I have to admit that September Quarter proved to be much better than June Quarter. June Quarter got nothing much to offer and we were forced to watch dramas like Ahista Ahista and Izteraab. Only Laa and Marasim were good dramas to watch at that time and I am glad that they both ended up on a good note without being dragged. September 2014 Quarter on the other hand got so much to offer which will fulfil your week’s entertainment.

So what good shows are we having currently on screen?

Shanakht: My drama week brings from drama Shanakht. An extremely well written story with strong plot and this was something I expect from writers. The drama took off with an interesting pace and up till now I am thoroughly enjoying the momentum of this show. For the first time somebody finally touched a sensitive issue regarding Islamic values and how high society perceives it. This drama is currently ON-AIR on HUM-TV every Tuesday at 8.00 pm. Indeed a must watch drama.

Chup Raho: I call this drama a game of checkers. Seriously I was impressed by Samira Fazal’s Wit for the first time I hope she had not stolen anyone’s story this time. This drama is worth giving up a try. The plot is indeed bold but I want to say that same was the case with “paani jesa pyaar”. So far I am enjoying this show and Jibran Syed deserves an Oscar for his character Numair. This drama is currently ON-AIR on ARY Digital every Tuesday at 8.00 pm.

So there is a tough competition on Tuesday on primetime slot. There is nothing much to offer on Wednesdays “tum mere hi rehna” doesn’t grasp me at all a flat story roaming around cousin’s love and marital affair so let’s jump directly on Thursday and see what do we have on prime slot.

Main Bushra: Due to direction and dialogues, this drama is worth watching. The play is based on a pity issue of a father having 7 daughters with only two bread winners in the whole family. Main Bushra play is gaining high TRPs due to the fact it is actually close to the soul of the term “Typical Drama”. This drama is indeed very much close to reality and for those who are not watching this play I will recommend it to have a go and you may like it. It is currently ON-AIR on ARY Digital every Thursday at 8.00 pm.

Jackson Heights: After weekdays’ stress a fresh weekend begins with this fresh drama having a fresh story called Jackson Heights. So at last someone finally wrote something for Overseas Pakistanis and what problems they face while living abroad and the credit goes to Vasay Chaudhry for penning it down. I am thoroughly enjoying this show more than any shows in the whole week and every week I wait desperately for the fresh episode. The cast is amazing especially Noman Ejaz in fact now I came to know why he bags award every time. It will not be wrong to state that this drama might not be on its feet without Noman Ejaz. Sadly the drama was not promoted as it should be and it is also airing on least watched channel Urdu 1. Anyways I will strongly recommend having a go at this drama airing every Friday on Urdu 1 at 9.00 pm.

Sadqey Tumhare: People going crazy as Mahira Khan is back on screen after a self-imposed exile of two years with drama serial “Sadqey Tumhare”. First episode was really good with top notch acting by Adnan Malick. Along with a cast another plus point of this drama is that the story has been penned down by Khalil ur Rehman who had also written the super duper hit drama of 2014 “Pyaray Afzal”. Let’s wait and watch how the story will progress further. No need to recommend it as I am pretty much sure that people will watch it. The drama is being telecast on HUM-TV every Friday at 8.00 pm.

Moving on Saturdays to  see what we have on this day.

Firaaq: Hum Tv again snatching away all viewership from other entertainment channels from drama serial Firaaq. I can’t stop myself to praise the level of camera work and the usage of bright colours alluring the screen. The pace of this drama is extremely interesting from the first episode and especially the latest instalment (episode 6) kept my eyes glued to the screen. The drama is written by Mustafa Afridi and directed by Aabis Raza. The whole cast had done an excellent job except Cybil Chaudry I have few reservations regarding her acting. It’s great to see Mazhar Ali and Uzma Gillani back on screen. The beauty of this drama is that each and every character is well portrayed and every character got a meaty role in the play. The slot of 8.00 pm is again well deserved to none other but HUM-TV.

Rung: I know that most of you are not aware of this drama and it’s probably late to recommend it as 20 episodes are gone and the drama is clinching towards its end. The drama is currently ON-AIR on HUM Sitaray every Saturday at 8.00 pm, those who are watching this play must be enjoying it. Anyways if anyone wants to watch this play you can watch it on online portal of Dramas Online.

