Tag: trending

  • Ayesha Omar gets emotional as she recounts opening up about sexual harassment

    Ayesha Omar gets emotional as she recounts opening up about sexual harassment

    Ayesha Omar, in a recent interview with Waseem Badami, opened up about being sexually harassed at the age of 22 by a powerful person in the industry. The actor has shared her experience of being harassed on several occasions but has never named her perpetrator. However, while recounting the experience on Badami’s Masoomana Sawaal, Ayesha got emotional and started crying on live television.

    During the interview, the actor said that she has never cried while talking about this incident before.

    “Maybe it was your question,” said Ayesha, while explaining why she felt emotional.

    “Nobody said it was easy,” said Ayesha later, in an Instagram post, while referring to the interview.

    “Not sure if I’ve ever cried on live television before,” said the actor. “To be able to let your guard down and be vulnerable…to be able to talk about your painful, difficult experiences from an honest place…to relive and recall traumatic times…to describe your feelings and talk to your younger self…it’s not easy.”

    “It’s not even easy doing it one on one with someone trained to ask the right questions, in private, let alone publicly on live television,” she continued. “But I hope by doing so, I was able to make other humans who have had painful experiences or faced sexual/verbal/physical harassment at any point in their lives, feel a little less alone and a little more hopeful…to try to let go of self-blame and self-deprecation and hold their perpetrators responsible.”

    Read more – Ayesha Omar opens up about her childhood struggles

    On the show, Ayesha, while sharing her experience, had said: “I had just joined the industry, I was hardly 22 years old. He was a man in power and I was scared to go against him. I did not have the courage to tell anyone about it. I’m sorry about that.”

    “I am sorry to the person I was; had I shared it then, I would have been a stronger person today. A lot of other girls also suffered at the hands of the same person. Had I spoken up against him then, maybe he might have stopped.”

    Meanwhile, fellow female stars supported her in the comment section of her post.

  • We can’t show a woman being assaulted and falling in love with the same man, says Mahira Khan

    We can’t show a woman being assaulted and falling in love with the same man, says Mahira Khan

    Mahira Khan, who was recently listed in BBC’s ‘100 women of 2020′ for being outspoken about social issues, in a recent interview said that the media, including actors, filmmakers and drama makers, need to take responsibility to change the narrative.

    In a recent interview, the actor said: “Something happens, there is a lot of noise about it. Everybody gets on the streets, everybody talks about it on the media, and then what? And then it dies out. Another news comes out, another story comes out or another rape happens! Then that is just another name or another hashtag attached to it. The problem is that we are not ready to educate our public, create programs that educate children, we are not ready to talk about it openly and I think we need to change that narrative.”

    She continued: “I also take responsibility for it. I am a big part of the media of this country. I feel that our films, our television serials, we have to change the narrative.”

    “We can’t just show a woman being assaulted (by a man) and then falling in love with him and show him to be the hero. A hero cannot be someone who is abusive. So, I think somewhere even we have to take that initiative.”

    Mahira also talked about her stance on fairness creams and why she refuses to endorse them.

    “I’ve been approached from the beginning of my career, not just as an actor – even when I was a VJ – I was approached to do a lot of fairness cream products, skin whitening products,” shared the actor. “It doesn’t make sense to me, it never made sense to me. So, I am endorsing the idea that a darker girl, a man is not as attractive as someone with a fairer complexion? It just didn’t make sense to me.”

    Mahira also took a moment to recall her first award as an actor. In the interview, she said that though she has received many awards over the years, the award – Lux Style Award for Best Actress – she received for Humsafar is her most special.

    “This is my first award as an actor, for a drama that really launched me, in the year that I was launched,” said Mahira. “I won many awards after that but this remains very, very special.”

  • Firdous Ashiq destroyed for saying Sharifs ‘parceling mother’s body to Pakistan through cargo’

    Twitterati are training guns at Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar’s aide Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan for saying that the Sharifs were “parceling the body of their mother back to Pakistan through cargo”.

    Begum Shamim Akhtar, 90, breathed her last in London on Sunday and her dead body is being brought back to Pakistan. According to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb, her funeral prayers will be offered on Saturday at the Sharif Medical City in Raiwind.

    “It is painful to see how those who used chartered flights to transfer cuisines are now parceling their mother’s body back to the country through cargo,” she was heard as saying during an informal media talk.

