What is it that makes a talk show interesting? Guests come and go but for me, it is mostly the host that determines my willingness to stay tuned. Finally with Hum Sitaray’s latest presentation of a late night talk show, I can almost say, I’m in it for the long haul. Hassan Shehreyaar Yaseen managed to stay on top of things- granted he is a brand entity but his guests are probably two of Pakistani televisions most popular celebrities who shot to fame with the unforgettable Humsafar. Yes, that’s right, in the very first episode, the viewers were delighted to see the drama couple on screen once again. The set was made to look like the guests walked into HSY’s home- the lighting was a little on the dark side but overall, I quite liked the set. It was different and maybe that’s what kept me interested. The host wasn’t someone I was familiar with- I’ve caught the odd snippet of HSY but I’ve never really sat through an interview so I really didn’t know what to expect. His comfort with both English as well as Urdu was a definite plus point- I think one of the most critical aspects of hosting is being able to effectively communicate and here again, the show scored. His choice of wardrobe was again a big thumbs up- but then again, you’d expect nothing less from a fashion icon.

After a quick intro, where HSY mentioned the very first time he met Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan backstage at a fashion show, our guests settled in. The last time these two were seen together was on Tuc- The Lighter Side of Life where Fawad Khan was overly concerned with keeping up appearances. I’m so glad that he came out of his shell after the initial awkward silence. Fawad Khan’s repertoire of one-liners was genuinely funny which only proves that he’s a completely different person off-camera. His candidness over suggesting she can do a love song with Shafqat Cheema had me in splits. Mahira felt the need to clarify to all her fans that her age is incorrectly mentioned on Wikipedia and she has not turned 30 yet- I didn’t really understand why she did that- as Fawad said, “Age is nothing but a number”. Mahira and HSY took turns enacting Fawad’s cool-and-composed rehearsed replies that lightened the mood. Although HSY didn’t really pry into their personal lives, he did ask Mahira about the man in her life to which she predictably replied that it was her 4 year old son. There have been plenty of rumors about her divorce but I’m glad they didn’t delve into details. When asked about their teenage memories, Mahira recollected her humbling experiences of working a minimum wage job at a store where she had a wide range of duties ranging from managing the cash register to mopping floors. Fawad too mentioned he had limited pocket money allotted to him and that kept him grounded.

The rest of the show was split into challenges where Mahira and Fawad had to compete for a gift voucher worth PKR 50,000 from Contradictions. HSY urged them not to over-think the answers since it would kill the momentum. The first round “Love or Not Love” was clearly fishing for controversy. Both of them were shown 10 pictures each and they had to mention whether they love them or not. Fawad avoided commenting on a picture of Nawaaz Sharif but Mahira responding to all ten. I felt there was a bit of sloppy editing because HSY had initially mentioned there will be 3 rounds but after the first round, there was a segment where he asked them to rate actors- that felt like it belonged in the initial getting to know them phase. Round two was “Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum” where they received a call and in 30 seconds they had to guess who the caller was. The sound quality of the calls was extremely poor and I could barely hear anything. I hope they improve on this as it was a damper. The final round “Mein Khilaari Tu Anaari” was the best of the three. Fawad and Mahira each had to ask the other 5 questions and one of the funniest ones was where Fawad asked Mahira to translate the lyrics “The world is made of brass”- Yeh Duniya Pittal Di! Mahira emerged victorious and used the analogy of her return in Humsafar to the feeling of beating Fawad to his game. But towards the end, Fawad got back in the game by poking fun at Mahira’s Urdu- Purey show mein ek pehla jumla bola hai joh Urdu mein hai… “Support” Urdu mein kya hota hai? Soch lo, koi jaldi nahin hai…

Even though both Fawad and Mahira are exceptionally popular, they are more than keen to keep their fans at bay- as Mahira stated “Just watch our shows and leave us alone”. Neither use any social media platforms although Mahira assured her fans that after the show, she intends on creating a twitter account- The Real Mahira Khan to stay connected to her fans. Fawad sporadically interacts on a facebook page. I think it’s important to remember that even though we have various means to stay connected, celebrities really feel overwhelmed by the stalking nature of their fans and their inquisitiveness over their private lives. Overall, the show was engaging. If I were to compare it to the last talk show I saw (Tuc- The Lighter Side of Life), it was definitely a few notches above. But it’s too early to determine the fate of this one although the force is strong with this one. I’m curious about the choice of channel- why not HUM TV? I was under the impression that Hum Sitarey aired only repeats and Indian and Turkish serials. Sultana Siddiqui is one of the show’s executive producers so I’m thinking she might have had her reasons. Did you watch the first episode? What are your thoughts?

P.S. If there are any fashion experts out there, please tell me what you thought of Mahira’s sari.

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

HSY invited two celebrities from the golden era of Pakistani cinema tonight- Javed Sheikh & Resham. As pretty as her outfit was, she was a little too overdressed for a talk show. Again, who is responsible for the styling and make-up? Masla kya hai? Is it too much to expect a designer of HSY’s stature to have a say in the outfits worn by the guests on his show?

Getting back to the show, Javed Sahab recounted his journey that has spanned over 40 years. He spoke about the highs and lows, the achievements and the failures and has decided to write an autobiography titled Journey of Passion. His story begins in Rawalpindi where he was passionate about becoming a hero so much so that he stole money from his father and decided to run away to Lahore. Fortunately for him, his father caught him in time and seeing his drive, took him to Karachi where he not only completed his studies, he also got his foot in the door in the industry. Today, he is considered as one of the most accomplished actors of the industry who has also worked alongside Bollywood bigwigs like Shahrukh Khan yet he remains as humble as ever. Not only is he widely known and loved by his many fans across Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, his family has ventured into the industry and made a name for themselves. The Sheikhs are a family dynasty if HSY is to be believed! Although as far as I know, both Momal Sheikh and Shehzad sheikh have yet to make an impact.

Resham was the second guest tonight and she began by graciously thanking HSY for his choice of words while introducing her and also credited HSY as having taught her how to walk the ramp. Resham spoke about her career, her relationships with her co-actors and how competition drives people to work harder. She stated that politicians have taken over and seem heavily inspired by Maula Jatt. She accepted her temper as being one of her flaws yet made it a point to state that humans aren’t perfect and will experience moments of rage every now and then. HSY’s comment over actresses being blessed with perpetual youth was a rather bold knock but Resham stated that the audience isn’t foolish and know better than to believe such statements. She mentioned she has fallen in love twice and life goes on even if one were to be unsuccessful at attaining love- Ishq nakaam sahi zindagi nakaam nahin…

The contests started with Love or Don’t Love and this time HSY didn’t pry into the answers. Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum had Babloo calling in for Resham and Behroze Sabzwari calling in for Javed Sheikh. Finally, in the last round, Javed Sahab was in the lead with all correct answers and Resham had an opportunity to mimic not just one but two actresses- Meera and Reema. As a parting note, Resham mentioned that the new entrants in the industry need to learn to respect their seniors and Javed Sheikh added that they should also work on their professionalism instead of throwing around attitude. What did you think about this latest episode?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

One of my favorite things about this show is the variety. There are many hits and misses yet I can’t help but appreciate the celebrity guests on the show. HSY brought forth fashion icon Iman Ali and the photographer par excellence- Shehzad Raza. I did a double take when I saw Iman walk in. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Alishba Yusuf. Iman looks gorgeous on screen but she looked very shabby on the show. Removing her shoes and having her legs up on the couch didn’t help either. One of the most surprising revelations was her lack of self-esteem. She thinks of herself as ugly and suffers from bouts of depression. She is anti-social for the most part and fears getting close to people who may see her ugliness! She agreed to the interview because of HSY and took it a little to casually- aaj toh hum shughal laga rahey hain… Iman spoke about her films, her preference to work with Shoaib Mansoor and her hopes for taking up comedy/ action roles in the near future. She has been vocal about women’s issues and shared her own story of living with MS (multiple sclerosis), a debilitating disease but one she’s tackling without medication. She said every illness starts with the mind and once you can program your mind, you are on the road to recovery. She mentioned that she has a small support system which is why she is eager to bounce back with good health and continue working.

Shehzad Raza, known as a king-maker came across as very down-to-earth. He felt there’s no pleasing people but he tries his best to remain politically correct. Shehzad said that it infuriated him to be known as Ather-Shehzad but he eventually became accustomed to it. In recent times, there has been a massive trend of people turning to photography but Shehzad Raza feels the DSLR cameras do not make one a professional- talent nahin agaya, yeh toh technology ka kamaal hai! He added that social media has turned many people into overnight celebrities due to their interactions on the likes of facebook and twitter. Many of them lack talent but have seen a boost in their popularity due to social media. Shehzad has introduced his own master make-up collection with Lucious Cosmetics– a feat he is extremely proud of. Similar to last week, Sheru asked what they had to say to the following:

Ayaan– Shehzad said wapas ajao magar zara patli hokay and Iman added that she needs to change her hairstyle. As a model, it’s a deal-breaker to maintain the same hairstyle for that long.

Imran Khan– Shehzad said that he should curb his enthusiasm and Iman felt the same- thori aqalmandi se kaam liya karein… zara easy hojayein.

Tapu Javeri– Shehzad said that he should do more work and Iman said she doesn’t really know him but she is a fan of the work he has done with Vaneeza and Amna Haq- her inspirations for taking up this line of work.

