Ohkay, on a request of a dear reader I sighted the mood to write an overview about the very first season of Pakistan Idol. I must say that when it started, we all had inhibitions & preconceived notions but as the season went along, the fever of Pakistan Idol took it’s toll on us all & convinced us to follow it through.

As always, when it started, it took us a little time to swallow the fact that reality show has hit our TV screens. Some labeled it as rigged, some labeled it as pre-planned but I am glad now when the season has ended, we have nothing but great things to say about the very first season of Pakistan Idol.

I must say when it began, the judges came across as a bit stern & rude in the auditions & it looked like they were belittling every single person that came in for the auditions, even those who meant business were underestimated & the only judge who seemed to be doing so was Ali Azmat. Ali Azmat at times even showed disinterest & labeled the females judges as biased when they picked female auditionees but as more episodes went on-air, people got hold of Ali Azmat’s temperament & understood his humorous side a bit more. I must say the judge who actually seemed to be doing her part really well was Hadiqa Kiyani as she was always honest & to the point in her judgments (in the beginning). Bushra Ansari has to be the only judge who got criticized a lot because she didn’t suit the seat of a judge being an actress. I really didn’t understand what she was doing in the singing competition & the mystery remains even now when the show has ended.

The auditions were great but the best episode of the auditions for me has to be the one shot in Peshawar. It’s like the Peshawar city auditions showed some culture in the music & the Pushto folk was brought into the limelight as well whereas the rest of the cities no doubt helped surfacing some amazing contestants but the culture of the music was missing. A lot of people came for the singing but we got to see a lot of those as well who came to share a screen-time with no talent to their credit whatsoever. At times it did look like some of the auditionees were paid to bring in the comic quotient because they seemed too fake to be true but I must confess some of the unpaid auditionees who had faith in themselves & were oblivious of them being talent-free were tackled with a lot of care by Ali Azmat. He just knew what he had to do with that lot of over-confident lads & lasses & it was actually really funny.

We got amazing 86 voices but only a few got to qualify to the next round. A lot of good ones were left behind & then the Piano rounds started where 4 out of 8 would qualify for the next round. This was the time when the public voting started & they got to choose 3 contestants whereas the judges selected 1 one of them as well. That was the time when people started finding who’d they be rooting for in the Galas.

The real journey of the competition began in the Gala rounds & some really strong contenders were eliminated in the beginning because of the lack of votes. I must say by this time we got to see the real judging of the judges because it was only Ali Azmat who stayed true to his seat & supported when the contestants needed to be supported but also nitpicked when it was required. Bushra Ansari doesn’t even count as a judge because her say didn’t matter but by this time Hadiqa Kiyani started losing the plot & she involved herself in the unfair support of certain contestants earning herself a label of being biased & unfair. Shahmir Aziz Quidwai & Sana Zulfikar had a strong fan base & sustained a lot of weeks despite missing the spark whereas Waqas Ali, Mehwish Maqsood, Syed Sajjid Abbas & Asad Raza Sonu’s early elimination left everyone disheartened.

I know people raised questions on the authenticity of the elimination decisions & believed that the number of votes had no say in the process of elimination but as the weeks passed it started to get a bit more clear that where people were voting for their favorites, they were also not ignoring the considerable mistakes the contestants were making while singing. Anyhow the season ended where Zamad Baig emerged as a winner making Mohammad Shoaib as a runner up but this very first season of Pakistan Idol paved a way for the success of a reality TV in Pakistan.

I must say even though I was excited when I heard about Pakistan Idol but I was a bit skeptical seeing the very first episodes but as the show went along, I became an avid fan & a supporter & the long discussions under the reviews showed people were actually enjoying the season a lot. No doubt that the first season was larger than life & more professional than our expectations. A lot of homework was put into it & all that effort shined but there’s always a room for improvements so I’d like to state a few of the changes the Pakistan Idol team needs to & must make in the next season.