    With the government spokesperson also tweeting the same, her statement didn’t set very well with a number of netizens, who said:

    Meanwhile, Qul would be held on November 29 which would be attended only by members of the Sharif family.

    PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and President Shehbaz Sharif have appealed to the people and workers to offer Fateha for their mother on the day of Qul in their respective areas.

  • Gilgit: Viral video shows man removing Pakistani flag from burning car

    Gilgit: Viral video shows man removing Pakistani flag from burning car

    The video of a man in Gilgit removing a Pakistani flag from a burning car has gone viral on social media.

    The black car is believed to belong to a Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) minister and was set on fire during the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) protest against alleged rigging in the recently held elections.

    The video shows a man running towards the car and taking the flag off the bonnet.

    Widespread, even violent, protests are being held in the northern region against what the PPP has termed a “stolen” election on November 15.

    Videos from the area have shown people thronging the streets of and accusing Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of winning the maximum number of seats by rigging.

    Earlier, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had alleged irregularities in the elections.

    “My election has been stolen. I will be joining the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in their protest shortly,” he had tweeted as early as initial results had started pouring in while Maryam Nawaz of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had accused the PTI of “pre-poll rigging”.

  • Sheheryar Munawar hits back at troll who called him ‘ghareebon ka Bradley Cooper’

    Sheheryar Munawar hits back at troll who called him ‘ghareebon ka Bradley Cooper’

    Not one to lose his cool, Sheheryar Munawar recently hit back at a troll(s) who called him “Ghareebon k Bradley Cooper”.

    Responding to the user Nasir Ali, who posted the comment on Sheheryar’s post, the actor said: “Ghareeb isn’t a stigma. Thank you for associating me with a group that works hard day and night to earn for themselves and their families.”

    For reference, this the picture from the actor’s recent shoot under which Ali had posted the comment.

    Read more – Syra Yousuf, Sheheryar Munawar turn up the heat with their latest photoshoot

    Meanwhile, responding to another social media user who advised him to say his prayers, Sheheryar said: “Alhumdulliah. 5 waqt partha hoon. Kabhi kabhar rab ki meharbani se tahajud bhi naseeb ho jaati hai.”

    The actor further said that the matter is between him and his God and that his work is also a form of worship for him.

    Munawar also advised the social media user to stop judging people on Instagram and focus on his own deeds.

  • Reasons why ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is breaking records on Netflix

    Reasons why ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is breaking records on Netflix

    Female-led drama The Queen’s Gambit, set in the 1960s chess world, has become Netflix’s most popular limited scripted series ever.

    In a statement, Netflix shared that “some 62 million households watched the show in its first 28 days”. The seven-episode series is ranked in the top 10 most watched on Netflix in 92 countries, including first in 63, the company added.

    The Queen’s Gambit follows an orphaned female chess prodigy, Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), who struggles with drug addiction as she rises to become one of the world’s best players. But there is so much more to this incredibly fast-paced series that has proven to be the best binge-watch Netflix has produced in a long time. A riveting watch it will leave you with reasons to love it and to be inspired by it for days, months after.

    1. You will feel like you can do anything

    The feeling of utter inspiration after watching Beth defeat world champions at chess will make you either want to order a chess set or feel like you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Why? Beth is an orphan after she survives a car crash in which her mother passes away and there is no record of her father after her mother leaves him. Her mother dies in an attempted suicide, which could’ve taken Beth’s life but she escapes unharmed.

    We then follow Beth on her journey as a brilliant chess prodigy, taught by the janitor, Mr Shaibel (Bill Camp) in an orphanage and watch her become addicted to antidepressants, which were apparently legally handed out to children in the 1950s to help them become calm and easy to handle; and to chess – a board which not only relaxes her but makes it easier for her to sleep at night.

    She grows up fighting her inner demons, adopted by a family in which the father leaves, and raised by a foster mother who loves her but passes away as well. And chess becomes her ultimate solace and one that she uses to reach the heights of success. To see her grow from a child who had nothing to a woman who slays chess grandmasters in Russia leaves one with the feeling that they can conquer the world – and play chess.

    2. You will appreciate your closest and best friends

    In the middle of the series, you see Beth becoming lost in her drug addiction, her uneasy arrogance that she can only defeat grandmasters with the help of her pills and her lack of confidence in being with the guy that she likes. What gets her through her darkest times are her friends – and what’s amazing is that her friends are actually her former rivals – the men she defeated to get to where she is. It becomes obvious near the end that she is nothing without them and you know that warm, fuzzy feeling everyone gets from a cheesy romance movie? You will get it but it will be because of the best kinds of friendships- the ones that cheer others on, even if they are getting what you wanted all along.

