Manto (منٹو) is an upcoming film releasing on 11th September 2015. It covers the life of Saadat Hussain Manto, the years he spent in Pakistan after partition in 1947 till his death in 1955. Its music has been launched in Karachi yesterday.

After its release, it will also be telecasted as a drama on Geo Tv.

Film: Manto
Cast: Sarmad Sultan, Sania Saeed, Saba Qamar, Mahira Khan, Nimra Bucha, Arjumand Raheem, Faisal Qureshi, Humayun Saeed, Hina Khawaja Bayat, Shamoon Abbasi, Nadia Afgan, Sawera Nadeem
Writer: Shahid Nadeem
Director: Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
Producer: Baber Javed
Distributor: Geo Films

The film stars many artists like

Sarmad Sultan is playing the role of Saadat Hassan Manto
Sania Saeed is playing the role of Safiya, wife of Manto
Saba Qamar is playing the role of Madam Noor Jehan, a leading singer of Pakistan also a friend of Manto
Arjumand Raheem is playing the role of a dancer, also a friend of Manto
Mahira Khan is playing a unique role.
Shamoon Abbassi and Yasra Rizvi are fictional characters, the lead roles of short story Thanda Gosht
Nimra Bucha is also playing a role which exists in the imaginations of Manto
Faisal Qureshi is appearing as a radio host
Humayun Saeed has a cameo appearance.

Here are the songs from this film, the trailer of the film is yet to be relesaed

Ali Sethi sings “Aah Ko Chahiye” famous ghazal of Mirza Ghaalib

Ali Sethi & Zeb Bangash provided the vocals for the song “Kya Hoga” written by Muhammad Hanif

Meesha Shafi gave her voice for the song “Mehram Dilaan De Mahi”  the famous kalam of Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi

About Manto

Saadat Hassan Manto is considered as the leading short story (afsana) writer of Urdu literature. He also wrote the stories and dialogues of many films in Bombay, British India before 1947. After the partition in 1947, Manto migrated to Pakistan with his wife Safiya, the couple has three daughters.

In Pakistan Manto continued writing Short Stories and also wrote an Urdu film Beli in 1950. He also wrote the sketches of famous persons whom he had met. In Pakistan, he faced many financial hardships and being addicted to alcohol he passed away in 1955 at a young age of 42. During his life he also faced the court charges of writing obscene content and portrayed as a controversial figure. His widow Safiya passed away in 1970’s. His three daughters Nusrat Jalal, Nuzhat Arshaf and Nighat Patel are alive and live in Lahore.

Rashid Nazir Ali

Salma and Azfar’s divorce and Azfar’s marriage with Naveen was one of the most controversial happening of the past year. The fans refused to accept this marriage and saw Salma as the victim in this whole affair. Azfar and Naveen also confessed in their interview that the public backlash was so severe that it took them a year to come out in the public openly.

This was the first time that Salma talked about her divorce with Azfar and his marriage to Naveen when she was invited as a guest in Nida Yasir’s Morning Show. Salma said that she started feeling that Azfar had changed long before he told her that he was going to get married to Naveen. Salma said that she never knew when the marriage was taking place and only found out about it from other people.

Salma said, “Azfar gave me the option of staying married to him even after he got married to Naveen but forgiving him appeared to be much easier if I had no relationship with him. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive him or move on had I stayed married to him therefore I decided to leave him. I could not share Azfar with another woman, I do not have such a big heart.”

She also said, “Right till the last minute Azfar wasn’t sure about his decision to marry Naveen, he was confused. If I wanted I could’ve stopped him from going ahead with this marriage but I didn’t.” Salma said that when a person decides to get married to someone it means that he has already moved on so there is no point on holding on to him or in making him stay.

Salma also revealed that she had to go into therapy after her relationship with Azfar ended because she could not cope with what had happened. The therapy sessions consoled her and she realized that their marriage was already over long before Naveen came in the picture. She said, “Sometimes when people make decisions they don’t consider how badly they are hurting other people because they are only thinking about their own self.”

Salma said that women who live with a husband who has a second wife are victims of abuse in a way and they don’t have the courage to get out of the situation. Salma said, “The distance between us started when our daughter Fatima was born because Azfar was always the child in the marriage and now that there was another child he couldn’t cope with it. My entire focus was on my daughter and that is when my relationship with my husband suffered.”

“For a year I suffered a lot but now I want him to be happy. Some people have this kind of a nature I accept him the way he is. I am still friends with him but I will never see his wife and I will never go to his house,” said Salma.

Salma said, “It is not easy being a single mother. I have to give breaks during work because I have to be there for my daughter because of which I lose a lot of projects too. I have to plan my schedule around her. I have always insisted that Fatima should be close to her father because if she is not close to him it will have a negative effect on her.”