The contests started with Love or Don’t Love and both of them didn’t shy away from responding on those they didn’t love. Iman was first and she said she didn’t love Shaan as a person since they share a love/ hate relationship but as an actor, she feels no one can match his screen presence. She also named Imtiaz Ali and Nazaw Sharif as people she doesn’t love but didn’t state any reasons for her dislike. Shehzad named Nabila Maqsood, Jahan-e-Khalid, Sahir Lodhi and Shehbaz Sharif as people in the Don’t Love Category but later clarified himself and said Shehbaz Sharif has done wonders for his city and Nabila he doesn’t know on a personal level. Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum had Faraz Manan calling in for Iman and Natasha calling in for Shehzad. Finally, the last round presented an opportunity for Iman to mimic Meera and she went all out. I don’t care how casual one may be but when you’re invited to a show, there is an expectation to be presentable. I was surprized by Iman’s chilled out attitude- even more when she said she does the same at high-end restaurants! I think these things can easily be edited since these are not live shows and moreover, the guests stick to a script of sorts. What were your thoughts about this episode?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Khoob baney gi jab mil behthein gein deewaney do… You can’t go wrong with pairing two wacky celebrities who’ve judged Pakistan Idol and created quite the buzz. Having not watched Pakistan Idol myself, I really didn’t know how these were on the sets but HSY brought them together and other than that, these two guests pretty much took over the show. Bushra Ansari was the first guest- draped in a bright red sari complete with red lipstick, nail color and bangles, Bushra rendered HSY speechless. After all, what’s a fashion designer to do when such a fashion disaster walks up to him and that too on his show? I almost felt sorry for him.

Bushra spoke about her tryst with singing, her colorful personality (surprize, surprize!) and her fond memories of being part of the hit trio with Anwar Maqsood and Moin Akhar. The next guest was Paaney as Bushra called him- Ali Azmat. Ali spoke about his feminine side after being on Pakistan Idol with Bushra Ansari and Hadiqa Kiyaani– hum behnein hein aapas mein saari… mein bhi aurat hi ban chuka houn… He spoke about the declining music industry in Pakistan which is one of the reasons he hasn’t produced any new labels. It was interesting to hear his take on iTunes and the fact that releasing music on iTunes will not suffice since a huge chunk of his followers are still accustomed to audio tapes/ cds. I liked his analogy for aisa thori hai ke nalka khola aur paani aaya to express how artists struggle with depression.

The bad boy of music is now a father of two but he claims his transition was a forced one. The comfort level between these two (despite their age difference) was quite evident with the constant nok- jhok… Abhi bhi yeh chance maar rahi hein… Kharbuzay ko dekhkey kharbuza rang pakarta hai… Ali admitted that his image on Pakistan Idol was one created by the director and editors for the sake of ratings- he was prompted to be bataameez! When asked about their stance on social media, Bushra admitted that she sparingly uses it on which Ali commented- sachi baat bataye na, aapko computer use nahin karna aata hai! Ali has taken a sabbatical from twitter since he feels he pissed off enough fans with his outspoken tweets and random musings.

Next was the competition rounds- Love or Don’t Love is fast becoming a breeding ground for controversy. Bushra replied H.A.T.E to a pic of Meera but later explained that it was not her but rather her image that puts her off. When it was Ali’s turn, he responded with a Love, NOT to Sahir Lodhi, Salman Ahmed and Asif Ali Zardari- I was expecting HSY to pry about his rift with Salman Ahmed but for some reason he let it pass. Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum had Emu and Javed Sheikh call in. Bushra Ansari got an opportunity to express her musical side and I was disappointed that HSY didn’t think to ask Ali Azmat to sing. The last round was playful and one of Ali’s response that stood out was about PML ka functional nishaan to which he answered Lota!

A much better episode than last week but I couldn’t help myself thinking what was Sheru’s contribution in making this episode a success? The guests pretty much kept the conversations flowing with their incessant use of Punjabi, their witty one-liners and shared memories. HSY was content taking a backseat and I think it’s high time he finds himself a good writer who will help him add some value to the conversations with upcoming guests. What did you think?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Episode 2 and I must say HSY has kept the momentum high by inviting another two celebrities with a huge fan base- the ravishing Ayesha Khan and the newest heartthrob, Hamza Ali Abbassi. This time around, he invited them one after another giving some extra time to chat with Ayesha Khan before Hamza joined them. For a moment, I was taken aback to see the camaraderie shared between these two but then I had an epiphany- they worked together on WAAR. I guess they go back a long way- HSY stated that he`s known Ayesha Khan for years before she started her career. Okay, time for my rant- what is it about our actresses and their insistence on being under 30? Ayesha Khan felt the need to mention that she started working 12 years ago at the age of 17 which makes her 29… I feel irrespective of their age, these actors have come a long way and should be confident enough to put aside clarifying how old they are.

HSY was cheeky enough to bring up the one question that clearly annoys her most. I liked the way she responded by being realistic yet not giving away anything- marriage is on the cards for her- not just yet. Hamza too stated he’s not dating anyone seriously- or is that just the way celebrities roll? I think as much as the fans love knowing about their favorites, there is an aspect of their private lives that they want to keep hidden. I was surprized to find out that Ayesha Khan is not on any social media platform- the twitter account which has one of the highest number of followers is not hers! Hamza, however, is very active on facebook and he regularly updates his status.
It was interesting to know that Hamza has trained with the Police force and he gave a huge shout out to the brave men who keep us safe. It was his mother’s wish to see her son as a uniformed officer and he went ahead just to prove to himself that he is capable of undergoing the rigorous training but that wasn’t the career path he had in mind. Hamza is a very competent actor and he’s also a great mimic. My absolute favorite part of the episode was his mimicry of HSY. He owned it completely- from the hand gestures to the tantrums, he was a delight to watch.

The challenges weren’t as exciting as I would have hoped. Hamza was more than willing to let Ayesha Khan win. I feel the segment “Love or Not Love” is actually pretty pointless. The guests are naturally inclined to avoid controversy and end up stating that they love everyone- except Mathira! I’d like to mention here that both Ayesha and Hamza have oodles of respect for Humayoun Saeed and his name came up quite a few times. I also liked the way both of them were in awe of Emaan Ali. Once again, Round two was “Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum” where they received a call and in 30 seconds they had to guess who the caller was. They really ought to work on improving the sound quality or scraping that segment altogether and replacing it with something else. It is an utter waste of time and frustrating since the viewers can’t really hear anything. The final round “Mein Khilaari Tu Anaari” was better than the predecessors. Ayesha and Hamza each had to ask the other 5 questions and the winner takes all. I don’t get why Bollywood is always being discussed on our shows even though everyone keeps talking about the revival of Pakistani cinema. Why bring up Chulbul Pandey or the lyrics to some random song – “Mein tera amplifier?”

This episode focused more on their work. Hamza Ali Abbassi brought up the topic of why he doesn’t believe in item songs since they do not represent our culture. In the same breath, he mentioned that he has tonnes of respect for Saba Qamar. I’m guessing this episode was filmed prior to the whole “Mardon ki Meera” incident. Overall, it was a good watch but I really feel they should work on the challenge segments- that takes up a chunk of the time that could otherwise be used for more discussions. What are your thoughts about the second episode?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Aamina Sheikh and Sanam Saeed have a lot in common; they are both very comfortable in their own skin, they are multitalented, they have been around for a long time and they do not give interviews on television very often but I never knew that these two stars were such good friends too. I have watched all episodes of Tonite With HSY which have gone on air so far and I must say that I feel that some of the shows are not as spontaneous as one would hope for them to be. Whenever HSY invites celebrities who are his close friends he asks calculated questions which are designed to give a certain type of information which these celebrity guests (probably) want the viewers to hear. Also, I feel that a candid interview is one in which the celebrities do not only share details about their professional life but also talk a little bit about their family life. Even the information which both these guests shared about their professional life just did not seem enough.

I will discuss those points which for me were the highlight of the evening. I absolutely loved Sanam Saeed’s take on whether or not celebrities should get plastic surgery done. She thought that if a minor change in someone’s facial features could affect their career in a good way then they should definitely get it done but if someone is already getting a lot of work then they don’t need to make these changes. She also said that she will never endorse fairness creams or get treatments done to change her complexion no matter what.

Both the actresses talked about breaking stereotypes and I was left wondering what they meant because both of them have been cast in stereotypical roles as well and both of them have played the victim many times. I would have liked to hear more from them about their recent projects and how the experience was, the most recent being Dil Banjara and Pakeeza. Aamina Sheikh’s comment about Urwa and Mawra that they were both the same was funny! There were multiple questions with Humayun Saeed as an option and Urwa and Mawra’s name came up more than once. One thing which the viewers learned was that Sanam Saeed looks up to Saba Qamar and Mahira Khan. Sanam Saeed did a great job guessing the names of the celebrities.

Sanam Saeed and Aamina Sheikh’s answers to all the questions were somewhat similar and personally I feel that if there was a little more diversity in the questions – both of them didn’t have to answer the same questions – the show would have been more interesting. Overall, I would give this particular episode of HSY 5 out of 10 because it missed the chance to explore different dimensions of Sanam Saeed and Aamina’s Sheikh’s professional and family life. Also, the show started with HSY interviewing Shehzad Ghias Sheikh and before going on a commercial break HSY said “I want to know just as much as you do, stay tuned.” which implied that he was going to continue interviewing Shehzad but then he moved to the next segment of the show after the commercial break. I also missed the segment in which he asks his guests to say something about a particular celebrity or asks questions like who was the most overrated actress in the year 2016 or which role they could have played better. Basically, there was a conscious attempt from his side to avoid controversies which showed that every episode of Tonite With HSY is going to be tailor-made to suit his guests’ needs.

