Yes it is strictly everyone’s personal matter who we decide to vote for but we also have to bear in mind that our votes will collectively decide the fate of the entire nation. For this very reason it is very important that we make informed decisions and vote for the party who we think will be able to fulfill its promises and take our country out of this difficult situation. I am not going to mention here where my loyalties lie but one thing I know for sure is that I am not going to be voting in favor of the Pakistan People’s Party and I have some very solid reasons to support my case which I am going to share with you. Please feel free to share your thoughts. The reasons are as follows:

Pakistan People’s Party did nothing for the country or even the democratic process during its five years in tenure. Five years is a long enough time for a party to prove itself but PPP did nothing to make the life of the common man easy. Forget about the common man, even people who are affluent found it extremely difficult to cope with the energy crisis. Businesses suffered badly but despite of all this the PPP chairman still claims that PPP worked very hard to keep the economy stable in the most trying of times…a claim that makes me laugh!
Pakistan has parliamentary system, which means that the Prime Minister is the head of the government and is the main executive authority in the state but the changes that were made by Musharraf turned the Prime Minister into a puppet and the President exercised the executive powers. The PPP government did not amend the clause and the president continued enjoying the powers which are not rightfully his in a parliamentary system. The entire tenure of the PPP government was based on one man show. The five years of PP’s tenure were nothing short of torture in every sense of the word. There was insecurity, injustice and price hike beyond limits.

What is a party without a leader? Yes, this is a very strange but true fact that PPP lacks proper leadership. The party that was once known for its charismatic leadership seems to be lacking a proper leader who can communicate with the masses or represent the party properly. All those leaders who were very close to Benazir Bhutto were relegated to the background soon after her death and although Benazir’s son Bilawal “Bhutto” Zardari was made the chairman of the party but the fact is that he is only 20 years old, has absolutely no experience regarding politics and is merely being used as a pawn. What is worse is that it is common knowledge now that Bilawal and Zardari have been having disagreements and that is the exact reason why Bilawal did not even mention his own father when he addressed the nation and is not even going to be here in the country when the elections take place. Zardari has failed to rise as a true leader and others are probably not allowed to take a lead, which suggests that there are bifurcations within the party and for this very reason I don’t have high expectations from PPP.

I don’t agree with the “Kabar ki siasat” theme of PPP’s election campaign. I am not going to talk ill of the dead; yes Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s charisma was unmatched and Benazir followed in her father’s footsteps and both of them were murdered in cold blood but ENOUGH ALREADY. For how long is PPP going to rely on the “shuhda” and keep on expecting people to give them sympathy vote. Why don’t they have any new leaders to show for? Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto will always be remembered in history as great political leaders but how can the PPP keep on asking people to vote for them when they are no longer alive and how can the voter say that they will vote for Bhutto when Bhutto is no longer alive. Can we please bury the dead and let them be at peace. The fact that PPP has to rely on kabar ki siasat goes to show that they have nothing else to their credit, which is very sad!

PPP’s slogan does not appeal to me at all because they did not do even half of what they promised in five years of their tenure. I agree, no political party has ever come up to the expectations of the people or has kept all the promises that it made during the elections, it is not humanely possible because there are external factors involved which may be out of anyone’s control but PPP has made a mockery out of its own slogan by going against everything they promised. Roti Kapra aur Makaan…anyone out there who got these three easily while PPP was in power? Maybe they should replace it with bijli, paani aur gas. Ilm, sehat, sab ko aam…this reminds me of all the doctors’ strikes and the government’s failure to resolve the issue. Dehshat se mahfooz awam…I cannot even count the bomb blasts that I have personally heard during the PPP tenure. The government’s inability to deal with the situation was nothing hidden. The mobile phones signals disappearing for days was the only solution the government could come up with. Ooncha ho jamhor ka naam…there is no democracy within the party itself so expecting them to promote democracy on the national level would be expecting too much.

