Please keep in mind that you do not certainly have to draw a comparison between the veteran and the latest version whilst exploring Khoobsurat in cinemas.
This Khoobsurat is entirely different from the original one. The only common factor between the two is the fact how a fun-loving and chirpy girl changes the complete outlook and perspective of a royal family who has been leading an orthodox life.
Dr. Mili Chakravorth played by Sonam Kapoor is a sports physiotherapist who has come down to treat the Raja of Sambhalgarh. Whilst her stay at the their royal palace, she observes the intricate matters of the family members and tries to cheer them up. She enlightens them with a new way of living and adds colors to their dull life.
Yuvraj Vikram Singh Rathore played by Fawad Khan first retaliates to her broad mindedness but soon he falls for her charm. Mili has won their hearts but in the same process she has lost her heart to Vikram. Unfortunately, a twist in the fairy tale romance arises when Mili learns about Vikram’s engagement to someone else.
Will Mili declare her love for Vikram? Will Vikram break his engagement and the vintage rules of his family?
To find the answers, you have to watch the movie!
I will not add any spoiler alerts for you; watch the movie to know what happens next.
Okay, now lets come to the main movie review.
I found the first half of the movie a bit groggy and the story line dragged at most of the places. The second half catches paces and looks fairly decent. Though story is simple but it is beautifully narrated. All songs are entertaining and catchy but for me, Naina and Abhi Toh Party Shuru Huwi Hai stole the show.
Sonam looks beautiful and has perfectly fit into the skin of the character. Mili is what Sonam is in real life. She is fun, quirky and loud. She has done full justice to her role and undoubtedly, steals the show with her heart stealing performance.
Fawad Khan is a born charmer. Whoever said that this movie is a women oriented movie is utterly false because Fawad does have a major role in the movie. A Disney fairy tale romance is incomplete without a Prince. Fawad looks like a true Rajasthani prince. With suave looks, intense eyes, heavy eye lashes, sexy hairdo and chiseled chest, he looks mind blowing with the pensive look in each and every scene. AHH!
The chemistry is good between Mili and Vikku but it could have been improved if there were more interactions and conversations between the duo. The thought bubble idea was quite innovative. I’d like it more if they displayed the thought bubbles on screen with the dialogues. It would have looked more appealing.
I loved when he called her Aaafat all the time and she termed him as Kharoos.
Though Kirron Kher has played numerous Punjabi mother roles but I have really loved and enjoyed her as Manju. She is a delight to watch. Her dialogues are quite witty and humorous. The climax scene between Manju and Vikku is not to be missed.
Ratna Pathak Shah and Amir Raza Hussain were also decent in their roles. Aditi Rao Hydari has been completely wasted. She’s done more work in her previous flicks.
Khoobsurat is a fun ride. The entire credit goes to the director and the production team. It is a beautiful delight and a complete family entertainer that should not be missed at any cost.
Fawad Khan fans should feel proud after watching their hero on the Big screens. He has made an intelligent move by selecting Khoobsurat as his Bollywood debut.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and recommend everyone to watch it once too. I believe Khoobsurat is already creating raves and receiving accolades both in India and Pakistan. How else could you prove the audience madness when the movie ends in the cinema and the entire audience gives a huge round of applause.
Do not expect it to be one of your best cinematic experiences. The idea is to just go with the mind to enjoy a decent fairy tale romance with your loved ones. Feel Khoobsurat and you will become Khoobsurat.
Rating: 3.5/5 (Plus 0.5 is for Fawad Khan.)
Tauba! Viewers ki jaan lainge kya? Ugh! I feel so irritated & furious because this is how Hum TV treats its viewers on a Sunday night; this is how they put an end to the week with an absolute boorish drama. I mean I feel so angry that it’s not even funny anymore. Not sure how did they manage but imagine an episode which practically had nearly no dialogues whatsoever was still a reason of noise pollution in the house. Tauba!!!
As usual, Ruby acted as Maham once again & even after getting snubbed by Sofia, she continued with her stupidest of advises. She wanted Sofia to come to her home so that she could eat the remaining brain Sofia’s left with & also so that she could brain-feed her against Awazaar as well. I’m sorry but seems like the lady who has played the roles of Maham & Ruby is someone who can’t see any couple because she is allergic to married people, that’s why she makes sure she pushes all the wrong buttons to fulfill her wish of wrecking someone’s home. The first scene & the scenario was just so similar to that of Shukk where after Sehrish loses her baby, Maham swoops in like her false Messiah & just now when Sofia lost her baby, Ruby was ready to hit the nail in the coffin. I am sure as she met her purpose in this drama; she’d be on a project hunt these days where her expertise in breaking homes would be required. The suggestion she gave to Sofia about getting separated from Awazaar was just so ridiculous. Instead of making her calm & forcing her to think rationally, she didn’t waste an opportunity of doing what she’s good at & yes that is wrecking someone’s home.
Sofia has pretty much understood that Awazaar has gotten bored of her because he got used to Haya so after she gathered herself from her fragile mental & physical state, she decided she wanted a divorce because there was nothing left in this relation anyways & I think she took the best decision ever because there was no reason in staying with a manless man. I think a slap would’ve been a perfect way of coming to a closure.
Finally, we found a woman who was against Awazaar & felt he was inhumane; she was Mrs. Nousherwan. I am glad that she proved to be that one single lady who spoke against him because all the others were just so blindly in love with a man who ruined their lives. & yeah after 2 months Awazaar met Haya & whatever she said did come as a surprise but I knew she didn’t mean what she was saying as wo to bohat hi naik parveen shareek-e-hayaat hain jo apne zang-lagay sartaaj ko kabhi nahi utaraingee. She’s someone who doesn’t know how to take a stand for herself because if she had known better, she would’ve sent him a divorce notice like Sofia as well. Even though she seemed agitated, I am sure she’d scurry back to Awazaar exactly how a hungry mouse scurries at a sight of Swiss cheese.
The preview was just so annoying as usual because seems like after Haya’d demand divorce from Awazaar, he’ll pull off an act of fake suicide which will resurface the buried mohabbat Haya has for Awazaar & she will return to him. At this point I feel inhain jo karna hai karain, larain, marain but bas hamari jaan chorain aur Aahista Aahista bilkul nahi balkay JALDI JALDI. Share your thoughts please!
The duo of S. Mazhar moin and Faseeh Bari khan are known for creating unusual serials and telefilms. This telefilm is an example of that. Ek Qayamat Aur aired on Hum Tv.
The Telefilm starts with an old crippled woman with a burnt face walking towards a group of Qawals rendering A beautiful Qawali ” Tere liye main tou charan lagi’ a Qawali dedicated to Hazrat Nizam Uddin Auliya(RA) the patron saint of Delhi. The old woman who is also a hunchback and carries a begging bowl sits down and cries silently. It is then the scene cuts to modern day and we discover that it is infact a dream of a woman named Shaista ( Sawera nadeem). She wakes up time find it is almost time for her husband (Amir Qureshi) To return home. At once we notice something is off. Shaista’s husband avoids her completely. She herself asks ‘kab tak bhaagte raho ge mujhse?’. All is not well in their married life.
To compensate for her Husband’s negligence Shaista begins to spend the duration of her day sleeping and dreaming about a Mughal princess who looks just like her! In her dream life she finds happiness. Enter Hina Dilpazeer in her usual brilliant performance. Hina plays the ‘Mughlani’ of the princess’s household who is her husband’s foster mother/ Spy! It is clear the Princess suffers from the same problem as Shaista. In their conversation when the Mughlani suggests a trip to Ajmer Sharif to pray for a child The Princess replies sarcastically other things are required for having a child then praying at a Mausoleum. This conversation further reveals the date of this setting as the Mughlani says the British could attack Delhi at any instance meaning it is shortly before the events of 1857. The conversation is cut short by a ‘Mashki'( water carrier) who has come to water the plants. He is played by Imran Abbas! The princess keeps watching him rather then going in parda like the rest of the ladies present.
Here a clarification must be made. All the characters in the dream/past story have real life counter parts. Princess is Shaista. Her husband is the prince, Mughlani is their maid and the Mashki is the guy who delivers water cans to heir house!
The next day Shaista’s dream comes true and the man of her dreams( Who is really very shy) comes into her house. She talks to him and also attempts to touch his shoulder but he literally breaks into a sweat and drops the water he is carrying! Then next day he returns Shaista speaks in a deep and meaningful manner with him. And alludes to her loneliness and her childlessness but they are interrupted by her maid who sees through the glass in the front door and bangs furiously. the water company deliverer leaves and the maid ( Hina Again !) gives them both meaningful looks.
Meanwhile her dream life gets more colorful as the princess gets more close to the water carrier. It is easy to see that Shaista is taking out her frustrations through these dreams. As she later says to her good for nothing husband that her life is finally getting completed through these dreams. Meanwhile the Mughlani scolds the water carrier for no particular reason and he gives her an excellent reply which leads the old woman who is well-versed in palace politics and scandals to suspect something is wrong and tries to discover the reason of his boldness! One day she sees him with thje princess one day! The princess gives her a piece of her jewellery to keep her mouth shut but even that doesn’t stop her conspiracies!
Meanwhile Shaista’s husband keeps getting worse. He is insensitive and sarcastic as well! Shaista keeps getting more entangled in the dream world her perception of dreams and reality getting blurred! It is clear from her gestures and the way she talks that the unfulfillment of her needs and the indifference of her husband is making her slowly loose her mind.
Shaista’s husband begins to suspect her of having a affair but instead she replies that she can’t kill her inner woman forever and says Waqar-un-nissa is also in trouble these days as Shehzada Huzoor is back in Delhi! This shows how cut of from reality she has become!
Meanwhile Shaista’s maid confronts her over the affair( What Affair? She only touched his shoulder once!) and says the boy will ruin her married life( LOL What life? This marriage is in name only!)