How many of you watched this latest episode of Tonite With HSY? Do share your thoughts about it.

In the previous review, I talked about the first three episodes of Tonite with HSY’s second season so here you have the remaining episodes:

•  Sanam Saeed and Junaid Khan

Since a long time I was waiting for Sanam Saeed to appear in a talk show because even though we saw her in Mahira’s talk show, we couldn’t get to know her much. After quite a ‘loud’ episode, this one was considerably decent but I did have an issue with Sanam Saeed and Junaid Khan being called together because yes, I know they’ve worked together in three serials (Mata-e-Jaan Hai Tu, Kadoorat & Firaaq) but they have never had a good on screen chemistry so I was expecting someone else with Sanam Saeed, perhaps Sarwat Gillani?

I must confess that I like the way Sanam Saeed interacts with people – she thinks more, speaks less and even though I haven’t been a diehard fan of hers, I think she is definitely a woman of substance because I love what she had to say about the characters she chooses to portray. She considers it her responsibility to reach out to the headstrong women out there who know what it’s like being a woman in a man’s world and she feels that her non-glamorous roles of an aam si make-up free larki have actually been a ray of hope for the female audiences, ”This woman comes to me and says kay mein nay aap ki wajah say apni studies continue ki.’’ Kashaf from Zindage Gulzar Hai, Bibi from Talkhiyan and Shazia from Mera Naseeb- all these character driven roles promote female empowerment and for Sanam, that’s exactly where her success lies. But yes, she mentioned that she will be appearing in a happy-go-lucky role in her next film, ‘Bachana’.

Sanam is much of a private person and most of her close friends are not her costars. Instead, her childhood friends have always been there with her and I was surprised when HSY disclosed that he too is one of Sanam’s childhood friends. Sanam also mentioned that she was a tomboy and she has never been much conscious about her looks and that’s exactly why she gave up on modeling altogether because, jis din mujhay laga kay mein apnay aap kay baray mein conscious horahi hun, uss din mujhay realize hua kay yeh kaam meray liye nahe hai.

Fans of Sanam-Fawad chemistry in ZGH will be surprised to know that Sanam barely even knows Fawad as a person and you may find them setting the screen on fire but off set, Sanam and Fawad are extremely private people- they keep to themselves and share zero off screen chemistry and according to Sanam, the reason why people found her onscreen chemistry with Fawad so impressive is that it was strictly professional. Talking about Bollywood stars, she said she would like to work with Tabu.

Then came Junaid Khan- to be honest, I was waiting for HSY to ask Junaid to sing a song because even though his acting hasn’t been impressive, I really like some of his songs but to my disappointment, that didn’t happen. Junaid talked about his inability to say, ‘no’ and there were some plays he wouldn’t have opted for in his right frame of mind but he had to simply because he couldn’t say, ‘no’. Junaid considers music to be his first love and he is still very passionate about music, ”music is my expression.’’
Junaid mentioned that he had a hard time learning his lines when he just entered the industry but he is improving with time. When HSY asked how hard it is to handle female fans especially when his wife is around, Junaid mentioned that his wife has always been very supportive of him- jab fans aatay hain tou woh tasweerain le rahi hoti hai!

The segments were pretty much okay but I think the ‘how well do you know the other person’ questions definitely need some improvement.

• Urwa Hocane and Farhan Saeed

And another youthful duo! I would have to admit that yet again, HSY proved to be a very decent host. Even though Urwa-Farhan rumours have spread like wildfire, HSY chose not to pry into their personal lives. Farhan is working on a song, ‘Tu Thori Dair Aur Teher Ja’ and in its video, Farhan appears as a soldier and Urwa is playing his wife so HSY was like, ”yeh kia scene hai?” But the duo played it safe and only talked about the video and HSY didn’t force them to reveal anything about their relationship status which is something I am thankful for.

Urwa talked about her career- she became a VJ at the age of 18 and with the passage of time, she became a small screen actress and now with Na Maloom Afraad, she has made it to the silver screen.

Speaking about the bond between the siblings, Urwah declared that she’s the bossy one, owing to the fact that she is the eldest sibling. Even though both the sisters started their respective careers at the same time, they have never felt like they’re competing, in fact, they prove to be each others’ critics and this positive criticism helps them improve.

Urwa chose to give politically correct answers and had a diplomatic approach towards answering HSY’s questions because the way she puts it, she is already the ‘bad girl of the industry’ probably owing to the fact that she has anger management issues. She talked about a recent fight she had with a director on the set of a commercial. ”If he’s watching, I hate him’’– this was a bit too harsh for someone trying to stay politically correct :P.

Urwa talked fondly of her experience of working in NMA and she mentioned that she worked tirelessly because she was very excited about appearing on the big screen for the first time.

Before proceeding to Farhan Saeed, I must confess that I have been a huge fan of his songs and I really wanted HSY to request Farhan Saeed to sing a song but he didn’t! Khair, HSY questioned him about his decision to leave Jal and without disclosing much, he said that there were some coordination issues and things couldn’t work out anymore. HSY brought up the topic of Atif Aslam and Farhan made it clear that he believes in competing with himself and has never viewed Atif Aslam as his competitor.

Farhan Seed also shared an incident about one of his fans trying to set him up by giving him a pen that turned out to be a pistol. Things got serious as he was stopped at the airport and therefore, he warned all people not to accept anything that comes from a stranger just like that.

All in all, it was a decent episode but as compared to the previous installments, it was a little dull and ‘who should win the gift voucher’ campaign was seriously absurd!

• Fahad Mustafa and Sarwat Gillani

Hayee, just so you know, I wasn’t exactly jumping with joy when Fahad Mustafa appeared in HSY’s show because, well, I am watching Dusri Biwi and that pretty much explains it, right?
But khair, since it’s not fair to judge an actor just because he played a despicable role so I started watching the episode with quite a positive mindset but my my, a very different side of Fahad Mustafa was revealed this time.

Fahad Mustafa studied in Baqai Medical University but he is a university dropout by choice and the only good thing about studying in Baqai was him meeting Sana. Initially, the people he knew didn’t quite believe in him and underestimated his potential but now that he’s a star, he would like to enjoy an I-told-you-so-moment and call these people, ‘Losers!’ Fahad Mustafa talked about fame and declared that if he goes out to buy some bhutta, even the bhuttay wala knows and loves him. He sees himself as a chalti phirti misaal because he struggled and strived to earn a name for himself. He also takes pleasure in the fact that a small city like Larkana is known by the name of Fahad Mustafa and the bottom line is: this man’s a STAR! But when HSY questioned whether this fame has gone to his head, Fahad answered that no, it has actually humbled him. Umm okay, we really need to redefine ‘humble’ now!

He spoke fondly of his relationship with Sana because she has been his best friend and when she’s around, he doesn’t have to pretend at all. He admits he’s quite romantic and shows unique gestures to make her feel special. ”Paisay saaray begum kay paas hotay hain.’’ Then he talked about the birth of his daughter and he admitted that his daughter has changed him in more than ways than one and he even gave up on smoking after her arrival.

Some of the questions from ‘Djuice Connect’ round are actually well-chosen and this time around, a fan asked Fahad Mustafa why he did he start a game show when what he really should be doing is acting. According to Fahad Mustafa, all big TV stars shouldn’t confine themselves to acting and he believes in trying out different things so ghar say nikla tha acting kay liye, but hosting has been a blessing.

Even though he praised both Mehwish Hayat and Iman Ali, he has quite a high opinion of Mehwish Hayat. Since he is a great actor and all, I for one wasn’t expecting him to compare two actresses who are like polar opposites (one is relatively new to the film industry while the other has been doing films for quite some time) but he was like, ‘Mehwish is far more energetic and talented that Iman Ali.’

Then came Sarwat Gillani and I must say, she was glowing! I was soo looking forward to seeing her on the show.

Before talking about anything else, HSY talked about her love for Biryani and seems like Sarwat is a big foodie- she cooks maghaz really well and Biryani is the love of her life.
Sarwat mentioned how organized she is, like she can’t stand something unclean and out of place. She loves giving nicknames to her husband, Fahad Mirza- faddi, faddu, fadhum and what not! I really liked her response to HSY’s question, ‘‘are you bossy?’’ & she was like, ”Not bossy but opinionated!’’

I was a little disappointed by Fahad and Sarwat’s views on plastic surgeries, injections and fair complexion. According to Sarwat Gillani, actors should go for plastic surgery if they feel like they are not satisfied with their facial features but yes, excess of everything produces negative results. ”Aap din ba din goray hotay jarahay hain!’’ Fahad Mustafa was honest enough to admit that he sees a doctor who gives him sun blocks and stuff for fair complexion but he made it clear that he doesn’t go for injections. I was taken aback by Fahad’s comment, ‘‘I don’t look as horrible as I used to look before.’’ I mean, being light-skinned makes you look less horrible? Shouldn’t a great actor like him only be proud of his talent and acting skills?