Watch the complete interview here: http://www.dramaonline.com/good-morning-pakistan-7th-august-2015/

Imran Abbas has been associated with the television industry for a very long time but now he is the latest sensation in the Indian Film Industry. He has received highest praise from the top directors and producers. What most people don’t know about this actor is that he is also a trained classical singer. Although Imran Abbas has never sung professionally till now but he has sung for fun in some talk shows in which he was invited and very soon he will be starting singing professionally.

While giving an interview the talented actor said, “Not all people know that I am a trained classical singer. I have not sung in this film but I am definitely singing for my next, which is going on the floors soon.”

Not too many people also know that Imran Abbas was the brand ambassador of Zee Zindagi and he played a pivotal role in launching it across the country. Imran Abbas is very proud that people in India love Pakistani dramas and can relate to them.

Yasir Nawaz went from acting to direction and now he is not just a drama director but he is also the director of the film “Wrong No” which has been doing very good business in the box office. MAG The Weekly Magazine talked to Yasir Nawaz about many things and while talking to the magazine he revealed that for him winning over the audience is more important than anything else.

Yasir Nawaz said,

Manto is the most awaited films of this year which will be released in September. The red carpet of the film was attended by the drama, film and the fashion industry. Actresses like Savera Nadeem, Irfan Khoosat and Marina Khan who never make an appearance on the red carpet of any films were also seen on the red carpet of the film. All the songs of the films were revealed in this special premier and the response of the stars was very positive.

Here are pictures from the red carpet:

Mahira Khan is climbing the staircase to success with a rapid pace. Mahira Khan hasn’t appeared in too many dramas but even then she has made a very good name for herself. Nowadays Mahira Khan is very busy both promoting her Pakistani film internationally and shooting her debut Bollywood film.

According to an Indian newspaper, Mahira Khan refused to do a bold scene with the famous actor from India namely Nawazuddin Siddiqui. According to the newspaper, ” The love scene is pretty edgy, dark and somewhat brutal which has Nawaz forcing himself on her.”

Mahira Khan found this scene unsettling and refused to do it. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is playing an important role in the film Raees.

According to our sources Sajjal Ali And Feroze Khan will be seen together in an upcoming Pakistani film titled “Mann Mere”. The producers had been trying to convince the cute and talented Sajjal Ali to do the film for many months now and she has finally said yes. Both the actors are excited as Mann Mere would be their Debut film . Sajjal Ali and Feroze Khan’s real life relationship with each other guarantees good on screen chemistry too.

An Australian film company RC Films is producing this film . Saqib Khan, a very renowned director of our industry has also signed and came on board as director plus among the one of the producers. Mr Saqib has been associated with ISPR and has done song video shoot for Shehzad Roy.

Shooting of Mann Mere will be done in the two beautiful cities of the world Sydney (Australia) and Karachi (Pakistan) . It will be entirely family entertainment movie with a strong social message. As the producers of the movie stated that there would be no vulgarity and item song. Other details who is coming on board will be revealed soon.

On his way to Karachi National Stadium Wasim Akram’s car collided with another car and the driver of that car had an argument with the famous cricketer Wasim Akram. The driver of the car took a gun out and started firing bullets in the air. Luckily Wasim Akram escaped the attack and recorded his statement later on in National Stadium.

The police has not identified the car yet but have assured Wasim Akram that they will help him in any way possible. According to the SSP Police the youngster was most probably drunk. The Police has the registration number of the car which was involved in the incident which would help them in catching the culprits.

Wasim Akram is in a state of shock after this incident. He said that if this can happen to him then it can happen to anyone at all.

Here are some pictures of Wasim Akram talking to the policeman and being escorted by a Police van after the incident:

The much awaited film “Manto” is finally in the final stages so the director and producers are revealing more about the characters. Saba Qamar plays the role of Noor Jahan. She is seen in an avatar that depicts the era of that time. Nadia Afghan plays the role of “Soghandi”, a role inspired from one of Manto’s Afsana. Hamayun Saeed will be giving a cameo appearance in the film. Faysal Qureshi plays the character of a radio artist. Sarmad Khoosat plays the role of Manto in the film. Mahira Khan plays the role of an “idiosyncratic monkey master” in the film. Apart from these actors Nimra Bucha, Arjumand Rahim, Hina Bayat, Rehan Sheikh, Sania Saeed, Shamoon Abbasi and some other prominent actors.

Here are some stills from the upcoming film:

Sanam Saeed has played some very strong and memorable characters in Pakistani dramas. Sanam Saeed is also a well-known model but as Sanam Saeed revealed in one of her interviews she has never enjoyed modelling because she was a tom boy since her childhood so dressing up and looking glamorous isn’t something she wanted to do.