    3. You will marvel at the setting – and the clothes

    Make no mistake – the chessboard style patterns you see on most of the clothes that Beth is wearing were deliberate and there is no woman who would not be drooling over her black and white dress that she wears for the tournament in Russia. The thoughtful costume designs and the settings of the scenes make it one of the most beautiful series to watch – from the hallowed hallways where the chess finale happens – to the retro home where Beth lives with her foster mother – are all a wonder to watch. You will be transported to the 50s and the 60s in every scene, with every leather jacket and loud wallpaper, with the waves in their hair and the even by the way they walk – every character does justice to their roles and what we are left with is a true delight in seven episodes.

    Read more – Season Four of ‘The Crown’ is a Pakistani arranged marriage nightmare

    The Queen’s Gambit is among Netflix’s more culturally resonant programmes of recent years. Netflix, in a blog post, also shared that since the series’ debut in October, searches for chess sets on eBay are up 250 percent, and Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel that inspired the series has returned to bestseller lists. And there is zero doubt that it deserves to be where it is. A must watch for all.

  • Farhan Saeed and Urwa Hocane reportedly part ways

    One of Pakistan’s most-loved celebrity couples, Farhan Saeed and Urwa Hocane have reportedly parted ways with mutual understanding.

    According to reports, the couple has decided to mutually end their three-year marriage.

    While the couple has not yet made an official statement, reports have stated that the reason behind their separation is mounting tension and irreconcilable differences.

    Recently in an interview, Hocane had said if her husband wants to remarry, she will remain silent.

    The couple tied the knot in an intimate Nikkah ceremony at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore on December 16, 2016.

    Meanwhile, fans have rejected the reports and are waiting for the couple to make an official announcement.

    https://twitter.com/Arslan62572201/status/1331278271217065984?s=20
    https://twitter.com/ibushrra_/status/1331266244964720641?s=20

    https://twitter.com/Arslan62572201/status/1331276788132143104?s=20

  • ‘Ludo’ is delightfully entertaining

    ‘Ludo’ is delightfully entertaining

    Just when I thought I was done with Bollywood films for this year, given how terrible this year’s releases have been, Ludo popped up as I was scrolling through Netflix. The film had just released and was already trending in the top ten on Netflix Pakistan.

    Featuring an ensemble cast of Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Roy Kapur, Abhishek Bachchan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Suresh Saraf and Pearle Maaney, Ludo is a tough film to describe considering the multiple storylines running side by side. On one hand, you have Akash (Kapur) and Shruti (Malhotra), who are trying to cover up a sex tape before Sanya gets married to the man of her dreams, while on the other you have Bittu (Bachchan), who just came out of jail and ends up running into a little girl who kidnapped herself so her parents would pay attention to her. Then you have Alu (Rao), who runs a restaurant and dances to Mithun’s disco moves when he is stressed. He deeply loves his childhood crush Pinky (Shaikh), though she is married with a baby.

    Akash and Shruti

    On the surface, the characters have nothing to do with one another but their fates are all connected through Sattu Bhaiya (Pankaj) who is the resident gangster. As the leads try to sort out the problems in their lives, they end up getting entangled with one another in a very messy web controlled by Sattu Bhaiya. He manages to run everyone’s lives even while lying on a hospital bed.

    Sattu Bhaiya

    Written and directed by Anurag Basu, Ludo is a highly entertaining and enthralling watch. It keeps you gripped with its twists and turns and has been masterfully directed. A movie like this, which has multiple plotlines and characters, each with a different, distinct story, running side by side, could have easily fallen apart. But Basu holds it all together skilfully.

    Though it is slightly longer than average films these days, you will not feel yourself getting bored at any point – there is enough drama, comedy and romance to keep you hooked.

    Alu and Pinky

    All the leads gave brilliant performances though it was Pankaj who blew me away with his acting and expressions. Despite being a gangster, you couldn’t help but like his character all because of how Tripathi brought it to life.

    Bittu

    The cherry on top was the songs and background music, which perfectly complemented the theme and mood of the film. I have been listening to Aabaad Barbaad and Hardum Humdum on repeat.

    Read more – All single Pakistanis will relate to trending rom-com ‘Holidate’

    While Ludo may not be a cinematic marvel or an extraordinary film, it makes a fun, cosy watch especially on a chilly winter evening.