I must say that he has a really good voice. When asked about their favourite actors, Fahad Mustafa revealed that he is fond of Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington’s acting while Sarwat Gillan has a high opinion of Meryl Streep- good to know that we all have something in common ;)

Oh, and there came the infamous age issue. Fahad remained persistent that he is 31 while Sarwat Gillani refused to buy that! I laughed out loud when HSY was like, ‘‘Fahad apnay doctor ko call karo aur saray paisay waapis lo.’’

When questioned about their future plans, Fahad Mustafa expressed his desire to extend his family whereas Sarwat talked about a really inspirational programme relating to Special Olympics in which a team sets out to search for special children who wish to unleash their potential and talent and Sarwat is a part of the team that sends these children to international Olympics.

• Vasay Chaudhry and Hadiqa Kiani

Throughout the episode, I was wondering how it’s pretty ironic that a guy known for his comedy scripts is so serious and stern because I was actually expecting Vasay Chaudhry to crack some jokes every now and then but this was actually the most serious episode of all. By the end of the episode, HSY echoed my thoughts and Vasay explained that there are some clichéd, stereotypic and preconceived notions of people regarding comedy writers or artists and according to him, writing a good comedy is quite a serious profession and therefore, it’s absurd to expect comedy writers to crack jokes just like that.

Vasay Chaudhry grew up watching Pakistani films in cinemas and he has witnessed the era during which there was mass following of Pakistani films and the public went gagas over legends like Sultan Rahi. He declared that he’s never had a crush on any film actress because when it comes to films, it’s never a particular actor or element of the film that attracts him but it’s the movie on the whole that mesmerizes him. Vasay believes that in sub-continent, bald or guys with curly hair can never play chocolate heroes.

HSY asked Vasay if fatherhood has changed him as a person or affected his scripts in some way and Vasay believes that even though parenthood changes the way you view the world, it hasn’t influenced his writing in any way.

HSY and Vasay have been to the same college and also shared some subjects but they don’t come across as close friends.

Hadiqa Kiani stepped in and my my, she has changed a lot because when I recall Pakistan Idol, all I can remember are her eccentric hairdos and funky dressing sense but this woman doesn’t cease to surprise you. She has chopped off her hair and she was dressed in black from tip to toe. I think she looked nice and decent.

HSY seems to remember a lot about their first encounter. As a child, Hadiqa Kiana was a student of Sohail Rana. She was first introduced as a playback singer by Adnan Sami. People may call her pop princess but she hasn’t confined herself to any one genre. Be it pop, folk, multi-linguistic- Hadiqa has done it all! ”Pop’s not my thing- music is my thing!’’

HSY brought up the topic of social media and Hadiqa Kiani told him straight off that she has this who-cares approach towards negative & destructive criticism on social media because she believes that you can’t please everyone around you and instead of worrying about hate clubs, she chooses to focus on people who love and respect her for who she is.

Speaking about Pakistan Idol and the panel of judges, Hadiqa Kiana said that none of them were arrogant or deliberately rude- they criticized the contestants to help them grow. She is still in contact with some of the contestants including Kashif and Shoaib. She specifically talked about Shoaib and said that he was one of those contestants who took her somewhat harsh criticism very positively and this actually helped him grow as a singer and as an individual.

The highlight of the episode was definitely Hadiqa Kiani singing ‘Zindagi Khaak Na Thi’.
In the Djuice Connect round, a fan asked Hadiqa why she gave up on wearing a dupatta after her song, ‘Dupatta’. Hadiqa’s response was that wearing a dupatta is really decent thing to do but she chooses to do what she’s comfortable in because everyone has a right to follow their style.

I really feel that the movie guessing round can be improved, I mean, guessing movies like Titanic, Waar and Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is easy as pie!

This is it from Tonite with HSY S2 for now. I don’t know what guests HSY has in store for us but I am definitely excited for what’s to come  Are you enjoying the show? Share your thoughts about it!

Maryam Mehdi

Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, known by his initials, HSY, returned with a brand new season of his show, ‘Tonite with HSY’. I must confess that I was never an avid follower of the first season probably because a couple of segments were more or less pointless and most (not all) of the guests weren’t exactly the ones I enjoy watching on-screen. But as far as the second season is concerned, seven episodes down and I’m hooked!
First things first, the impressive line-up of guests is one of the best things about the second season. If I talk about myself, I personally like to know more about celebrities I see on screen every now and then as compared to the ones who rarely make an appearance. Many of the guests are actually the ones we haven’t seen in any other talk show so that’s more of a reason why the second season is worth a shot.
I must say that HSY deserves to be praised for the pre-interview research which becomes evident in each episode. The guy has done his homework tremendously well and he knows exactly what his guests have been up to.
While there are no noticeable changes in the set, which is perfectly fine with me because I have always enjoyed the mysterious aura of the show, some new segments have been introduced. There comes this ‘Shuffle Round’ in which the guests are shown a bunch of numbers- they have to select at least two numbers and then they are required to do whatever the card of the particular number asks them to do. After that, there comes this round where both the celebrities ask each other a few questions to check how well the two know each other. Then there’s one fun segment in which HSY switches seats with each of his guests. Then there comes this guessing the movie segment and lastly, HSY asks each guest one question on the request of the fans- ‘Djuice Connect’ as he calls it! HSY doesn’t include all the segments in one episode and to be honest, I think the segments still lack creativity and I would like to see some improvement. Shuffle Round is interesting as long as it doesn’t involve guessing a drama from an audio clip (and of course, that play is always a popular HUM drama serial).

While the segments are yet to impress, the normal questions he asks during the course of the show actually have a pretty good standard. In the earlier season, I thought of HSY as a weak host because for me, he lacked the spontaneity a talented host should have but now that I’m following this season, I admit my views about him have changed for the better and I find him very decent and composed.
What I don’t like about HUM is how they try extremely & noticeably hard to highlight their sponsors every chance they get. Okay bhai, we get it, Djuice is sponsoring the show. Each and every guest is bound to say it once: ‘Hi, this is me _________ (name) and you’re watching Djuice presents Tonite with HSY’.
Here you go with an overview:

• Imran Abbas and Sanam Jung

HSY decided to start the second season with a duo that’s known for its sizzling on screen chemistry. Yep, it’s Imran Abbas and Sanam Jung!

HSY mentioned that he first met Imran Abbas when the latter was working as a model. Imran Abbas gradually climbed the ladder to success & earned quite a name for himself in the showbiz industry. HSY asked Imran about the pressure to look good that naturally comes when you join showbiz because for a large part of the audience, looks are somehow more important than talent but Imran made it clear that he’s never been overly cautious about his looks and has focused on giving his best to the projects he works in.

It’s amazing how soo many people from our industry like Ali Zafar, Ayesha Omer, Misha Shafi etc have graduated from the National College of Arts (NCA), and Imran Abbas joins the list too. There’s a lot about Imran Abbas that caught me by surprise. He is passionate about poetry and comes from a rich & refined family background where he got to participate in mushairas attended by people like Ahmed Faraz, Parveen Shakir and Josh Maleeh Abadi.

When questioned about his work in Bollywood, Imran Abbas stressed the point that he was never desperate for a chance to Bollywood and I for one didn’t know that the roles of Sidhart Malhotra & Ranveer Singh in Ek Villain and Ram Leela respectively were first offered to Imran Abbas but due to workload, he had no choice but to refuse. He chose to work in Creature 3D on the advice of Bushra Ansari.

The episode took an interesting turn when Sanam Jung made an entry. Sanam Jung looked absolutely beautiful and her soft hairstyle did complete justice to her cute face cut. Vivacious and jolly, Sanam changed the somewhat serious aura of the show. Sanam Jung is…wait for it…about to get married to a pilot!! Haha, not that I’d be invited but that’s a wedding I’m looking forward to;)

I was actually shocked when Imran Abbas confessed that earlier on, he had refused to work with Sanam Jung because she had an accent problem and the former needed to work with someone more ‘experienced’. As the shooting began, Imran Abbas and Sanam Jung started to get along with each other pretty well and that’s how we got Sila & Adeel of Dil-e-Muztar  Sanam Jung graduated from College of Business Management and the transition from banking to hosting/acting was not exactly on the cards. She went to Nabila’s for a make-over and after a day or so, she got a call, asking her to work in a commercial. Sanam loves to mimic and it was nice, for a change, to see her NOT hosting a show.

It was revealed that Sanam’s closest friends from the industry are Adnan Siddiqui and Imran Abbas. I laughed out loud when Sanam Jung clarified the rumour about her being in a relationship with Waqar Zakra: meri Waqar Zaka say kabhi mulaqaat bhi nahe ho, mein nay sirf un ka show dekha hai aur wohi kafi hai!

There was this fun segment in which HSY and his guests switched seats and both Imran Abbas and Sanam Jung got to ask him a few questions. HSY talked about a terrible accident he had when he was about eighteen, because of which he had to undergo quite a few surgeries and lost his hair and this is explains his baldness. It’s his 21st year in the fashion industry and marriage is not on the cards- his first and foremost priority is the well-being of his mother & sister.

I am very happy with the selection of guests for the first episode because the whole episode was a full fledged entertainment package, free of controversies or heavy duty talks.