I hope that we get to see some other judges. Ali Azmat right in the beginning tweeted that he has signed a 3 year contract with the franchise so it goes without saying that we’d be seeing more of him & now I know people won’t mind him being the judge because he was fair through out. Now when one judge’s been taken care of we do have a slot of 2 seats open for some new judges & hands down I’d want to see Sajjad Ali embrace the seat of Pakistan Idol judge because his timely presence showed he deserved to be on the seat of a permanent judge & not a guest judge. A female judge is a necessity in the Idol show so I hope we do get to see someone else on that seat. Someone who can connect well with the contestants & someone who stays true to the judging seat without involving herself in an unnecessary favoritism. I feel next time a suitable name for the female judge would be of Farieha Parvaiz as she is a renowned singer & has earned herself a fan following too. I also hope that we don’t get to see any drama-actor acting like a judge & a panel is filled with all three judges belonging to the music industry. I hope that next time the judges give out some real technical judgments & show their own caliber as singers too. This time around I can only point out Sajjad Ali as the one who spoke about the performances in technicality whereas the rest of the judges never really did it.

Now coming onto the auditionees & the contestants, I think every single fan & follower of the show would appreciate if we ONLY get to hear Pakistani songs starting from the auditions till the Finale. As the name suggests, this is PAKISTAN IDOL & we need them to promote Pakistani Music. No doubt in Indian Idol contestants do sing Shafqat Amanat Ali’s, Atif Aslam’s, RFAK’s songs but they sing those songs because they belong to the Bollywood movies, so when it comes to Pakistan Idol I’d hope they’d stick to the songs sung by Pakistani singers & the team gives a special consideration to it & a briefing to all those who’re appearing in the auditions.

Last but not the least a tribute to all the genres. This time around we got more of themes in the galas but hardly got any specific genre to which a whole episode was dedicated to. During the discussions, we got to know that people actually wanted to see more of the genres being covered every week that would push the contestants out of their comfort zones but it just didn’t happen. The only three genres that were covered in this season were Pop, Bhangra & Qawwali & I must say these were the stand out episodes obviously Sajjad Ali’s episode topping the list of ‘the best’ episode. No doubt the guest judges contributed a lot but the next time it would be good to see the guest judges train the contestants for each & every genre that the episode is based on. Another tiny little detail that I feel I must mention is that next time I hope they don’t invite female dancers in the grand finale because this time they didn’t contribute much in the background even because this is a singing show & I feel it’s unnecessary to objectify females in this accord as it was pretty useless.

So, this was the whole journey which gave us an insight of how many talented singers are there in Pakistan. This thing definitely needs a special mention that in Pakistan there isn’t that much of a trend where those who are interested in singing go to proper teachers for learning & refining the skill. This time around too there was a huge percentage of those contestants who sang it based on their own talent without the help of a professional, which is definitely a big thing & for this we need to support our talent & be proud of it.

People did stir a debate on the provinces to which the remaining contestants belonged to & I feel it’s a high time we need to show solidarity. If not on a large scale but at least on a TV show level because now when Zamad Baig has won, he will always be remembered as a Pakistan Idol & the respective provinces of the contestants won’t give them a special title to attach to their names & for this I absolutely loved what Mohammad Shoaib said in his last vote appeal that he got the encouragement & the respect from the whole Pakistan & not only from his province therefore he was fighting to become a Pakistan Idol & not a Pukhtun Idol.

It indeed was a very amazing experience & now when it has ended & while looking back at it, it does look like a great journey which gave the audience a lot of things to be emotionally attached to. Share what you felt about the very first season of Pakistan Idol. :)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

I must admit that I found this week of Pakistan Idol a bit better than the onsetting one. I know a few bits & bobs were still there which pulled the show from stirring the WOW factor but I am sure it is getting better.

This week the judges paid visits to Multan & Faisalabad for the auditions & some really good voiced surfaced. Before coming to those parts, I would once again raise an objection at the editing team of this show for using Indian Songs at the background to fit a certain situation or anyone’s selection. I am sure there are a numerous Pakistani songs which can definitely be used but to actually hear Indian songs in Pakistan Idol hardly speaks some sense. I really want to feel the touch of PAKISTANI music in Pakistan Idol but just because of the Indian songs in the background & even the Indian songs sung by the contestants, I am finding it hard to jump into the bandwagon of Pakistan Idol because till now it sounds more like Sub-continent Idol, they should’ve at least briefed the contestants for singing Pakistani songs but sad about that!

