rights of Pakistani women than Khalid had ever done.

    “Don’t embarrass your self Taliban Apologist she resist Taliban brutality she talks about girl’s education you are a nobody like your leader who is taliban apologist who bought Taliban back In KPK shame on you mirasi”

    Some actually found it hilarious and ironic that Khalid is going after Yousafzai for living in the UK… when she actually lives in the UK as well.

    Some were even compared the achievements Malala continues to make while Khalid can’t say the same

    “Girl has one good song in her kitty and audacity check karo buss”

    https://twitter.com/yourdoriangray/status/1637708751439380483?s=20

    We can’t say anything else other than how deeply embarrassing it is to witness a woman flinging accusations on another woman, just because of difference of political beliefs. We sincerely hope that Pakistani celebrities would learn some decorum and stop dissing other women by distorting facts and through sheer bullying.

  • Shaheen Afridi backs Shahid Afridi on clarification on fake tweet about Imran Khan

    Shaheen Afridi backs Shahid Afridi on clarification on fake tweet about Imran Khan

    Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has denied that a tweet associated with him, voicing his opinion on ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s possible arrest is genuine, releasing a video of his clarification.

    The superstar former all-rounder on Sunday issued a statement in which he categorically denied saying anything about Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and said the quote that is going viral on social media is fake.

    Shahid Afridi was making fun of his former teammate Shoiab Akhtar’s injury in a video for the former fast bowler’s YouTube channel. “Plaster hee nahi utar raha iska”, Afridi supposedly said in jest to his former colleague.

    People mistakenly understood the comments to be directed at Imran Khan, who’s opponents have questioned why his leg injury plaster is not coming off, criticizing Shahid Afridi on social media.

    https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1637378958684553216?s=20

    “I am seeing since yesterday on social media that a statement on Imran Khan, attributed to me, is going viral. This is very disappointing; whoever is doing this is… it is just dirty politics,” Afridi said in the video.

    Stating that he does not want to get into politics, Afridi emphasized that if he had to say something, he would have said it myself.

    “You can check my social media accounts or any other place where I have spoken anything about Imran Khan. Please don’t make me a part of this dirty politics. I only believe in the people of Pakistan and want to work towards serving them. Thank you,” Afridi concluded.

    After his video clarification PSL 8 champion and the backbone of Pakistan’s pace attack, Shaheen Shah Afridi also tweeted to support his father-in-law.

    The speedster wrote, “I request you all to only think about Pakistan. We should not indulge ourselves into any act which divides us further. Hum Sab ko apni apni fields me positive reh ker Pakistan ka haq Ada kerna hoga. Pakistan Noor hai or Allah pak is Noor Ki Hamesha hifazat farmayain ge, Ameen.”

  • The State VS. Imran Khan

    The State VS. Imran Khan

    For almost an entire week, we have witnessed violent clashes between the police and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers in Punjab’s capital, Lahore. And on Saturday, the same visuals could be seen in both Lahore and the country’s federal capital, Islamabad. The state vs PTI Chairman Imran Khan paints a sorry picture for both politics and the writ of the state. It is as if no one cares about the consequences these clashes will lead to. The visuals on our television screens and on social media can lead one to think that no one is bothered about civility, be it the police or Khan loyalists. The past few days, we have seen lawlessness, desperation and disarray.

    It could all have been avoided had Imran Khan presented himself before the court in the Toshakhana case on March 13. He had been summoned numerous times, but Khan refused to show up. After his non-bailable arrest warrants were issued by the court, the police acted on it and tried to arrest Khan. However, Khan refused to budge. Eventually, there was only chaos and mayhem. There was drama, disruption and disorder yet neither the state nor Khan and his party took a step back. We saw petrol bombs thrown at the police by PTI workers, tear gas and heavy shelling by the police. Yesterday, Khan’s non-bailable arrest warrants were finally cancelled by the court when he went to Islamabad. Though he could not go inside the court due to the clashes in the judicial complex between the PTI workers and the Islamabad Police, the court still accepted his ‘appearance’ while he was inside his car.