• Ayeza Khan and Danish Taimoor

Hands down, I loved this episode! I had been waiting for it since ages and I was not the least bit disappointed, like, I had this constant smile on my face while watching these two together because this is the first time they made an appearance in a quality talk show after their marriage. These two are like, made for each other!! Ayeza Khan looked absolutely ravishing and she was actually glowing :D

I like how they both were comfortably honest about their relationship- it’s been six years since the two first met each other but during this period of time, their relationship saw many ups and downs and they were somewhere in the middle, uncertain about their future and like Aiza puts it,”Mein nay in say kaha kay hosakta hai aap kay paas koi better option ho” and forgive me for sounding melodramatic but love always finds its way :P. Khair, Danish mentioned that a project came up and that’s probably what rekindled their feelings for each other- that’s when the sparks flew and they decided: ab humain shadi karlaini chahye! I think the play he was referring to was Saari Bhool Humari Thi but I am not so sure.

Another thing I found extremely sweet and genuine was how they both mentioned that the best thing about their bond is the fact that neither of them has to ‘pretend’ to make the relationship work. When they are with each other, they are themselves and marriages work the best when your life partner is also your best friend & confidant. When questioned about the one thing they’d like to change about one another, they both declared that they’ve accepted each other with their strengths & weaknesses both so there’s nothing they’d want to change about each other. However, they did speak of their own weaknesses and Ayeza talked about her talkative nature; mein khud hi sawaal karti hun, khud hi jawaab deti hun. She finds herself over chatty but Danish, on the other hand, keeps to himself because according to him, the best way to stay out of politics & gossips is to stay reserved. He doesn’t make many friends but when he does, he makes it sure that its ‘yaari wali dosti- I’ll be there for you and you HAVE to be there for me.’ Then it was revealed that Danish is the sort of person who divides his time between his work, friends and family but yes, he has some anger management issues.

Danish talked about his earlier passion for mimicry and trust me when I say this- he does an awesome job when it comes to mimicry. The way he mimicked Humayun Saeed had me in stitches!

Ayeza spoke about her ‘live for today’ approach towards life and doesn’t believe in making long-term plans. She is down to earth and believes that her costars are loads better than her when it comes to acting. When questioned about her plans for making it to the big screen, Ayeza revealed that she has a liking for commercial films, jis mein dance ho, songs hon, lehenga pehnay huay heroine entry day, but she believes she wouldn’t find herself comfortable in playing such roles in front of her Pakistani audience and Bollywood movies are definitely not included in her to do list- jo kaam apnay logon kay saamnay nahe karsakti woh bahir kaisay karsakti hun? So in this regard, I find her approach extremely decent & likeable. When questioned about her favourite costar, she named Saba Hameed.

I think that the segments for this episode could have been a whole lot more interesting but apart from guessing a bunch of movies, some mimicry & a few how-well-do-you-know-each-other questions, there was nothing the segments could offer.

• Juggan Kazim and Moammar Rana

Oh boy, this episode was umm, loud!! Juggan Kazim could’ve and should’ve toned it down, like, she was all over the place! I mean, falling off the sofa, screaming to her heart’s content and the whole I’ll-say-what-I-want-to-say-and-that’s-that attitude of hers made the show quite entertaining but I really felt that she got carried away in the process . I don’t know why she couldn’t speak in her ‘normal’ volume or tone.
It was evident from the intro that Juggan is one of HSY’s closest friends and he has quite a high opinion of her.

Naam bhi mardana hogya aur awaaz bhi– Juggan talked about her name- she was originally named, Syeda Mehrbano Kazim, but then she became Jugnu and lastly, Juggan.
She also talked about how she always used to drive away the rishta people, aap ko cake pastry say shadi karni hai tou bakery jaye. Needless to say, Juggan is spontaneous, vivacious & jolly.
Juggan revealed that at the point she got married for the first time, she didn’t know the difference between love & infatuation- love ki bhi kayi definitions hoti hain!

She spoke fondly of Hamza, her son, who gave her a reason to struggle & live. The whole Punjabi style panga lenay wali Juggan, like she puts it, was lost somewhere else and an entirely different and person surfaced.

Then came Moammar Rana and I must say that he comes across as someone very decent & down to earth. He revealed that he was 21 when he was offered his first film and the first person he consulted was his father, who has always been his biggest support system. He was dedicated to his work and worked hard to learn about his field. He used to go to Shaan’s sets to gain expertise in camera angles & shots. He talked about Javaid Sheikh being there with him through thick and thin; he once had a terrible accident and there was no one left to give him a chance in their films but that’s when he found Javaid Sheikh by his side. Another person who means the world to him is his wife and he mentioned that once he even danced in the middle of the street to cheer his wife up when she was angry with him. There were times when Moammar Rana was more or less overshadowed by ultra-hyper Juggan but overall, HSY tried to maintain a balance.

We saw the ‘switching seats’ segment this time around too and HSY ignored Juggan’s question: aap shadi kyun nahe kartay?

What do you think of these episodes? Share your thoughts, please!

Maryam Mehdi

Now that the second season of this show has come to an end, I have to admit that I am definitely going to miss it. Since I didn’t follow the first season, I can’t comment on that but as far as this one is concerned, HSY proved to be quite a well-informed host and I can’t help praising the fact that this guy does his homework! With each guest, he knew exactly who was he dealing with and the quality of the questions was commendable too. Also, he is friends with almost every other person in the showbiz industry so I guess that did work to his advantage.

I really like the enthusiasm with which HSY introduces his guests- he shares his personal experience relating to the guests, chooses his words very well and keeps the intro brief and catchy.
And yes, I love the music they play behind the entry of the guests.

In terms of hosting, as far as his shortcomings are concerned, like some viewers pointed out, HSY himself has little to contribute to the success or failure of each episode. And I guess in most episodes you’ll see that HSY chooses to agree with almost everything his guests have to say.

I’d like to know who was behind the selection of guests because as much as I liked the choice of guests, the pairing didn’t quite work for me. I strongly felt that in a few episodes, the guests called together didn’t seem to connect to each other at all and since they have this how-well-do-you-know-each-other segment, they should especially make sure that the celebrities they are calling in pairs are familiar with each other.

But on the whole, I would like to applaud the efforts of HSY and the whole team for giving us entertaining yet decent episodes week after week which not only made our Saturdays enjoyable but also gave us a chance to get to know our celebrities even better.

Here’s what the recent episodes were all about:

Aamina Sheikh and Mohib Mirza

And another celebrity couple from the industry! The chemistry these two share was evident all through the episode so I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. And the fact that Mohib Mirza has a great sense of humour was definitely a plus :).

Aamina Sheikh spoke about her career- she studied Fine Arts but had always been interested in theatre since her school days. For her family, showbiz was a foreign territory and she was the first person to join this industry. She had been more of a backstage person but when the right opportunities came her way, she decided to make an appearance.

Mohib Mirza was a Commerce student but monetary issues compelled him to do a theatre play called, ‘One Way Ticket’. At that time, Aamina Sheikh was also doing a theatre play in English but Mohib’s show attracted a greater audience. Even though Aamina and Mohib knew each other through a mutual friend, they were barely even acquaintances. What brought these two together in the true sense, was a show- Mohib was hosting the show under Aamina’s direction. That’s when the sparks flew, they tied the knot and well, it has been ten years!

Aamina Sheikh flinched at the mention of Operation 021 and was obviously trying to avoid the topic because as surprising as it is, being a part of Operation 021 has not exactly been the best of her experiences. Carefully choosing her words, not taking any names and keeping her tone strictly professional, she explained that there are two directors behind Operation 021 so when the movie finally came to surface, it was not how she pictured it because the director responsible for pulling the whole movie together was not the one she worked with.

I really liked the discussion on tukka baazi– people these days are becoming a part of the industry with little or no professional knowledge of the field and only a handful of newbies take this field seriously enough to specialize in it. Tukkay pay aya tou jasakta hai magar survive nahe kiya jasakta, I agree with Mohib’s views. He explained that earlier on, PTV was the only channel and therefore, there was a great deal of emphasis on quality and content. As a result, only fine and polished, hand-picked artists could make it to the screen. But now, with the overdose of channels, tables have turned and with the pressure to churn out multitudes of plays, it’s relatively easier for people to gain access to the small screen so tukka baazi is apparently working!

Aamina likes things organized, neat and tidy whereas Mohib likes things messy and cluttered but the way Aamina puts it, ”In mein aur itni khoobiyan hain kay hum nay socha kay paanch saal ki diqqat, mehnat kay baad yeh darguzar kardain.”

HSY gave these two one situation: You are sitting on a plane. The plane is about to crash. Out of a choice of three people from the industry, you can save one person, you have to bid farewell to one person and the last one can try saving the plane. For Aamina Sheikh, the names were: Mehwish Hayat, Humaima Malik and Ayesha Khan. Aamina saved Mehwish and bid farewell to Humaima. I have to say that Aamina’s comment,”Humaima can work her way around anything’’ was witty! Mohib Mirza was given the names of Imran Abbas, Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar. Mohib chose to save Imran Abbas and bid farewell to Fawad Khan. Again, Mohib’s comment, ”Fawad ko bachanay tou puri dunya khari hojaegi’’ had me in bits!

When questioned about their favorite stars, Mohib Mirza named Benedict Cumberbatch and Aamina Sheikh has a high opinion of both Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett.

When the favourite co-star question came up, like Mohib Mirza, I was sure that Adeel Hussain is Aamina Sheikh’s favourite co-star because they’ve worked together in so many projects but it turned out that it’s Nauman Ijaz. They worked together in Mera Saeein, I guess.