Jab We Wed: A light play with light hearted comedy and romance. At start this play was interesting but with each latest instalment this show is slightly becoming boring, however I still love this play as there is a stir of comedy in it along with romance. This play got nothing much to offer, Faris is still on his journey with his paternal cousin Nisa to fulfil his mother’s last wish to marry one of his maternal cousin out of three. This drama is currently ON-AIR on Urdu 1 every Saturday at 8.00 pm.

Let’s move on to Sundays now.

Uff Meri Family: After watching some serious dramas there is a need for some crunchy comedy. Uff Meri Family is a visual treat to watch specially the cute chemistry between Naveen Waqar and Azfar. If you want to watch something really hilarious and mind refreshing then watch this soap every Sunday at 7.25 on Hum TV.

Digest Writer: The weekend is still not over as HUM-TV presents you with new writer Madiha Shahid’s serial Digest Writer, the consultation was done by Umera Ahmed.This is yet another different story on Sunday’s prime slot. A story of a girl Fareeda who is passionate about writing despite being objected from her family Fareeda consider writing as her craze which she cannot leave at all cost. Saba Qamar finally chose a good serial and I hope she will receive applauses for her role in this drama. First two episodes were really well executed and I am looking forward how the story will unfold in future.

From the above the picture it is quite clear that HUM-TV is back in action leaving far behind every entertainment channel by covering the whole week almost. Last year there was a tough competition between ARY and HUM but this time HUM is a clear winner.

So what dramas are you watching currently and would you like to recommend it?

There was a time when 14th August came soaked in patriotism.New patriotic songs used to be the order of the day along with special 14th August plays and talk shows and documentaries on independence and its significance. But it was before the advent of private television channels in Pakistan. With the inception of private television programming in Pakistan,the independence day celebrations have somehow taken a backseat.

There are no more ‘special’ patriotic songs made for the day.Rather,we have mediocre songs sponsored by corporates such as Ufone,National Foods,Warid etc. No effort is made to create any special song anymore. Even Ptv has lost interest in this regard.

On top of it, the few special dramas that were telecast on the occasion were neither engaging nor were promoted widely for people to be informed of them. There was this one special drama which was sponsored by Walls once again.Since Turkish and Indian dramas have become invincible on our TV screens,this independence day saw Kuzey Guney and Ishq-e-Memnu on Urdu1 (a foreign channel operating in Pakistan only), Janay kiya bat huee and sub se sona ishq on Aplus and Mrs Pammi Pyarelal, Asi and Yeh Hai Meri Kahani on Express Entertainment. These shameless channels could not stop foreign programming even for a day yet they earn buckets full of revenue from Pakistan. Very sad indeed and a reason for all Pakistanis to stop watching these channels!

The remaining mainstream channels do such special and strong programming and promotion for alien occasions such as valentine’s day,mother’s day,women’s day that you are left wondering why did they leave out our independence day? Was it worth leaving out or do they not get enough sponsors for such occasions? Have we lost all interest in our country and its quest for independence which saw hundreds of thousands of people rendering bloody sacrifices?

Local cable channels were also busy showing Indian movies with Pakistani flag logo pasted on the top of the screens.But Punjabi entertainment channel Apna takes the cake here as it showed Salman Khan starrer Veer which was the story of a Rajhistahi Prince against Britishers. This channel and its management should have telecast this movie on 15th August as they intended to commemorate Indian’s independence day and not Pakistan’s.

Overall,very disappointing and low key programming by all channels on this symbolic occasion. It goes on to show our dying patriotism as channels only show programs which fetch them ratings. Apparently, such programming doesn’t boost ratings….

Haseeb Ahmed

Who doesn’t know Atif Aslam. He is “THE PAKISTANI GUY”. Lets have a sneak peek into his journey to stardom.

Student Life and “JAL”:

Atif attended high School at PAF College, Lahore, where he played Kabaddi and became interested in music.

He attended Punjab Institute of Computer Science (PICS) to do his Bachelors in Computer Science (BCs).

It was at PICS, Lahore that he met guitarist and talented young composer, Gohar Mumtaz. This lead to performances at their college and at various restaurants eventually pushing the pair into finding a name for their subtly formed band, which they named “Jal” – which means water.

Working together, the pair recorded the song Aadat (with the help of Salman Albert, amongst other established and accomplished Pakistani musicians). It became popular on a host of promotional Pakistani music websites.
The music video for Aadat was shot one day in a warehouse in Karachi. On the base of this one song, “Jal” began their tour of Pakistan—such was the strength of “Aadat”.