She also mentions that her grandmother who is old and senile is nowadays repeating the tale of a Mughal princess who went through a similar ordeal as Shaista and had an affair with a water carrier. Shaista asks what happened to her but she says her grandmother is not in her right mind and if pressed to give details breaks into really foul abuses! LOL. She had also mentioned earlier that her great grandmother worked in Shaista’s husband ancestral home in Delhi. This shows she is a descendant of the Mughlani. Shaista who has lost grips on reality threatens her with the dungeons and says that she told Shehzada Huzoor the truth. She grabs her face and shouts the face may be young but if you touch it the ugliness inside will be revealed. She tells Shaista that she is herself a woman and knows that the fault is not in her and asks her to leave the Boy (Whose name is Kabir). Shaista throws her maid out who goes to her husband and tells him every thing. ( Like Ancestor like descendant! Mughlani would be proud of her LOL).
Shaista’s husband gets really angry and goes to her room where she is sleeping. meanwhile in Shaista’s dream Waqar-un-nissa and Shehzada Huzoor are going to a place which is desolate and nobody is around( Reminded me of all the haunted sites people got trapped in indian horror serial LOL) very late at night accompanied by a few soldiers only! Shehzada Huzoor asks Shaista who is the father of her child! But she refuses to give his name saying she only followed her natural instincts after waiting for years for her husband to arrive! ( Really sad scene and dialogues). But he already found out the truth and has Kabir brought before her and killed before her very eyes!
Shaista’s husband wakes up from his sleep to finds her Crying and calling him a murderer. He says that Parveen ( their maid) ( has told him every thing. He however is outwardly very understanding and says he understands her predicament. At last the problem is revealed which is impotency. He says that he will drop at her house. ( In the middle of night!). While Shaista thinks that he wil kill her! She falls asleep in the car and sees the last part of her dream story. After killing Kabir Shehzada Huzoor orders his men to break her bones and to burn her face thus leading to her predicament as a crippled old beggar in the beginning of the story! This beating would also have lead to her loosing her unborn child. She is woken up by the sound of the car stopping. Her husband gets out to get some cigarettes and on the Paan shop talks to a man who looks like one of the soldiers from her dream! Shaista says that her husband is changing the end of the story and she knows he will harm her and asks him to stop the car! Here the biggest plot twist of the telefilm is revealed. Dressed in a sleeveless vest and low-hanging jeans Kabir walks to her car and croons seductively to her husband about how he can serve him! She screams her husband to take her home. Here at last she remembers all her encounters with Kabir and realizes why he was avoiding her! Her husband speaks in a casual tone about not to be disgusted by the boy as he often sees him standing out late at night! It is left ambiguous whether her husband did this intentionally or whether he knew the true identity of the boy! Seeing her only hope crumbled Shaista runs upstairs and jumps from the Balcony! The scene then cuts to Nazli Nasr ( In A special guest appearance) explaining that she is able to understand fractures but is unable to Understand why Shaista has turned into a hunchback. The scene ten forwards the Shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi. As was shown in the beginning she walks with a stick and is a hunchback but is in decent clothes and with shoes meaning she has not fallen into the clutches of poverty. While the same Qawali is being played she has a flashback of every thing that happened to her and stares blankly into the camera as Credits Role.
The telefilm was brilliantly directed and written . Each character performed brilliantly but the credit must goes to Hina Dilpazeer! Despite being a supporting artist she works better then most leads. She is indeed a wonderful actress. Her mattering of the Old Delhi Urdu accent and dialect was out of this world.
There were two mistakes one the princess was shown wearing Ghararas although they came into vogue much later. Pishwaz. Kurta Pajama or the expansive Farshi pajamas would have been the correct ideal but then again this is a minor mistake compared to the overall brilliance of the well-written telefilm. Also Farshi pajamas would have curtailed her movement. The second was at the end of dream story Waqar-un-nissa travels unveiled with Shehzada Huzoor but then it could be attributed to the fact that both knew what was about to happen so such a formality was no longer needed, The writers left the audience to figure out how true was the dream story. Was it a real historical incident or was it Shaista’s mind creating a story which was a reflection of her ordeal. Any way the telefilm was brilliant.
Express Entertainment was an Indian-Turkish channel only a few months back. There were hardly any Pakistani dramas on-air from it which was highly disappointing. After Eid, they started Pakistani dramas as well.
The following are a few of their dramas. Do tell me what you think about them:
1. Apni Kahani Kese Kahein:
The story of two besties, who lived in the same neighborhood. The characters were played by Sanam Chauhdry and Sumbhul Iqbal.
Sanam’s character was of an idiot girl who was easily manipulated by boys. She ended up being used by a boy who had claimed to love her. This is why her khaala got her married, immediately, to a much older man to save her from disgrace. He was a torturous and shukki man who abused her. In the end, she decided to take a stand for herself and told her story to the media.
Sumbhul’s character was of a girl whose was brought up in a very strict environment by her shukki father. He asked a private tutor to teach her. That tutor was Aly Khan and both of them fell in love with each other. Her father decided to marry her off and that’s when she made a plan to run away with him. She reached the place where they both were supposed to catch up, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her father arrived there and is a fit of anger, he locked her in the house until the wedding day. Her husband was Saleem Sheikh whose first wife had cheated on him. He thought all educated women were cheats. Sumbhul could never tell him that she was educated. She however, resumed meeting her teacher without asking him why he abandoned her. She even invited him to her house and the maid saw them together.
Her sister-in-law, nand, hated her for no reason. She discovered Sumbhul’s diary which had a dried rose in it, along with her love story and her teacher’s number. She started her “research” and eventually found out about the affair. In the end, she told her brother about this. He was enraged and dragged his wife into his room, locked it and took out a gun. He then asked her the reality and tried to shoot her which let to a fight between the two and in confusion he shot himself.
The case of his killing was taken to the court. She was blamed for the killing but then her father showed up. Then came the biggest twist of the story.
He said that his daughter couldn’t possibly have met her teacher because he had killed him with his own hands the day she ran away. His daughter had been imagining her love interest all this time. She was mentally ill and this led to her creating a fantasy in which he came to visit her. A doctor told that her mental condition was due to the unnecessarily strict environment in which she grew up.
The drama ended with Sumbhul asking her father, “Why did you kill him?”
Her mother-in-law (Samina Ejaz) realized that Sumbhul needed care and affection and thus, took Sumbhul under her care.
2. Garr Maan Reh Jaye:
GMRJ airs on Mondays at 8 pm on Express. Nadeem Baig is playing the role of Ameen. He has three daughters. Nisa (Kiran Abdul-Haq) is the eldest. She is about to be married to a molvi (Bilal Qureshi) , who happens to be the son of Khursheeda (Hina Khwaja Byat). Hina Byat is playing a totally different role then her usual ones.
Khursheeda demands a lot of jahez from Ameen. Nisa is not pleased and decides to end the engagement. This displeases her father who wants his daughters to get married quickly. He meets a corrupt police officer (Noor Hassan) who agrees to give him money if he spends one night in jail in place if another prisoner. The prisoner will return by morning and a share of the money he robs will be given to Ameen. He hides this from his daughters.
Even though the police officer is corrupt, he actually cares for the family. He develops feelings for Nisa as well. He also sees the greed of Khurshida and the conservative nature of her son. He realizes that Nisa doesn’t deserve them. Meanwhile the second sister develops feelings for him.
The other prisoners in the jail give Ameen a hard time. His health deteriorates and he ends up in the hospital. The officer informs this to Nisa who freaks out and decides to go to the hospital with him. Molvi sees them together this leads to him doubting Nisa’s character even more. He pleads his mother to ask for the second sisters hand in marriage.
When Ameen comes back home, Khurshida puts her son’s request in front of him. He is enraged and refuses completely. Nevertheless, Khurshida can’t tell this to her son as he has refused to marry Nisa. Let’s see what happens now.
3. Koi Deepak Ho:
Sana Javed plays the role of a girl who is poor and loves to study. The son of her principal, Jibran Khan, falls in love with her at first sight. This puts his engagement with his mother’s niece in jeopardy. His mother(Saba Faisal) agrees to take the rishta to Sana’s house but before that, requests Sana to reject it taake bete ki nazar mein achi rahein! Sana tells this to her mother but her mother thinks that this rishta is too good to be rejected.
4. Ishq Mein Aisa Bhi Haal Hona Hai:
Samra and Fajar are two sisters. Fajar is interested in her friend. Samra is interested in Adnan (Humayun Ashraf). Adnan has brought his mother to her house as well and the rishta is pakka.
Adnan has an orphan cousin named Neha (Hiba Ali) who lives with him and his mother and is romantically involved with Shamir (Yasir Mazher). He is a rich playboy. His cousin is Fajar’s friend.
Adnan always scolds Neha for spending her nights out. She makes up excuses for it. Only two episodes have gone on-air till now.
Let’s see what will be Neha’s future and also the future of the two couples in this drama.
The Pakistan Academy Film Selection Committee headed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has selected recently released film Dukhtar to be sent to Oscars 2014 for a possible nomination in the foreign film category. Last year film Zinda Bhaag was selected by the same committee. This year the committee has Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Ali Zafar Aakifa Mian, Iram Parveen Bilal, Samina Peerzada, Mehreen Jabbar, Mohsin Hameed, Nadiya Jameel and Rohail Hayyat as jury members.
Dukhtar is released on 18th September 2014. It is Pakistan’s first road trip thriller filmed in mesmerizing locations of Gilgat-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The film is directed and written by Aafia Nathaniel. Its main cast consists of Samiya Mumtaz, Mohib Mirza, Saleha Aref, Asif Khan, Ajab Gul, Samina Ahmed, Adnan Shah Tipu, Abdullah Jaan, Omair Rana. The film is also screened recently at Toronto Film Festival.The film is produced by Aafia Nathaniel and Muhammad Khalid Ali while it is distributed by Geo Films (a sub company of Geo Television). It is first film for Samiya Mumtaz.
The recent floods have devastated a large part of Punjab and Sindh province leaving many affected persons. While many are contributing to flood relief efforts, Resham has also handed over a truck carrying goods to army worth rupees 8,00,000 (8 laakh).
As per Resham she arranged all this with the help of fellow artists, Rahat Fatah Ali contributed 100,000 (1 lakh), Nauman Ejaz, Ahsan Khan and Juggan Kazim provided Rs. 25,000 each while the rest is arranged by Resham. Resham further told she always strives to help the victims of any catastrophic event and also urged the fellow artists and nation to show the same spirit. Resham also praised and acknowledged the relief work of Pak Army, saying Army has always been the leading institution helping the victims so she also decided to handover the truck to Pak Army.
