Who would have thought that Meera would go all out to prove to people that Mahira Khan cannot act and that too publicly. Saying something like this in a private conversation is something different but tweeting your negative opinion about an actress who is much more famous than you takes a lot of guts. All of us know that Meera always gives us reason to keep on talking about her and this time she has really put Mahira Khan’s fans off by tweeting that Mahira does not know how to act at all.
Here is the tweet which was later on deleted:
Meera got some serious bashing from Mahira Khan’s fans after this tweet but she did not stop there. One of the fans tweeted:
To which Meera could not resist replying. This was her expert opinion:
Most of the people on twitter agreed that Mahira was a much better actress than Meera and Meera had no right to say things like that about Mahira.
Nowadays there is abundance of private channels which is why any new talented actors will always have many offers to work in different drama. Most of the actors who are starting their careers are not very choosy because they work in whatever project that they are offered because they want to be seen on television very often.
Agha Ali is a young budding actor who has been seen in many dramas but lately his fans are complaining that he is not being seen in any drama. Agha Ali posted on social media the reason for his absence from dramas. He posted,
” The reason why I’m not on screen (dramas) these days is only “you” guys. I’ve rejected 6 of the serials that are coming on TV right now and they had almost the same storyline or too similar to the last few ones that I did. One hero and two heroines and the rest you all know. I cannot be a part of any project unless ‘I want it’ and I’m not someone who’d say I did it because of bla bla so I said No and signed only two in the past 5 months and these two will be aired very soon. I will also like to quote that “Khuda Dekh Raha Hai” was the best script out of all I got in the recent times and I’m sure that “Kaffara” and “Tere Mere Beech” will touch your hearts as well.”
Looks like this youngster wants to do characters that will make him memorable. He refuses to accept any script that comes his way because he does not want the viewers to see him in the same avatar over and over again.
Hamza Ali Abbasi gets a lot of ‘honest’ feedback from his co-stars which is not always good to hear. The reason for this is that Hamza also does not hold back his thoughts and always feels he is free to share whatever he thinks about anything on social media which would mean that whatever he shares is seen by everyone. When you comment so publicly on everything then you should expect some comments like that from your fellow stars too on public forums.
While giving an interview recently Ayesha Omer was asked what she thought about Hamza Ali Abbasi’s comment that item numbers in films were like mujras. Ayesha Omer has also done an item number in the film Karachi Se Lahore and when Hamza Ali Abbasi made this comment the promos of her item number from that film were airing so people automatically linked the two things. Many people said that Hamza Ali Abbasi’s comment was directed towards the item number by Ayesha Omer.
In reply to the question that what she thought about Hamza’s point of view Ayesha Omer said, “Hamza’s comment was not directed towards me. In fact we teased Hamza later on that you’re own film is going to be released soon in which you are seen dancing with many girls who are wearing hardly any clothes. So, what is the difference? What is okay and what is not?”
Although Ayesha Omer said that Hamza Ali Abbasi’s comment was not directed towards her but this part of her reply shows that she really does not think so. Ayesha said, “A lot of people pass comments, a lot of people give their opinions, this is their right. There are many people who give opinions and statements because they are looking for attention.” By saying this Ayesha Omer was implying that she did not really care what Hamza Ali Abbasi thought about item numbers because he was only giving these statements to get attention.
Hamayun Saeed has done a lot for the Pakistani drama industry not only by acting in the dramas but by making a production house which has given the Pakistani viewers some unforgettable dramas. Recently Hamayun Saeed talked to a newspaper about his film Bin Roye among other things. Many people are criticizing Hamayun Saeed playing the lead with Mahira Khan because he is so much older than her. Hamayun explained, “Age makes absolutely no difference. If Aamir Khan could do 3 Idiots at his age then anything is possible; one just has to work on his character and appearance to make it appear real. Mahira and I both had to look ten years younger in Bin Roye and I think we’ve done a convincing job.”
He also said something that will come as a surprise to many, “Ironically the film’s requirement was that we NOT have chemistry……….The film is very real where relationships are concerned.”
The film Bon Roye did really well on the box office. Hamayun Saeed believes that happened because it was a female centric film unlike many of the other films that were not based on such stories.
Geo Kahani’s new Morning Show Subh Ki Kahani started the beginning of its journey by inviting two people who have together made history by contributing a lot to the success of Pakistani dramas. Mahira Khan and Sarmad Khoosat need no introduction. Mahira Khan gained popularity like she never had when she played the lead role in the play Hamsafar which was directed by the very talented Sarmad Khoosat. Since then Sarmad and Mahira make it very obvious that they really like working with each other. They are not just colleagues but also very good friends. Currently Mahira Khan has been busy working with Sarmad’s very special project which is the film “Manto”.
While answering some questions on the sets of Geo Kahani’s new Morning Show Mahira Khan talked about her role in the film which will be very different from all the roles she has played till now. Mahira Khan said she found the role challenging “NOT because I’m projected as feminine – that’s not even something I think about. The challenge was to act with the monkey, like a monkey and then as the master of the monkey.”
Sarmad Khoosat also said, “I wanted to challenge her, “But it’s not just unorthodox casting. It’s also a reflection of Manto’s gender-less approach to characters.”
Here are some pictures from the set of the new Morning Show:
When Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor got married a year ago it was the talk of the town. Their wedding overshadowed some other celebrity weddings that were taking place at exactly the same time. Many people did not even know just how popular these two actors were until their marriage got all that attention. Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor did not break the news of their wedding until the wedding took place which means that they were not looking for cheap publicity.
After a year of being happily married, the couple has been blessed with a beautiful baby girl and just like everything else about their relationship, the couple is keeping their daughter away from the public eye. Danish Taimoor has achieved a lot in this one year and Ayeza Khan has taken a break from acting due to the arrival of her new baby. The couple looks happy and radiant on their first anniversary. Here are some pictures from their first wedding anniversary celebrations.
As I have stated before I’m a die hard supporter of Pakistani movie no matter how mundane. But sometimes even my patience is tested. DPMS is the story of Sikandar aka Sikku ( Sikander Rizvi) a rickshaw driver in Lahore who meets and falls head over heels in love with Annie ( Humaima malik) a con artist. Sounds totally fresh yes? :P
What follows is a set of confusing events
Unfortunately the movie takes too much time in revealing Annie’s true nature as a con artist. The movie is confusing, makes little sense and senior actor Irfan khoosat is totally wasted as Sikandar’s mentor Chacha. There are guest appearances from Humayon saeed, Meera and HSY( who also designed the film’s costumes).
The main weakness with DPMS is it’s confusing plot. It makes no sense at all and was frankly boring. Sikander doesn’t look one bit like a rickshaw driver in Lahore. He is too urbane and polished to pull off that role. Humaima however gives a strong performance as Annie. She is not your typical ‘roti dhoti mazloom aurat’ but instead lives life on her own terms. Even Dawn praised her strong and feisty performance however unfortunately she couldn’t make a dent in the movie’s lack of luster.
The costumes and sets are really amazing and add color to the screen. This was a plus point in the movie however that didn’t save the movie from what I’m sure will be a box-office bomb. The cinema I watched the movie was nearly 80% empty. A gentleman behind me fell asleep during the movie and his wife left the movie in the middle. Even I had a miserable time and was really wishing the movie to end. I rate DPMS 1 out of 5. Watch at your own risk only.
Ohkay so, it was such a heartwarming episode of Diyar-e-Dil tonight. I must say all the actors have portrayed their characters so well that they have formed the connection of another level with us. Indeed, Diyar-e-Dil has been a complete package but such a phenomenal acting that stirs the emotions makes it even better. I must confess, after ‘Shanakht’, ‘Diyar-e-Dil’ is going to stay with me for a long long time & for that I am grateful to the whole team of this drama starting from the Writer to the Director to all the Actors.
Finally, the truth won Faarah over & finally, after a long long time, she has realized that this is the place to be & this is where she exactly belongs. Her stroll around the Haveli, constants reminders of Behroz’s presence & things related to him made Faarah realize that she isn’t meant to be anywhere else. In the battle between her mind & heart, her heart has finally won because it automatically got drawn towards where she is supposed to be. Ever since Faarah has come to Haveli, she has always felt connected to this place, she has always found an inner peace that she never experienced before, and therefore even though it took her a long time, she has finally accepted Agha Jaan, his love, his sincerity & his pure intentions. Even though Faarah has yet to fall in love with her husband; Wali, I have loved every bit of her transition from a confused person to someone who now has figured out everything on her own & I am sure, there’s no turning back. She has always longed for a family, she has always loved being pampered & after Behroz, it was only Agha Jaan who did all that for her, so it is imperative that she will ever be going back to Ruhina again. Faarah loves being with Agha Jaan & that’s a stepping stone towards her decision of staying with him & everyone else for the rest of her life.
I loved seeing the sigh of relief coming from Wali. His plan of bringing Agha Jaan & Faarah together has succeeded & that was all that he wanted. I really felt happy seeing Wali pleased because he now knows that Faarah has stopped misunderstanding Agha Jaan & she now knows that Agha Jaan loves her a lot. Yes, all the things he said to Faarah brought her to this point because he wanted to shake & wake her up & for that I am glad that he blew the whistle because only then Faarah understood that she was holding onto her ego & Ruhina’s brain feeding for all the wrong reasons. I am so glad that Wali held his ground & never crossed the line of decency with Faarah even after being pushed to the limit. Wali showed that it takes a lot to be a man & he proved to be a gentleman throughout. He wanted to make things right for Agha Jaan & now when that has happened, he has stopped bothering Faarah at all because he knows that Faarah herself will take care of Agha Jaan & wouldn’t need his instructions anymore.