I am sorry if I offended anyone with my arguments but consider this article more of venting out than anything else, you should feel free to do the same.

Saud.

The elections are just around the corner and this time around it seems that the political parties have put in more effort on their elction campaigns than other years. The reasons for this are many; PML (N) has not been in power for quite a long time and they will put in any amount of effort to get as many electorates on their side as is possible, PTI stands tall as a dominant political party which goes to prove that they have done their homework well and want to get substantial seats in the upcoming elections or maybe bag themselves an eminent position in the central government. PPP is one of the very few governments in the past few years which managed to stay in power for the entire tenure and would not like to be defeated in these elections too. MQM maintains its position as a party that only gets votes from few regions alone and manages to form coalition governemtns every now and then. The real competition for the central government seems to be between PML (N) and PTI more than any other party. There are of course parties like Awami National Party (ANP); which is only popular in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province. The PTI seems to have worked hard in order to win the hearts of people in that particular province and may prove to be a threat to the ANP and Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami-Fazl ((JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which have always been neck to neck in the same region.

Sadly, the politics in Pakistan has usually been personality dominated. Most often people vote for personalities rather than what the parties stand for. Very often the electorate is not even well acquainted with what the party promises to do if it wins the elections but they vote for candidates solely because their loyalties have been with Nawaz Sharif or the Bhuttos for years. This time around Imran Khan is making his presence felt too and his charismatic appeal will also be the reason because of which many people may vote for him. Very often people give sympathy votes as well, people may vote for a party because it was ousted out of power in their last tenure or the leaders were exiled, people feel the party has been victimized and vote for them out of sympathy. A major part of the political campaigns of the parties are based on accusations which are followed by cross accusations and politics in turn becomes a very dirty game. The Election Commission of Pakistan requested the parties to avoid such accusations this year but that did not change much.

Lets take a look at what the leading parties have to offer; what is it that they have promised to do if they come in to power. Unfortunately our political history is full of many broken promises but nevertheless I think people have the right to know the manifestos of these political parties so that they can make a more informed decision.

Let’s start with Pakistan Muslim League (N); the slogan of PML (N) is “Hum Badlein Gay Pakistan” – Strong Economy – Strong Pakistan. The above statement is self explanatory; PML (N) intends to concentrate on economic development once it comes into power and will focus on agricultural as well as the industrial sector. This in turn would lead to a more economically viable Pakistan which PML (N) promises in the future. Anyone who is interested in reading the manifesto in detail can do so by clicking on this link

http://www.pmln.org/pmln-manifesto-english/

Pakistan Tehreek -e- Insaf stands for “Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem”, as the name of the part indicates justice is most important to this party and it believes in providing everyone with equal opportunities. PTI is a party which boasts of democratic foundations and promises to bring justice to the common man and give the common man his self esteem back. It vows to put an end to corruption and establish a new system that is transparent. PTI promises a “naya Pakistan built on Iqbal’s dream and Jinnah’s vision”. If you want to, you can read the detailed manifesto of PTI by clicking on this link

http://www.insaf.pk/AboutUs/Manifesto/tabid/138/Default.aspx

Pakistan People’s Party maintains the same slogan which it has carried for many years; a promise of the main provisions of livelihood for one and all “roti, kapra aur makaan”. Quite intestingly while all the other parties have quote Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal in the beginning o their manifestos, PPP has quoted Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in theirs. PPP vows to protect the people of Pakistan from external and internal Terrorism, promises accountability and has explained in detail what its policies are going to be regarding different provinces and Pakistan’s ties with other countries. Here is a link where you can read the manifesto in detail

http://www.ppp.org.pk/pppchange/manifestos/manifesto2013.pdf

Tell me honestly, how many of you actually read these manifestos before deciding which party you are going to vote for and if you haven’t gone through what a particular party promises to do once it comes in to power, how did you decide who you are going to vote for?

Please share your views.