Anybody remembers Zara Sheikh, the model turned heroine who had a dream start to her filmi career with block buster film Tere Pyar Mein in 1998. Zara Sheikh worked in many Urdu films afterwards like Salakhain, Laaj. With declining number of Urdu films produced in Lahore Zara refused to work in Punjabi films thus she is off screen for many years.
Now surprisingly Zara who rejected all Punjabi films offers has accepted an offer of Pushto films. Zara is working in a Pushto film produced by Joni Malik also starring Shahid Khan, Jahangir Jaani and Sobia Khan.
Sultan Raahi the legendary name of Punjabi cinema was murdered some eighteen years ago and his murder case is still unsolved. Sultan Raahi’s actor son Haidar Sultan has recently returned form United States and in a press conference reminded current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of his promise to trial the culprits of this unsolved murder.
Haider revealed when Sultan Raahi was murdered in 1996, Nawaz Sharif (then opposition leader) assured him of justice while visiting him to condole the death of his father. Now he is again in power, so the promise and assurance needs to be fulfilled.
Haidar is also working in a low budget Punjabi film being made in Lahore. He also appealed to Shaan, Babar Ali and Momi Rana to support the film industry.
We are with Haider Sultan over unsolved murder case of his legendary father. Regarding promise of Nawaz Sharif, one can only advise Haider Sultan never take the promise of a politician seriously.
Once we had a thriving and booming film industry producing more than fifty urdu films every year which produced many prominent artists. Shabnum was one such artist who ruled Urdu cinema for almost two decades. Shabnum was from East Pakistan which separated in 1971 to become Bangladesh. After fall of film industry in early 90’s Shabnum went back to Bangladesh, though she returned in mid 1990’s for a brief stay of two/three years till departing permenantly in 1998-99.
The most successful heroine of Urdu cinema Shabnum was invited by Goverment of Pakistan and awarded life time achievement award in 2012 along with her husband musician Robin Ghosh.
Recently Shabnum had a telephonic conversation with Pakistani media in which is expressed her excitement on the news of revival of Pakistani cinema. Shabnum expressed best wishes for new breed of film makers. She is thankful to Pakistanis for the way she was cherished and welcomed upon her visit three years ago. She said, she can never forget the love of Pakistanis.
Shabum also said condolence to Ms. Parveen Saeed Haroon wife of Saeed A. Haroon who recently passed away in Karachi.
Surprise surprise, this episode was a lot better than the previous 3 episodes we’ve seen. The story actually kicked & to my surprise, I actually enjoyed watching the scenes of Bashar & Rudaba. Even though there were a few flaws in the episode which obviously I won’t ignore but overall it was a pretty decent episode.
When the previous episode ended, Adil scared us with his bludging eyes, giving us an impression that he’d tear the world apart in vengeance for the sake of how he & his baby sister were deceived, but in a supposed next scene, he was seen being a part of the conversation concerning Tayabba & Buland’s wedding.
Apparently, Rudaba thinks she ain’t allowed to cry? Excusez-moi? If now she’s crying in a limit, not sure what would’ve happened if there was no barrier to her flood of tears? Finally Rudaba has come to terms with what has happened & has now started speaking to Bashar about how she feels. I actually liked the scenes of Rudaba this time. Her conversations with Ramzan Chacha, then Adil & in the end Bashar were done well because they were short & to-the-point. I actually smirked at how Bashar eased up while speaking to her & sort of let go off the facade he carries, in front of her. Seems like Bashar also made an effort of being easy on Rudaba because she is going through a hard time plus also he had a few things to demand, so he thought it’d be a good idea if he did it without making it too difficult for her & may be because of that, for the first time what Bashar said really made sense.
I cringed once again looking at how Buland reacted to the whole situation. He definitely seemed unhappy at his decision but then it made me think why did he dive into the relation? When he got aware of the false-truth that Rudaba confessed to him, why didn’t he just go back when he was so hurt? He wasn’t obviously ecstatic after finding a perfect roti surat partner for himself, so then what was the point of getting engaged to Tayyaba? He even said to her that he won’t be happy at their wedding, so what forced him into this relation? The best solution was to invest one time on a ticket to America & going into a deep slumber for good, but then after he already decided to get married to her, why was he whining? Was he sad because he found a girl who looked taller than him on the wedding stage? Oh, now I get it, this must be the only thing that might be upsetting him.
Is it just me or Tayyaba actually looked unreal while smiling? Actually I ask this because I have seen her cry so much that her smile just didn’t really appeal to me. I really wish they had gotten rid of the stark white light in the post-wedding scene of Tayyaba & Buland. I think the lighting should’ve been soft & not so in-your-face-bright. & isn’t it weird that your very first conversation after marriage turns into an opportunity for you to flaunt how many ex-fiancée/fiancés you have? While looking at both the heart-broken raccoons, I was like Voila! It’s a match made in heaven.
The biggest flaw that I noticed was while doing breakfast in the wee hours of morning; Saira dressed in a Valima-appropriate ensemble just says to her maid that Pareezay’d be returning from school so she should keep her things ready? Which school is it whose session ends while people in the house are still having their breakfast & the father hasn’t even left for the office yet? Anyways, now when the crier Tayyaba is taken care of, I think Bashar has gotten a chance to give an undivided attention to his wife & win her heart, but one thing’s for sure, I am going to fetch my sunglasses before watching the next episode because the lighting is just so bright that it blinds me. :/ After recovering from squinting & after rubbing your eyes, please do share your thoughts on this episode. :)
Keep Supporting,
Cheers, Zahra Mirza.
PS: In my opinion, the guy who has caterwauled the high-pitched song of this drama should quit singing because it’s just so flat that it puts all the flat surfaces of the mother Earth to shame.
“Copy pencil se fazool sketches banane wali jub itni bari rungo ki duniya mei aye gi tu nervous hi ho gi”...this one line pretty much summed up Paymaan’s state of mind after leaving her mother’s house. Paymaan is certainly not used to this rangeen duniya which she has been introduced to all of a sudden. She was a completely different person when she was living with Tabbasum, she was confident and outspoken in the four walls of that house but now when she is meeting new people every day and is coming across opportunities which she never thought she will get, she is taking it one step at a time. Paymaan definitely is more than willing to break free from her past. She stays in touch with Tabbasum’s husband but she feels nothing for Tabbasum now that she is away from her. The change in Tabbasum’s attitude towards her husband shows that she desperately wants to hold on to the one person who is ready to accept her for who she is. But Tabbasum does not want to talk about her children because her ego won’t allow her to admit that she was wrong. Although our therapist predicted that Tabbasum will come running after her daughter in no time but that is highly unlikely.
The way Paymaan took special interest in Imroze’s portrait was actually very interesting. It was the kind of scene that keeps you wondering about the true feelings of the character. Was Paymaan impressed by Roomi’s artistic abilities or was she in awe of the personality of the person in the portrait? Imroze longs to come home to a wife who will welcome him with open arms, he is clearly lonely and is attracted towards Paymaan. I must say that Imroze’s feelings for Paymaan left me clueless because his first meeting with Paymaan wasn’t exactly the sort which makes you fall for a girl. Is Imroze the kind of person who likes to play the savior? He plays the savior all the time while addressing the issues of his clients but is he the kind of person who would much rather have a wife who needs him more than he needs her? I am waiting to find out why Imroze is attracted towards Paymaan.
Unlike the past two episodes, I found Cybil Chaudhry’s acting in this episode unbearable. The conversation at Roomi’s apartment about him wanting to marry someone like Sara was too long and appeared to be slightly forced. Roomi’s character overall is definitely more appealing than that of Imroze at the moment. He is an easy going, sensitive and caring person. Imroze on the other hand seems like a more complicated person who is not very happy with his life.
My favorite scene from tonight’s episode had to be the flashback scene in which Paymaan is drawing a portrait and Tabbasum tries to make her feel guilty about it and Paymaan replies, ” yeh mein hoon – bejaan, berung!” Uzma Gillani was most certainly at her very best in the opening scene of tonight’s episode; the shock, the helplessness and the will to continue to be strong was portrayed brilliantly by her in a very short scene. Sanam Saeed looked like a little girl who was discovering the world around her for the first time, she impressed me with her flawless performance once again in tonight’s episode. Noor Hassan has come a long way; he makes Roomi’s character likeable, I am certain that many people must be rooting for him already! Mohib’s character is a mystery and I get a feeling that his character is not going to be as simple or likeable as that of Roomi. I am very impressed by Mustafa Afridi’s script till now; the characters have depth and some of the dialogues are very meaningful and touching.
The preview of the next episode was actually very surprising for me. I wasn’t expecting all these characters having these feelings for each other this soon and not just that but someone will be proposing Paymaan in the next episode – will it be Imroze or Roomi?
Do share your thoughts about this latest installment.
For our drama writers and directors , students are “romancing idiots” who can’t do anything else. They like to show that studies are just too easy to be taken seriously. They are giving a totally wrong message to the people watching these dramas.
Dramas that involved college/university romance included:
1. Chemistry:
Whatever Chemistry is, it isn’t the subject of “LOVE”! Parh kar dekhiye! Chemistry (drama) was about a guy and a girl who went to the same university, fell in love, got married against the wishes of the girl’s parents, had fights due to shukk , got divorced, the girl got married to her teacher, had a kid, that husband was shukki as well, got throat cancer, first husband realized his mistake, she got cured and married him again!
What started with a simple uni-love-story, ended up as a halala story!!
2. Chandni:
The guy is rich, yet he is in love with a poor girl who studies in the same university as his. She is a really student and that is the reason he likes her. Please someone tell me, when did that girl have time to study? All she ever did was talk to her boyfriend; on the phone, in the class and outside the class.
The guy ended up abandoning her. She ended up cutting her wrist, being saved and getting married to another guy.
3. Daagh:
A guy fell in love with a girl , when he saw her for the first time in his university, because of her simplicity. They eventually got married and this love story turned into an evil-saas story. The saas forced her son to marry again because she wanted a grandson.
4. Janam Jali:
The main leads, fell in love with eachother when they were studying together. They got married against Bee ji’s wishes. Bee ji never let them live peacefully. She tortured her daughter-in-law and got her son to marry again.