Zarmeenay still can’t accept the fact that Faarah is sharing Agha Jaan’s love but I loved how Arjumand made her realize that if Agha Jaan is happy; she shouldn’t be bothered at all. Zarmeenay might be saying all this purely out of jealousy or also out of her sheer concern for Agha Jaan because she herself has seen that every single time Faarah & Ruhina came in contact with Agha Jaan, they caused him stress & nothing else. I love how Arjumand always keeps a check on how her children behave because she doesn’t want to feel ashamed in front of Agha Jaan. I also really appreciate the fact that they have shown how everyone takes care of Agha Jaan & his feelings because they have never shared their difference of opinion in front of him, it shows they all are very courteous when it comes to Agha Jaan & don’t believe in burdening him with their concerns at all. This is what usually happens in most of the households where grandparents are treated with utmost attention, love & respect & I must say, to see such nice bonding & seeing a head of the family being treated so nicely on TV screen is a breath of fresh air.
The highlights of this episode for me were the conversations that Wali & Faarah, & Agha Jaan & Faarah had. I absolutely loved seeing Agha Jaan clarifying his stance in front of Faarah & Faarah crying her heart out to him because she was already feeling suffocated & she needed to let go of the burden that was tearing her apart, & yes, I did cry, not a bucket but enough to grab a tissue paper because that scene was so touching.
Oh well, Meesna Moeez wasn’t so Meesna after all, innit? It was a shocker to know that it was Moeez who suggested Faarah should inherit her part of the property because in his own peanut sized brain, he has accepted her as his fiancée & he thinks he owns Faarah & everything that belongs to her. Even though I am glad that Faarah is away from all of them, I am also happy that Ruhina is stuck between them because she needs to learn her lesson for sure. Moeez is eager & is now losing his cool because he has his business partner pressurizing him to fend for the finances for their new business & I am sure this is what will force Moeez to show his true colors to Ruhina because he already is feeling burdened & doesn’t know how to figure a way out of this.
The preview of the next episode was engaging as well. I am sure Agha Jaan will try to ease Faarah’s pain because he has pretty much understood that Faarah is not into this relationship as he has noticed already how Faarah always tries to change the topic whenever he’s speaking about Wali. I must say, Maya Ali looked extremely pretty in this particular episode. Her pale face depicted the unease she was feeling & later a little color on her cheeks showed how she felt much better by letting go of her fears after speaking to Agha Jaan, I must say the makeup artists deserve a special mention for their awesome work & so do the stylists because I think it has been a while since we got to see a stylish heroine clad in long coats & Maya Ali really has carried herself well in Diyar-e-Dil. Osman Khalid Butt looked great too in his horseback riding ensemble, also he looks so mature & responsible whenever he wears a Shawl over Shalwar Kameez, it gives him a very refined & genteel look. The stars of this episode were Abid Ali, Maya Ali & Osman Khalid Butt for sure. They make their scenes such a treat to watch but yes OKB deserves a special mention for such a phenomenal acting in the confrontation scene because his expressions were so controlled & he elaborated Wali’s state of mind perfectly. I can’t wait for the next episode already. Please share your beautiful thoughts with us about this beautiful episode of Diyar-e-Dil. :)
This episode just like the previous two wasn’t free of clichés but just like the preceding episodes it managed to hold my interest nevertheless. Having said that I must add that some dialogues should be officially barred from drama scripts. When I say that I am referring to dialogues like tum ne mere bete ko kya ghol ke pilaya hai…yeh lrki tumhari maa se ziada ahem ho gaye and many many more! I am sure that thousands of mothers utter these lines in real life as well but they have been overused in our dramas and some new one liners to get the message across would be a great help since I am pretty sure that our writers will continue writing scripts on these lines!
I must say that I wasn’t expecting Komal and Arsalan to get married but it happened and I am wondering where the story will go from here. It was good to see Komal taking off the ring and starting afresh. Although she kept on thinking about Wajdan right till the last minute but everything that happened in tonight’s episode went to show that she was going to start this new life with a new frame of mind. She wants to make this marriage work and she wants Arsalan’s mother to be happy with them both. Komal’s rationale for leaving Wajdaan made a lot of sense; given her history she wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for tearing a family apart but I wish history did not repeat itself in the exact same way and that part of the story was carried out differently. Arsalan showing up on Komal’s footstep in the exact same manner as Wajdan was a little too much of a coincidence. The only big difference was that this time Rayna was there to make Komal rethink her impulsive decision and keep her fiancé from leaving her forever.
I was the one who was hoping that there would be more of present and less of past in this episode but I have to say that I wanted to see Wajdan in the present too. Tonight’s episode focused on the wedding and its aftermath alone. I guess the writer and the director want to keep us guessing whether Wajdan is married or not and if he has moved on with life. I felt for Arsalan today more than anyone else and I must say that whatever happened with him in tonight’s episode made me feel for all the men out there who must be stuck in such a situation! What does a man do when his mother judges him for loving his wife? Arsalan’s mother’s insecurities undoubtedly gave me the been-there-seen-that feeling but at the same time you can’t deny the fact that such mother in laws exist in abundance in reality too.
The first two days or so of Arsalan and Komal’s married life were covered nicely. Sana Javed doesn’t ever need to try very hard to convince the viewers of her character’s loyalty towards those she loves therefore I did not doubt Komal’s intentions for a second! But will her intentions and efforts prove to be fruitful? I seriously doubt that! Arsalan’s character is turning out to be very “normal” which is a nice change because I am sure just like me all the other viewers are sick and tired of watching husbands on screen who find it impossible to stand by their wives – well it is a tough job but not as tough as the husbands in our dramas make it look like! I sorely missed watching Imran Abbas in tonight’s episode and some of the dialogues really put me off, other than that I am still interested in finding out what is going to happen next. Aitraz has not been outstanding in any way till now but it manages to engage you and most importantly every episode gives you a reason to look forward to more.
Do share your thoughts about tonight’s episode and I would love to hear which dialogues you people think should be permanently banned from our dramas!
Ali Zafar is known for speaking his mind on social media without thinking of the consequences especially when he has to react to some other celebrity’s statement. Hamza Ali Abbasi also another celebrity who uses his facebook and twitter page to convey his feelings to his fans and anyone who wants to listen. Hamza Ali Abbasi’s latest detail status updated about his work in the film Jawani Phir Nahi Aani has provoked different kinds of reactions.
Ali Zafar like always has shown that he has a very relaxed attitude towards everything so he did not over react to Hamza’s statement but merely told him to take it easy. He also advised Hamza that if he had done something for his friends he should stick to it.
Being away from your country is always tough but it is even tougher when you have to leave the country not out of choice but because you can’t stay even if you want. Leaving the country like this is even harder for a celebrity because when a celebrity is part of a controversy like Shaista Wahidi was everyone has something to say about it.
Shaista Wahidi is back with a bang on HUM Sitaray with her very own Morning Show which HUM claims is doing much better than any other Morning Show.
Shaista Wahidi is very happy to be among friends who support her. She has started this new phase of her life with a brand new state of mind which is positive. Shaista Wahidi says that she is “living to inspire” , something which has given her life a new meaning.
Pakistani drama Pyare Afzal has been airing on Indian Channel ZIndagi TV for a few weeks now. The drama was a big success in Pakistan because of many reasons and now people in India have fallen in love with the drama too. The viewers in India like Hamza Ali Abbasi playing the role of Afzal and they are now also looking forward to watching his upcoming film.
The writer of the play Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar feels overwhelmed by the response he got from the neighboring country. He is very thankful to the Indian viewers for showering him with praise.
The drama is nearing its end now and just like all the Pakistani viewers, the Indian viewers too are anticipating if Farah will confess her love for Afzal. Drama serial Jackson Heights will be airing soon on Zindagi TV and people are looking forward to that too.
Ayeza Khan has been away from public eye for many months now because she was expecting her first child. She had her first baby when her husband Danish Taimoor was very busy promoting his film Wrong No. so Ayeza was not seen in any of these promotional tours too. The film Wrong No. was one of the biggest hits of this season.
Ayeza Khan was finally seen taking an active part in the success party of the film she also expressed her emotions through a facebook status in which she wrote, “I am so proud of your achievement that I am going on scream it ….you are the husband everyone wants to have .. hope this is just your first step towards success…. Extremely happy for you love #danishtaimoor
Congratulations to the whole team of wrong number and Ary.
Thank you Allah for everything !”
Ayeza Khan’s are waiting for her to make a comeback on television too. Here are some pictures from the success party of film Wrong No.
India is our eastern neighbor with which we share few similarities (there are many differences as well) in term of language, cuisine, dresses, art, music and films. Few languages like Urdu, Punjabi, Seraiki, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Marawari are spoken on both sides of the border which divides India and Pakistan.
The major language of India is Hindi, and Urdu in Pakistan. Though in classical form these two language differ from each other in terms of vocabulary, as Urdu’s vocabulary is highly influenced from Persian, while Hindi mostly borrows its vocabulary from Sanskrit. Both languages have different script.But the colloquial form of Urdu and Hindi is quite similar, and speaker of any one of these can easily understands the other one.
In the pre-partitioned British India there was a thriving Hindi film industry. The major centres of Hindi film making were Calcutta (Now Kolkata, India), Bombay (Now Mumbai, India) and Lahore (now in Pakistan). In 1947, British India is partitioned into two independent states of India and Pakistan. Lahore which was considered the third largest center of Hindi film making in India, was now a part of Pakistan. During the partition of 1947, widespread riots occurred in the Punjab region including its capital Lahore. The film studios in Lahore were burnt, and were in a devastating condition. Many skilled persons related to film making seeing an uncertain future in Pakistan migrated to Bombay (now Mumbai), India now part of India, where film making was stable with a bright future.
Despite such unfavourable conditions, few artists from Mumbai, India also decided to be part of the Pakistan. Mostly such artists were from the areas which were now a part of Pakistan like Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and East Bengal. Few notable names among these were Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Melody Queen Madam Noor Jehan, Sooran Lata, Nazeer, Feroz Nizami, Baba G.A. Chishti and many other who built the foundation of film making in Lahore (Pakistan) after considerable struggle and hardships. Since inception Pakistani film industry suffered due to lack of finance and support from the Government. The low budgeted Pakistani films have to compete with the high budgeted Indian movies as well for business at the theaters. Urdu despite being the National language was not the native tongue of majority of the residents of Pakistan, so the circuit of Urdu cinema was limited as compared to regional language Punjabi.