Atif leaving “JAL”:

However, whilst on tour, personal problems led to a verbal bust-up resulting in an unannounced and indefinite hiatus, during which Atif launched his solo career. Atif Aslam, after leaving Jal, released a new solo album, Jal Pari (meaning “Mermaid”) which was a big hit.

The Songs Woh Lamhey, Dil Haarey and few others were smash hits on both Pakistani radio stations and Music Channels. As both the Jal, “Aadat”, and Atif’s album, Jalpari, shared certain tracks (such as “Aadat”, “Bheegi Raatein”, “Wo Lamhey”, “Ankhon se”) an unofficial war over rights began which resulted in both sides claiming to possess hard proof to support their respective claims (that, they alone owned the concerned songs).

The hype this feud gave to both Atif and the new Jal was extraordinary and split the musical nation with the fans of each side backing their respective favourite.

Atif’s voice in BOLLYWOOD:

Whilst the drama of lyrics & composition ownership continued in Pakistan, Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt called Atif Aslam to seek his consent to include “Woh Lamhey” in the soundtrack of his new motion picture, Zeher (2005).The song (especially the remix version) became a hit.

This pattern of a slow playback song by Atif in the movie, supplemented by a remix version released for radio airplay was to become standard procedure with Atif’s songs on the Indian market.

He recorded a song for the movie Kalyug (2005), entitled Juda Hokey Bhi – a slight variation of the ever famous Aadat song.

Like with “Wo Lamhey / Bheegi Yaadein”, a slow version became the theme for the movie and part of the official soundtrack, whilst a remixed version was released to hit the radio stations and desi clubs worldwide.

After recording for Kalyug, an Irani director in Hollywood contacted Atif and within very little time, Atif recorded three songs for that same director’s Hollywood movie, Man Push Cart and was rewarded with a small cameo role in the movie.

Atif re-emerged in the subcontinent with a new track, “Tere Bin” (translation: [Without You]) for the Bollywood Movie, Bas Ek Pal (2006). The song “Tere Bin” became a hit in India and Pakistan.

It was also being considered as one of the most touching and heart melting numbers of the year 2006.

In between the copyright war and media war with Gohar ( Jal ) and recording Bollywood songs, Atif has been touring the world and working on his new album.

Atif visited various countries in Asia, Europe & The Americas which include Pakistan,Bangladesh, India, UAE, UK, Canada & America—taking his sound to the “pardesi” (expatriates of the subcontinent) worldwide.

Atif’s new album has been entitled Doorie and has released on December 2006. The songs include Maula, Doorie, Kuch is tarah, and Hum Kis Gali.

Atif’s Passion:

For his immense passion for cricket he was selected in his school team as a fast bowler. Atif cleared his 10th grade in 14 years of age with a distinctive edge that he has always been the youngest boy in the class because of his double promotions while he was in Kimberley Hall.

Atif started his HSc in PAF College Lahore. Cricket was all the times with him. He was in his college team as well where he presented his college in other cities. Beside his studies he was putting his maximum time in practicing for the professional cricket. During his college life he came across with some interest in music. His eldest brother was having a collection of more than 8,000 songs of almost all music genres.

Un-intentionally he was developing a habit of listening to this all kind of music in his house.

As a good learner he quickly grasped the control of voice but till that time he was not interested in singing, his passion was to enter in Pakistan cricket team as a fast bowler and he was right on track while practicing at the net at Shapes club Lahore where Imran Khan use to come and give tips to him for bowling.

The twist in the story comes when one day he was singing with his friends at the college canteen. His friends insisted him to participate in the singing on Independence Day celebrations at PAF College Lahore and Sargodha in 1998. He performed there and won the competition. After HSc Atif Joined Punjab Institute of Computer Science Gulberg Campus. This time studies were much more demanding as compared to the previous ones. He has to sacrifice his time for the cricket.His hobby of singing continued when he entered in the singing competition of his college There were a total of 8 participants .The media team entered atif’s name in the competition at the eleventh hour and he won the competition singing a hit number of “string” “Duur”.

He kept on winning these competitions every semester until he announced that he will not participate in next competitions so that someone else can also win the competitions. He found Goher at his college who was having good interest in Music & was a good, talented guitarist. Together they use to practice a lot and started doing mini concerts for their friend.