5. Janay Kyun:
As soon as you see Junaid Khan’s character (whatever the drama may be) purposing to a girl, you SHOULD know that he will end up divorcing her. This is exactly what he did with the heroines of Janay Kyun and Rasam (both were Sumbhul Iqbal) .
In JK, He studied in the same university as her. There he proposed her, married her and then eventually divorced her.
6. Uff yeh Muhabbat:
A girl fell in love with her teacher. This sentence makes sense right? But what followed was a series of idiotic events that made ABSOLUTELY no sense. She lied to him about everything, and he felt so much pity on her that he married her. Then followed some more idiotic events which caused problems in their marriage. I didn’t even understand what was going on in this drama most of the time.
7. Ishq Mein Aisa Bhi Haal Hona Hai:
This drama also has a young couple studying in the same university. The boy is rich and the girl is poor. They love each other a lot. Only two episodes have gone on-air up till now so let’s see what happens.
The conclusion is that whichever dramas have college/university romance are the worst ones and that they will have the worst cliches after the couple gets married.
Directors need to know exactly what goes on in a university before making such dramas. Parhai bhi hoti hai wahan!!
Ohkay so, Jackson Heights, production of Six Sigma, writing of Vasay Chauhdry & the direction of Mehreen Jabbar was one of the most anticipated play of this season & finally, it hit our TV screens tonight which had the quality work & name of Mehreen Jabbar written all over it. Even though this was an introductory episode, it was scattered all over the characters but aptly so.
Set in New York & a desi hub named Jackson Heights, this episode showed a few people struggling in their own orbits to make a living, a few for themselves & a few for their people back home. The narration said it all & I think it was a perfect way to open the drama just to let us know what Jackson Heights is. Salma, an apathetic yet cautious & the most sought-after beautician emerged as a hard-working young girl, who doesn’t leave an opportunity to earn some bucks because she’s bound to support herself. Michelle a Pakistani by origin but someone who has cut ties with Pakistan, owns & runs a restaurant but just exactly knows how to differentiate & maintain a balance between her professional & personal life. Imran Bhatti, a cab driver who is contend with what life has given to him reciprocates it by being a strong support system to those who may or may not need him & to those who definitely depend on him. Jamshed, a young enthusiast who thinks an opportunity will present itself to him on a golden platter the moment he will step in the USA because he has an example of his Uncle Imran Bhatti who he thinks is enjoying his life while earning a considerable amount of money to support his family in Pakistan.
Even though this episode focused more on telling us a bit about all the main characters on the surface, there were a few intricate yet well-done moments that appealed the most & made us understand the underlying story behind all the characters. For me, Nouman Ejaz stole the show as Imran Bhatti. Even though he might come across as an easy-going person, somewhere down the line you can see-through the loneliness he feels deep within. It’s been 15 years since he first arrived to America & hasn’t gone back yet as clearly he’s bearing the expenses of his family, still their demands do not end but the most genuine & selfless demand came from his mother where she wants to see her son again.
Another character that seemed interesting to me was of Michelle played effortlessly by Marina Khan. It’s like she had two modes where at work she’s like a strict businesswoman who doesn’t care about anything else but her work & then on the other hand, she has an endeared friend played by Adnan Jaffar with whom she’s at such a comfort level that she unwinds & is like an entirely different person who even makes her laugh & is ears to all her personal thoughts.
I feel for now Adeel Hussain’s character didn’t give away much except for the fact that he just can’t wait to get away from Pakistan but then I am sure once he will realize what he has gotten himself into for the sake of making money, his real ordeal will begin.
I actually enjoyed the scenes of Imran Bhatti a lot because I think Nouman Ejaz nailed his bit. His & Salma’s conversations & coincidental meetings told they both are two different people who’re poles apart & they had nothing to offer except misunderstandings to each other but then luckily for Salma, he rescued her at the right time which will definitely change her perspective about Imran. The ending scene definitely took me by surprise because I didn’t see it coming, so yes, I just can’t wait to see more. The camera-work & direction was brilliant & the acting was top-notch but then what-else can you expect from such a brilliant director & the cast! As always it was pretty evident that Mehreen Jabbar made sure all the actors enacted their characters effortlessly. I really liked the soundtrack & the instrumental score gave away a very familiar feeling to the rest of Mehreen Jabbar’s projects. I’m sure we’re in for some real drama & the expectations have skyrocketed already. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us & can’t wait to discuss every aspect of it. Please share your thoughts on the very first episode of Jackson Heights & tell us how did you find it? :)
Keep Supporting,
Cheers, Zahra Mirza.
PS: I’d request all the readers to avoid any spoiler alerts at least under the review discussions because I avoided even watching the promos as I didn’t want to get hints of anything about the story. I’d much appreciate if the synopsis & details about the drama & it’s plot aren’t discussed because I am sure a lot of people like to take what’s given & don’t really fish for what’s going to happen in advance. I hope you understand & yes, thanks a lot. ;)
If anyone out there stopped watching Mausam recently this is the time to tune into it again because things seem to be headed in the right direction for a change. This play may just have a decent ending after all. Shazia’s engagement with Hashir and Hashir’s mother’s death is going to change a lot of things. Hashir’s mother’s death was not shown in an over-dramatic manner, something which I truly appreciate because it was a very touching moment when Hashir read his mother’s letter and it was good to see that the director did not prolong this scene unnecessarily. We all knew that Nigar had serious health issues which were further triggered by Hashir’s new found love for his father so this death was in no way unexpected. The letter which Nigar left for Hashir was short but heartfelt. Nigar was so right in comparing Shazia with her ex-husband, she had dealt with such a person for the longest time so who could be a better judge of Shazia’s character than her. Nigar turned the tables completely by writing what she did in the letter and by having that last conversation with Saman, otherwise our seedhi sadhi Saman would never have figured out that she was the love of Hashir’s life.
Faisal’s change of heart was a direct consequence of Shazia’s engagement with Hashir, we really don’t know whether Faisal will divorce Saman because he thinks she does not deserve him or out of anger but I really hope that he does so because he thinks Saman deserves better. The preview of the next episode suggested that he wanted her to be “free”, was he being sarcastic or honest? We will know soon enough. Saman was only disturbed by the recent developments and she kept on trying to get back to her husband like a devoted wife. I am anxiously waiting for Saman to realize how wrong she was in being the bholi bhali sort. I just hope that Saman’s mother survives the heart attack because otherwise it will just look like the writer is using the death of characters to take the story forward.
Nigar’s concern for her son and Saman’s mother’s decision to let Saman go with Hashir had to be the highlights of tonight’s episode. I felt for Hashir but I would have felt for him even more if he did not look so trim and proper on the funeral. The red eye shade alone did not do the trick. All the tracks of the story seem to be headed towards their conclusion. Hashir’s mother left the world but she did all that she could to ensure that Hashir did not ruin his life by marrying Shazia. She also made sure that Hashir knew the truth about his father; he may not have believed her when she was alive but he is bound to listen to her now. All this time I was wondering if Hashir’s father’s track had a relevance to the entire story or not but we know now that he was the reason why Nigar understood Shazia’s intentions so well. Shazia’s happy ending is certainly in jeopardy, which gives me a lot to look forward to. Can we please have a happy ending for Saman too?
Well, trust me when I say this, I actually really like this drama a lot as in considering it just being a drama which offered an entirely different plot & broke the monotony of dramas that focused more on the domestic issues but to see the level at which the story has come to really disappoints me. I still stand by what I say that I actually really like this drama but I wish the writer had given us some relatable characters for whom we had felt something.
I know, the story was interesting when Bashar, Rudaba & Buland’s love triangle was in the picture but to see Tayyaba taking a front seat is what makes me unhappy. When I look at her character, I really don’t think Tayyaba’s worthy of all the hassle & attention that she’s getting which actually makes her look like a main character of the play. When I gave this drama a go, I was pretty sure the drama was named as Bashar Momin & not as Tayyaba Momin, but to see everyone revolving around her & mending their ways to pick up the smiles that she dropped on the road doesn’t seem just right.
I mean did I miss out on something because I really didn’t get why Rudaba showed such submissiveness for which she agreed to brain wash the stooge called Buland against her so that he could marry Tayyaba? Couldn’t she just have said no to what Bashar had asked for? I actually would’ve liked it better if they had showed something about Tayyaba, if they had added some realism to her character, if they had made sure that she wasn’t just a damsel (not sure though) in distress who lost her eyesight’s because of her constant crying prowess & caterwauling? I am sure if they had shown Tayyaba as someone who was capable of other things except crying as well, people would’ve felt her pain or would’ve rejoiced seeing she got someone who was ready to spoil his life with/for her? I mean I just don’t get why all of a sudden the story shifted from the main characters to the side character of Tayyaba who ain’t worth it.
I expected some other level of acting from Sami Khan seeing his experience in the industry but why did he look like he was intimidated by Bashar that he was trying to keep his nerves calm & was on the way to an asthma attack? In the monologue scene of Rudaba & Buland, it looked like he ran out of breath after hiking so was trying to catch on some oxygen so that he could complete the remaining act. I don’t understand what got into Ushna Shah for which she started switching in between the expressions of sheer joy & pain while delivering dialogues? Trust me; it doesn’t prove anything about your acting Ushna. I don’t think she was capable of pulling off such a lengthy scene where she had so much to say because none of it made sense & after that, none of it struck a chord.
As discussed on the previous thread, when the drama began I myself actually thought we’d get to see a story of a don & was more interested in seeing what sort of circumstances compelled Bashar to become such a rigid & ruthless person but I think the writer didn’t really bother much as she was too busy turning him into a refined BHAI JAAN who was more worried about what breakfast his niece ate. He seemed too involved in playing the domestic politics & just because of focusing on such unnecessary details I feel the writer forgot to show us some background about his character. I feel just because we were missing a piece of an important information about the main character; in the beginning episodes, he looked half-mad for yelling out so loud because we had no detailing about his character to begin with. I think the writer should’ve invested a little more time in actually bringing out the insights of all the characters on the surface more so that we; as viewers could’ve understood what made Bashar such a diabolic? What made Buland such an insecure puppet? What made Tayyaba such a weak person who was indulged in self-pity? What made Saira pull off a fake English/Urdu accent? & who trimmed Adil’s non-existing hair?