Screening of Indian films was allowed in Pakistan till 1965. After 1965 war with India, a ban was imposed on the release of Indian films in cinemas. The ban was lifted in 2006 and since then Indian films are doing exceptionally well in Pakistan. In between 1965 and 2006 few Indian films were also screened in cinemas upon special permission of the Federal Government. In 1980’s the military ruler General Ziaul Haq allowed screening of two Indian films. Similarly in 2003, another military dictator General Parvez Musharraf allowed release of Indian films Taj Mahal and later Mughale Azam (Colored version).
Despite similar language and film technique very few Indian actors have acted in Pakistani films. The major reason for this the constraint of budget. It was possible in Pakistan to produce a film with in the budget required to hire a top Indian artist which is also popular among local audience. For the very same reason very few Indian artist worked in Pakistani films. In commercial films few lesser known Indian faces appeared, whereas few big names of parallel Indian cinema appeared in similar films produced in Pakistan.
Nasir Khan (ناصرخان)
Nasir Khan (Late) is the younger brother of Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar hails from Peshawar, which became part of Pakistan in 1947. The future of film making was quite uncertain in Pakistan at the time of independence. Dilip Kumar and his family preferred to live in Mumbai, India over their birth place Peshawar which was now in Pakistan.
Nasir Khan made his film debut in 1945 in Bombay, British India. In 1947 at the time of partition, Nasir Khan was in Pakistan and before returning to India he worked in two Urdu films. Nasir has the distinction of first ever filmi hero of Pakistan when he worked in first Pakistani film Teri Yaad (1948). Soon after Teri Yaad he also appeared as hero in Shahida, the second Urdu film of Pakistan. Both Teri Yaad and Shahida proved super flop in Pakistan the country struggling at the time with settlement of a large influx of refugees coming from India.
Nasir Khan and Asha Posley in the poster of Teri Yaad the first Pakistani film
Film Shahida was also released in India, and surprisingly in Lucknow and Delhi it celebrated silver jubilee. After the release of Shahida, Nasir Khan returned to Bombay (Mumbai), India to join his other family members already living there and never returned to Pakistan.
Nasir Khan
In India Nasir Khan further worked in few films without any success. Nasir Khan passed away in 1974 aged 49. Nasir Khan never achieved the fame and status like his brother Dilip Kumar.
Sheela Ramani(شیلا رمانی)
Sheela Ramani is an artist born in Sindh, British India from the Parsi community. Sheela started her acting career in Bombay and stayed in India after the partition in 1947. In 1959, Sheela travelled to Karachi, then the capital of Pakistan to work in an Urdu film Anokhi. It is said she worked in the film on the request of her uncle who stayed in Pakistan.
Sheela Ramani
Anokhi was a low budget film produced in Karachi. The film is remembered today for its song ‘Gaari Ko Chalana Baabu‘ in the voice of Kausar Parveen. Anokhi was not much successful and Sheela returned to India afterwards. Sheela passed away in 2015 in India.
Here is the famous song Gaari Ko Chalana Babu from film Anokhi featuring Sheela Ramani.
Despite lack of resources and finance Pakistani film industry gradually paved its way towards success. Many successful films were produced which were also copied in India. Apart from stories, Indian musician also copied many songs of Pakistani films as well. The screening of Indian films continued side by side with local films till 1965. In September 1965 India and Pakistan fought an inconclusive war which resulted in bitter relationships. The transport links with India (Railway, road) were closed.
Similary screening of Indian films was banned in Pakistan in cinemas. This ban made a space in the market of Urdu/Hindi films and consequently the production of Urdu films increased in Pakistan. After 1965 a new generation of Urdu film stars emerged like Waheed Murad, Nadeem, Muhammad Ali, Zeba, Shamim Ara, Shabnam, Rani to name a few. The trend of Urdu cinema achieved new heights in late 1960’s to 1979. In this era many superhit Urdu films were produced, but no Indian artist is casted in any of these. The local stars were enough to attract audience available at economical rates than who cares to hire an expensive Indian star.
In 1977, army general Ziaul Haq imposed martial law in Pakistan under the slogan of islamize the society. In 1979 he put severe restrictions on Urdu films productions which impacted Urdu films production. While Urdu cinema was under restrictions, regional cinema was free from such restrictions. In 1980’s production of Punjabi and Pashto films out numbered the Urdu films. Urdu cinema continued its downward trend started in 1980’s and completed faded till early 2000’s.
So after Sheela Rummani in 1959, for almost next four decades no Indian artist acted in a Pakistan movie. After 2000’s few Indian artist worked in Pakistani films but these were either independent films or the Indian artist were rather lesser known. Kirron Kher (کرن کھیر)
Kirron Kher is a famous Indian artist and social activist. She is the wife of Anupam Kherr a famous supporting artist of Indian cinema. Kirron Kherr worked in an Independent Pakistan film Khamosh Paani (The Silent Waters) in 2003 directed by Sabiha Sumaar. The film won a prize at Lokarno film festival, but never released in cinemas in Pakistan. Khamosh Paani has been released on television in Pakistan.
Simran (سمرن) Simran an Indian artist worked in one Pakistan film Koi Tujh Sa Kahan (کوئی تجھ سا کہاں) as second heroine.Koi Tujh Sa Kahan (2005) directed by Reema Khan was hit.
Reema Khan, Simran
Sheeba Bhakri (شیبا بھکری)
Sheeba Bhakri is a British citizen of Indian origin. She is not an Indian citizen, but is included in the list due to her origin. Sheeba worked in Urdu films Tarap (تڑپ) as second heroine. Tarap (2006) directed by Sangeeta was a flop.
Veena Malik and Sheeba Bhakri
Nausheen Sardar Ali (نوشین سردار علی) Nausheen Sardar Ali an Indian artist has worked in a Pakistani film Mein Ik Din Laut Ke Aaonga (میں اک دن لوٹ کے آؤں گا) in 2007 which proved average at box office. The film was also shot in Mumbai, India.
Nausheen Sardar Ali
Pooja Kanwal (پوجا کنول) Pooja Kanwal has worked in a Pakistani film Mein Ik Din Laut Ke Aaonga (میں اک دن لوٹ کے آؤں گا) in 2007 which proved average at box office.
Pooja Kanwal
Naseeruddin Shah (نصیرالدین شاہ)
A big name of indian commercial and parallel cinema, Naseeruddin Shah worked in two Pakistani films named Khuda Ke Liye (2007) directed by Shoaib Mansoor and Zinda Bhaag (2013). Both films though indpendent in nature were successful.
Naseeruddin Shah in the poster of Khuda Ke Liye
Nandita Daas (نندیتاداس)
A famous Indian artist of parallel cinema and a social activist Nandita also worked in a Pakistani film named Ramchand Pakistani in 2008 directed by Mehreen Jabbar. Ramchand Pakistani was released in cinemas, but failed at the box office.
Nandita Daas in Ramchand Pakistani
Vinod Khanna(ونودکھنہ) Vinod Khanna is a famous name of Indian cinema. He has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office. God Father, was produced by Aslam Bhatti a Pakistani businessman in UAE. Aslam Bhatti wants to launch himself as an actor, so he produced mega budgeted God Father. Aslam Bhatti was in the lead role, and in supporting roles there was a huge cast of Indian and Pakistani famous artists. But all this was not enough to save it from sinking at the box office.
Arbaaz Khan (اربازخان) Arbaaz Khan has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Hrishitaa Bhatt (ہریشیتہ بھٹ) Hrishitaa Bhatt has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Preeti Jhangiani (پریتی جھانگیانی) Preeti Jhangiani has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Kim Sharma (کم شرما) Kim Sharma has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Amrita Arora (امریتا اروڑا) Amrita Arora has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Nafisa Ali (نفیسہ علی) Nafisa Ali has worked in one Pakistani film God Father (2007), which failed at the box office.
Neha Dhupia (نیہا دھوپیا)
The glamour girl of Indian cinema made a cameo appearance in Pakistani film for an item song. The film was Kabhi Pyar Na Karna released in 2008 and failed at box office miserably.
Neha Dhupia
Johny Lever
The famous comedian of Indian cinema appeared in a comic role in one Pakistani film Love Mein Gumm (2011) directed by Reema Khan. Love Mein Gumm performed average at the box office.
Johnny Lever
Deepak Shirke (دیپک شرکے)
Deepak Shirke has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014). The film was produced by Aslam Bhatti a UAE based Pakistani businessman. Mr. Bhatti perhaps wants to launch himself as an actor and for that he produced few mega budgeted movies. His first such attempt was Godfather in 2007 featuring some big Indian stars in the supporting cast while Mr. Bhatti was in the lead role. After miserable failure of God father, Sultanat was the second such attempt of Mr. Bhatti. Again in Sultanat, Aslam Bhatti was in lead role and many Indian artists in the supporting roles but the result was still the same; Sultanat failed at the box office like God father.
Akashdeep Saigal (آکاش دیپ سیگل) Akashdeep Saigal has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014).
Shweta Tiwari (شویتا تیواڑی) Shweta Tiwari has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014).
Achint Kaur (اچنت کور) Achint Kaur has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014).
Chetan Hansraj (چیتن ہنس راج) Chetan Hansraj has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014).
Govind Namdeo (گووند نمیدیو) Govind Namdeo has worked in one Pakistani film Sultanat(2014).
So it sums up the name of the Indian artist who acted in Pakistani films. As compared to Indian actors, many Indian singers have provided vocals for Pakistani films since late 1990’s. For Pakistani film producers it is more viable to hire Indian singers rather than an actor. Gharr Kab Aaoo Gay (2000) and Tere Pyarr Mein (2000) were the first such films, but the name of Indian singers were not mentioned in the credits and replaced with fictitious names. Since 2000 many Indian singers have provided vocals in Pakistani films.
Here is a partial list of Urdu and Punjabi films having at least one song in the voice of an Indian singers.