There are no second thoughts about the significance of education and the fact that the nation needs to take effective measures to spread awareness among the people. If you pick up history and read the biographies of leaders who gave something to their nation, you will find one thing common in all and that is the role of Education. 

Geo Network, under the supervision of Shehzad Roy has launched an idea of “Chal Parha” which basically revolves around the idea  of spreading awareness and making sure that steps should be taken to improve the quality of education and literacy in general. Supporting the same ideology, here  is something Mahira Khan shared with her followers,

Mahira did her job and its your turn now to make education your primary target,

Wishes,

Nida Zaidi

As previously shared, the news has finally turned into an event and actress Juggan  Kazmi is now officially engaged to Feisal H. Naqvi who is also known for her expertise in the field of journalism. It is only few days back that the actress finally got engaged, celebrating her happiness with friends and family. 

Here are a few clicks taken on the event, Have a look!

We wish the couple all the very best for their new life,

Wishes

Nida  Zaidi

There was a time when Pakistan’s film industry seemed more like a joke where the actresses had everything to show except their acting skills, and the heroes were all limited to the roles of “Gujjar” and “Chaudhry”, yes, that was a misery, but thankfully, things have changed in the last 10 years. Today, as most of the audience sees it, the nation is coming up with polished products that are appreciated not only within the country but also abroad.

I did share a news about Tarang’s house full upcoming telefilm “Dil mera Dharkan teri” that  went on air  on May 3^rd and surprisingly, the telefilm was far much better than my expectations and the feeling compelled me to jot down a few points to share with you all.

Note:For those who missed the show, here is a link from where you can see the remake of old Pakistani film “Dil Mera Dharkan teri” starring Ahsan Khan, Sanam Saeed and Sarwat Gillani.

http://www.dramasonline.com/tarang-telefilm-dil-mera-dhadkan-teri-on-geo-tv-3rd-may-2013/

Been directed by Mehreen Jabbar, the telefilm had everything to make it stand somewhere with Indian levels if we talk about good acting, pleasant graphics, effective editing and well-done costumes. By comparing the project with a good Indian entertainment venture, all I mean to say is that our entertainment industry has now reached to a point where our “once-loved” Indian movies stand nowhere in the race.

The remake of “Dil mera dharkan teri” is a good effort in reviving the film industry where the actors have given their best to make it a hit.  I was amused to see Sarwat Gillani in the role of Saira and the fact that she  is truly a versatile actress if you compare her acting skills as ‘Zoya’ of Dil-e- Muzter with what she had brought on screen in the telefilm.

As stated, the telefilm had all the ingredients to make it a hit, to be specific enough, from its direction to it production, from Ahsan’s natural personification of the character to Sarwat’s outstanding performance and yes, one thing that needs applause here is the role and acting of Sanam Saeed as ‘Beenish’. I loved her in every next scene for the reason that she knows how to make audience hate her and love her simultaneously.

Your opinion might differ from mine about Sanam’s performance in the telefilm, but what is quite noticeable is the reality that she can fit in any role, any character;changing her accent, her looks, her expressions and what not which is obviously a stand-alone quality of a good actor. 

The telefilm also had few songs that are done pretty well. In the song “Qubool Kerlo”,Sanam’s  appearance resembled to that of Deepika in the movie ‘Race 2’, which further add some spice as watching her that way is something viewer are looking for after watching her in the role of ‘Kashaf’ in ‘Zindagi Gulzar hai’ .

All in all, the two-hour telefilm was surely not a disappointment and in fact, such ideas have opened the new doors in the entertainment industry where audience looks forward for such projects. It is easy to conclude that after the controversial phase of promoting foreign content, Geo TV has played it safe to come up with the House Full series.