Another thing that really made me worried was the rudeness of the judges. Bushra Ansari proved herself in the first week that even though she has NO know-how of singing, she is here to revive her inner-conscience as one & she is going to give the contestants a hard time but to add to my woes, Ali Azmat seems to be taking the first place in being unnecessarily stern towards the contestants now. I know it’s a tough job to go out there & listen to thousands of people & for that you really need to keep your cool but at times I really felt that he & Bushra Ansari – both were quite rude & passed remarks which were uncalled for.

I found the Faislabad episode obviously better than the Multan one because in Multan auditions, more focus was on the humorous side & on those people who were there for time-pass. Not sure if they were paid actors or what but I know there are definitely a few people out there who suffer from a disease called ‘over-confidence’, so apart from that a few voices that surfaced brilliantly in Multan Auditions were Gopal Guddu Ram, Waqas Ali Vicky, Nadia Hashmi, these three got the Golden Tickets to Karachi but a few contestants are worth a mention here too. One of them was Dr. Mohammad Usman, who sang different songs with the guitar but without it, he sounded still better than many of them. I still believe that he should’ve gotten the ticket, if not for the final round, they should’ve at least selected him for the next round because he did have versatility which the judges keep speaking of.

One special guy who became a laughing stock was Naveed Ali who even sang the table of 2 in Urdu just because Ali Azmat asked him to. I am sheepishly ashamed to admit that I found that part way too funny & it left me in a laughter fit. That sort of humour was alright but I think it was now wrong on Naveed Ali’s part to actually appear in the auditions. LOL!

Ohkay so Faisalabadis shocked us with some awesome voices & those who got the Golden Tickets were Salman Cecil, Rimsha Noor, Mohammad Aijaaz, Ramzan Ali. They all were good but after listening to Aun Ali who happens to be the younger brother of Amanat Ali, I thought it was absolutely a wrong decision to let him go because his voice was just perfect. I really don’t understand what they are looking for because that guy had a complete knowledge of singing but according to Bushra Ansari he ran out of breath & hadn’t been practicing. I thought it was definitely a loss of Pakistan Idol to let a guy with that sort of a voice go & Hadiqa Kiyani’s remark on him was hideous where she thought he wasn’t taking his singing seriously, I must say he never sounded like one who didn’t take his singing seriously. In comparison to Aun Ali, I thought Rimsha Noor didn’t deserve to go to the next round at all. Maria Meer & Aqsa Rani both sounded nice too but yes their voice was one dimensional, hence, they didn’t make it through this round.

I am not convinced with the judges remarks at times because some people really sound good but are not qualified where as the other few really don’t sound that impressive but they get the Golden Ticket. They do say that they are looking for versatility so I think they must adopt the thing from Indian Idol where when the judges are not too sure of how much variety a contestant can offer, they make them sing 2 or at times 3 songs just to be sure & I think our Pakistani judges are being too hasty in giving the verdict here, plus I do really want to hear their remarks on the lines of technicality but the comments aren’t that convincing till now. Another thing that I noticed was, if Bushra Ansari is convinced with someone’s voice, she would try & influence the other two judges as well but if she ain’t convinced, she wouldn’t let them put forward their opinions too. I think if she is a senior in age, she shouldn’t act like a senior in singing too!

I’m taking Pakistan Idol for review every week because it would get a lot more interesting & I am sure people would have a lot to say about it in the coming weeks too. Do share who is your favorite so far. My favorites from Multan & Faisalabad are Nadia Hashmi & Ramzan Ali.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Ohkay, so the most raved about, the most anticipated show of 2013 Pakistan Idol began & no doubt where at times it looked like a decent attempt, it fell flat as well. I really don’t understand why do Pakistanis have to over-do certain things. There looked like a lot more people who were forced to make an entry for the TRP’s but I may be wrong too because some people love being ridiculed as they are blinded by their over-confidence.

I have to say that the most decent judge in the panel of 3 was Hadiqa Kiyani. She seemed to-the-point, sophisticated & was giving judgements rationally. Ali Azmat was fine too but I expected more from him being the only male judge there. The only judge who was over-doing it was Bushra Ansari. With all due respect, she may have released a few albums which I never came across but yeah, heard her singing in some shows all these years, but by NO means she can be taken as a singing icon of Pakistan.