Gharr Kab Aaoo Gay (2000) Released in 2000, all the songs of this films were in the voices of Indian singers. But on credits fictious name were mentioned to avoid any controversy. Some big singers of Indian cinema provided their vocals like Udit Naryan.
Few songs from this film.
Tere Pyarr Mein (2000)
Released in 2000, all the songs of this films were in the voices of Indian singers. But on credits fictious name were mentioned to avoid any controversy. Some big singers of Indian cinema provided their vocals like Sonu Nigam. Few songs from this film
Yeh Dil Aapka Huwa (2002)
Released in 2002, all the songs were sung by Indian singers. It is the first film which openly credited the name of Indian singers like Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy.
Pyar Hi Pyar Mein (2003)
Released in 2003, few songs of this film were sung by Indian singers like Pamela Jain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYey_kAEDho
Koi Tujh Sa Kahan (2005)
Released in 200f, all the songs were by Indian singers like Udit Naryan and others.
Mohabbattan Sachiyan (2008)
It was a Punjabi film, where all the songs were in the voices of Indian singers.
So it sums up the Indian artist which have worked for Pakistani films be in acting or singing. Though Indian films and singers are extremely popular in Pakistan, but due to limited budget of local films casting any Top Class Indian actor is near to impossible for the Pakistani film makers. All the famous names like Nandita Daas, Naseeruddin Shah, Kirron Kher who worked for Indpendent Pakistani films have worked on nominal wages which is a norm of the Independent cinema through out the world.
There are few exceptions as well, in the films God Father (2007) and Sultanat (2014) some big names of Indian commercial cinema were in the cast, but the motive of both these film was to launch the producer Aslam Bhatti as an actor. To attract viewership these big names were in supporting roles, while Aslam Bhatti played the lead role. But both the films failed to attract any significant viewership.
Ohkay so, this episode of Mol was quite intense & interesting. I have always enjoyed watching Mol for the fact that you always get to understand what is running through a character’s mind, which also means that all the characters have been written with a lot of diligence & intelligence. I must say, the writer here has succeeded in keeping things engaging enough & also the viewers are forced to look forward to every upcoming episode of Mol. By this stage, I am eagerly waiting to find out what the ending of this drama would be, which shows that this drama has been so promising & I am sure everyone who has followed it till this episode would follow it right till the end.
This episode was dedicated to Zareena & her conniving nature. As much as I do understand that being a family means sticking together with each other, I think nowhere does it say that being a family also snatches away the limit of respect & decency one has to extend towards each & every family member. The way Humayun, Hajra, Zareena & Murad discussed Imaan & her medical condition was simply disgusting. They are actually making a mountain out of a molehill because Shehryaar & Imaan are still a young couple. Yes, their concern is realistic & understandable but their solutions & discussions were cringe worthy. The way Murad suggested that he deserves an explanation & conclusive decision from Shehryaar made him stand out like a sore thumb because excuse me uncle, you should be worried about getting your daughter married first without poking your nose into someone else’s business because by the end of the day, what Shehryaar does or goes through shouldn’t concern you at all. I found Zareena & Murad’s involvement in this whole matter quite strange because like I said, there always is some limit & some privacy even amongst the closely knit family members. I really think that Humayun & Hajra are still quite gullible in comparison to Zareena & Murad because they trust their relatives’ way more than they are entitled to & Murad & Zareena aren’t as sincere as Humayun & Hajra take them to be. I also think it was Humayun’s fault to discuss it out in the open about how Shehryaar returned his picture; he really needs some lessons on how to keep some things to himself because by doing that, he welcomes unnecessary & unwanted taunts his way.
The way Zareena blew everything out of proportion was appalling. She has seen Shehryaar’s worst & she also is well aware of the fact that Shehryaar is a very difficult person, so what gives her the guarantee of her daughter’s eternal happiness with a man like him? More than being a mother, Zareena is being her daughter’s enemy where she is not allowing Sajjal to get over Shehryaar easily. I guess, more than Sajjal, Zareena wants to see Sajjal getting married to Shehryaar because he hurt her ego once & she wants to brew a storm in his life until she gets what she wants. To be honest, after Sajjal & Imaan’s conversation, I really believed that Sajjal was wise enough to understand that Shehryaar never belonged to her & also, she did get to know that Imaan also was facing some issues where she felt unwanted in his life, but oh boy, the apple fell from the same tree, that is why Sajjal is still stuck on him & didn’t mind hearing her mother’s suggestion of becoming Shehryaar’s second wife. ‘Hum dono ke raaste aik hi hain’, (followed by that evil smirk) I think by now it would be better for us to give up the hope of seeing Sajjal getting a life because she isn’t working on it & she is incapable of finding one. I really expected Sajjal to be different but then I guess the way ‘dheet-pan’ runs in her family, she couldn’t be any different.
I must say, I really really like Shehryaar’s character. Yes, at first, he might’ve looked a bit different & stubborn but I really respect his character for the fact that he is a man of his word. Yes, all this while, he was doing things in rebellion but he isn’t that irrational to change a course of his life due to his strong urge of rebelling against his whole family & that is why, he makes it very believable that he loves wife but chooses not to say so. The way he is taking a stand for her, the way he is doing all those little things to make her feel better, the way he assures her with his words that not having a baby wouldn’t change anything between them really makes him a good husband & even a better person. I really think Imaan is missing the point here because if her husband believes in giving his wife some space, this shouldn’t be something that she should be shedding a tear upon. I really do feel for her character & for what she is going through, but I also do feel that all the doubts she has about Shehryaar & the strength of their relationship are self-created. Imaan still believes that just because Shehryaar doesn’t want a child, he is perfectly fine with Imaan, which I find quite irrational of her because he agreed to whatever she, & the doctor suggested & that was because he wanted to make Imaan happy.
All of a sudden it looks like Imaan is magnifying every little detail related to Shehryaar & his reactions just to misunderstand him. Imaan has also always done what she deemed fit, like even after knowing that Shehryaar doesn’t want her to mingle with his family, she went ahead with it, even after knowing that he didn’t want her to have a conversation with Sajjal, she gave her the edge, so now when Shehryaar allowed her to spent some time with Shahnaam at his place, why did Imaan feel like Shehryaar should’ve stopped her? What I have always loved about their couple is their deep & mature conversations, so why is it so hard for Imaan to convey her feelings to Shehryaar, because when it comes to dictating who should do what & who likes what, we only get to see Shehryaar talking. I feel the writer should have added a dialogue or two in some conversations where Imaan is seen conveying what she expects from Shehryaar & how she would like to be treated because yes, Shehryaar does not believe in binding his wife but I don’t think he doesn’t believe in listening to his wife as well.
Now coming to the show down between Shehryaar, Humayun & Zareena. I absolutely loved everything Shehryaar said to Humayun & how highly & respectfully he spoke about Imaan. If that is not love, then I don’t understand what love is. I so wish Imaan could hear what Shehryaar had to say because then she would’ve gotten a perfect validation of her relation & Shehryaar’s love that she is longing for. Shehryaar made his point clear about how much he hates his family’s interference in his life but sadly, I wish just like Humayun, Hajra could blame her son once & not hold Imaan responsible for who Shehryaar has become. Unfortunately, Humayun & Zareena succeeded in infiltrating Shehryaar’s mind against Imaan & they managed to plant a seed of doubt in his heart too because the way their voices echoed in his mind was alarming. I really wish they don’t turn Shehryaar into a typical husband who starts doubting his wife because till this point, his character has been very different & decent. I really wish to see Shehryaar backing his words of how much he trusts his wife because now he’s going to face the time when he’ll have to prove it.
Overall, it was a very interesting episode. All the actors have done such an amazing job that they make it seem like a real-life situation. Their reactions, their expressions are totally realistic but yes, the crown goes to Faysal Qureshi & Naveen Waqar. I absolutely love their acting & feel they have given perfect faces to Shehryaar & Imaan’s characters & oh, I must add, I love Naveen Waqar’s dialogue delivery, her voice is very soothing to the ears, I absolutely love the way she speaks. Please share your thoughts about tonight’s episode. :)
Keep Supporting,
Cheers, Zahra Mirza.
ps: I am covering for my dear friend Maryam, make sure to check out the comment section for her say & don’t forget to tune in next week for her review. :)
The long weekend following Independance day has passed. Any such prolonged weekend proves a lucrative option for the film business. This year after a gap of more than three decades three Urdu films were screened. There were expectations as well as reservations about all these films regading the response of cine goers.
In Pakistan film producer/distributor seldom announce the revenue earned from their films. Few websites collect such data from various multiplexes, and this report is majorly based on the stats shared by www.boxofficedetail.com.
On 14th August four major films were screened which includes three Urdu films Shah, Moor, Dekh Magar Pyaar Se and one Bollywood movie Brothers.
Bollywood films – Brothers
Brothers a Bollywood movie was released on 13th August 2015 and has out-shined the rest of the films in terms of revenue collection. Like any major Bollywood, it recieved a warm reception and the film is still running successfully in cinemas. Bollywood films are popular on both traditional single screen cinemas and newly built multiplexes. The film has collected about 4.7 crores from 14th August to 20th August and is still going strong.
Urdu films
On Eidul Fitr (just a month ago), two Urdu films Wrong Number and Bin Roye were screened which received positive response from the audience and are still successfully running in cinema houses. Another film Karachi Se Lahore released on 31st July is also doing good business.
Here are the details of three films released on 14th August 2015.
Dekh Magar Pyaar Se (دیکھ مگر پیار سے)
Dekh Magar Pyaar Se (DMPS) is the second Urdu film of Humaima Malick after a gap of four years, where her first film Bol in 2011 was a super hit winning her many awards and appreciation. The film is produced in Karachi, and shot in Lahore and London (UK). It is directed by famous commercials director Asad Ul Haq and style icon Hassan Sheharyar Yasin has worked as creative and fashion design director as well. Sikandar Rizvi, who runs Xanders a famous restaurant in Karachi has appeared as hero in this film.