  • ‘Jalan’ continues to be a cringefest

    ‘Jalan’ continues to be a cringefest

    Every season, there is at least one, if not more, drama which creates a stir and causes an uproar on social media. This season, it is Jalan, with its twisted and very problematic storyline.

    For those who have been oblivious to the drama and PEMRA’s short-lived ban on it, Jalan is about two sisters Nisha (Minal Khan) and Misha (Areeba Habib) who are after the same guy. While Misha is the sweet and obedient sister, Nisha is a spoiled brat and wants to be better than her sister, so she sets her sights on her brother-in-law Asfandyar (Emmad Irfani) because he’s rich and good-looking. Ignoring the fact that her sister is married to Asfandyar (Asfi) and pregnant with his child, Nisha openly flirts with him and urges him to divorce his wife. Nisha eventually gets her way and Asfi not only divorces his wife but also pushes her as a result of which she falls to the floor and ends up delivering their baby prematurely. Nisha’s parents throw her out of the house and she seeks refuge with Asfi pushing him to marry her as soon as possible. As Nisha and Asfi get married, Meenu, who cannot bear the heartbreak and humiliation sets herself on fire and eventually dies leaving behind her infant child.

    Asfi and Nisha’s marital bliss doesn’t last long and the cracks become wider when Nisha’s ex-fiance Ahmer (Fahad Sheikh), makes a dramatic re-entry into her life richer and better-dressed. Nisha then sets her sights on him, straight-up asking him to marry her the second time they meet after their breakup.

    If the entire situation wasn’t bizarre enough, it’s execution is even more mind-boggling. The script is weak and the characters terribly developed. It’s as if the writer after every scene forgot what she had written in the previous scene and started the new chapter afresh – there is no flow in scenes. Even though Nisha is the protagonist, her character and callous actions are incomprehensible and beyond basic understanding. The drama’s writer Sidra Sehar Imran, in a recent interview, said that the drama is a true story but I’m finding that a little hard to believe. In the past (I’m looking at you Meray Paas Tum Ho), several writers have used the ‘true story’ trope as a marketing gimmick in an attempt to hype up their dramas and push up ratings. This time round I am not definitely not buying it.

    If we thought Nisha was messed up, Asfi is even worse. He barely has any dialogues and mostly just moves around with either a sullen expression on his face or screaming his head off. While Irfani does a decent job with the role, Asfi’s one-dimensional personality is irritating, to say the least.

    I am unable to fathom what the makers of the drama are trying to show with this plot and storyline. A few words simply cannot sum up the disaster this drama is. It is quite clear that ARY just wanted to create a stir with this and they have gotten exactly that. Substance and content do not matter. It appears that with Jalan, we’ve hit a new low.

    Jalan is one of those dramas which are so bad that they don’t even qualify as a guilty pleasure. Every time you tune into it, you are bound to get your blood pressure high.

  • 1,300-year-old Hindu temple discovered in KP

    1,300-year-old Hindu temple discovered in KP

    A Hindu temple, believed to be 1,300 years ago, has been discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeological experts at a mountain in Swat district. The discovery was reportedly made during an excavation at Barikot Ghundai.

    According to Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology, the temple discovered is of Lord Vishnu. It was built by the Hindus 1,300 years ago during the Hindu Shahi period, he said.

    The Hindu Shahis or Kabul Shahis (850-1026 CE) was a Hindu dynasty that ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan), and present-day northwestern India.

    During their excavation, archaeologists also found traces of a cantonment and watchtowers near the temple site. Experts also found a water tank near the temple site which they assume was used by the Hindus for bathing before worship.

    Khaliq said that the Swat district is home to numerous ancient archaeological sites, some of which are thousands of years old, but traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in the area.

    Dr Luka, the head of the Italian archaeological mission, said this was the first temple of the Ghandhara Civilisation discovered in Swat district.

    Swat district is among the top 20 sites in Pakistan which is home to every kind of tourism such as natural beauty, religious tourism, cultural tourism and archaeological sites.

    Several places of worship of Buddhism are also situated in Swat district.

    Read more – KP Police arrest offenders involved in vandalising ancient Buddha statue

    Last year in October, archaeologists and historians discovered another temple, reportedly built in the 7th century, during the Turki Shahi period, on the top of Ghwandai mount at Bazira in Barikot Swat.