As all other Idol shows are followed globally, I am sure Pakistan Idol would make it there too, so the panel of judges should’ve been selected with utmost attention. I feel the only judge who seems to impress till now is Hadiqa Kiyani because she did give her YESES to those contestants who deserved but seems like Bushra Ansari had to say NO to every single person. I think she is being a bit too overly judgemental at the things which didn’t even come across as technicalities that she was pinpointing. Yes, Bushra Ansari even blessed us viewers by singing a few lines in order to correct a contestant but to add to her woes, her voice couldn’t even come through to us even with a help of mic. Making me feel more at how an inappropriate choice she was for that judging seat.

Mohib Mirza seems to be hosting a show, he was doing a fine job too but at times it looked like he was passing a few personal comments on the random people from the crowd. I think a host should be the most neutral person out there who shouldn’t  judge at all.

I think it could’ve been a far more better show if a bit more experienced singers judged it. It wasn’t necessary to pick all the Karachi based singers for selection of Pakistan Idol. I am wondering where did Rahet Fateh Ali Khan go when the very first Pakistan Idol was being planned because he has also judged a few shows in India so why wasn’t he approached or why didn’t he become a part of Pakistan Idol? Shafqat Amanat Ali was another person who would’ve looked perfect in that spot for judging. But nevertheless, I am definitely going to follow the show hoping when the actual selected lot hits to our screens, it becomes a better first attempt of Pakistanis under this title.

Have you say.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

As 2013 has come to an end and it is a new beginning of a new year, while searching for a topic to write on I decided to highlight the major changes our entertainment industry went through. Some of the changes were very positive and brought a huge positive impact on our industry and some were totally negative. I will highlight the major ones and there impact on the industry. In 2013 the Pakistan Entertainment industry kept getting bigger and better, people returned back and started investing again in the cinemas and theatres. Many ventures took place and many of them changed the entire structure of the industry.

The biggest change or we can say the biggest comeback of the Pakistani cinema was with the film Waar. This film was the result of a three year hard work and it smashed many records at the local box office. The dialogues, the action and most of all the acting of the Pakistani actors need to be appreciated. This film is not only popular in Pakistan but it also had its launching in Dubai and other major countries. Bilal Lashari the director of the film plans to make many other films like Waar and give a new face to the Pakistani Cinema. We need new talent to work in the field of entertainment and media in Pakistan because this is the only way to revive the industry.

According to me the revival of the theatre also took place in 2013 with the wonderful plays of Anwar Maqsood. He took a start from Pawnay Chauda August and it sequel Sawa Chauda August. Both of these plays were popular in a huge number of audiences. They were shown in many of the major cities of Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Aangan Terha and Half playt were the other plays that also became famous. His work is timeless and this is why he is very popular among the people of Pakistan. People like Anwar Maqsood are the living legends of Pakistan. They are the people who are an inspiration for the youth and we have a lot to learn from them.

Coming to the music in 2013, a program named Lahooti live sessions started. This was a platform that gave a totally new dimension to folk music. Saif Samejo, accompanied by young volunteers from Sind, started preserving the sounds of Sindhi folk without any form of sponsorship. The quality of the music produced as a result of this venture speaks volumes of the service this will prove to be for cultural preservation. In my opinion programs and platforms like these must be encouraged because this is the only and easy way to preserve and show our culture to the outside world.

In the year 2013, Pakistan formed its very own National Oscar Committee which consisted of seasoned academics and artists. This committee was headed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. This committee had to face a huge criticism but still it didn’t lose hope and this is what made it successful. It made the film named Zinda Bhaag which was Pakistan’s second ever entry to the foreign film oscar race after the gap of 50 years.

More over Hamza Ali Abbasi turned out to be the most promising actor after his excellent roles in Main Hoon Shahid Afridi and Waar, while Aamina Sheikh was definitely the female star of the big screen. She offered memorable performances in both Lamha and Josh. This year, she also introduced Youmatter, a smart phone application aimed at raising Breast Cancer awareness. Apart from this, Zoe Viccaji turned up as one of the most hardworking female singers in Pakistan, because she has consciously worked on her shortcomings as a vocalist and her intent to improve with each offering reflects in her songs. She is undoubtedly the voice of the year, a voice that was heard in every jingle, some catchy OSTs and brilliant solo tracks. She was all over the billboards for Cornetto Music Icons and Coke Studio.