I actually wish when the drama ends, Buland; as in the character of Buland himself buys a DVD of Bashar/Tayyaba Momin & watches this drama to understand what game was played upon him & how he made a fool out of himself. Even though I have no grounds to feel a thing for any of the characters but I am glad Rudaba is married to a man who is at least blessed with a thing called brain, because he can manage things using it & isn’t married to a person who wasn’t allotted one by default. Yes, I’d once again say that I like to watch this drama for the only purpose of seeing how it ends because we’re more than a half way through it but I am displeased at the shift of focus on some useless character. Share your thoughts on this please.
When The channel Zindagi was launched there were many apprehensions whether it would succeed or not? However these fears were put to rest. Zee had done their homework. Zindagi is Lucky that it started with blockbusters like ‘Zindagi Gulzar hai’ and ‘Aun Zara’. Infact Fawad has become a household name in India. This was followed by kahi un kahi. Meray Qatil meray Dildar, Thakan, Noorpur ki Raani etc. According to Zindagi’s Facebook page two more dramas are about to debut on the 23rd of this month. They are ‘ Ye shadi nahi hosakti’ and ‘Mera Naseeb’.
What has made these dramas so popular? Well the answer according to Indians themselves is simplicity, no over-acting, no loud makeup and strong female protagonists. Our shows don’t prolong themselves through ridiculous plot twists like Reincarnations, changelings and dead spouses. Also unlike Indian dramas there isn’t an overemphasis on religion which to one Indian critic mocked as ‘ A puja every 3 episodes’!
As a Pakistani my heart swells with joy to see our dramas being praised. Indian actors, celebrities and common folks alike are in thrall of our dramas. Many have expressed a desire to work in Pakistani dramas. Many are urging that that Ekta kapoor learn from these dramas. In fact just like ‘ Dhoop kinaray’ was remade as ‘ kuch tou log kahengen’. (A poor attempt I must add). A drama which seems heavily inspired (Read copied) by Pakistani dramas in general and ZGH in particular is about to come. It is due to be released on Sony and its name is Brace yourselves ‘HUMSAFARS’ (Very original)!
Word is going around for things like joint production. Pakistani actors being given a chance in Bollywood. But due to uncertain political conditions it is hard to tell. Another thing as a Pakistani entertainment journalist pointed out so far the Indians are being treated to the best of our dramas. What if they see some of are recent ‘Masterpieces’. To paraphrase her argument ‘What if Indians see Asmanon pe likha? A tale of two star-crossed idiots!? LOL. So let us hope Zindagi selects wisely and our Pakistani producers regain their high-standards.
So far Zee has not made any such mistake except for playing the monotonous and long ‘kash main teri beti na hoti’. It initially gained popularity but now the Indians are starting to lose interest in it seeing it is just like their dramas.
According to Wikipedia (Not a reliable source) Zee Zindagi will play many more shows including Turkish shows like Isq-e-memnu (Ishq-e-Mamnoon) and Muhtesim Yuzitl (Mera sultan) which leads me to wonder why not buy the dubbed versions from Pakistan instead of doing the dubbing from scratch?
Indians reaction is mostly positive. Many have openly admitted there views towards Pakistan have changed dramatically. Except for a totally ridiculous paid article I read which called Pakistani dramas regressive, misogynistic and boring! LOL. (This coming from the land of Saas Bahu serials)! Most are openly supportive. Twitter and Facebook Are abuzz with discussions regarding our serials. Pakistani actors’ facebook pages are receiving comments by Indians. Even dear OLD (see the emphasis) Adnan Siddiqui was mobbed by his Indian fans in Dubai (Waiting for Zahra Mirza’s comment on this incident LOL). In short Zee Zindagi is here to stay.
This is my first article and it is devoted to the first website I’ve come across where civilized discussions regarding Pakistani entertainment can be held. Interesting fact I discovered it by accident! I dedicate this to Rashid Sahib, Maaz Siddiqui, Zahra Mirza, Fatima Awan, Kanwal Murtaza, Areeba Mohsin and many more who have given me such an inspiration. Thank You all.
All the reviews of Fawad Khan’s first Bollywood flick Khoosurat are full of praises for him. Critics rave about Fawad Khan’s acting generously after watching the film. Here is what they have to say:
“The best parts of the film feature Khan. He’s bang on as the emotionally-unavailable, brooding prince. He’s a man of few words (thank God) and his acting is as sharp as his tailored suits. There’s no over-the-top melodrama and we buy into his royal, ruthless act. In his presence,”writes Manjusha Radhakrishan, Senior Reporter, Gulf News.
“Fawad’s Bollywood debut attains incredible charm and dignity. He’s spot-on as the tight-lipped prince, who refuses to let his emotions overcome his stately duties,” writes Sneha May Francis of Emirates247.
“Fawad-SUAVE-Khan is simply FABULOUS! Under his sharp suits and I-am-ready-for-a-GQ-shoot look, he packs a controlled, underplayed performance as he portrays Vikramaditya Rathore. The man has big, dreamy eyes and makes good use of them on various occasions in the film,”writes Lokesh Dharmani of masala.com.
“Fawad, looks ever so charming and impress the audience with his subtle mannerisms, good looks and acting. In fact people will loathe Sonam even more ignoring her so called trial and error acting techniques. One thing that will irritate about Sonam apart from her poor acting skills is her obsession with clicking selfies!,” reported Priya Prakashan
“One reason people will be flocking the theatre will be because of Fawad Khan. He fits perfectly in the role of a Prince. Fawad’s performance as Vikramaditya Rathore is likeable. The brooding man has dreamy eyes and looks that makes girls go weak in their knees”,Priya Prakeshan from Indian.com
Sonam Kapoor on the other hand has not been able to win the hearts of the critics, “Sonam Kapoor is perpetually high-pitched, shrieking and giggling without much purpose. For someone with limited acting talent, Mili appears to be a fun part to play, especially since it doesn’t require much skill. But, even that Sonam doesn’t pull off,” writes Sneha May Francis of Emirates247.
“Sonam Kapoor plays the clumsy Mili and manages to impress occasionally but the problem is that she never surrenders to the character completely. The invisible Chanels and Guccis come in the way. She might call her mother with her name and scream “MANNNNJUUUU yaar” but falters at many occasions to play the loud Delhi lass, “ writes Lokesh Dharmani of masala.com.
Until now the reviews clearly reveal that Fawad Khan has won the critics over and like one of the critics said people will be watching this film for him.
Ayeza and Danish have been particularly generous with sharing the pictures and videos of their wedding and now that they are on their honeymoon, they are keeping their fans involved by posting pictures of their honeymoon. Ayeza and Danish also are the most loved and talked about couple of this year. Sarwat Gillani and Fahad Mirza also got married in the same week as Ayeza and Danish but fans did not go that crazy after their marriage and photos.
Here are the pictures of their honeymoon in Thailand:
Jab We Wed is a romantic comedy drama serial starring heart throbs Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor. The play has been written by Mohsin Ali, directed by Wajahat Rauf and Mohsin Ali. It has been airing on Urdu1 for nine weeks now. The viewers are enjoying this drama because it gives them an escape from all the serious dramas that are on air on many channels. One more reason why people are watching this show is because of the lead cast. Bushra Ansari is also playing a very important role in the drama which viewers are enjoying watching. The characters of the play have the viewers hooked to their screens.
The video of the OST of the play is out, watch it here:
There are dramas you anticipate for any number of reasons- the cast, writer, director, etc. And then there are dramas that take you by surprize. They could have mediocre actors, or newbies, may not be well promoted and if you’re like me and completely oblivious to your surroundings, you will rarely ever know what to look out for. So, while searching for new dramas, I happened to come across Hum TV’s Mohabbat Ab Nahi Hogi and let me start by saying- it is a signature HUM TV drama. Beautifully shot in Islamabad (which has now become a must-visit on my bucket list), MANH managed to pull me into it’s vortex early on.
The cast wasn’t the big draw- it stars Armeena Rana Khan, Syed Jibran, Ali Rehman amongst others. The writer (Saima Akram Chaudhry) was someone I never heard of. But there was just something about the drama that kept me coming back for more. 13 episodes later, I anxiously wait for each new episode and fortunately it airs twice a week! Woo hoo!
Now, let’s get to the story- Fizza (Armeena Rana Khan) is a nakhrelu, moo-phat larki who doesn’t think before she speaks. She gets married to her polar opposite, Arham (Syed Jibran). Arham works in Kuwait for the past 15 years and is a workaholic who takes life a tad too seriously. Arham’s mother (Laila Zuberi) is a sweet and simple woman who wants Arham to get married to a seedhi saadi larki. Little does she know what’s in store for her! Arham’s younger brother, Aazar (Ali Rehman) is hip and cool and the male equivalent of his Bhabi Fizza. The two hit it off right from the start and he takes a keen interest in her dressing, make-up, etc. Since Arham returns to Kuwait shortly after his wedding, Fizza spends most of her time hanging out with her chaheeta devar. Arham and Aazar have a sister, Uzma who is constantly at their home and even though she’s not a cliched nand, she suggests one conspiracy theory after another until things start spiralling into utter chaos.
Fizza is perpetually frustrated with her life- she is sure her nand is constantly pumping her saas and she fears her devraani would also gang up against her. She throws tantrums on a daily basis and Aazar is by her side at every turn. She tries to get Aazar to marry her sister but her plan backfires. Instead, after much drama, Aazar marries his polar opposite- a girl name Urooj (Sundus Khan). Shortly after their marriage, Fizza’s jealousy causes her to sow the seeds of discord and seeing the close proximity shared between Aazar and his Bhabi, Urooj leaves him. Both Fizza and Aazar blame others for everything that goes wrong in their lives without realizing they are more to blame for anything than anyone else. Arham happens to catch Aazar consoling Fizza over a Skype call and that’s when he starts becoming suspicious and decides to check up on them. He comes home to find his wife and brother alone in the bedroom and assumes the worst. Things continue getting more and more complicated and are now at a point where Arham has kicked his wife out and plans on divorcing her.