    On the other hand, when Khan was on his way to Islamabad, the police in Lahore went to his Zaman Park residence to conduct a search operation. From bulldozing walls to throwing paintings here and there, the police claims to have allegedly recovered weapons and petrol bombs from Zaman Park. PTI will move the court for contempt proceedings against the police for alleged violence against PTI workers, Khan’s staff and for violating the sanctity of Khan’s home. Both the use of force by the police and the way that Khan resisted his arrest through violence have raised several questions.

    What could have been done to avoid all the unrest that Lahore had to bear? Khan should have followed the rule of law and appeared before the court on March 13. The state’s response when its writ was challenged was shelling, rubber bullets, tear gas and breaking the gate of Khan’s residence at Zaman Park. What we have seen is that when titans collide, everything gets destroyed and no one really wins. Both ends lose and there is nothing to celebrate. We hope that after this episode, there will not be a repeat of what we saw last week. We hope that party workers and state institutions show patience, civil ways to support their leaders and not create law and order situation. We hope to see less political chaos and more stability in the coming days.

  • PSL fever over but game on hai; Get ready for Pakistan Vs Afghanistan

    PSL fever over but game on hai; Get ready for Pakistan Vs Afghanistan

    On Saturday night Lahore Qalandars held their nerves in a thriller to lift the PSL 8 trophy and become the first team of Pakistan Super League (PSL) to defend their title. A nail biting finish saw
    Multan Sultans almost snatching away the dreams of Lahore Qalandars fans.

    Qalandars won by just 1 run, in a match that swung with every ball bowled, capping a memorable PSL season. What’s next for cricketing fans? Well, game on hai. Get ready for Pakistan Vs Afghanistan T20 series.

    The three-match T20I series will be played in Sharjah, starting March 24. Pakistan will be led by the young all-rounder Shadab Khan after regular captain Babar Azam along with several big names like Muhammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, have decided to take rest and sit out the series.

    Pakistan have named a new-look squad for the Afghanistan T20Is. Several big names have been rested including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Performances in the PSL has mattered in selection with Saim Ayub and Ihsanullah being given maiden call-ups while Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf have been recalled.

    “The Afghanistan series is the training ground to test our youngsters,” Najam Sethi, the PCB chief, said in a press interaction on March 13. “I am not worried about winning or losing to Afghanistan – if we find few talented youngsters, it will serve the purpose. The series is largely about blooding our new talent and developing them.”

    Top order
    Pakistan have four opening options to choose from – Shan Masood, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris, and Abdullah Shafique. Among them, Haris and Ayub were the most impressive in the PSL, with both scoring 180-plus runs at averages above 30 and strike rates above 180 as openers. Masood meanwhile scored 236 runs at an average of 26.22 and a strike rate of 124.87.

    Masood has been part of Pakistan’s T20 setup for a while now and has been playing the anchor role at No.3. With Babar and Rizwan not there, they would ideally want him to continue in his role and have Ayub and Haris open the innings. Shafique might have to wait his turn to get in the XI.

    Middle-order
    Iftikhar Ahmed should continue at his usual No.4 position, with Azam Khan slotting in as the wicketkeeper at No.5. Khan scored 282 runs in the PSL this year at a strike rate of 161.14, and would be looking to make an impact on his T20I comeback.

    All-rounders
    Shadab Khan will bat at No.6 and lead the spin attack. For No.7 and No.8, Pakistan will have three options to choose from – the incumbent Mohammad Nawaz, and two players making their comeback, Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf.

    While both Nawaz and Imad are similar commodities, bowling left-arm orthodox and batting left-handed, the generally low and slow Sharjah surface might force the Pakistan think-tank to pick both, with Ashraf sitting out. On the other hand, if they feel like the conditions on offer won’t be conducive to spin bowling, Ashraf will pip Imad with Nawaz retaining his spot.

    Bowlers
    For the last three slots, Pakistan have four pace bowlers to choose from – Ihsanullah, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, and Zaman Khan. Naseem and Wasim pick themselves as the regulars, while the young sensation Ihsanullah will in all probability make his international debut ahead of Zaman Khan, following his breakthrough PSL season.

    Pakistan likely XI for T20Is
    Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Shadab Khan (c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Ihsanullah