These were some of the major new happenings in the entertainment industry of Pakistan in 2013 and we are hoping anxiously to make a bigger and a better start with this New Year. Let us all join hands and make a promise that we will contribute whatever we can to work as for the nation and this will be our new year’s resolution. If every individual take an initiative, our country will never be backward. So lets make a new start, shine a light and send it on.

Written by: Moomal Hassan.

Pakistan Entertainment Industry is on its peak now providing you with exciting reality and live shows, dramas and movies and there are many movies waiting to be released this year. Surely an absolute great start of this year and this industry is expanding day by day allowing new talent to pour in. This Industry is on a booming stage. Talking about only drama Industry I think this industry worth in billions now moreover the whole entertainment industry is so much powerful now that it had allowed foreigners to jump in and foreign content is also being telecast.

Firstly talking about dramas previously it was HUM-TV that use to give us some quality dramas now Geo-TV and ARY Digital are also in the same row thereby making a BIG 3 in giving us quality entertainment. There are also other channels as well in the race which is A-PLUS, Express Entertainment and PTV-HOME they are also telecasting some good dramas like Previously “Aunn Zara” ON A-PLUS and currently Jaan Hatheli Per on PTV-Home. Different Production houses have teamed up to make this Industry more competitive like A&B Productions, 7th Sky Productions, Momaina Duraid Productions, Big Bang Entertainment, Abdullah Khadwani and Humayun Saeed’s Production etc. Now this is only our Drama Industry coming towards films, ARY group is making extremely great effort for the revival of cinema and to make Film Industry stand on its feet. 2013 was a successful year for Pakistani film industry by releasing films like WAAR, JOSH, MAIN HOON SHAHID AFRIDI, CHAMBELI, LAMHA (SEEDLINGS) etc. Now more films to be released this year and mostly under ARY banner. The entertainment does not ends here we have more variety in the shape of reality and live shows.

Hence so much is going on in this year I have decided to make a list of entertainment that is currently being provided in 2014 and will be provided in future more likely in current year. So what’s going on and will going happen in 2014 lets trace it down through a list below:

PAKISTANI DRAMAS

I am mentioning it again that many interesting dramas are running, previously we cover our week by watching 1 or 2 in a week but now we can watch as many as we can throughout the whole week. Again a list of some interesting and top rated dramas.
1. RUKHSAAR ON GEO TV
2. ZINDAGI TERE BINA ON HUM TV
3. JAAN HATHELI PER ON PTV
4. MERE APNE ON ARY
5. PYARAY AFZAL ON ARY
6. RANJEESH HI SAHI ON GEO
7. SHAB-E –ZINDAGI ON HUM-TV
8. ISHQ MEIN TERE ON HUM-TV
9. GUMAAN ON EXPRESS ENTERTAINMENT
10. MERI BETI ON ARY
11. AASMANO PE LIKHA ON GEO (Last episode this week on 5th march 2014)
12. RUBARU ON HUM TV
13. SANNATA ON ARY
14. MUHABBAT SUBAH KA SITARA HAI ON HUM-TV
15. MERI ZINDAGI HAI TU ON GEO (About to finish probably by this week 7th march 2014)
16. SHUKK ON ARY
17. BILLO BABLU AND BHAIYYA ON ARY
18. BUNTY I LOVE YOU ON HUM-TV
19. MERA RAQEEB ON A-PLUS
20. DO QADAM DOOR THAY ON GEO-TV
21. KABHI KABHI ON ARY
22. SHAREEK E HAYAT ON HUM –TV
23. KAHANI RAIMA AUR MANAHIL KI ON HUM-TV

There are many more beside this list but I only have these dramas in my Knowledge and don’t assume I am watching all of these. Any ways this is the list of just current dramas that we are watching, many interesting mega projects coming up for example:

BASHIR MOMIN: This will be the most expensive and mega project featuring Faisal Qureshi, Sami Khan, Ushna Shah and many more. Its OST will be sung by Nida Arab. This will be ON-AIR on GEO-TV.