The story circles around life after marriage and poses the question- How close is too close? In recent times, we’ve been having too many of these devar/ bhabi stories but most of them (if not all), tend to show a situation in which the devar is after his bhabi. Here, they both get along and from the very beginning we’ve been seeing subtle hints that they will eventually end up together. Fizza and Aazar see nothing wrong in their relationship- anyone who raises an eyebrow gets labeled as being backward. Fizza is appalled that her husband accuses her ruining a muqaddas rishta and here again, it is Aazar who finds her a place to stay and comforts her in her time of need. Even though Aazar is repulsed by his brother’s accusations, it seems they will soon be at a point where he will have to choose between family and his Bhabi. There are no evil characters here- I think almost everyone is a victim of circumstances. Fizza is too immature to understand that her equation with her devar isn’t acceptable behavior as it is creating a lot of tension in the household. Her saas is too nice to dictate her. Her mother is just as silly as Fizza and believes whatever she narrates. Her sister-in-law keeps assuming things and blurts them without really considering the repercussions. Arham finds Fizza immature but doesn’t understand her frustrations living without him. Aazar is smitten by his Bhabi and doesn’t get that his wife Urooj has a very strong ground for opposing his behaviour…
Have you been watching MANH? What are your thoughts? Is this something you look forward to each week? I for one am addicted! What do you think happens next?
Here is a sneak peak at what some of our celebrities have been upto recently. While some of the celebrities use the social networking sites only to keep the viewers informed about their upcoming projects and other things related to work only there are many other who share their personal pictures with their fans as well.
Ayeza and Danish have been particularly generous with sharing the pictures and videos of their wedding and now that they are on their honeymoon, they are keeping their fans involved by posting pictures of their honeymoon.
Madiha Rizvi had been busy spending some quality time with her family
The Hocane sisters celebrate Farhan’s birthday
Kanwar and Fatima celebrating their son’s birthday
Mehreen Syed spends some time with her friends
Fahad Mustafa is taking a break and enjoying his holidays
Tonite with HSY, airs on Saturdays at 9:10 pm on Hum Sitaray. The first episode aired last Saturday and the guests were Mahirah Khan and Fawad Khan. This time, the guests are:
Hamza Ali Abbasi and Ayesha Khan!
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So don”t want to catch these two on Tonite with HSY, this Saturday! :)
OMG! I can’t praise this drama enough; I think I just cannot. Of all the episodes we’ve seen so far, I think this one was the best because it was filled with so many epic moments one after the other, but I am sure there would be a lot more such episodes that will make your heart actually feel for all the characters & give you something very positive by the end. :)
Just when I started watching this episode, I was reminded of the scene from the drama ‘Mai Abdul Qadir Hoon’, where after a strong opposition, there comes a time when Abdul Qadir’s mother admits & confesses that after her son decided to walk on the religious path, he became a very good human being, so somewhere down the line I actually wanted to hear exactly the same words about Rohaan from his mother as well, but to my surprise, it happened way too quickly. No doubt, for now it was Rohaan’s sister who acknowledged that the change in Rohaan is not only confined to his appearance but he also has had a change of heart & nature, which I am sure is just a beginning because fortunately at least one of his family members noticed the positive changes in him & it won’t take too long for the others, especially his mother to acknowledge & more importantly realize it too.
Luckily for Rohaan, Eesha & her parents called the engagement off as they were intimidated by his appearance but the best part of that whole scene was the ‘Allhamdullilah’ gesture Rohaan did when the guests just left, haha. As much as his mother wanted him to get rid of the thing he loves the most, I think Rohaan made her understand laying bare his true feelings which left his mother speechless too. I just love the fact that Rohaan actually opted for the most genuine expression to make his mother understand what his identity & his beard means to him.
I actually liked the fact that Kashaf & Annie both got engaged at the same time because this way Annie was able to seek help from Kashaf in this regard. Kashaf seemed totally happy & acted exactly like any girl who’d be ecstatic to be getting married to the guy she loves. Annie took Kashaf’s advice & even though she wasn’t interested in understanding Raheel better, she thought it was just the right time to show him the truth about her personality. I think this was one of the best scenes of this episode for me because even though people might think girls who opt for Hijab can be soft targets & can be treated like a nobody, Annie made a very strong statement about who she was & no matter how soft-spoken she might be, she still knew how to raise her voice, protect herself & take a stand for her beliefs when someone’d attack her identity. To her, nothing but her Hijab mattered the most & the best part was that she took a decision all by herself because she knew exactly what she wanted & that was an out from this engagement as she judged Raheel in a jiffy that someone who doesn’t respect her appearance won’t respect her as a person too. By the way who loved Raheel’s expressions after he got slapped & a hard one at that? ;)
For a change, it was so good to see Huma & Annie having a candid conversation where Huma gave Annie a chance to explain herself. I think it was a lot easier for me to understand & connect to Huma’s character, because for once she decided to lower her voice a couple of notches. Even though Huma also conveyed what makes her worried for Annie, Annie knew just exactly what she had to say to her mother because it’s a high time Huma understands her daughter & respects her decisions. I really love that not even for a second Annie shows some signs of distress when her mother is constantly yelling at her & dissing her for being a Hijabi. Annie always speaks to her mother very gently because she understands Huma’s point of view as well. Just exactly what I want to hear from Rohaan’s mother about him, similarly I hope there comes a time when Huma also realizes that becoming modest has made Annie a better human being.
At first I thought Amjad might be upset for what Annie did but he wasn’t. Being a father, he was naturally just worried for Annie but once again, that father-daughter conversation was heartfelt & seemed just so real. Annie knows exactly what she has to do & her focus makes her a very likeable & a strong personality. In Annie’s opinion, she feels she has a duty to let the people around her know that covering her head doesn’t mean she can limit herself to her home, she can work just like anyone else & change the notions that people might form about girls who choose to dress modestly. Annie wants people to see her as a dynamic person who’s capable of a lot of things & not just confine their opinions to a piece of cloth she wears to cover her head.
Finally, finally, finally, that moment of magic happened when Rohaan & Annie came across each other (where I couldn’t stop smiling to be honest). Even though it was a very short meeting but Rohaan just couldn’t take his eyes off her. I think the best part about the whole proposal was that the fathers decided to take the case in their hands & dealt with it because the ladies would’ve one way or the other opposed to it. Rohaan’s father acknowledged Annie’s talent & the wisdom with which she has been working devotedly at her father’s office which obviously came as a surprise to Rohaan’s youngest sister. Rohaan felt he found exactly the right partner he was looking for. Even though Annie showed submissiveness to her father’s decision but deep down her satisfaction-filled smile showed that she herself was ready to form a relationship with Rohaan. All the dialogues in this particular conversation that Amjad & Annie had were absolutely sweet & touching.
The episode had short, to-the-point & a lot of scenes which kept the pace of the episode perfect. A lot of things happened in this episode & I am glad they have not dragged any aspect of the story till now. The preview seemed interesting because seems like Hashim is going to regret his decision of rejecting Annie as he seemed disturbed hearing about Annie’s marriage. Even though I myself dislike the continuous rants of Huma but oh boy! Rohaan’s mother takes the crown for being a despicable person. Huma’s just a mother who often tends to get agitated as she’s worried for her daughter but the negativity Rohaan’s mother has been spreading is a whole new level. I think soon after the wedding Annie will have to face the ordeal in the form of Rohaan’s mother but luckily for her, just because she & Rohaan share the same ideology of life, he’d always protect her & take a stand for her. I can’t wait to see how they form a relation & how the end up changing everyone’s perspective about themselves. Please share your thoughts on this perfect episode. :)
Mahira Khan, has quashed all speculations about her signing a big ticket Bollywood film alongside actor Ranveer Singh.
“Even I’ve heard about these reports, and I have no clue where they are coming from! There hasn’t even been any such discussion. Of course I’d like to act in a Bollywood film, but right now, there’s nothing substantial to say,” says Khan, who debuted on the big screen three years back with Shoaib Mansoor’s crtically-acclaimed film, Bol.
The VJ-turned-model and actor insists that she’s a private person and is not even on social media. “I’ve no clue who’s giving out false information regarding me signing Bollywood films, I’m not even on Twitter or Facebook… There are false handles in my name,” she says, adding, “You know my brother tells me, ‘Do you not even care if people are giving out wrong information about you on social media and that too in your name?’ He says that I stay in a hole with walls around.”
Khan, however, is a fan of Bollywood films and actors. Ask her who’s her favourite, and she shyly says, “There are many, but I’d be cheating on Shahrukh Khan if I don’t take his name. It is like a 13-year loyalty for him that’s here to stay.”
Films, apart, it’s TV dramas where Khan has carved her niche — her debut being alongside one of Pakistan’s most popular actors, Fawad Khan. “I was new and Fawad really helped me out,” she recalls.
With Jackson Heights’ premiere this Friday, many of us are keen to learn more about the plot of the show. Urdu1 has put up a plot summary for Jackson Heights & released some promotional posters.
‘The story revolves around the inhabitants of Jackson Heights, New York. The drama focuses on the issues, emotions and problems of Pakistanis living abroad.
Our protagonist, Salma is struggling with her life, waiting for the day all her problems will come to an end.
Our hero, Imran on the other hand is just killing time. Although he came to America with lots of dreams, reality turned bitter when he married a local girl who never respects him. His life is the same until he meets Salma.
Things change when Imran’s nephew moves to New York despite of his discouragement. Jamshed, a young student has the similar dreams.
Will Imran fall for Salma? Will Salma come out of her miserable life with the help of Imran? Will Jamshed survive in the harsh realities of New York? As the story moves forward, every character has to choose between love and family.’
Promotional Posters:
Urdu1 is also holding a live chat with Aamina Sheikh on the day of the premiere.
The promotional posters for the characters aren’t too creative but I’m looking forward to the show.
For those who need a reminder, Jackson Heights is premiering this Friday (September 19th) at 9 PM on Urdu1.
Let me know if you’re watching and any other thoughts in the comments below :)
-H.S
*Note: The plot summary taken from Urdu1’s site has been edited to avoid major spoilers.
Abid Ali was a legend and an asset for our country having vast experience of working in different mediums of acting theater, film and television. Abid Ali played many memorable roles and directed/produced worth remembering dramas in a career spawning over four decades. Like Abid, his talented family members are also active as artists.