Share your views about the telefilm and the acting done by the artists,

Wishes,

Nida  Zaidi

Starting from the times of Ptv,novels have always been adapted and dramatized for our tv audiences.None of these dramas has gained the immense popularity that Humsafar earned. Humsafar is based on a popular novel by novelist and now drama writer Farhat Ishtiaq. This drama has fans all over the world and many credit it with reviving the Pakistani Drama Industry.Having read the novel and seen the drama adaptation,I thought it would be interesting to share with you differences between the drama and the novel

1- Sara’s character

In the novel Sara was just a cousin of Asher who liked him and wanted to marry him,she was never shown to be his business partner or working with him.Although Naveen Waqar portrayed the character brilliantly,however,she could not match the physical description given in the novel i.e. being very fair skinned and beautiful yet finding no favour with Asher.

2- Khizar’s character

In the novel Khizar was just a pawn used for creating mistrust between the lead couple Asher-Khirad. He wanted to pursue studies abroad but didn’t have the money.He was sponsored by Fareeda aunty and Sara’s mother in return for his ‘favour’ to them. The novel never saw Khizar interested in Sara nor did he ever return once he moved abroad for studies

3- Age difference between Asher-Khirad

Asher of the actual story was atleast 7 years older than Khirad and because of the age difference he suspected Khizar-Khirad relationship as he mistook that she might have mental compatibility with someone of her age.Notwithstanding how much we love the lead couple of drama,their age difference did not appear much.

4- The apartment and the house

Once Asher gets to know that he’s a daughter who’s seriously ill and needs treatment,he moves his wife and daughter to an apartment not his own house.

5- America & Northern Areas

The novel was set somewhere around 2006 wherein Fareeda Aunty goes to Northern Areas for doing earthquake relief work from the platform of her NGO. In the drama, we see her leaving for USA.

6- Self-realization & Khizar spilling the beans

It was self-realization on Asher’s part that Khirad can never be unfaithful to her after which he comes home and finds the letter while in the drama Khizar tells Asher that it was a plot hatched by Fareeda aunty, sara and sara’s mother with his help.Later on,he does find the letter.

7-Forgiveness

After finding out the truth,Asher stoops down to Khirad’s feet and asks her for forgiveness.No such thing happened in the drama.

Apart from these,Hareem had a bigger role to play in the novel where she was quite fond of dressing up and having mehndi etc which was not shown in drama.If you find any other dissimilarities between the novel and drama do let us know.

Haseeb Ahmed

Morning shows have always been a part of our entertainment industry no matter whichever time period you take a look on. With the changes in values and customs of the nation, the morning shows and the strategies to earn high TRPs have also changed significantly. It was recently that ARY digital came up with an unusual idea of celebrating Sadia Imam’s wedding all over again on Television and perhaps, the morning show succeeded in having 5 days of  wedding activities, keeping the viewers bound with everything the channel could add to make it spicy enough to be followed.

What amused me greatly was the fact that  Sadia Imam, along with her husband cashed the opportunity to its fullest and came into limelight, which for sure, Sadia Imam needs the most. To get some light and appreciation, it was seen that many celebrities turned up in the event, showing their love and dedication towards Sadia. Out of many, it was Ahsan Khan and Reema who kept their hands full on over the celebrations and it is no more difficult to guess Reema’s appearance in the show after watching her as an American tourist guide which is obviously a shining-opportunity for her career. There were other celebrities like Moamar Rana, Shahood Alvi, Kiran, Nadia Khan, Rambo and Sahiba, Saud  and Javeria, etc.

Here are a few clicks from the show that kept revolving around Sadia Imam previous week.

Did you enjoy the event and think that such activities should be a part of our morning shows? Share your views about it,

Wishes,

Nida Zaidi

No matter how blessed, positive or upbeat a person is, every now and then everyone feels gloomy. There are times when all of us don’t have the strength to go on with life; the reasons for feeling this way can be many. It could be because we have just lost a loved one, are not feeling well, someone we love is unwell, things are not going the way we had planned, there are too many problems to which we do not have the solution or simply because you get up one morning and feel sad. Yes, there are times when we feel sad and lonely for no reason at all. What do you do when you feel this way? Do you try and get yourself out of this state of mind or do you let it take the best of you? Every time I feel sad I try and gather myself up as soon as I can, although it is not easy but the following things that I am listing below help. It would be very nice of you to take out some time and go through what I have to say.