In the Djuice Connect segment, someone asked Aamina Sheikh if she ever wishes to escape the limelight and lead a normal life,to which she responded that she has always wanted everything to be extraordinary- I have never liked the word, ‘normal’. Another fan asked them about the secret to a successful marital life and Mohib gave a quick response, ”Maximum communication!’’

This was one of my favourite episodes of the show and all the rounds were thoroughly entertaining.

Zainab Qayyum (ZQ) and Noor Hassan

I wasn’t too thrilled about this episode because I haven’t followed ZQ’s work and her acting has never been out of the ordinary, and I don’t find Noor Hassan impressive at all. Well, like I expected, this episode was bland and boring. I forced myself to recall a project where these two worked together but I was blank. During the show it was revealed that they are working together in a project so let’s see!

The first guest to grace the screen was ZQ. ZQ talked about her career- she began working with Vinny i.e. Vaneeza Ahmed, back then she was more like a backstage helping hand but through Vinny, she was introduced to modeling and with the passage of time, opportunities came her way and she established her career as a successful model. ZQ admits that earlier on, her personality required grooming and she used to look up to her prim and poised elder sister- the ZQ today has come a long way. ZQ is a shopaholic and yet, she insists that she is not a fashionista.

ZQ talked about her bad temper and admitted that it’s pretty ironic how she doesn’t react to matters of grave concern but the pettiest of issues can make her lose her temper.

Speaking about her past relationships, ZQ confessed that she has a lot of regrets and she talked about her marriage which didn’t work for her and that’s the probably the biggest regret she has ever had.

Then entered Noor Hassan and I don’t know if it’s just me but he looked kind of sleepy. Well, Noor Hassan confessed that for him, his freedom is everything and the fact that this line of work allows the freedom a 9 to 5 job doesn’t is one of the reasons why he is very comfortable with what he is doing. When questioned about their favourite actors, ZQ instantly named Meryl Streep whereas Noor Hassan spoke highly of Robert Downey Jr.

Noor Hassan is brutally honest and doesn’t think twice before voicing his thoughts. Noor Hassan’s views on his relationship were actually very off putting- he admits that he is in a relationship but it’s complicated and I actually feel for the girl he is in a relationship with because the way he puts it, ”I can be single if I get a better option.’’

The way Noor Hassan talked in the show is not exactly the way he speaks in his plays. It seemed like he was trying too hard to pull off an accent so please, I don’t bear a personal grudge against him but he comes across as a wannabe!

Noor Hassan admits that he has anger management issues and he tends to lose him temper over petty matters. Also, he says that he’s a great cook- ”I love eating my own food.’’

The how-well-do-you-know-each-other questions totally fell flat because quite clearly, the two were clueless about the likes, dislikes and interests of one another.

Like always, HSY brought up the topic of social media and both ZQ and Noor Hassan are active on facebook, though the former’s account has been hacked seven times!

All in all, it was quite a dull episode and I was actually very glad when it came to an end.

Cybil Chowdhry and Syed Asrar Shah

After a lackluster episode, HSY returned with a decent yet engaging episode and even though I couldn’t understand the logic behind calling Cybil and Asrar together, I’d say that I didn’t mind watching these two sharing the screen. I don’t follow Cybil’s work but I am a huge fan of Asrar- his rustic style of singing is definitely a class apart.

The first thing HSY chose to discuss with Cybil was her accent. Born and bred in America, Cybil developed a natural American accent and it’s not like she deliberately tries to pull off a fake accent. HSY admits that he too has to put up with a lot criticism because some people consider his own accent a little too artificial but the fact that he studied in the US should be able to explain things.

Hands down, I was taken aback by the fact that Cybil is a mother of two! She tied the knot when she was eighteen but her marriage wasn’t the exactly the best of her decisions because it just couldn’t work out- her husband remarried after the divorce but Cybil chose to remain single. Cybil’s children reside in America and she is the sole breadwinner for them. Cybil has a high opinion of her mother and it’s evident that she views her mother as her role model because had it not been for her, it would’ve been impossible for Cybil to pave her way through the highs and lows of life. I don’t know why but I actually found Cybil and her struggle very real and I for one think that she is a living inspiration for all the struggling women out there.
HSY mentioned that many people associated with Cybil view her as a dull and boring person, to which Cybil responded, ”Yes I am boring. I’ve no crazy stories to tell!”

Then of course HSY turned to Asrar and talked to him about his musical journey. Coming from a staunch, conservative Syed family, Asrar had to put up with a lot of opposition to pursue his passion for music. He first tried out for army, abba ji ki khwahish thi, but was disheartened by the rejection. He was already leaning towards music and this rejection gave him more of a reason to pursue his career in music. Peer faqeer, Sufism, spirituality always fascinated Asrar and in Hyderabad, he actually found true inspiration in his Ustad Sultan Ahmed Khan. ”Yeh meri nature say qareeb tha, baal kaato na kaato, malang bannay ka shauq pehlay say tha.” Needless to say, Asrar is passionate about music and Sufi music in particular. According to him, expression of Sufi thought is not restricted to any one kind of music- Sufi thought ka naam hai, uss mein music koi si bhi add hosakti hai. He sang ‘Ishq Hawa Mein’ in the show, which is based on Wasi Shah’s lyrics. I have to say that Asrar’s performances actually radiate energy!

Asrar spoke about the derogatory comments directed towards artists and it really is sad how people don’t waste a second before judging and labeling an artist as, ‘meerasi’. With no pretenses or fake smiles, Asrar is simple and down to earth. He thinks more, speaks less and I find him very genuine.

Cybil talked about a certain kind of models that rose to fame over a short span of time; she referred to them as, ‘fast girls’. I laughed out loud when Asrar asked, yeh fast girls hoti kaun hain, kia walk taiz karti hain? It turns out that these fast girls are shrewd newbies that rise to fame using sharp tactics, contacts etc. Talking about her own work, Cybil is of the opinion that hum clean work kartay hain.

There was nothing exceptionally note-worthy about the segments but yes, Cybil mimicked HSY scolding his models in a fashion show and Asrar sang a couple of lines from one of his unreleased songs.

So, all in all, it was a decent episode and I was actually expecting I’d doze off during this episode but I was pleasantly surprised :).

Ahmed Ali Butt and Fatima Khan Butt

My my, one thing you have to admit about Ahmed Ali Butt- this guy can crack you up! This episode was thoroughly entertaining and I loved watching it! I haven’t been an avid follower of Ahmed Ali Butt’s work but I do remember Inspector Khoji, a comedy sitcom that graced PTV some years back, where Ahmed Ali Butt played the titular character to perfection. As far as Fatima Khan Butt is concerned, her name didn’t ring a bell but HSY mentioned that she is a fashion blogger.

Fatima khan recounted her journey with Ahmed Ali Butt, starting from the point when they were just friends to the instant they tied the knot. From the way he proposed her, ”pura Yash Chopra scene set kia”, it goes without saying that he a hopeless romantic and like he called himself, ‘Overweight Prince Charming’, haha!

Grandson of Noor Jehan and son of Zille Huma, Ahmed Ali Butt has quite a family background but he takes pride in the fact that the never really used his family name to earn recognition. He talked about his career and it’s evident that theatre had a big part to play in establishing his career as an actor. I have always found myself confused when it comes to Maula Jutt and Jutt and Bond. It is theatre, or Jutt and Bond in particular, that brought Ahmed Ali Butt, Vasay Chaudhry and Fawad Khan together- no wonder they’re so close! He spoke highly of Vasay Chaudhry and expressed admiration for his work- mein ussay kehta hun kay tu projector room mein bara hua hai.

HSY spoke about Ahmed Ali Butt’s active updates on Facebook and Instagram and Ahmed Ali Butt’s response was pretty interesting- he wants to document his life and believes that these social networking websites provide him a platform to showcase his work. He is of the opinion that the works of our legendary artists have more or less faded into oblivion but now, thanks to the exponential growth of technology, he aims to preserve his work. The ‘mein yeh upload nahe karta kay aaj mein saabun say nahaya’ comment was on point!

HSY brought up the topic of this secret WhatsApp group- Boys Club, which consists of ten exclusive members including actors, directors and legends. As much as HSY tried to pry into this matter, Ahmed Ali Butt didn’t reveal much because as he puts it- the first rule of Boys Club is that you don’t talk about Boys Club! I bet the list includes Vasay Chaudhry, Fawad Khan and Humayun Saeed :P.

The show took a serious turn when Fatima Khan shared the harsh experience of her first marriage – she was very much taken aback by the fact that her own relatives turned out to be quite materialistic.

Needless to say, Ahmed Ali Butt and Fatima Khan have a high opinion of each other. They both agreed that the secret to a successful marital life is giving your spouse the space they need. Like all couples, they have fights too and the way Fatima puts it, for him its a discussion, for me its an argument!

Ahmed Ali Butt’s presence certainly added the comical punch needed to make this episode work and for me, the funniest bit was Ahmed Ali Butt switching seats with HSY and making fun of the Komodo Dragon statue! On a side note, this reptile is very creepy!

Ahmed Ali Butt was the hip hop rapper of Entity Paradigm (EP) so I guess that’s why he was asked to sing a rap song for his wife. I think HSY should have asked a few questions regarding the band because that too was a significant part of Ahmed Ali Butt’s career and I wanted to know what became of EP.