Abid Ali
Abid Ali is born and raised in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, though he got fame from dramas of PTV Lahore centre. Abid started his career from Radio Quetta in early 1970’s, which was the sole media opportunity in then small town of Quetta. Pakistan television Quetta center was inaugurated in 1974, but before that Abid had migrated to Lahore the cultural center of Pakistan. Abid’s first famous play was Jhok Sayal in 1973-74 from PTV Lahore centre. In Jhok Sayal Abid was paired with Humera Chaudhry. Humera Chaudhry was a new face at that time, who also provided vocals for few songs in films of that era.
After Jhok Sayal, Abid starred in numerous mega serials of PTV Lahore center like Waaris (1978-79), Hazaron Rastay (1985-86), Piyaas (1987), Suraj Kay Saath Saath (1987), Khawahish (1990) and many others. Abid Ali also worked in many films in supporting and side roles throughout 1980’s and 1990’s.
In 1989, television entered a new era when first private terrestrial channel NTM (Network Television Marketing) was launched thus ending monopoly of PTV over television transmission. NTM encouraged many independent producers to make dramas which introduced television audience to new subjects which otherwise were restricted on PTV. Abid Ali is a prominent name, who invested in infant private drama productions to strengthen its future. Abid produced many successful dramas like Dooriyan(1991), Dasht(1994), Doosra Aasman (1997),Pinjra (1999), Hawa Pe Raqs (2002) most of which were successful. Abid Ali experimented with new subjects and ideas in all these dramas. Dooriyan was based on a novel of Sidney Sheldon, Dasht was the story of a tribal environment in Balochistan, while Doosra Aasman was first Pakistani drama shot in UAE, which was based on Pakistani expatriates in UAE. Similarly Hawa Pe Raqs was story covering the circus workers. Abid also introduced many new faces through his productions like Atiqa Odho, Asad Malik in Dasht, Nida Mumtaz in Dooriyan, Iman Ali, Zeeshan Sikandar in Pinjra and Moammer Rana in Hawa Pe Raqs. Abid also starred in all these dramas in character roles performing memorable roles of his career.
In early 2000 a new era of private satellite channels started, which provided vast opportunities to television professionals. Abid Ali continued production but unlike 1990’s now he mostly produced commercial stuff mainly soap dramas. Abid Ali partnered another television artist named Syed Mukhtar for the production house Gold Bridge Media. Their production house produced many soaps and serials the most famous of which was Maasi Aur Malika on Geo TV.
Abid Ali married Humera Chaudhry in mid 1970’s after success of their drama Jhok Sayal. The couple has three daughters Maryam Ali, Iman Ali and Rehma Ali. In mid 2000’s Abid Ali married for the second time with another television artist Rabia Noreen. Since mid 2000’s Abid Ali lives in Karachi with Rabia Noreen, while Humera Abid Ali and his daughters live in Lahore.
Humera Chaudhry (Humera Abid Ali)
Humera Chaudhry started her career as a singer and also acted in few television plays around 1973-74. Humera’s younger sister Shama Chaudhry was also an artist. Paired with Abid Ali, Jhok Sayal in 1974 was the most successful play of Humera. After success of Jhok Sayal, many critics predicted a bright career for the Humera in both films and television. But the on-screen pair of Jhok Sayal decided to be one in real life too. Despite strong opposition from her father, Humera finally married Abid Ali. Humera quit acting and singing thus sacrificing her career for this marriage.
Despite few ups and downs mainly due to financial difficulties, both Humera and Abid have always kept their family life private by maintaining a distance from media. Humera made a comeback in singing, when she provided vocals for OST’s and songs of dramas produced by Abid Ali in 1990’s like Dasht and Doosra Aasman
Upon second marriage of Abid Ali in mid 2000’s, Humera expressed her disappointment in few press interviews. After the second marriage of Abid Ali, Humera resumed her acting career in dramas and performed many supporting roles. She played a memorable role in drama Asghari Akbari of Hum Tv as BatoolaN. Humera also played a minor role in film Bol, and is also working in upcoming film Kambakht.
Shama Chaudhry
Shama Chaudhry is younger sister of Humera Abid Ali and sister in law of Abid Ali. Shama started her acting career after mid 1970’s. Shama appeared in supporting roles in many dramas fom PTV Lahore centre till mid 1980’s. After marriage Shama Chaudhry also quit acting in 1980’s.
Maryam Ali
Maryam Ali is eldest daughter of Abid Ali and Humera Abid Ali. Maryam is an amateur artist, who worked in few serious theater plays in Lahore.
Iman Ali
Iman Ali has been a leading model who is also successful in acting. Iman Ali is known for doing selective work. Iman started her career from modeling. One of her earliest drama was Pinjra(1999) produced by her father Abid Ali. Her first major introduction was appearance in video of Abrarul Haq’s song Saannu tere naal pyar ho gaya opposite Meekal Zulfiqar. On television Iman appeared in several dramas, mostly in glamorous roles. Her famous dramas are Jaye Kahan Yeh Dil (Geo Tv), Qismat (Geo TV), Dil Day Ke Jayenge(Geo Tv). Iman’s debut film was critically acclaimed Khuda Ke Liye in 2007. Iman Ali starred with another debutant Fawwad Khan and also won the Lux Style Award in the subsequent year. After Khuda Ke Liye, Iman Ali decided to do selective work. Bol in 2011 was her next major venture.
Rehma Ali
The youngest daughter of Abid Ali and Humera Abid Ali, Rehma is also active in acting and singing. Rehma has worked in several dramas in different roles. Nail Polish was her debut drama on ATV. As a singer Rehma is also part of Coke Studio Season 7 which will be aired in coming days.
Rabia Noreen
Rabia Noreen started her acting career from PTV Karachi center’s drama Zeenat which was written by Fatima Surriya Bajiya. Despite success of Zeenat, Rabia took a break from acting after marriage. Her first marriage was not successful and thereafter she also worked as air-hostess. Rabia returned to acting from drama Babar in 1996 in which she played the role of second wife of Babur (played by Shabbir Jaan). Since her return Rabia mostly appears in negative roles. Rabia married Abid Ali in mid 2000’s. It was second marriage of both Abid Ali and Rabia Noreen and now both live in Karachi.
Humera Chaudhry and Abid Ali, in drama Jhok Sayyal of PTV Lahore center in 1974
Before wrapping up, here is a song from past in the voice of Humera Abid Ali from drama Dasht shot in the rugged terrain of Gawaddar, Balochistan. It was the first ever drama shot in the remote area of Gawaddar in 1993, when it was a small fishermen town without basic infrastructure. Till this day it is the most successful drama made in the background of Balochistan, a province otherwise neglected by our media. Dasht is indeed an all time classic drama of Pakistan which introduced Attiqa Odho. It was also the first successful drama of Nauman Ejaz in lead role.
Here is a duet in the voice of Humera Abid Ali, Rabab Kehta Hai from drama Dasht shot on Attiqa Odho and Nauman Ejaz.
Credits:
Vocals: Humera Abid Ali, Ameer Ali
Music: Wajid Ali Nashad
Artists: Nauman Ejaz (as Balach) and Attiqa Odho (as Shah Taaj)
Here is a clipping of OST of drama Doosra Aasman in the voice of Humera Abid Ali. It was the first drama shot in UAE, focusing on Pakistani expatriates there working in various fields. So the tune of OST has a traditional Arabic touch.
https://vimeo.com/106211787
Credits:
Vocals by Humera Abid Ali
Music: Wajid Ali Nashad.
The ever green punjabi song Menu Dharti Qali Kara De in the voice of Humera Chauhdary in 1973. The song achieved the folk status and is sung at festivals, weddings and other joyous occasions in Punjab. The lyrics were provided by legendary Punjabi poet Ustaad Daaman, a rare occasion as he always avoided writing lyrics for filmi songs. The song has been remixed by many artists afterwards like Tahira Syed, Shahida Mini but the original one was in the voice of Humera Chaudhry who in 1973 was a young voice starting her career as a singer and actor.
https://vimeo.com/106212856
Credits
Film: Ghairat Da Nishan
Voice: Humera Chaudhary
Lyrics: Ustaad Daaman
Music: Ghulam Shabbir Hussain (aka Kaalay Khan)
Artists: Rozina and Yousaf Khan
Director: Hassan Askari
Thanks for reading. Do share your memories and experiences regarding contributions of Abid Ali and his family members.
There aren’t many official actors’ / actresses’ accounts on twitter so making this list was not exactly easy. But here they are, the actors and actresses who are most popular on twitter:
Top 5 actors:
1.Faysal Qureshi: 125k followers
2. Adeel Hashmi: 77.5k followers
3. Imran Abbas: 33.3k followers
4. Fawad Khan: 30.6k followers.
5. Hamza Ali Abbasi: 17.k followers
This is the only official twitter account of HAA, @iamhamzaabbasi . Please unfollow other accounts.
Many Pakistani artists have made their debut in Indian film industry this year, including Humaima Malik, Fawwad Khan and Imran Abbas. Ali Zafar who is already working in Indian movies has also completed his work in upcoming film named Kill Dil. The film also stars Parineeti Chopra and Ranveer Singh as well as Ali Zafar. Kill Dil will release on 14th November 2014.
Here the posters of this movie featuring Ali Zafar.
Coke Studio Season 7 will now start from 21st September 2014. Scheduled for a September 7th launch the show was postponed possibly due to political uncertainty. The Season 7 is directed by Strings, whereas Rohail Hayyat who directed previous six seasons is not part of current season.
Season 7 will feature some prominent names like Aabida Parveen, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abbas Ali Khan, Abrarul Haq, Akhtar Chhanal Zahri, Fariha Parvez, Humera Channa, Jawwad Ahmed, Komal Rizvi, Meesha Shafi, Rehma Ali, Sajjad Ali, Sanam Saeed, Rachel Viccaji, Sara Haider, Zohaib Hassan and others.
Cricketer Muhammad Aamir has also tied the knot. He has married a British girl of Pakistan origin named Nargis. A simple nikaah ceremony is held in Lahore yesterday where both Nargis and Aamir decided to be life partners. The formal marriage ceremony (rukhsati) is expected after two years after completion of education of Nargis.
Muhammad Aamir is currently serving a five year ban due to spot fixing in a cricket match.
Sonam Kapoor and Fawad Khan are on a world tour nowadays to promote their upcoming Bollywood venture “Khoobsurat”. Sonam Kapoor however will not be able to come to Pakistan to promote Khoobsurat because according to the Indian newspaper The Times of India “”prior work commitments will keep actress Sonam Kapoor away from the promotion of her forthcoming film in Pakistan.”