When you are feeling depressed, tell yourself tomorrow is another day. Yes this is the first trick in the book for me, no matter how wrong things are today, there is always tomorrow to look forward to. I remember when I was a little girl I used to love the song “tomorrow tomorrow I love you tomorrow because you are always a day away”. It made perfect sense to me then and it still makes perfect sense to me now. No matter how tough life is today and how sad you may feel tomorrow is going to be a brand new day which will give you the energy and strength to start afresh.

Count your blessings. We hardly ever sit down to count our blessings on daily basis, in our hearts we are all thankful that all is going well for us but how many of us actually sit down to think about the things that we should be thankful for. Next time you feel dejected, sad, despondent, low-spirited or downcast do try and count your blessings. I am not in the favor of comparing oneself with others but sometimes it does help. Compare yourself to those who are less privileged, the people who have to work day and night for bread and butter or those around you who are not as blessed as you are. It will definitely make you feel a lot better and maybe a little grateful too.

Think of days that were worse than the one you are having today. Yes comparison again, when you think things could not get any worse and you can’t find a way out of things then think of the days when you had more problems. This way you will realize your strength and also understand that all bad days end and there are good times ahead.

Read something inspirational. I always read inspirational quotations or a short novel that will motivate me to look ahead and get over the sadness. Simple quotations like “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” make me feel good very quickly.

Talk to someone you can pour your heart out to. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a sibling, parent or a friend whom they can confide in or are so close to that they do not have to think twice before sharing with them how they feel. But if you have someone like that in your life, you are very lucky and I suggest you make the most of it. Talk to that person, get it out of your system and you are sure to feel better.

Write down how you feel. If you have no one talk to, write the way you feel or anything you want to on a piece of paper. Sometime writing your thoughts down can actually give you solution to your problems and if nothing else it gives you a chance to vent out.

If you have kids around you, spend some time with them. Spending time with children can be very therapeutic sometimes because you don’t expect anything from them and they give you a reason to smile.

Get out of the house and be around people who you know love you. When one is felling sad, you don’t usually want to go out but if you push yourself and go out and be with people who are closest to you, you will get some positive energy from them that will help. You don’t have to share how you feel but all you need to do is to be around them.

Last but not the least, here is something that will definitely help.

Tell us what you do to cheer yourself up.

Picking such topics and writing over them is always something I avoid the most; probably because the readers often find the content either bold enough to be discussed or find the critics been overdone. However, it seems more like a duty to share all the must-know facts and  happenings that are related to our celebrities and showbiz industry to keep our readers updated. What I have today to share with you all is a news that will surely leave you with a thought to consider.

I recently shared a news announcement about Salma Agha’s daughter Sasha Agha and the fact that she will soon be seen on screen in a bollywood movie “Aurangzeb”.

Note: Read more about the project here : https://reviewit.pk/salma-aghas-daughter-sasha-agha-makes-her-debut-in-yash-raj-film-aurangzeb/

While I was searching more about the movie, I came across some sites where Sasha is been discussed for the intimate scenes that she has done with Arjun Kapoor, who is the male lead in the movie. The clips were quite shameful as I take them and knowing that our site has some rules and regulations to follow, censoring of the clips was the first thing that was done.

 It is a pity that although belonging from a family that has earned a lot of respect for its talent in the field of acting and singing, Sasha Agha seems quite comfortable in doing such bold scenes in the movie. If you take a look on the song that has also been sung by her, you will notice that the line that distinguishes glamor from vulgarity has crossed all the boundaries that should be strictly followed.