MAIN MANTO: People are also waiting for this exciting project I guess it will first come as film and then as a drama. This story is about Saadat Hassan manto and it will be directed by Sarmad Khoosat. The cast will include Sarmad Khoosat himself, Saba Qamar, Mahira Khan, Savera Nadeem, Nadia Afgan, Sania Saeed, Hina Khuwaja Bayat, Nimra Bucha etc. This will be the first time that Saba Qamar and Mahira Khan will be seen together in a project

BIN ROYE AANSU: Another great serial to look forward, this project will be completed under Humayun Saeed’s Production. The cast will include Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed, Armeena Rana Khan etc. This project is also near completion.

More Interesting serials to look forward which includes MOL (CAST: Mahira Khan and Ali Rehman), AIK PAL( CAST: Arij Fatyma and Danish Taimoor), SILA (CAST: Ainy Jaffrey and Fahad Mustafa) and many more which are not advertised yet. Moreover Ashir Azeem is back with some exciting action based scripts I am looking forward for that as well.

PAKISTANI FILMS

Now giving a reference to Nida Zaidi and Zubia Rizvi’s articles again I will mention the upcoming movies of 2014:
1. Kambakht: The comedy film featuring Hamza, Sheheryar, Sohai and Saba Qamar.

2. Jalaibee: Jaswal’s film featuring Zhalay Sarhadi, Danish Taimoor, Adnan Jaffer, Ali Safina, Ali Rehman and Uzair Jaswal.

3. Hijrat: Romantic film featuring Rabia Butt and Asad Zaman.

4. WAAR 2: This will be the sequel of waar film and Ayesha Omar will replace Ayesha Khan.

5. Moor: The film on railway structure which is directed by Jamshed Mahmood.

6. Dance Diaries: First Pakistani dance based film directed by Omar Hassan.

7. Operation 021: A story of undercover agent of CIA another international level film releasing soon featuring Shaan.

8. Kites Grounded: A story on traditional culture of Punjab basant festival.

9. The system: Another action drama film directed by shahzaad ghufoor.

10. Sayee Khuda Zul Jalal: This film is expected to be released in august a film based on Pakistani Army.

PAKISTANI SHOWS

So what exciting shows do we have currently, have a look below:

Shareef Show Mubaarak ho: This show is providing us complete entertainment since last 5 years. It is being telecast on GEO-TV and hosted by Umer Sharif. This show is hell lot of entertainment as we experience some Umer Sharif’s jokes alongside conversation with different celebrities.

TUC Lighter Side Of Life: Same kind of talk show on HUM-TV like Shareef Show as different Pakistani Celebrities are invited and have some conversation with the host but you will not laugh by watching this show instead you can judge Mahira Khan’s Immature Hosting. Any ways people are finding this show interesting so do I.

Pakistan Idol: International Singing Competition franchise now being presented in Pakistan. Despite of receiving huge amount of criticism at start now people are tuning into GEO-TV to watch this show, this show is now in an entertaining phase.

Morning Shows: Still I have no Idea what is the basic reason of having these morning shows. Although I don’t watch these pathetic shows but I heard that no sensible topic is now being discussed except to show fake marriages. Never heard of so many weddings taking place in the morning at around 7.00 am when people are leaving for offices. However these morning shows do contribute in providing entertainment.

Wow I must say so much entertainment this year and that’s why you can now see Kareena Kapoor in Pakistani ads and Lawn shoots and that’s why India is booking our artists for their projects because our own entertainment is now at its boom. So still do we have to give priority to foreign entertainment when we had so much of our own entertainment. Please support Pakistani Entertainment Industry and Pakistani Cinemas so that it can help to bring some improvement in the Pakistan’s Economy. Every nation give priority to their own entertainment then why we are so obsessed of Bollywood and Turkish Dramas. Any upcoming entertainment relating to dramas, films and shows you are familiar with? Do share your thoughts on it.

Mahira Khan

There were times when people would wait for their favourite dramas to be on aired on PTV . Be it a serial that would give you tears like ansoo , hawayen or be it a comedy sitcom like family front that would make you burst with laughter . The wait was endless , so was the curiosity.