Atif use to sing the Junoon’s and string’s song at the concert. The volume of audience kept on increasing. They performed concerts for their college, McDonalds and some other restaurants as well. Atif recorded the legendary song “AADAT” at Mekal Hassan’s Studio. Mekal injected his professionalism in the song to make it worth listening time after time. Atif formed the band and named the band as “JAL” which means water, the essence of life.

The song got popularity on the different musical websites on Pakistan. The song was also being on aired on major Radio channels of Pakistan like FMr within just 5 months of the sale and its still continuing.

Atif’s triumph – inflow of awards:

His song Woh Lamhay fetch him the nomination as best singer for 2005 in almost all the film awards of bollywood including Film Fare Awards, Zee Cine Awards, and IIFA Awards etc. He just got nominated for Best Playback Singer (Male) for his song “Tere Bin” from movie “Bas Ek Pal” for Filmfare Awards 2007.

Some of the awards he has won include: Best playback singer, Best debut singer – Sahara Sangeet Awards (India) Winner OF Best Song Best Lyricist Best Composition – ARY Music Awards (Pakistan) Most Wanted Male – The Music Awards (Pakistan)

He has been the judge of musical shows as well and has earned a good name in India too.

After his marriage he didn’t take much of break and is still in producing more of good musical stuff.

We wish him good fortune for the upcoming projects

S. Rasool

I have said it before and I will say it again; are we not done with two sisters being jealous of each other? No matter how many pretty faces we put in, the story will remain to be the same. The drama sells but please find something new, because one more play where one sister is pissed off at the other one and I am going to pull my own eyeballs out. There are shows which promise something new and still remain loyal to the ideas of creativity and originality, but then there are some like ‘Mausam’ and ‘Meray Meharbaan’; which don’t even try in the thinnest to be different.
Mausam is our drama industry’s latest stint on sister rivalry, the only difference; this time they are cousins and not siblings. The story of this play is so cliché that I cannot even judge the performances of the actors involved, it is hysterical now that people can even predict the next line an actor is going to say and the expression an actor is going to have. When this scenario starts to happen; where even the tiniest emotion of an actor is so predictable, the producers and all the team needs to head back to drawing board and come up with something new from scratch. Well as for now; that is not going to happen and we have to stick around watching two women tussle with a rich blue eyed boy; and guess what it is the run of the mill story sweetheart Ahsan Khan. The acting capabilities of this actor have been debated in past for the longest as he juggled with two totally different hairdos in his recent play ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ and mood swings in ‘Mujhay Khuda Pay Yakeen Hai’ which by the way the way tested the audience more so than ever. The play and its premise if seen in isolation from its predecessors might impress, but then again we have had two rival siblings so much that ignoring the past stints is next to impossible. The drama holds a beautiful array of actors, and most of all it has Yumna Zaidi. I respect Yumna because she gained massive respect in my opinion because of her mind numbing and stellar performance in ‘Ullu Barai Farokht Nahi’. I know that such plays are not routine and don’t pay well, but I still believe Yumna has incredible capacity to impress out of all the actors in ‘Mausam’.

Such plays do sell and many people do watch it, but I still believe that no matter how many times we try to do it; we shall never be able to make it any better. It has been done in so many forms, that now stories of sister rivalry is nothing more than a recipe of boredom and in near future; disaster. The problem is as the stories continue on the same premise; the characters have become far more polarized than ever before. This polarization has led to disconnect between the audience and the storytelling; whereas the previous plays in this premise allowed the audience to connect with the character; the current ones are taking their characters far from reality. Either it is Miss Very Good Two Shoes or Its Miss Cruela on the other end, or as little as I know, making your characters completely devoid of any humanity and frailty is not going to help. The story needs to be geyer than stark black and white, and perhaps the best example recently was when ‘Pyaray Afzal’ became our heartbeat. We loved him not because he was the hero; we loved him because he was a human above all. He did not play a messiah but he was a character which made some really bad decisions but along with everything there was a silver lining. I guess people who write shows like ‘Mausam’ need some writing and idea classes from Khalil Ur Rahman Qamar.