Salma Agha is one of those celebrities who are still cherished for not their work only but for the morality and ethics that they ensured on screen, however, watching her daughter in an avatar that completely opposes to the customs and traditions that the home country follow was an unpleasant experience.

There is nothing new about the story as it is becoming more like a trend that Pakistani actresses go to India and take the name down of the country by selling themselves on screens, whether it is Meera, Veena Malik, Sara Loren or Sasha Agha now.  

Pakistan is a country having 60% of the liberal people who are at ease with some romantic scenes been shown on screen but the fact still remains that being a Muslim country, the audience want to see their celebrities following at least some lines called “limits” on-screen and on a serious note even the law of the country disapproves the anything that becomes a source of promoting vulgarity.  

It has been seen that Pakistani actresses who try earning respect with indecent ways in India lose their career in Pakistan as Veena Malik is a good example of this. About 70% of the audience hates Veena Malik for her boldness and this means the end of her career in her home country. The news about having Salma Agha’s daughter as an emerging talent was welcomed by most of the readers few hours back but her fan following within Pakistan is in danger if we take the previous trends into account. Fair enough, Sasha has got her first break with Yash Raj Films which itself speaks quite much about the intimate scenes she agreed to do.

What makes this article worth reading is the fact that it is now important to question our celebrities about the ethics that they must follow. Will all of our celebrities going to sell their dignity on screen just for the sake of some money and popularity? Are we going to take them back open arms when they would return to Pakistan after giving some bold, low-budget  flop movies?

It is a point where all of us should start thinking that how we actually want our culture to look like.

Save your culture, raise your voice,

Blessings

Nida Zaidi

What does shopping mean to you? A test of nerves? A physical and mental exercise? Something you do because you have to do it? Or is it something you do when you want to unwind, relax and maybe reward yourself? Well, for me shopping has always been a way to reward myself; something I do to distract myself from the dull and monotonous routine and of course like anyone else I can’t escape it since one must shop in order to get the basic necessities like groceries, clothing etc. So every time I walk in a shop I want to be treated as the person who is there to be rewarded…”c’mon show me all you have got” is my attitude and nothing short of that would turn this shopping experience into a gratifying one. I want a lot of options in front of me before I finally decide what I want to buy especially if I am shopping for clothes, shoes and accessories.Well, honestly speaking most of the time the shopping experience leads me frustrated and tired mainly because the expectations are too high and the returns too low!!

I am going to share with you the reason for my frustrations and tell me if you can relate to any of it. When I enter into a shop there is hardly a shopkeeper who has the expressions and the body language that says “wow a valued customer, I am all ears”, the reaction is more of, “Oh my God time to wake up from my slumber, better get rid of her as soon as I can!”.. Resultantly the shop turns into a war zone for the few minutes that I am there, the shopkeeper will try every trick in the book to ensure that I leave as early as possible; from not showing the right sizes to taking too long to understand what I want. Does that make any sense? I am there to spend my precious finances and this man just could not care less because he will get paid at the end of the month whether I buy something from his shop or not. Now that is the attitude that makes my mind wander from shopping to politics…yes you heard it right politics! Why are honesty and hard work not part of our political culture? There is corruption everywhere; even this salesman is actually corrupt when he refuses to deal with his customers properly. Why are we so lazy etc etc!! So much for shopping now eh! So when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I am not the one to give up, I decide to deal with these dishonest, lazy and irresponsible people in the way they deserve to be dealt with and by the time I get back home, I have almost forgotten that I went out to relax and reward myself and it seems more like “I just spent my money and brought myself a few things but I don’t feel happy!!” But the optimist that I am even next time I will go out shopping with the same high expectations and a smile on my face and probably return exhausted and disappointed. This happens particularly in sales when there are so many salesmen on the floor but all of them pretend like they are hard of hearing.

So, How many of you have faced these “hardships” while shopping? What are your expectations when you go out for shopping? Please share your thoughts.

Ayesha Ahmed.