DMPS is the only commercial film released on 14th August 2015 and thus was screened in both single screen cinemas and multiplexes. The opening of the film was satisfactory and it collected majority of its revenue on the first two days and advance bookings. However the feedback of the audience shared on social media websites was quite negative and it was also reflected in the business of the film. The story of the film was quite weak and uneven in pace. Occupencies in cinema halls fell sharply as soon the indpendence day weekend has passed, and the film has collected merely 2.2 crores from 14th August to 20th August. After one week of screening it is removed from most of the multiplexes.
Moor (مور)
Moor means mother in the Pashto Language. Moor is about corruption which badly impacted the railway system in the Pashtun Belt of the Balochistan province. It is produced in Karachi, and shot in Karachi and Pashtun Areas of the Balochistan province like Muslim Baagh and Zhob.
A serious film of independent nature, it is released only in multiplexes as response of such films in single screen cinemas has always been quite unsatisfactory. Generally films like Moor only get appreciation from the critics instead of masses. Same happened with Moor, the film recieved a positive response but as soon the indpendence day weekend passed its sales fell sharply. The film received good reviews from critics and the viewers alike, but it was not sufficient enough to save it from sinking. So far the film has collected only 85 lakhs from 14th August to 20th August. The film is removed from many multiplexes, or otherwise has limited shows. The advertised budget of Moor was about 5 crore, if true it is proving a great financial loss to the producer.
Shah (شاہ)
A biopic about the Hussain Shah, an Olympian boxer who won a bronze medal in boxing for Pakistan in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Shah mainly covers the professional life of Hussain Shah, his initial struggles, the final achievement and after come of his achievement.
The film has a limited budget of 1.7 crores provided by Bank Alfalah. Shah is majorly released in multiplexes, as such films are seldom welcomed at single screen cinemas. Like Moor, Shah was also well received on the weekend following the independence day but the occupencies reduced greatly in the following week. From 14th August to 20th August the film has earned 73 lakh. Considering its total budget it has recovered nearly half of its cost.
In a nutshell all the three Urdu films released on the independence day have not been much fruitful and their business has been below expectation. The one Bollywood film Brothers has earned as per expectation and despite the Independence day weekend, yet again an Indian Bollywood film has ruled the box office.
Interestingly the two Urdu films released on Eid Wrong Number and Bin Roye and another one Karachi Se Lahore (released on 31st July) continued their successful journey. These three films are still getting warm reception throughout the country.
After Hamza Ali Abbasi’s status update in which he said, “I did not charge anything for this film since its a labour of love for my friends. But I will only be part of promotions if these 2 songs are taken out, otherwise I will refrain from it” while talking about his upcoming film Jawani Phir Nahi Aani one of the local newspapers got in touch with Hamayun Saeed to hear his side of the story. Hamayun Saeed has not only acted in the film but he is also one of the producers.
Quite surprisingly Hamayun Saeed found Hamza Ali Abbasi’s statement amusing and commented, “Won’t promote it? No other actor is promoting the film as enthusiastically as Hamza is!”
Hamza Ali Abbasi also changed his statement and said that he only wanted one scene edited in the songs in which 14 girls wearing bikinis are shown in the beach alongwith the leading males. Hamayun Saeed also talked about whether Hamza Ali Abbasi was being paid for the film or not. He said, “He hasn’t asked me for the money, yes that’s true. But he is being paid. I don’t know if he has already received payment because I haven’t checked with the accounts department but he will be paid the amount stated on the contract he signed.”
Hamayun Saeed also said that Hamza’s claim that he was not participating in the promotions were very wrong. He said, “The buzz that Hamza’s Facebook statuses have generated (he has nearly two-and-a-half million followers) has benefited the film tremendously in terms of publicity. Also, Hamza has been giving interviews so what exactly does he mean when he says he won’t promote the film?”
Hamayun Saeed said that it is unprofessional of Hamza Ali Abbasi to say things like this at this time when the film has wrapped up. He also said that Jawani Phir Nahi Aani is the kind of film the viewers will enjoy.
Famous director Mehreen Jabbar is beginning to work on her new film as director named Doobara Phirr Se (دوبارہ پھر سے) to be shot in New York City. It is the second film by Mehreen Jabbar after a gap of eight years when she directed her first film named Ramchand Pakistani.
Mehreen confirmed the news through a tweet.
Doobara Phirr Se stars Adeel Husain, Hareem Farooq, Sanam Saeed, Tooba Siddiqui, Ali Kazmi, Atiqa Odho, Shaz Khan, and child actor Moosa, and has been penned by Bilal Sami.
The story will revolve around love, friendships and growing up. Mehreen is known for bringing present-day issues to light through her films, and her second film will be no different.
Bollywood film Jaanisaar (جانثار) starring Imran Abbas is releasing on 28th August 2015 in Pakistan. The film is already released in India on 7th August proving dead flop at the box office .
It is the second film of Imran Abbas in Bollywood,h is first film Creature 3D was released last year in August and proved a box office disaster.
Swaarangi (سوارنگی) is an upcoming film releasing on the 28th August 2015. An independent film , it marks the comeback of Resham in a film after a long gap of nine years. Not a commercial film, it highlights the impacts of drug addiction. It is filmed in the Mianwali district of Punjab.
Swaarangi is an entwined story about life, fate, sacrifice and survival. “How long would you wait before giving up”?
The title track of the film So Jaa is sung by Sami Khan
Plot Outline: Salma (Resham) is not happy with her husband Jamal (Naveed Akbar) due to his drug addiction. Zaryaab (Waseem Manzoor) tries to keep Jamal in this habbit because he sets some goals for himself. Zaryaab cannot acheive his goals without the help of Saieen (Ayub Khosa).
Salma’s husband, Jamal is not the easiest man to get along with, but for the sake of their children, she stays with him. Jamal is a heroin addict, dependent on Salma’s instincts to protect her wedding vowels so he can takeadvantage of her honorability to get his daily fix. He is lost without her,desperate to change however willing to sell his soul to the devil if need be. Although Salma is powerless to change his sick ways but she has to stand against the odds and
struggle for everything she got.
Fawwad Khan and Mahira Khan the famous stars who paired together in the block buster TV serial Humsafar, are again paired in the commercial of Lux promoting the upcoming Lux Style Awards.
Both have not worked together in any other project apart from a bottled water commercial few years ago.
Here is the commercial which is also airing on television
Akshay Kumar is known not just for being a hero in Indian cinema for the longest time but for also playing comic roles in his films which were made memorable because of his perfect comic timing. The good thing is that Akshay Kumar gives the credit for his perfect comic timing to none other than the very well known Pakistani comedian Umer Sharif.
While talking to the journalists in a Press Conference that was held to promote his upcoming film “Singh Is Bling” Akshay Kumar said, “I remember somebody told me that they liked my comedy timing, I must tell you I learnt my comedy timing from Umer Sharif.” Umer Sharif was standing right next to him when Akshay uttered these words.
He also said, “I have seen all his shows even if they were pirated or anything but I got hold of it.” Umer Sharif praises Akshay Kumar for his honesty and said that is the reason why he came to India on his invitation. The two stars had a candid chat with each other in the Press Conference and showed that they were much more than just friends.
Ohkay so, Writing of Syed Wasih Shah, Direction of Sakina Samo & Production of Moomal Entertainment;‘Tumhare Siwa’ hit our TV screens tonight. To be honest, even though the very first episode was pretty straight forward, it did give this drama a decent opening where they succeeded in establishing the plot properly, but yes, I definitely will say that the direction at times did seem to be a bit over the top & a lot of things could’ve been toned down & for that I am hoping that as the drama will progress, the direction will become a lot less intense. Other than that, I didn’t have a hard time watching the very first episode (except a scene or two) & that definitely means I will be tuning again to this drama for sure.
Tumhare Siwa is a story of two best friends; Aazar & Arsal. Aazar (Ahsan Khan) is happily married to Rania (Ayesha Khan) & they both have a son Daniyal. Arsal (Noor Hassan) is married to Samra (Mansha Pasha) & they both have a daughter Neni. Just like Aazar & Arsal, Rania & Samra share a very cordial relation too & both these couples are more like a family to each other.
Aazar has a sister Tania (Saleena Sipra) who is also married & has a son Numair. Tania’s husband Babar (Tahir Jatoi) definitely has some grudges against Aazar & Rania & he keeps on reminding his wife that she doesn’t hold much important in her brother & sister in law’s life because that slot is already taken by Arsal & Samra. Tania also thinks that Rania is the one who has turned Aazar against his sister & she agrees to whatever her husband says because she is of the same opinion too.
Aazar is having a small get together for his birthday & he invites Arsal & Tania along with their families to his home, that is when Rania & Tania have an argument over their kids & Tania leaves, making Aazar feel bad for his sister but then Rania tries to explain that everything that happened was only because of Tania’s son Numair. That is when Babar once again gets a chance to speak against Aazar because he felt unwelcomed at his place. Babar also thinks that Aazar & Rania look down on him & Tania & he will be the one who will be there if they will face any difficulty.
Things are actually too perfect to be true where Aazar & Rania, Arsal & Samra are living a life of their dreams. They all are completely happy in their little worlds when they are shaken with terrible news of Samra’s terminal disease. She happens to be a leading a normal life but suddenly she faints & on getting admitted to the hospital, Rania finds out about her sickness & gets to know that Samra has a very little time left. The preview of the next episode suggested that all these guys will come together to find a way to bear the burden of Samra’s medical expenditures. I think they will take a little time in getting started with the actual story but for now it does seem a little simple & predictable but let’s see what more do they have in store for us.