All in all, this was one entertaining episode and I must thank Ahmed Ali Butt for his amazing sense of humour :).

Azfar Rehman and Mawra Hocane

This time, Azfar Rehman and Mawra Hocane, two self made, budding young actors graced the screen. I have seen these two together in telefilms and in this episode, it was evident that they’re pretty good friends.

Azfar Rehman was very open about his relationship status and the way he puts it, ”I like to be in love.’’ He admits that he has quite a short attention span.

From Chartered Accountancy and advertising, to hosting and acting- Azfar Rehman spoke about his career and stated that what actually worked to his advantage was his confidence. Azfar Rehman is a happy-go-lucky person and believes in living life to its fullest- you should be partying all the time!
Azfar Rehman is very particular about his pairing and refuses to work until he is aware of his costar.

When asked about his best friend in the industry, Azfar Rehman instantly named Ayesha Omer. Mehwish nay kaha tha Azfu mera best friend hai– HSY was expecting to hear Mehwish Hayat’s name so Azfar Rehman cleared it up, saying that he holds Mehwish Hayat in high regard but with Ayesha Omer, the way he puts it, Ayesha aur mera love hate relationship hai- who mujh par ghussa bhi karsakti hai, mujhe daant bhi sakti hai. Going by Mawra’s comment, ‘Sab ko lagta hai Azfu un ka best friend hai’, I guess Azfar Rehman has a way with people.

Normally, HSY is all praises for his guests but this time around he did recall his not-so-good memory with Azfar Rehman, which dates back to Azfar’s first talk show, where Azfar ‘grilled’ HSY on spot and even compared him with the other guests!

When questioned about their international celebrity crushes, Azfar Rehman was all praises for Aishwariya Rai while Mawra spoke fondly of Ranbir Kapoor.

I do feel that Azfar Rehman got carried away in the process and he should have been reminded of the fact that it’s a family show- those who watched the episode might know what I am hinting at.

Since it is Azfar Rehman who did most of the talking, there’s not much I could learn about Mawra. You may find Mawra crying her eyes out in every single play but believe it or not, this girl likes to stay happy! As HSY puts it, Mawra emits positive vibes and I couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be to actually see her in roles that suit her happy go lucky nature, lol!

Mawra spoke about her love for pets. HSY took this opportunity to ask Mawra to clarify the rumour about her engagement and Mawra declared that she is single.

Needless to say, Mawra loves to stay connected with her fans and tries her best to live up to their expectations. Mawra is very conscious about her followers on instagram and right when she was bragging about having the greatest number of followers on insta, I laughed out loud when HSY burst her bubble, saying, ”No, Mehreen Syed has the highest number of followers!’’

Mawra and Azfar share great chemistry and it would be lovely to see them as an onscreen couple. And yes, Mawra looked gorgeous in her cream coloured outfit!

And with this, Tonite with HSY S2 comes to an end!

I will apologize to the readers for the late review, actually I wrote and rewrote this review a lot of times before I was completely satisfied with it, hence the delay. I am looking forward to your feed backs! Did you follow this show? What do you think of this season? Are you going to miss it? Share your views with us :).

Maryam Mehdi

Sheru did it again! A hat-trick no less- 3 fairly good episodes in a row! The guests this week were Zeba Bakhtiyar and Humayoun Saeed. Zeba Bakhtiyar is the epitome of grace- I love the way she speaks and carries herself. She was the first guest tonight and spoke with her usual calm and composed demeanor. 26 years ago, Zeba wanted to become a writer. Her script was rejected on the grounds of being too bold for those times and thus she came into acting. Initially she faced a certain amount of opposition since back in the days, acting was frowned upon as a career path- especially in her case since her father was the Attorney General Yahya Bakhtiyar. She mentioned that she ended up convincing her father by citing Qaid-e-Azam’s example- he too had ambitions of becoming an actor! Har politician actor hota hai infact aaj kal ke politicians haqq maar rahein hein actors ka! Though she catapulted to fame after working in the Bollywood film Henna, she mentioned that she was dropped from a number of films since she wouldn’t agree to the prerequisites of being a Bollywood starlet- she refused to compromise on her principles and thus her Bollywood career was done. She spoke about her marriage to Adnan Sami and her son Azaan. I loved her positive vibes when speaking of Azaan. Her marriage didn’t last but that didn’t stop her from growing as an individual and as a phenomenal one at that.

Humayoun Saeed was the second guest of the evening. Humayoun hasn’t been on television for a while now so it was refreshing to see him. There was a time when he was in every other serial and I’m glad he’s moved away from those days. Humayoun recollected his journey from a production manager to super stardom to being the owner of one of the biggest production houses in Pakistan. Sheru brought up the various rumors about his alleged affairs to which he replied that he gets along with everyone and his television persona is such that people often assume that he is like that in real life as well. Sheru asked both of them what advice they’d offer to the following people:

Imran Abbas- Zeba said that he shouldn’t wear contact lenses and Humayoun said he should work on building his physique- nazuk lagta hai!

Humaima Malik– Zeba said Humaima is known to be unreliable and producers are wary of such actors; Humayoun added Ziada na bolay, chup rehkay kaam karey…

Fawad Khan– Humayoun stated that Fawad is a close friend and he is happy with the way Fawad has carried himself- he chose his Bollywood debut wisely and has a promising career ahead of him.

I loved the way both the guests seemed completely at ease- they didn’t shy away from speaking their minds . On the topic of social media, Zeba stated that bas mayyaton pe selfies rehgayi hain… and Humayoun said that he isn’t fond of sharing the personal details of his everyday life but both felt that social media is a good platform to stay connected and share the news of their upcoming projects. The discussions kept me interested and then came the contests- I was anticipating Sheru to bring up both Adnan Sami and Ushna Shah and he did. In Love or Don’t Love, Zeba refused to comment on Adnan Sami’s picture but Humayoun kept a plastered smile while he stated he loved everyone on his list- except Nawaz Sharif- he respects him! Ajnabee Kaun Ho Tum had Maheen calling in for Zeba and Nadeem Baig calling in for Humayoun. The final round had Humayoun answering all his questions correctly which made him the clear winner. I was very impressed hearing Humayoun sing- he actually has a pretty decent voice. He was more than happy to translate and sing on behalf of Zeba too (Laari Adda and Channo ki aankh Mein). This was a pretty good episode and I was pleasantly surprised to see this lively side of Humayoun Saeed. What did you think about this episode?

Yours in watching,

Kanwal Murtaza

Yes! This drama is clichéd to the core since it covers nothing but gherulu politics yet it continues to hold my interest. The fact that Naila is so full of flaws and everyone else around her has been extremely compromising till now is funny and interesting at the same time. Even with her twisted and controlling personality, Naila is undeniably the best thing about this play. Kiran’s character is turning out to be an interesting addition to the play as well. She balances the over-niceness of rest of the family members and Amir’s reaction tonight was the perfect development in the story. It was about time that someone confronted Naila and unlike the last time, this time around Naila’s egoistic nature did not allow her to stay in Ahmed’s house after everything that happened. Ahmed’s reaction however came out of nowhere and I must say that while this drama shows how a wife and daughter-in-law who is not willing to compromise cannot have a healthy relationship with her husband or her in laws, it also shows how important it is for the husbands to keep a balance. Had Ahmed not compromised this much Naila would have known better.

I must say that Naila’s character is perfectly etched-out, she knows how to get her way just because she is stubborn and spoiled! The writer should have focused more on Ahmed’s character and what was going through his mind when Naila was misbehaving with his parents in tonight’s episode before he finally lost his cool completely. Ahmed has been shown as someone who was completely smitten right from the day he laid his eyes on Naila and while it is easy to understand why he could not allow his wife to treat his parents badly but even then it is impossible to imagine someone like him putting his foot down like this. I am waiting to see how his track is handled from here on.

This drama reminds me of the old PTV drama Aanch in which Shagufta Ijaz played the role of a woman who felt like she deserved better when she was married to Shafi Muhammad’s character because he was much older than her and was a widower. The only difference is that the circumstances are different and also that Ahmed’s character so far isn’t as impactful as Shafi Muhammad’s character in that play. Otherwise, I hope that this drama also shows Naila regretting her decision and finally understanding that sometimes compromising is far more important than having your own way. Right now, I am waiting to see how this recent development brings about a gradual change in Naila’s personality.

Hania Amir yet again was the star of the show tonight. I absolutely love the fact that she pays very little attention to her outfits and make-up and her main focus is her performance although this character could have been very glamorous but she has kept glamour to the minimum. She owns her character right from the start and I am pretty sure she will deliver even when Naila’s character changes in the future. The fast pace of the drama is another reason why it keeps you looking forward to more. Titli continues to be an entertaining play and the ultimate guilty pleasure even after all these weeks.

How many of you watched this latest episode? Don’t forget to share your thoughts about it.