Sonam Kapoor however is going to try her best to promote her film in Pakistan by giving as many interviews to Pakistani media as possible and also by recording a video message. “I was going to Pakistan [earlier]. But [now] I am recording a message and I am doing as much [interviews with] Pakistani media as I can to promote the film,” said Sonam while talking to Times Of India.
Sajjal Ali has been working with Feroze Khan for a few months now shooting the upcoming play ‘Chup Raho’. The play has been directed by Yasir Nawaz. The rumor that Sajal and Feroze were involved with each other started when Feroze Khan posted a picture of him with Sajjal Ali and wrote with it “When you know it’s right <3″. Feroze Khan is Humaima and Dua Malik’s brother.
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Sajjal Ali was also seen in the family pictures that were taken on Dua Malik’s marriage ceremonies. The latest news is that this cute couple is very serious about their relationship and they are getting engaged soon. While Feroze Khan has just started his showbiz career, Sajjal Ali has already made a good name for herself by working very hard. We wish the love birds all the best.
Na Maloom Afraad has to be one of the most awaited films of this year. The teasers of the film show the amazing chemistry between the actors, the theme of the film looks interesting and now the teaser of the latest song evidently shows that it will have a romantic element too. Until now Mehwish Hayat’s item number in the film has been the talk of the town but the latest song shows that there will be some good songs in the film also. Urwa is playing the leading role in the film along with Fahad Mustafa. This is going to be Fahad Mustafa’s first film which the viewers will be seeing on the big screen. Urwa was asked in an interview if she was feeling awkward because Mehwish Hayat until now had been getting much more attention than her but she said that she did not feel that way because she had a substantial role in the film.
I have said it before and I will say it again; are we not done with two sisters being jealous of each other? No matter how many pretty faces we put in, the story will remain to be the same. The drama sells but please find something new, because one more play where one sister is pissed off at the other one and I am going to pull my own eyeballs out. There are shows which promise something new and still remain loyal to the ideas of creativity and originality, but then there are some like ‘Mausam’ and ‘Meray Meharbaan’; which don’t even try in the thinnest to be different.
Mausam is our drama industry’s latest stint on sister rivalry, the only difference; this time they are cousins and not siblings. The story of this play is so cliché that I cannot even judge the performances of the actors involved, it is hysterical now that people can even predict the next line an actor is going to say and the expression an actor is going to have. When this scenario starts to happen; where even the tiniest emotion of an actor is so predictable, the producers and all the team needs to head back to drawing board and come up with something new from scratch. Well as for now; that is not going to happen and we have to stick around watching two women tussle with a rich blue eyed boy; and guess what it is the run of the mill story sweetheart Ahsan Khan. The acting capabilities of this actor have been debated in past for the longest as he juggled with two totally different hairdos in his recent play ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ and mood swings in ‘Mujhay Khuda Pay Yakeen Hai’ which by the way the way tested the audience more so than ever. The play and its premise if seen in isolation from its predecessors might impress, but then again we have had two rival siblings so much that ignoring the past stints is next to impossible. The drama holds a beautiful array of actors, and most of all it has Yumna Zaidi. I respect Yumna because she gained massive respect in my opinion because of her mind numbing and stellar performance in ‘Ullu Barai Farokht Nahi’. I know that such plays are not routine and don’t pay well, but I still believe Yumna has incredible capacity to impress out of all the actors in ‘Mausam’.
Such plays do sell and many people do watch it, but I still believe that no matter how many times we try to do it; we shall never be able to make it any better. It has been done in so many forms, that now stories of sister rivalry is nothing more than a recipe of boredom and in near future; disaster. The problem is as the stories continue on the same premise; the characters have become far more polarized than ever before. This polarization has led to disconnect between the audience and the storytelling; whereas the previous plays in this premise allowed the audience to connect with the character; the current ones are taking their characters far from reality. Either it is Miss Very Good Two Shoes or Its Miss Cruela on the other end, or as little as I know, making your characters completely devoid of any humanity and frailty is not going to help. The story needs to be geyer than stark black and white, and perhaps the best example recently was when ‘Pyaray Afzal’ became our heartbeat. We loved him not because he was the hero; we loved him because he was a human above all. He did not play a messiah but he was a character which made some really bad decisions but along with everything there was a silver lining. I guess people who write shows like ‘Mausam’ need some writing and idea classes from Khalil Ur Rahman Qamar.
The other show which never ceases to impress me with lack of creativity is ‘Meray Meharbaan’. The most surprising thing to me is the fact that Ayeza Khan happens to be the lead. After her previous impression in ‘Pyaray Afzal’; I believed that she will be moving from strength to strength, but I was proved wrong when I saw ‘Meray Meharbaan’. It takes you a while to digest what is happening in the show. There is an aunty who is pure evil with a husband you pity and then there is another aunty who is like super good with a family which is like super pious. I just don’t buy this story, it is perhaps the biggest headache on air at the moment, and to make it worse it is on Hum TV. I don’t know why HUM thought it would be okay to have such show on the air. Hum has given us shows which we cannot forget, but believe me this is perhaps the most questionable choice after the calamity known as ‘Mujhay Khuda Pay Yakeen Hai’. The story is beyond predictable, the characters and their emotions are then again so typecast that you don’t end up feeling anything for them. Ayeza’s engagement so early on in the show was doomed and well there were no surprises.
The reason I mentioned these two shows is that since the rebirth of Pakistani television; I envisioned that shows will become more compelling with the time being. They indeed have and we have numerous examples, but when shows like ‘Mausam’ and ‘Meray Meharbaan’ take the central position in the prime time slot, I doubt there is any genuine intention on part of the producer to keep on this spectacular revival of our television industry. Hum TV needs to give up its complacency and learn from its rivals. As Ary smashed with ‘Pyaray Afzal’, ATV inspired with ‘Marasim’, ‘Pechan’ and ‘Aun Zara’ and Urdu One impressed with ‘Meray Hum Dum Meray Dost and promises ‘Jackson Heights’; there is a strong competition ahead for HUM which became the juggernaut of revival of television in Pakistan. The first step; thinking of something new.
What luck! Never knew on such a bright sunny day & after such a good night’s sleep, I’d have to tune to this moronically depressing episode. You really know you have no sympathy for the characters when you end up smiling at a death scene. Chalo! One’s down & there was a chance of getting to two but seems like Bumble Bee transferred her luck to Haya & she was alive.
Looks like everyone in this drama was blaming everyone else for their mistakes. Awazaar blamed Sofia for making that ‘jaanleva, jaanlevaaa, teri har ada sitam hai, oh jaanleva’ phone call to Bumble Bee. Shireen Apa blamed Awazaar for getting married to Haya whereas she was the one who played the role of being a rishte karanay wali aunty & got them both hitched. Looks like no one in this drama is capable of standing by the mistakes they’ve done & find it really easy to blame others for things they have to go through as a consequence of their own doing. Awazaar actually accepted that he was responsible for hurting Bee Jaan but seems like he didn’t mean what he said because we later saw him calling Sofia ‘mujrim’, ‘tang dil’ & the epic ‘zehreeli’, who dass-ed Bee Jaan because of which she died. Haha! I really don’t understand that what did Sofia do to hear it all? All she did was to introduce herself as Mrs. Awazaar to Bumble Bee that too at a point where she was carrying Baby Awazaar, so how does it make her a culprit?
I really don’t think getting married on your own is such a big sin where someone can cast your out for it? I must say Bumble Bee’s timing was really cool, she woke up & said things she wanted to & then opted for a long sleep. Followed by Shireen Apa’s reaction to Awazaar’s marriage. I am guessing Bumble Bee never really got a chance to know exactly that Sofia was an Indian-Christian, so what made her so upset? She has loved Awazaar to a blinding point so at least she should’ve given him a benefit of doubt to explain himself because when you first hear her name, Sofia sounds pretty Pakistani to me, right? Looks like Bumble Bee, being a lazy-bee, was in a hurry to wrap up her role so that she could rest, hence she made such a hasty decision. LOL!
This episode in particular had so many flaws & faults that it clearly showed the disinterest of the creative team behind this drama. Seems like aahista aahista they got over the junoon of making Aahista Aahista & starting making such silly mistakes. For starters, which airport’s parking lot looks like a parking of the construction site? Shireen Apa was sitting exactly in the same position when Safeer Bhai started calling Awazaar thinking he must’ve reached by now. FYI, Safeer Bhai, Awazaar took a flight to USA & not to Dhok Hassu. & the ultimate bad editing of the bad background in one of the scenes which could’ve been shot at a proper Amreekan location so why the need of an edited backdrop?
The only thing that could’ve bound Sofia & Awazaar was Baby Awazaar but now when the baby’s gone, I doubted their relation having a chance & I was proven right in the preview of next episode that Sofia might file for a divorce & the timing will once again support Awazaar as he’ll stumble upon Haya. I think next episode might be the last, I mean I really hope it is, but now when I come to think of it, what message did the drama writer try to give? May be it was more like a lesson to teach to all those Non-Pakistani ladies who might fall for Pakistani men, showing them that no matter how much time & love you’d invest in your relationship, a Pakistani man would only be loyal to a Pakistani woman & her parathas? Is that what she was trying to tell? I am actually shocked to see the production team wasting such a huge amount of money at such a pathetic story & they actually had the guts to turn this hideous script into a drama, LOL! I wish it ends soon, as abb to hasi bhi nahi aati.
Aap Ki Kaneez is a new drama of Geo Tv starting from Monday, 15 September 2014. It is produced by A&B productions, directed by Amir Yousaf and written by Faiza Iftikhar. Its cast includes Shamim Hilali, Atiqa Odho, Aly Khan,Yumna Zaidi, Sohail Asghar, Gul-e-Rana, Ayesha Toor, Mohammad Ali Khan, Zainab Jameel.Farah Nadir and Iman – Child Artist.
Aap Ki Kaneez is the story of a girl who is married to a man who is still in love with his dead wife. Our KANEEZ has to sacrifice almost everything in order to gain the respect from her in-laws. The role of Kaneez is played by Yumna Zaidi, who is appearing in a humble role after a long time.