To be honest, I was taken aback by the coverage the kids got because I really think kids should be there to complete a family picture & then they should vanish & never show up again. To stir an argument over what happened between the kids was quite awkward & that was the scene that I didn’t enjoy because neither the direction nor the acting was great. Also, the whole cake cutting scene was made unnecessarily awkward as well where Aazar & Rania were shown to be quite pally with Arsal & Samra & Aazar conveniently ignored his sister & husband, who by the way weren’t uninvited guests. As far as I could see, Aazar has been shown as a considerate person, so his awkwardness with his brother-in-law & sister was quite unconvincing. Also, the very first scene of the couples was quite cheesy until it was made clear that they were married with kids, which I feel wouldn’t have made the guys look overly chummy if it had been toned down a couple of notches as well. Other than these situations, the rest of the episode was good but yes, there was a lot of unnecessary coziness shown between the couples which I think could’ve been easily avoided & it didn’t work for me at all. Yes, we get the drill, they are ‘happily’ ‘married’ & are ‘very much’ in ‘love’ but then, there definitely wasn’t a need for relying on more actions & lesser words to elaborate their love.
Ahsan Khan managed to look the same & I must say, this guy deserves an award for his consistency & also for never experimenting with his styling. Noor Hassan looked like he jumped from Muqaddas’s set to Tumhare Siwa’s set, so no change in his get up as well but yes, he has grown so much as an actor that he makes his scenes seem pretty good. Mansha looked vibrant & nice & Ayesha Khan managed to look older to all three of them. Yes, even though she is a good actress, I think she should be a little more conscious in choosing who her co-star should be because honestly, her effortless acting can’t put a lid on that fact at all. Anyhow, please let us know what you guys thought about Tumhare Siwa’s first episode. :)
This had to be the best episode of Farwa Ki ABC so far; it was hilarious and there wasn’t a single scene which seemed out of place or repetitive. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud so many times while watching this episode particularly because of the brilliant script, perfect comic timing and Sonia Hussain’s flawless acting. I haven’t been so thoroughly entertained in a very long time. The story is definitely not turning out to be the way I was expecting it to be since I thought that this was the start of realization at Farwa’s part that she could not rely on a man to rescue her but I can’t help but praise the comic element especially in this episode.
The way the differences in the personalities of Junaid and Farwa have been shown has been absolutely brilliant right from the get-go. Junaid is fixated with Asma and the biggest attraction in getting engaged to Farwa is that she is Asma’s cousin. Junaid’s parhi likhi choices put Farwa to sleep and Junaid finds Farwa’s colorful preferences nauseating!! Farwa does not want to marry this man any more because she cannot bear to live with a man who she has nothing in common with! Junaid on the other hand is only doing what his mother asked him to do and he thinks that Farwa is pretty – not the best reasons to get married to someone!! I found Junaid’s fixation with white very amusing and I couldn’t help but notice that Asma was wearing white in this entire episode too.
Asma’s reaction to this engagement came as a complete surprise to me. Farwa might not be the best student but she is confident and she will never be jealous or envious of anyone. Asma might hold degrees but what she did today went to show that she is not as good a person as her nalaik cousin is!! She kept on judging Junaid, she does not even like the man but she wants him to continue trying to woo her even though she knows that he is going to be engaged to his cousin very soon. Asma is clearly one of those people who like someone more when they know they are about to lose him not because she really likes him but because she does not want that person to move on!
Changez’s character is OTT but he makes me laugh every time he is on screen. Ahmed Hassan has nailed this character right from the first episode. The scene in the restaurant in particular was hysterically funny!! The best scene of tonight’s brilliant episode however was the one in which Farwa asks her teacher to marry him. I was expecting this scene to be sickening but it had me in splits!! The reaction of the teacher and the way Farwa tried to stop him was comedy at its best! Farwa’s teacher it seems has a woman in his life as well and I am waiting to find out more about his character.
I must say that this episode made me fall in love with Farwa Ki ABC today, I am not sure for how long this feeling will last but I will be watching this particular episode a lot of times before the next one goes on air!! I laughed until my stomach hurt today and I must thank the entire team of this play for putting this hilarious episode together. If every episode of this drama focuses on the main characters and the story and is this comical then we are in for a joyride we will remember for a long time! All the characters in the play are brilliantly etched out, all of them have a personality all of their own and if shown intelligently they are all very interesting people to watch on screen because all of them might be funny but they have a story to tell too! All of them are in search of something but they are not sure where their happiness lies. All the actors are doing a brilliant job which makes this drama even more fun. The only distraction today was the make-up, I wish the make-up artist was little more generous while using the foundation because everyone’s faces looked too white and the necks were an entirely different story;) I can’t praise Sonia Hussain and Ahmed Hassan enough for breathing life into characters that are not easy to translate on screen, making people laugh is much more difficult than making them cry and they made me laugh today the way I haven’t laughed in a very long time!!
Did all of you enjoy tonight’s episode as much as I did? Do share your thoughts about it.
Hamza Ali Abbasi has something new to tell his fans about his upcoming film and what better way to do that then to make good use of the social media. Hamza Ali Abbasi in his latest facebook update made it very clear that he was unaware that the two songs which are in the film were there or were being shot in that manner. He also said that he will not take part in the promotions of the film if those songs were not taken out of the film, something which is highly unlikely!! Hamza Ali Abbasi endorses the view of the general public when he says that he thinks that the two songs in the film “are very inappropriate and show indecent visuals.”
Hamza Ali Abbasi also informed his fans that the humor in the film was very “clean” and that he was not getting paid for the film, which again comes as a surprise to many. He also explains, “For whatever reasons, I was part of something I oppose. And hence, as i cherish the trait of self criticism, I resigned from PTI Culture Secretary office, apologized and raised a voice against it.”
This recent statement of Hamza Ali Abbasi is in line with what general public thinks about the film but how will his “friends” who acted in this film and produced it feel about it??
From the past many years Pakistani drama industry has become very famous not only in India but also in the Arab world.
(Especially ‘Zindagi TV’ in India and Arabic dubbed serials in MBC Bollywood)
~Actors
Without any doubt, we have exceptional actors who are so talented that they delve deeply into their characters and portray them in the most accurate way .A power pack performance is the genuine description for it .I think nobody would deny this , that Pakistani actors are extremely skillful. I would not like to mention them because it would be unfair if someone is left behind. So I give you a chance to list them according to your opinion.
~Script and dialogue delivery
Moving a step further and let’s jump into the realm of spot on reactions with powerful words that express their character’s true feelings.
Script and dialogue delivery has been one of the most crucial and important aspect of the success of the drama. Powerful characters , reacting to harsh circumstances made the drama worth watching and appreciating; From strong Kashaf to the innocent Bano , all contributed to the success of this industry. (Even the recent dramas especially MNYH, DeD, Mol are top-notch and there are many more it’s a long list).
~Mesmerizing OSTs
This perfect picture needs some mesmerizing music, the OST’s are wonderful and they hit your heart with such bang that you are left in awe. Completely lost in their lyrics. One just flows with the music and lyrics seems to be your heart’s true feelings.
Diyar e Dil OST – Diyar-e-Dil
Aasmaonan Se Utara Noor- Dastaan
Wo Humsafar Tha- Humsafar
Zindagi Gulzar hai- ZGH
Yaar Ko Humnay Jabajah Dekha-Shehrezaat
Hum Sadqe Tmhare- ST
Zulekha Bina Yousuf-MNYH
And many more…..
It was the positive side of this picture and now let’s move on to the other part.
~Darker side of the picture
There is always a darker side of the picture and that too is pointed out in many articles and drama reviews, such pathetic content and extremely painful direction bore hatred in viewer’s hearts and I would not talk much about it “Chup Rho “is the best answer. On a serious note, it was all about this negative portrayal of societal issues which made me think why not we delve into history!
Lessons from the Golden Era of Dramas
Imagine yourself when you were in school back then as a student, studying Pak-Studies and your teacher stumbled upon this notion that “Nations have to learn lessons from their history to rise again”
So let’s get started…Few Masterpieces of the past are mentioned below
~Spirituality Based Dramas
1–Ajaib Khaana -written by Noor-ul-Huda Shah, directed and produced by Iqbal Ansari. Starring Nabeel, Mishi khan, Badar khalil and many more.
So it was a good drama aired on PTV, although I disagree on many aspects of it but it was a masterpiece of his time.
2– Wajood-e- Laraib – It is a Novel- Based drama of Umera Ahmed (huge fan)
Starring Adnan Siddique, Faisal Qureshi, Shafi Muhammad and many more; was a masterpiece and it lost the pace in the middle but it was really worth watching and how the different characters went through their miseries was very well directed.
3-Main Abdul-Qadir Hoon– It was written by Sarwat Nazir and directed by Babar Javed.
Starring Fahad Mustafa, Alishba yousuf, Faisal Qureshi, Aamina Sheikh, Asif Raza Mir and Saba Hameed.
Fahad Mustafa’s best serial I must say. Superb acting, mesmerizing OST and magnificent script and story .It’s worth watching and shows how a man transforms from being in love with Creator’s creation to the Creator himself!
4-Shehrezaat – It was a Novel Based drama written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Sarmad khoosat produced by Momina Duraid and Abdullah Kadwani.
Cast- Mahira khan, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Muhib Mirza, Mansha Pasha, Sameena peerzda and Hina Bayat.
Although not much recognized yet was a great and very emotional drama. It was a spiritual journey of Self- Realization.
5- Meri Zaat Zara-e-Benishan– Again Umera Ahmed’s novel based dramas are always a treat to watch.
Starring: Samiya Mumtaz, Samina Peerzada,Serwat Gilani, Faisal Qureshi and many more. Directed by Babar Javed and produced by Abdullah Kadwani and Hamayun Saeed.
This drama portrayed the very serious issue of mocking your religion and bearing its consequences.
6- Aik Pal – Written by Sarwat Nazir and has been directed by Siraj-ul-haq.
Starring: Areej Fatima, Danish Taimoor, Sumbul Iqbal and Affan Waheed.
It was dragged and I disagree on few aspects of this drama but again it was pleasing to watch the transformation and it was a journey of finding tranquility.
Spirituality based dramas are food for soul but their content should be selected and written with immense wisdom and knowledge.
~ Dramas With Headstrong Women
“Say No to Roti Dhoti Heroines”
It’s actually more of a myth than a notion that working women most probably are categorized as strong; can’t manage to have a family life and this myth was crushed by the super duper extremely lovable drama “Zindagi Gulzar Hai”.