Titli continues to be a typical yet entertaining play which has so far been quite fast paced which could be one of the reasons why it keeps you glued to your television screens. It reminds me of dramas like Tum Kon Piya, Mohabbat Ab Nahi Ho Gi and even season 1 of Malaka-e-Aaliya. All these dramas also did not have anything grand to offer but the best thing about them was that they were entertaining and logical. I must add that it is great watching a drama which shows that sometimes men also face situations after marriage which require a lot of compromise and women don’t always compromise and can be quite unreasonable too. Also, not all the women in this play are like Nayla therefore we are not watching stereotypes. Nayla’s mother’s support for her pretty much sums up why she is so used to getting away with everything. Now that she has a husband who is compromising and does not believe in playing games, she knows that she does not need to change in order to stay in this marriage. All the scenarios in this drama are also very realistic probably because the story of the play is based on true events, which is why it is easier to connect to all the happening and the characters.

So far Ahmed has played a major role in making sure that his marriage stays intact. He talked about leaving Nayla in the previous episode but his parents made it clear that it was not an option. Nayla is a clever woman who knows how to control her husband which is why every time he demands something from her or protests in any way she gives him a reason to change his attitude towards her. This time around she faked the pain in order to get the kind of attention she wanted and to make her husband feel guilty. The scene in which Ahmed looked at Nayla first when they are lying down and later on she looked at him thinking he was sleeping was remarkable because it was one of those scenes which say a great deal even when there are no dialogues involved. Ahmed feels nothing but admiration for Nayla even with all her flaws and Nayla cannot look beyond Ahmed’s dark complexion!

Nayla’s mother has more in common with her than she has with Zara. She did not think that it was important to ask Zara what she wanted because she knew that she didn’t want to go ahead with this engagement. She was not willing to taking a stand for Zara but she always puts Nayla’s happiness before everything else even if she wants something which is highly unacceptable. Nayla’s mother is also materialistic which is why she got Nayla married to Ahmed and accepted this proposal as well. Nayla’s refusal to stay in her parents house and watching her acknowledge the fact that she was too used to living a luxurious life definitely was an interesting addition. It made it pretty clear why Nayla wasn’t just going to walk out of that marriage. She had a lavish lifestyle and not much was expected from her in return therefore she had no reason to leave Ahmed. At the same time she finds it impossible to respect Ahmed and takes him for granted.

I enjoyed watching this episode of Titli and am waiting to see how the story progresses in the upcoming episodes. All the leading actors gave solid performances in this episode as well but I can’t help noticing that the supporting actors (actor who played Nayla’s boyfriend and her friends in tonight’s episode) in Titli and in fact in most of Urdu1 dramas are not the least bit impressive.

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Titli is not only engaging but it is also quite relevant considering the fact that we live in a country in which most people are obsessed with gori rangat. When parents go looking for their son’s rishta, one of the primary requirements is fair complexion. This drama shows that a person’s personality is way more important than their outward appearance. I would say that the director/producers made the perfect choice by choosing Hania Amir to play this role. Although I have said this many times before but I feel the need to appreciate Hania Amir once again for choosing to play a role which is flawed instead of starting her career with a stereotypical role which would have been easier to play and viewers would have loved her instead of hating her. The story of this drama revolves around Nayla more than anyone else but Ahmed too plays a central role in the story. Ahmed is a perfect husband but Nayla continuously keeps on reminding him that he is not good enough. It is true that a spouse can play a major role in either flaring someone’s insecurities or giving them the confidence they need.

This episode opened with Nayla getting rejected and that is when she decided that it was wise to ask her husband for an apology. I am glad this particular track ended tonight and now the focus will be on Nayla and Ahmed’s track entirely. This latest development proved that Nayla is vain, selfish, impulsive and heartless but she isn’t stupid! She always looks out for her own interests and this time around too, she did just that! Aamir’s wife’s holier-than-thou character is anything but appealing! Although Nayla is a negative person but her character is far more appealing. The actress playing Kiran is also a misfit in the role. Also, the character overall comes across more as nosy and over smart than “perfect”.

The biggest flaw of this drama serial so far is that the characters are black and white but despite this it gives me a reason to look forward to more. Just like Tum Kon Piya, there are times when it has some nice surprises in store for the viewers. Like for example class difference has never been an issue in Ahmed’s family and now their family friends too are more than willing to marry their son off with a girl who comes from a middle class family. Nayla and Ahmed’s track keeps my interest in the drama alive. Zara refused to accept the proposal and I am waiting to find out what her reasons her. It is probably because she does not want her api controlling her life!

I must say that the most interesting aspect of Nayla’s personality is that she has no idea just how wrong she is! Hania Amir and Ali Abbas yet again were the stars of the show tonight. They are doing complete justice to their characters which makes it easier for the viewers to connect to them. The preview of the next episode suggested that Ahmed will finally put his foot down. I am waiting to see how Nayla reacts to that.

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Finally, the story moved forward considerably and even though Ahmed’s attitude overall was yet again a little too compromising and apologetic but the reactions of all the other characters made perfect sense. The step Amir took to ensure that Naila could never file for her daughter’s custody had to be the best part of these latest developments. Amir has always been shown as someone who is more practical than compassionate especially when he is dealing with Naila. He gave her respect and love when she became a part of the family but he changed his behaviour towards her altogether when he realized what kind of a person she was. He was the only person in the family who did not go the extra mile to do things exactly the way Naila wanted and could always see how she was exploiting everyone in the family. Although Naila was apprehensive about giving custody of her daughters but at the same time she was desperate to have Rehan in her life and was willing to give up everything. Naila’s mother was there even at the time of her nikkah to show her support! She has always been the one who covered up whenever Naila did something outrageous and now once again she was shown supporting her daughter.

Watching Amna and Mariam move on with their lives and finally coming to the conclusion that there was no reason why they should miss their mother was definitely more relatable than watching them miss their mother in the previous episode. Ahmed’s concerns however did not make a lot of sense. I feel like there are times when the writer tries a little too hard to make sure that Ahmed comes across as someone who is incapable of hating someone or even feeling upset for something for too long which at times makes it difficult for me to relate to his character. Ali Abbas has definitely brought out the best in his character but there are times when his character comes across as the male version of those perfect bahus and wives we see on television all the time, who never complain no matter how their husbands and in laws treat them. It was however great watching the entire family getting over Naila soon enough and thinking about getting Ahmed married again. Someone like Naila should not be missed. Everyone in the family did whatever they could in order to ensure that Naila and Ahmed’s marriage worked out but now that it is over, there are a lot of reasons why they actually deserve to celebrate!

The preview of the next episode was very satisfying and showed that everyone will get what they deserve. Ahmed will get married to someone who deserves a loving person like him. Naila never gave him the love he deserved therefore he will value his new wife even more now. Naila and Rehan’s marriage however will not turn out to be perfect; I am waiting to see how this particular part of their track is covered. So far, Titlee has been very convincing, there are very few moments when you question certain reactions from the characters, otherwise it has been logical and easy to relate to. The drama has been stretched a great deal in these past few weeks but there is definitely hope now that we are heading towards an ending most viewers will like.

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This was another episode with absolutely no character development. Naila’s stubbornness and selfishness knows no bounds and Ahmed is equally forgiving and compromising! This drama still has some positive aspects and it is somewhat enjoyable but it is clearly being stretched. Also, Amna’s reaction to the entire situation was difficult to relate to because she was never close to her mother. A kid will naturally be disturbed if the mother is no longer around but her refusal to stay at her grandparents house and the change in her behavior was difficult to relate to. Naila has been shown as one of those people who even exploit their own children and never have the time for them and Amna clearly despised her mother after what she had seen. The only reason she ran away from the house was because she wanted to be away from her toxic mother therefore all of sudden watching her miss her mother made no sense. Ultimately, this turned out to be the reason why Ahmed went back to pick Naila.

I have said this many times before and I feel the need to say this after watching a new episode of Titlee every week; Hania Aamir has nailed this character faultlessly. She is so good that even now there are times when you question Naila’s father and brother’s decisions just as much as you do hers. It is a fact that they never paid heed to her approval when they were going to marry her off. This of course does not justify her actions but they are at fault too. Ahmed turned out to be a very compromising and caring husband therefore naturally the viewers felt for him and hated Naila for making him suffer. Another reason why Naila is largely at fault is that she used Ahmed many times when she had no one else to rely on emotionally and even financially. In the beginning Naila was not greedy which is why she was never attracted to Ahmed because of his financial status but gradually she got used to all the luxuries which were always at her disposal and then although she did not feel anything for her husband but she stayed with him to enjoy these comforts.

Although I am dead against men hitting women in our dramas but this particular thappar in tonight’s episode was very well deserved! Also, I appreciate the fact that for a change we are watching a husband who did not immediately divorce his wife because he comes from a family where divorce is not an option. Normally, Ahmed’s reaction would have been unconvincing but since we have all seen how he has been brought up therefore it was easy to connect to his character. The only aspect of this track which I did not like was that Ahmed didn’t take a lot of time to forgive Naila. He even showed he was willing to compromise when she was storming out of the house. Had he calmed down a few days later, it would have been far more believable.

Right now, Rehan has been continuously reassuring Naila of his support and in one of the previous episodes he was shown thinking how things would have been if he had met Naila earlier. I am pretty sure he won’t be this supportive once Naila is relying on him alone and I hope that the change in his behavior is covered in a convincing manner. Although, I truly admire Ali Abbas’ acting skills but the change in his outlook continuously throughout this episode was terribly annoying. Naila’s parents made an appearance after many weeks tonight and the way the episode ended today showed that the writing and the direction of this drama is not the same as it was before.

Another week, another episode but not much has changed. Waiting for this drama to end decently and hoping it happens soon!

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