Sanam Saeed also said, “While choosing a project I look for character-driven roles. Looking beautiful on-screen is never a priority. There are girls who enjoy looking beautiful on television but I am not one of them. There are already a lot of vices in our society, dramas should not only show these vices but give people solutions to end them too.”

Sanam Saeed believes that being in this position she has a social responsibility. She said that she feels very happy when people tell her that their lives changed for the better because of the characters she plays in her dramas. “Women can relate to the characters I play on television and if these characters show them a way out of their tough situations, it makes me happy,” said the actress.

Sanam Saeed said that she never wanted a big wedding but the event was totally opposite of what she had always wanted. Sanam Saeed said the biggest achievement of her life was when a girl tells her that she changed her life because of her dramas.

Nida Yasir and Yasir Nawaz celebrated the first birthday of their youngest son Balaj in their home. The birthday party was held at the residence of the celebrity couple and it was mostly a family affair.

Here are pictures of the party:

Hamayun Saeed started his career as an actor and now after so many years he owns and runs one of the biggest production houses in the country. Hamayun Saeed’s name has been associated with many actresses he has worked with. He is one of those actors who people spread a lot of rumors about.

Hamayun Saeed was invited as a guest in HUM Sitaray’s show Tonight With HSY in which he revealed why people were always busy spreading rumors about him. He said that the reason for this was that people love “masala”, they love to gossip about others especially when the gossip is of this nature. He also said that another reason for this was that most of the roles he played with his heroines were romantic in nature so people confuse his real life with reel life. He also explained that he is always friendly with his heroines on set that is also why people get the wrong impression. People will never say that they are good friends or colleagues but they will say that they are having an affair. “People confuse on-screen chemistry with something else,” explained Hamayun Saeed.

At the same time Hamayun said that he has never said that he is very pious or that he has never liked anyone. “I am not as much of a romantic as people make it look like. Some of it is true but most of it isn’t,” said the actor. Hamayun Saeed also said that his wife was very uncomfortable with all the “admirers” he has but she is used to it now and it is not that big an issue between them anymore.

Drama serial “Tum Rahe Na Tum’s ” Title has been changed to “Aiteraz” and it will be airing  soon on ARY Digital. The drama has been written by Samira Fazal and directed by Aamir Yousuf. Famous actors like Sana Javed, Imran Abbas, Gohar Rasheed and Sania Saeed will be seen working in the drama. The first promo of the drama is already out which reveals that this drama will be based on a love story with Imran Abbas and Sana Javed playing the lead roles.

Sana Javed has been seen recently in plays like Goya, Paiwand and Dil Ka Kya Rung karun while Imran Abbas was seen in Alvida and Mera Naam Yousuf Hai. This is the first time that Sana Javed and Imran Abbas will be seen together in a drama. Both actors are well loved by the viewers.

Feroze Khan and Sajjal Ali were last seen together in ARY’s drama serial Chup Raho in which their characters had a very complicated relationship. The drama ended with the death of Feroze Khan’s character. The viewers were very impressed by Feroze Khan’s debut performance. Also, many people liked watching Sajjal Ali and Feroze Khan as an on screen couple. The good news for all such people is that this jodi will be seen in the upcoming drama serial Gul-e-Rana again. Not much has been revealed about the writer, director and rest of the cast but we know for sure that the Chup Raho jodi is playing the lead in the drama.

The cast of the film is currently busy shooting for the drama in Nathia Gali and Murree. Feroze Khan is enjoying his time there and keep his fans updated while he is at it.

Feroze Khan and Sajjal Ali are also good friends in real life. There were also rumors that these two stars were romantically involved.

Lux Style Awards are held every year in which everyone associated with entertainment who has contributed something positive to it is given some award or nominated so that they feel appreciated. This year LSA completely ignored Bashar Momin in all categories although the team is adamant that the drama deserved to be nominated in some category. Faysal Qureshi in particular has raised his voice and shared how offended he was that Bashar Momin was not nominated in any category.

Instep magazine which is in a way related to Geo television because the owners are the same talked to Faysal Qureshi on the issue and he said,

He also said,

“Even if they didn’t want to nominate me, they should have at least nominated the writer, the director or the other members of the cast who performed brilliantly. Even if they weren’t going to award us in the end, the serial deserved nomination in at least one of the categories.”

Anyone who knows a little bit about Mahira Khan would know that Feeha Jamshed the designer is not only the one whose outfits Mahira is seen wearing mostly but she is also her childhood friend. Mahira Khan makes it a point that everyone knows that she prefers wearing Feeha Jamshed’s designs so she is like the brand ambassador for the designer. Is this choice based on the childhood friendship or because Mahira Khan really prefers the outfits because of the fabric and designs?