The other show which never ceases to impress me with lack of creativity is ‘Meray Meharbaan’. The most surprising thing to me is the fact that Ayeza Khan happens to be the lead. After her previous impression in ‘Pyaray Afzal’; I believed that she will be moving from strength to strength, but I was proved wrong when I saw ‘Meray Meharbaan’. It takes you a while to digest what is happening in the show. There is an aunty who is pure evil with a husband you pity and then there is another aunty who is like super good with a family which is like super pious. I just don’t buy this story, it is perhaps the biggest headache on air at the moment, and to make it worse it is on Hum TV. I don’t know why HUM thought it would be okay to have such show on the air. Hum has given us shows which we cannot forget, but believe me this is perhaps the most questionable choice after the calamity known as ‘Mujhay Khuda Pay Yakeen Hai’. The story is beyond predictable, the characters and their emotions are then again so typecast that you don’t end up feeling anything for them. Ayeza’s engagement so early on in the show was doomed and well there were no surprises.

The reason I mentioned these two shows is that since the rebirth of Pakistani television; I envisioned that shows will become more compelling with the time being. They indeed have and we have numerous examples, but when shows like ‘Mausam’ and ‘Meray Meharbaan’ take the central position in the prime time slot, I doubt there is any genuine intention on part of the producer to keep on this spectacular revival of our television industry. Hum TV needs to give up its complacency and learn from its rivals. As Ary smashed with ‘Pyaray Afzal’, ATV inspired with ‘Marasim’, ‘Pechan’ and ‘Aun Zara’ and Urdu One impressed with ‘Meray Hum Dum Meray Dost and promises ‘Jackson Heights’; there is a strong competition ahead for HUM which became the juggernaut of revival of television in Pakistan. The first step; thinking of something new.

Jehanzeb

Whenever you travel, either it is abroad or within your own country, there are such situations that end up making your journey a really tough one. I have been traveling in Pakistan and also abroad and every time I see different people ruining my journey. This article will focus on these people, their actions and how to get rid of them. People who have had experiences like me must read and then share their opinions in the comments section below. I have spent a lot of time in traveling from one city to another and I have also been traveling abroad since three years. Daewoo buses, trains and even planes have different people in them who come with an aim to disturb others. Under circumstances like these, travelling is a challenge.

While travelling through train I have seen babies crying like anything and their mothers scolding them instead of trying to stop them. These babies not only disturb the people by not letting them sleep but they often make a normal person sick. Continuous crying noises actually result in nauseating others and this has happened to me before. Apart from this I have send families eating stuff and throwing the leftover under their seats. Like seriously is this the place to throw stuff? This results in a very bad odor all around the cabin. I have also experienced typical uneducated boys staring continuously at any girl sitting in the train. This also creates a lot of discomfort. Once something like this happened with me and I was not able to sleep the whole night in that train.

While going out of Pakistan, I came through such families who are fully dressed up. Women wear matching glittery dresses and same colored shoes and dark formal makeover while men wearing a suit. I usually start laughing when I see people like them having no dressing sense. A person must always be casual while they go through the journey. I have also seen men who call the air hostess after every five minutes and this is according to me the most stupid act that I have ever seen before. My point is that when you need something you can call the air hostess but why do some people call the air hostess just to look at her? This is something that disturbs me a lot while I travel. Apart from this there are some people who disturb others by their eating habits. They eat like almost everything on the dish and then they burp and fart. That is truly ridiculous. Once an incident like this happened with me and I had to change my seat.

Moving on to the journey through Daewoo, this is for me the most tiring journey ever. The most common disturbing actions during this journey are when some one continuously kicks your seat from the back and the never ending cell phone discussions. The act of kicking seats is common in adults and children. This act is actually done to disturb others. What I do to get rid of this disturbing act is that I point them out at that very instant. It is your job to make them aware that this is a disrespectful act. Kids who are older then 4 years I speak to them directly and if a small child is disturbing me, what I do is just that I tell his mom to take care of him. You shouldn’t be afraid to speak up to them because this is your right. More over there are times when the person sitting next to you smells really bad. At that moment what you should do is that make yourself prepared because this is something that you can’t tell him directly. If you tell him directly it would be hurtful. You can keep a small vial of organic peppermint oil and use it in these cases. Just rub some of it around your nose and you won’t smell anyone else’s odour.

Now coming to the people who continuously talk on phone in a high voice, what I do here again is pointing them out. I directly say that please can you keep it down. Sometimes an eye contact can also help you make that person realize his mistake. If this also doesn’t work then I walk to that person and say that can you please understand that we are trying to relax here. Remind them politely but forcefully and I am sure that they will realize. These are some of the habits that irritate me while travelling. Don’t forget to share yours.

Written by: Moomal Hassan