1- Zindagi Gulzar Hai – Written by Umera Ahmed, directed by Sultana Siddique and produced by Momina Duraid was a masterpiece indeed.
Starring: Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Samina Peerzada, Hina Bayat and many more.
A perfect answer from Kashaf through her struggle and hard work to all the chauvinists out there that women can manage both and are pretty good in this. This drama also depicts the fact that “Betay “are given more superiority than “Betiyan “but “Betiyan “rehmat k saath unka sahara bhi bansakti hain. Beautiful story and very well directed.
2- Main Bushra– Written by Sanam Mehdi, directed by Ahmed Bhatti and produced by Zeekay films.
Bushra is not a very headstrong character, apart from rona dhona she actually makes it to this category and I liked bushra because she was strong enough to deal with the miseries of her life.
3- Kis se Kahoon– Written by Shaheed Nadeem and directed by Kashif Nisar. Main cast of the drama includes Sajal Ali, Yumna Zaidi, Agha Ali and Samina Ahmed.
This drama was inspirational, the way she fought without playing the role of a victim was the positive message they conveyed. A good step to create awareness among youth.
~Love stories
I mean they are so typical and predictable that they seem cheesy at times but sometimes we really need to have such light dramas for entertainment and there are so many dramas that revolve around love triangles, lost love and ultimately fall into the dusri biwi notion.
Disclaimer *** the overdose is not healthy ***
These were huge Dramas that created awareness of the societal issues and motivated the youngsters towards a more steady and right way of living and coping with their circumstances.
What We Expect:
1- The dramas should provide us “food for our souls “and motivate youngsters to relate themselves to religion and understand it.
2-We need “headstrong women “dealing with their problems and not surrendering to the bad circumstances .We truly need this aspect to be portrayed in our dramas.
3- It is the time to show people that how could they move on in their life and find a solution of their problems while relating to the sensible characters.
4- College life / university life sitcoms and dramas which should focus more on their career and their bright future could be a very smart step and a good change.
5- Dramas that could break the myths and create awareness among the people and provide them with true knowledge and make them realize that such myths have nothing to do with their luck.
6- Novel Based dramas are very good but pathetic direction and bad choices of actors for the appropriate roles would turn it into a disaster like Amar-Bail. So, Novel Based dramas are needed but with careful selection.
P.S This is solely based on my opinions of the dramas and you could share your list of favorite and inspirational dramas that you think were marvelous..!
This episode was fast paced which did not only introduce the viewers to all the main characters but the main story of the play started with this first episode too. I must confess that after watching Chup Raho I am convinced that it takes a very intelligent writer and director to tell a story like this in a manner that it has the impact which such a story should have on the viewers but at the same time I also remember how wisely a rape story was taken forward in the play Pani Jaisa Pyar. In fact this first episode suggested that this drama might be similar to Pani Jaisa Pyar in some ways. The script for drama serial Sangat has been written by Zafar Mairaj, it has been directed by Kashif Nisar and produced by Momal Entertainment.
Our main protagonist Ayesha (Saba Qamar) is loving and sensitive; she is the kind of person who will apologize to a plant if she “hurt” it accidently, she will take care of her mother in law’s birds like they were her own babies and she will put up with her mother in law’s harsh words for the longest time even though she knows that she is not the one who is at fault. Saba Qamar does not need to prove her acting skills to anyone; she is always full of confidence and she knows what is expected from her and she has played the role of the dutiful wife and daughter in law before too. The real challenge would be portraying a rape victim who is married and will have to put up with a great deal once her beautiful world come crashing down after the tragedy.
Adnan (Mikaal Zulfiqar) has been married to Ayesha for two years and these two have known each other since their college days. Unlike most married couples Adnan and Ayesha’s friendship is stronger than anything else that exists between them. Adnan’s reaction when Ayesha told her mother in law the truth went to show that he did not expect his wife to continue playing the scapegoat. He understood why Ayesha would want to tell his mother the truth.
Ayesha’s relationship with her mother in law is bitter-sweet which was actually quite relatable. While the mother in law keeps on reminding her bahu that she is not that perfect after all she also values the good qualities in her. Ayesha’s sister in law Farah (Kiran Haq) is very close to her. The way that the rape incident was shown clearly indicated that Ayesha knows the person who raped her (Zahid Ahmed). Everything was planned beforehand, his accomplices were going to get the money and he was after Ayesha alone.
This episode was flawless and I hope that the drama as a whole is equally good. I must say that the promos of the play gave a little too much away. I wish that HUM would avoid these detailed promos because they do not stir up curiosity but leave very little to look forward to. One can easily predict how Adnan is going to react in the future and everything else that is going to happen (I am not going to give away the details because people who haven’t seen the promos wouldn’t want to know exactly what is going to happen next.) Unfortunately I saw all the promos therefore I know exactly what is coming next, all that remains to be seen is how it will all happen and that for some reason isn’t as exciting as waiting to find out how Adnan will react and what the future holds for Ayesha. I haven’t seen a drama with Saba Qamar in it for a very long time but somehow I felt like this was going to be a character-driven story and Saba Qamar usually does well in such plays.
How many of you watched this first episode? Do share your thoughts about it.
While the students and faculty members in Karachi University obviously thought inviting Ayyan as the Cheif Guest will give them publicity but they probably did not realize that this action will not be taken well by many other people who see Ayyan as a criminal and also a killer.
Here are the reactions of some well known people after learning that Ayyan was invited as Cheif Guest in Karachi University:
Model Ayyan was invited as the chief guest by the students and faculty members of Karachi University’s “Department Of Public Administration “ to inaugurate the launch of their latest brand of Chips.
What does it take to stand- out? When does the audience fall in awe with the characters? What makes one remarkable? It is indeed talent, hard work, and devotion. And some of our young lot have all of these. Let’s have a look!!
Maya Ali:
She’s made it big in the industry. From Meesha, Zara, Quratulain to the wise and confident Zuleikha, or a medical student still learning as Faarah, we’ve come to enjoy her presence on- screen and each time you can’t help but love her character.
Sonia Hussain:
Hats- off to her brilliant acting skills, she nails each of her roles. Whether Shikwa or from the current, a happy-go-lucky uninterested student as Farwa or as Nazoo on Urdu 1 where she plays the role of a mentally disturbed child. Versatile and confident, she is a pleasure to watch.
Sana Javed:
Known last year as the headstrong Lubna in Pyaray Afzal she’s another gem of the industry. In Goya or Aitraz as the confident girl or the silent, innocent daughter in Paiwand, she brings out the best in herself.
Mizna Waqas:
We all admired Hajra in MNYH. Her spontaneous dialogue delivery and witty nature won us, and even in a negative avatar in Mere Dard ki Tujhe Kia Khabar, she’s fully in control of her character. We would love to see her in more projects.
Hareem Farooq:
She is one actress who’d mould herself into any role she is given. How many ladies are like Arjumand? She is polite yet strong and no one could have played this role better than the talented Hareem Farooq. While in MHMD we saw the angry young lady, she plays the sweet, innocent roles with ease as well. It’ll be great to watch her playing different roles in dramas in the future too.
These were some names that instanly came to mind when I thought of young talented actresses, there are however many others who have left an impact on viewers. Let’s hope they continue to entertain us with thrilling performances.
Are there any names which you would like to add to the list?
Of all the Pakistani movies I have seen so far Moor is the only one which influenced me so deeply. Moor is simply brilliant. It can be described as Pakistan’s answer to parallel cinema or as Dawn put it ‘when parallel cinema meets commercial cinema’. Moor is thought-provoking story of a station master in the remote Balochistan province and his family. The word Moor means Mother in Pashtu and it is this concept which is presented in this movie. That this country is our mother. The Mother who is referenced throughout the movie is of course the brilliant Samiya mumtaz who despite only appearing in flashbacks is one the main characters of this movie.
The plot revolves around the father-son duo Waheedullah (Hameed Sheikh) and his son Ehsanullah ( Shaz khan). The two face their demons simultaneously in Karachi and in khost in remote Balochistan which leads to a powerful climactic scene. The supporting cast is brilliant with Karachi based actor Shabbir rana as Waheed’s scheming older brother, Sonia Husain as Ehsan’s love interest and his voice of conscience , senior actor Abdulqadir as Bagoo baba, Sultan Husain as the main protagonist Sardar khan aka Lalu. Ayaz sammu plays Ehsan’s Best friend and partner in crime, Nayyar Ejaz as Ehsan’s mentor and Eshita syed as Ehsan’s contact in his illegal business.
The cinematography is amazing. Balochistan never looked more beautiful. The lyrics are penned by Anwar maqsood and this is the first time that the Band strings has lent it’s vocals to a Pakistani film. Meesha Shafi, Rahim shah, Rahma ali, Jawad bashir and Noman Farooqi also have sung for the movie. I especially enjoyed the song Jogiyya.
The screenplay and dialogues are engaging and up to the mark. The entire cast and production crew deserve a big round of applause. Moor can be proudly presented at an international film festival. Now let’s see whether the people who were complaining about the lack of an original Pakistani film will go see this movie or will they spend their money on cheap masala films. I rate Moor 4.5 out of 5.
It came as a surprise to everyone when ARY CEO announced that he had taken over BOL Network. He also announced that the channel will start broadcasting in three weeks. While giving the reason for this takeover Salman Iqbal said, “The driving force behind this decision was our mission to try and ease the difficulties faced by media persons.” ARY had also offered jobs to those journalists who had gone out of jobs after BOL Network failed to start its transmission.
Salman Iqbal also said, “I have created Pakistan’s largest TV channel – so I thought why not take that dream to BOL.”
Sherry Rehman also supported this move.
Here are some pictures from the ceremony in which the founder and CEO announced about the takeover and some future plans.
Reham Khan has shown very serious interest in supporting the revival of Pakistani Film Industry and for that reason she is co-producing the film Janaan alongwith IRK Films. The film will be released by ARY Films. The Founder and President of ARY Digital Network Mr. Salman Iqbal in a press release informed the film watching viewers, “Janaan not only depicts the positive side of Pukhtoons and Pakistan, but it will also add value in supporting the Pakistan film industry with ARY FILMS at the forefront of holding up the ‘MADE IN PAKISTAN’ content”.