Feeha Jamshed made it clear that Mahira was not wearing her designs because she asked Mahira Khan to endorse her brand but it was Mahira’s own choice. She said that Mahira was free to wear whatever she wanted. Feeha Jamshed said, “I am not the kind of designer who would ask somebody to wear me. Mahira comes to me when she wants something out of my label just like she would go to Elan when she wants to wear their outfit.”

Mahira Khan has also been the showstopper for Feeha Jamshed in many Fashion Shows. That is why Feeha said, “Mahira does represent the Feeha Jamshed woman – a woman who just walks in her own tune; there will be a rat-race on the road in front of her but she’ll take the curb. She is different from the rest. And Mahira is that. She is very chilled with her life and very self-assured.”

Usually people would think that someone like Mathira who is continuously giving people something to talk about would not care what people think about her but that is not the case. While talking on a talk show Mathira said that she was sick and tired of the way people judged each other in Pakistan and especially her. Mathira also said that when she shifted to Pakistan from Zimbabwe “It was very hard for me to change my mentality. I used to argue with my mother all night and my mother used to say that you can never meet the social norms in Pakistan.”

In the interview Mathira said that her mother used to tell her not to wear short dresses because the mentality of Pakistanis was different from that of the people of Zimbabwe. She further said, “There are all sorts of people in Zimbabwe. There are Hindus, there is poverty and Muslims live there too but they are not judgmental. People there do not judge your character based on what you wear.”

Mathira said that if a girl wears shorts people will continue staring at her legs like it is a “free deal”. Further on about the people in general Mathira said, “They can’t love or hate properly.” Mathira is very unhappy with people judging her all the time. She says that she feels sometimes that she is a politician and not a entertainer.

While talking to the Express Tribune Mathira said about working across the border, “Indian directors have been welcoming and really want me to their future projects. Projects tu aate jate rehte hein but family always comes first.”

Model and singer Ayyan Ali has been in the news for the past few months for all the wrong reasons. Now that the model is out of the prison on bail she wants to create a good image for herself. In an attempt to regain the respect she lost due to the money laundering incident Ayyan decided to spend her 22nd birthday with children in Edhi Foundation and SOS Village. Ayyan also distributed gifts among the children.

Tabassum Mughal is a known Pakistani designers who has been invited as a guest in many Morning Shows too. Recently one of her clients who wasn’t a very rich woman but wanted a designer dress for her daughter has brought to light the real face of the designer who appears to be very nice on television. The client has spread the incident via facebook and twitter. She says that when she went to the designer to get her daughter’s clothes, they were not ready. She protested a little and ask the designer to finish the work on time. The designer did not like this and she asked her general manager and few more people there to drag the woman out of the place.

The general manager and other men beat the woman up with chairs, kicked her, pulled her hair and dragged her out of the place. The exact ‘orders’ of the designer were “Maaro iss Rickshaw wali aurat ko” because the client had come on a rickshaw. She also said that people who travel in rickshaws don’t deserve to be her clients.

This is how the whole incident was narrated by someone who is related to the victim:

She also posted pictures of the injury:

Tabbasum Mughal posted her part of the story in these words:

This post was deleted after few hours for unknown reasons. Many other people are coming out and saying that they had been treated badly by the designer. They were not beaten but they were verbally abused. People are gathering up in Karachi Clifton area tomorrow to protest against the designer so that she can be brought to justice.

A page dedicated to the incident has been created on facebook but the admin says that he/she is getting threats from “friends” of Tabbasum Mughal.

PEMRA’s latest steps to promote nationalism through TV channels and to stop content that is unethical or indecent comes after the Senate ordered it to take notice of different programmes that were not in line with Pakistan cultural identity and could easily be regarded as unethical.

PEMRA issued notice to all the private TV channels to “telecast national anthem before the start of everyday transmission as being practiced in neighboring countries to promote patriotism.” In an announcement the officials of PEMRA showed their discontent with the way religion was used for commercial purposes during the Ramadan transmission by the private TV channels.

According to the announcement “Such programmes were not only lamented by legislators but also by a large number of people who believed that the programmes were against the norms and violate the sanctity of Ramadan.”

The channels have been asked not to use religion to gain the attention and good will of the consumers.

Many people have criticized PEMRA for being slow in taking action because such an action should have been taken during Ramadan so that people did not have to watch all these programmes in the Holy month.

The leading cast of the Pakistani film “Karachi Se Lahore” has been very busy promoting the film. Different celebrities who are not the part of the film have also endorsed it because most of them want to see the cinema flourishing. Those who saw the film in the private premier are praising the effort. The private premier of Karachi se Lahore was a star studded affair. Here are the pictures: