Pakistani stars have gained a massive following in the last two decades. Showbiz received a major hit during the Zia ul Haq era when everything was censored, and creativity was virtually banned. Films suffered, scripts were mellowed, and the stardom of the stars was limited. But things started getting better after the media was declared free in the Musharraf era. Through censors and difficult political climates, art started growing again.
Since the advent of social media, Pakistani stars once again started receiving massive success, and now they have a global following. Stars always catch the attention of their fans, not just in their work, but also in their personal lives. Privacy and fame are on teh opposite ends of the spectrum, but in the case of celebrities, they want them both at the same time. This creates a paradox, and sometimes stars tend to hide information about themselves that should be public. Not making it public in the correct way raises controversies. The trend of secret Nikkahs and divorces is one of them.
Here is a list of celebrities who have kept information secret from their fans:
Khushhal Khan & Ramsha Khan
Ramsha Khan and Khushhal Khan are two big stars of the Pakistani drama industry. They are both A-listers who always win the audience with their strong performances. They recently got married in an intimate ceremony, but they did not announce their Nikkah. What ended up happening was a blind item circulating about their Nikkah to a picture which was leaked from the event. The duo still did not confirm it and denied the news at first. They later controversially unfollowed everyone and shared pictures where none of the stars was visible. Everyone has the right to keep their privacy, but when you are so high-profile. Properly announcing your Nikkah would have brought you good wishes and not controversy.
Laiba Khan & Jawad
Laiba Khan is another famous Pakistani celebrity who got married recently. She received love from her fans, but initially, she posted pictures from her wedding event without revealing her husband’s face. This secrecy then pushed nosy netizens into spy mode, who started digging too much into the past. What came out was that Laiba Khan was Nikkahfied 2 years back in Madinah. Her husband’s first marriage and child also came out. Though Laiba announced her wedding publicly, not doing it first-hand and in the correct way brought a lot of negativity for her on social media.
Sana Javed
Sana Javed has been a part of the drama industry for a long time now. She has a huge following, and she knows how social media works. The actress was first married to singer Umair Jaswal, and the ex-couple always received love from their fans. Thus, naturally, the audience was shocked when she suddenly posted pictures with her now husband, Shoaib Malik.
With such a huge following, a divorce announcement never came, and when she announced her second Nikkah, it was shocking for the public, who then criticised her.
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik, now husband to Sana Javed, was at first married to Indian superstar Sania Mirza. The high-profile marriage was tracked by global media, and the ex-couple are parents to a son, Izhaan Mirza Malik. Thus, when Shoaib Malik posted a picture with Sana Javed from their Nikkah, the public was blown away. The criticism started coming as people thought this was a case of polygamy.
Shoaib Malik never spoke about his divorce even after the backlash, and in the end, Sania Mirza’s father released a statement confirming his daughter’s divorce.
Sajal Aly & Ahad Raza Mir
Sajal Aly and Ahada Raza Mir made one of the most loved Pakistani celebrity couples in the history of the Pakistani entertainment industry. The duo met while filming Yakeen Ka Safar, and the meeting led to their marriage. Sahad fans were overjoyed, and the couple always received love and support from their fans. But one day, Sajal Aly just removed Ahad’s name from hers on her Instagram, and the media reported speculations about their divorce. For such a high-profile marriage and relationship, the artists just got divorced and never announced anything. Many of their fans kept hoping for a reconciliation, as there was no official announcement for years.
Bushra Ansari & Iqbal Hussain
Bushra Ansari is a legend of the Pakistani media industry. She was married to another public personality, ace director Iqbal Ansari. The couple had two daughters, and fans always thought they were together. Then one day rumours started about their divorce and Bushra Ansari’s second marriage to Iqbal Hussain. They still did not announce the marriage and waited five years before announcing that they were a couple. They were scared of public backlash, and it came due to the delay they had in the announcement.
Sanam Saeed & Mohib Mirza
Sanam Saeed and Mohib Mirza are another celebrated Pakistani showbiz couple. They were both married earlier, and their respective marriages did not work out. They got together while filming Deedan, and they were both single at the time. They did not announce their marriage earlier, as Sanam was friends with Mohib’s first wife, Aminah Sheikh. The duo announced their marriage after being together for a few years on Fahad Mustafa’s show. They have both received the audience’s love and acceptance.
Hina Altaf & Agha Ali
Hina Altaf and Agha Ali are two Pakistani actors who tied the knot in a private ceremony in 2020. They were friends earlier, and the duo publicly announced their marriage. They received love and blessings. They used to post a lot of content together, and then one day they just stopped posting together. Fans were guessing, but they never announced the breakup officially. Agha Ali also started dropping hints, and in the end, it was Ahmed Ali Butt who asked him directly if he was divorced, and the actor confirmed it.
Iqrar Ul Hassan & Farah Iqrar
Iqrar ul Hassan is a Pakistani anchor who was admired for his strong stance against corruption. He was married to fellow anchor Qurutulain Iqrar, and they were both admired as a power couple. This is when suddenly the internet found out that Iqrar was also married to anchor Farah Iqrar. What came as another shock was how he was married for the second time for over 5 years by then. This changed his image in the audience nad he has married for the third time since then.
Shamoon Abbasi & Sherry Shah
Shamoon Abbasi and Sheryy Shah are two Pakistani stars who worked together in Durj. They found love and got married, which they did not announce at the time. It took them a few years to publicly admit to their marriage. What came was a little bit of a surprise from the fans’ side, and mostly good wishes. Thus, not announcing it when it happened never made any sense.
Though everyone deserves privacy, marriage and divorce are social and religious contracts that are meant to be announced. Their whole purpose is to publicly announce if a couple is together or not. Thus, keeping secrets about them and later on getting angry when fans criticise the secrecy never makes sense.
We have also seen how Pakistani stars like Atif Aslam, Mahira Khan, Ayeza Khan & Danish Taimoor and Mawra Hocane only received love and understanding for privacy when they openly announced their marriages. Similarly, for stars like Syra Yousuf who publicly announced her divorce, there was understanding from the audience’s side.