The film is going to be a romantic comedy and it will star Armeena Khan, Bilal Ashraf, Mishi Khan and Ali Rehman Khan. The movie is written by Osman Khalid Butt and directed by Azfar Jafri who was also the director of film Siyaah.
Talking about the film Reham Khan said, “I am excited to co produce Janaan with Imran Raza Kazmi, the team has worked diligently to bring reality to a story which is close to my heart. It is a story based in my beloved homeland and brings out its rich cultures and values.”
Reham Khan wants everyone to know that a great deal of effort went into making this film.
Just like the previous episode this installment too focused on Komal’s past and present both. While Komal’s financial status has changed completely since the last time she met Wajdaan but her wealth is not working in favor of her this time around too. Komal made an honest effort to please her mother in law by doing what her family would’ve done for her had they been alive but the idea completely backfired when Komal’s future mother in law felt that Komal was too rich which would make it easy for her to ‘steal’ her son from her!! In the last episode we saw Komal’s mother telling her sister how she was looking forward to being mother to her daughter in law, which went to show that at that time she felt like she was being Komal’s savior – a role which she was waiting to play – but now that she has seen that Komal does not need a savior since she is rich enough to take care of herself she feels that Komal isn’t the perfect wife for her son. I really liked the way the scene in which Komal senses that something was wrong was shot. Komal did not overhear her mother in law saying all those things but when she walked in on Arsalan and his mother talking she could tell by their expressions that something was wrong. Arsalan’s reaction to his mother’s sudden change of behavior was definitely one I could identify with.
Komal was ‘rejected’ by Wajdaan’s mother because she wasn’t rich or polished enough to be her bahu, something which hurt Komal so much that she could not come into terms with what had happened. The fact that Wajdaan actually took a stand for Komal came as a surprise and we have yet to find out why Komal decided to leave Wajdaan. It could be because Komal did not want him to make such a big sacrifice for her or because she felt like she did not deserve him afterall or maybe because she really was insecure that Wajdaan will leave her at some point therefore she was better off breaking up right now when she was already hurt instead of getting hurt all over again.
The reactions of both the mothers had been-there-seen-that written all over them but even though there are some stereotypes in this drama the story is unpredictable and the way it is being presented on screen keeps you wanting to find out what is going to happen next. I particularly liked the way Komal described how she felt about being judged based on how much wealth she had or did not have. Both her future mother in laws weighed her worth not based on her personality or character but based on her status. When Komal said that the day Wajdaan’s mother said all those things to her was worst than the day her parents died I could completely relate to why she would feel that way. What happened to her parents was an accident/a tragedy but she obviously feels responsible for everything that happened to her. She thinks that she put herself in a position in which Wajdaan’s mother had the authority to say whatever she wanted to her. Just like all of Samira Fazal’s plays the characters of Aitraz have to be its lifeline till now. Komal’s relationship with her friend is refreshing; it is really good to see two intelligent girls getting along so well and not wasting their energies in trying to put each other down.! Sundus Tariq looked absolutely stunning in tonight’s episode and she has done complete justice to her character. I must say that Sana Javed’s character reminds me of her character in Goya and the one she played in Ranjish Hi Sahi but I am hoping that as time goes by I will be more into Komal. Sana Javed is a very talented actress and it would be really great if she experimented more both with her looks and the projects she chooses to work in. I can see now why Imran Abbas was complaining about being sick and tired of the same kind of scripts which revolved around love triangles! I am not saying that both these actors haven’t given their best to the characters they are playing because it won’t be fair if I pass such a judgment but all I am saying is that both these actors have played such roles before and that too not very long ago. That does not change the fact however that Sana Javed and Imran Abbas make a really cute and convincing on screen couple; you feel the connection between them instantly! Gohar Rasheed passes with flying colors when it comes to playing all kinds of roles and nailing them every time with a change in his looks and portrayals. Sania Saeed has yet to make an appearance; I am definitely waiting to see what relation she has with Wajdaan and how soon will we be watching the present alone. The director of the play Aamir Yousuf deserves due credit for directing the drama in such a way that builds up your curiosity and for relying on a different technique of story telling.
Did you watch this episode of Aitraz? Don’t forget to share your thoughts about it.
Ohkay so, another week, another amazing episode & another set of brilliant performances in Diyar-e-Dil. This drama has given us so much & I am so glad to have been able to enjoy this journey so far, it really shows what an amazing script it is & how beautifully it has been directed. Each & every episode till date has offered us something different & unique where we get to know & learn more about all these amazing characters. I must say the way they are revealing different aspects & traits of all these actors elevates the level of the drama a couple of notches because mostly in our dramas, by this stage there’s nothing left to be explored in all the characters but hats off to Farhat Ishtiyaq for making it all so gripping & engaging.
It was good to see that honesty’s all that Faarah has got, that is why when she was forced to act like a Miss Goody-two-shoes in front of Agha Jaan, she found it beneath her to do so. I liked the fact that where at one hand she is eager to get out of here, she doesn’t believe in stooping low from her level, which shows that she has a strong sense of self-esteem & self-policing that is why even in such an intense situation, she doesn’t want to let go of her values & morals. The way she wore a stole on Wali’s demand indicated two things, one of which was obvious that she is ready to go to any length to set herself free from this marriage but the other thing that got highlighted was that may be she understands Wali’s perspective as she herself can see that all the demands he’s putting forth have nothing to do with him but Agha Jaan, his family & to some extent the norms of the Haveli as well, that is why just a single reminder from him was enough for her to do what she said she wouldn’t do. Even though Faarah has always been someone who has always wanted to spend her life according to her own wishes & rules, she never got a chance to do so that is why may be she has become a bit more submissive but the difference is, this time she is being submissive for good things & is not falling prey to unnecessary negative emotional blackmailing. All she has to do now is to reciprocate some affection towards Agha Jaan & that is why unconsciously she is feeling a lot more peace inside her than she expected because it is for the first time she is not being forced to do things she doesn’t agree with.
I really can’t emphasize enough on the fact how each & every time I get to see a massive difference between Arjumand & Ruhina. Even though Arjumand knows that Zarmeenay doesn’t like being around Faarah, she didn’t encourage her once & told her to be courteous which was taught to her. Arjumand didn’t allow Zarmeenay to ignore Faarah & say whatever she wanted to because she knows this is not how Zarmeenay has been brought up. Even though Arjumand herself is unhappy with Faarah being in the Haveli, she has not said a single word about it to Zarmeenay, which shows she doesn’t believe in pulling people apart & then there comes Ruhina, who just once saw that Faarah was being nice to Agha Jaan, she told her not to get carried away & started brain feeding her against him. It really shows how different these two women are, where one is a woman of substance & the other is just a Negative Nancy.
Well well well, the way Meesna Moeez spoke to Tajjamul authoritatively & the way he highlighted that Tajjamul couldn’t do one thing rightly really told a story of how he has some ulterior motives too. It was too obvious that he wasn’t saying all that because he was concerned for Faarah but it looked like he was worried about something entirely different, something that he wants but can’t get now because Faarah is away. The preview of the next episode confirmed my suspicion but I really want Moeez to give Ruhina some hard time too.
Haha, even though Wali is giving Faarah such a tough time, even though he is not leaving any chance of taunting her that he gets, I still find their scenes really enjoyable. I love the way Faarah defends herself & takes a stand in front of Wali & I also like how Wali keeps on reminding her about what she is supposed to do. I must say, even though I really like Wali’s character, every other episode gives me something even better to like Wali even more. It was so nice to see him inviting Faarah for lunch & dinner every single time. Even though he doesn’t want to give this relation a chance & he has made his mind of putting an end to it, he still doesn’t want to give such hints to anyone where they can mistreat Faarah at all. Wali really is trying hard to maintain a balance where even though he knows that his mother & sister aren’t happy with Faarah’s arrival, he is not allowing his personal bitterness get in a way & stop him from being a gentleman that he is. Very subtly he is also putting a message across that till the moment Faarah is in their home, he wouldn’t allow anyone to misbehave with her. I also liked that after her conversation with Wali, Arjumand didn’t bring that topic into the discussion again. Arjumand had a lot of chances to talk against Faarah & share her agitation with Zarmeenay but she chose to stay silent because she believes in Wali’s decision & doesn’t doubt her son at all, which is another beautiful aspect of the mother-son bonding.
Overall, it was a beautiful episode. I really love how Agha Jaan is all happy to see his grandchildren taking care of him. Faarah’s presence really makes a difference & just because Arjumand & Zarmeenay can see how happy & relieved Agha Jaan is, they are quiet too. I must say Maya Ali looks really nice & I love her wardrobe too, looks like they completely changed her styling ever since she has come to the Haveli & she really looks polished & chic. Osman Khalid Butt looks nice too & so does everyone else. I am glad that they put a lot of effort on their appearances too because it does make a lot of difference & makes it all very pleasant to see. I loved the camera work in this episode especially because all those wide angles & different shots made it an absolute treat to watch. Please share your thoughts about this episode of Diyar-e-Dil with us & oh, needless to say, the wait for next episode begins right now!
Pakistani films are making waves not only in the country but abroad too. Karachi Se Lahore one of the films which was recently shown in cinemas in Pakistan was premiered in Hollywood this week too. This was the first Pakistani film to have premiered in Hollywood. Karachi Se Lahore got an overwhelming response in Hollywood.
The team of the film is in Los Angeles nowadays to attend the premier of their film. Talking to the media the lead actress in the film Ayesha Omer said, “We are overwhelmed beyond words to be in Hollywood. Karachi Se Lahore is the first Pakistani movie to ever show in Hollywood and we feel so honoured to be here.”
She also said, “Wajahat (the director) and I were sitting next to each other and I looked at him and asked ‘what did we do to deserve this?’ And we both simultaneously said ‘pure, honest intentions.”
