Pakistan Idol is the Pakistani musical reality show based on the format of American Idol which is world’s most popular musical reality show. Previously, season 1 of Pakistan Idol was aired around 11 years ago. The show is scheduled to air on Green Entertainment, Geo and PTV Home. Fawad Khan, Zeb Bangash, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and Bilal Maqsood are judging the show.
So far, four episodes of Pakistan Idol aired on different channels including Green Entertainment, Geo and PTV. The audition episodes featured exceptionally talented singers whose performances made the mark and secured them a place in Pakistan Idol competition.
Faryal Amber
Faryal Amber sang Chan Deya Totya We Dilaan Deya Khoteya, a famous Punjabi song by Madam Noor Jahan. She perfectly sang a difficult and kept it’s vibe alive and was given the title of Golden Voice by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Hafsa Nadeem
The contestant Hafsa Nadeem sang Madam Noor Jahan’s classical ghazal Dil Darakhney Ka Sabab Yaad Aya. It was one of the most watched videos on the YouTube. Here is the link to the video:
Samya Gohar
Samya Gohar beautifully sang the Ghazal Aaj Janay ki Zid Na Karo in Pakistan Idol’s episode 4. Judges love her version of the Ghazal and enjoyed it in silence. Here is the link to the video:
Maham Tahir
Maham Tahir’s excellent cover of Abida Parveen’s Tere Ishq Nachaya is one of the most watched performance. She sang Abida Parveen and judges loved her performance.
Muhammad Nabeel
Muhammad Nabeel surprised the judges with Tufail Niazi’s emotional Punjabi song Sada Chidyan da Chamba Ve. They enjoyed his powerful performance. Watch Here:
Ahsan Malik
Ahsan Malik sang Mehnaz Begum’s Ab Ke Tajdeed Wafa Ka Nahi Imkaan Jana and his emotional rendition made the judge Bilal Maqsood teary-eyed.
Wajahat Ali
Wajahat Ali sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab’s Kinna Sohna Tenu Rab Ne Banaya. His performance was praised by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan along with a few suggestions. Bilal Maqsood loved his version of the song:
Rawish Rabab
Rawish Rabab is also getting a huge praise for singing Nugahain Hun Gai Pur Nam. Her song reel on Instagram has already garnered 1 million views. She was being loved for bringing 1960’s classical touch in her vocals. She was one of the initial contestants. Here is the link to the video:
Sohail Ahmed
Sohail Ahmed sang old beautiful traditional song Kadi Aa Mil Sanwal Yaar We, sung by Asad Abbas a few years ago. Fans loved his version and many said it reminded them of the singer.
Pakistan Idol is the newly launched Pakistani version of American Idol, a popular musical reality show. The show has brought the globally acclaimed franchise back to Pakistan and is scheduled to air on Green Entertainment. The first few audition episodes are about the nationwide search for singing talent, with judges Fawad Khan, Zeb Bangash, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and Bilal Maqsood on the panel. Clips from the show are doing rounds on social media, and viewers are loving the incredible raw talent being showcased.
This week’s Lahore auditions featured some exceptionally talented singers whose performances the judges thoroughly enjoyed. Maham Tahir, Romaisa, Muhammad Nabeel and Ahsan Malik stood out as the best contestants.
Ahsan Malik
Ahsan Malik moved Bilal Maqsood to tears with his emotional performance of the ghazal Ab Ke Tajdeed e Wafa Ka Nahi Imkaan Jana.
Maham Tahir stole the show with her soulful rendition of Abida Parveen’s Tere Ishq Nachaya. Her voice and style were quite similar to those of Abida Parveen.
Muhammad Nabeel
Muhammad Nabeel surprised the judges with the emotional Punjabi song Sada Chidyan da Chamba Ve. They enjoyed his powerful performance. Watch Here:
Vishal
Vishal’s performance of the slow song Aaj Janey Ki Zid Na Karo was also loved by the judges.
Romaisa Tariq
Romaisa Tariq impressed the judges with her funky and fast version of Mussarat Nazir’s Punjabi song Long Gawacha, which was loved by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Fawad Khan.
Reality TV shows have taken the world of entertainment by storm and Pakistan, of course is no different. TV audience probably like the REAL dramas better than the scripted ones! The lifelike situations, living and breathing participants and real challenges serve as a better medium of catharsis for audience as compared to the contrived and plotted stories.
19 Entertainment’s internationally acclaimed music reality TV show, Pakistan Idol finally made its way to Pakistan and is all the rage these days, but unfortunately not for all the good reasons. The first controversy was regarding the selection of the judges for the show, apparently Bushra, Hadiqa and Ali were not the perfect threesome to judge the singing skills and potentials of youngsters at such a big platform, according to the social media polls and forum discussions, Sajad Ali, Abida Parveen and Shafqat Amanat Ali would have been a better choice! Cherry on the top is the obnoxious and discouraging attitude of judges; always taking pleasure in mocking young contestants who came on the forum with big dreams and high ambitions.
In spite of all that not-so-friendly attitude of Pakistan Idol’s juges, audience criticism and all contervorsies, the mega music reality show is successfully maintaining its popularity among masses. People actually take out time from their busy life schedules to sit back and watch the episode with family, cheer the contestants and enjoy the over all feel and enthusiasm of the competition. Not only that, by now, audience have picked up their cult favourite contestants too for supporting and voting. Seeing their favourite participant getting good comments make their day and eliminations make them gloomy, this is the beauty of reality shows, you can actually relate to them. With all this stuff going on, I have a feeling we have two CLEAR winners of Pakistan Idol already before the grand finale and any official announcements!
Maria Meer is one of those not-so-glamorous contestants who were rejected by the judges during the auditions only to emerge as the new sensation of Pakistani music before even the official commencement of Pakistan Idol. Public that was already disappointed and mad at judges for bashing talented singers, supported Maria whole heatedly through social media hence her first song Naina Lage with Amanat Ali was an instant hit.
And the story of success doesn’t end here rather it’s just the beginning! In addition to the constant love and support of public, Maria Meer is also receiving some worth mentioning media fame lately. Maria Meer gave her first live TV appearance on Express Entertainment’s Morning Show, followed by Good Morning Pakistan of ARY Digital where she was given a makeup over by the famous Aliyah Tipu.
There is a long way for Pakistan Idol to go before announcing its first official winner but Maria Meer has certainly nailed it already. They say, success comes to those who never give up and Maria Meer has proved it already!
Amanat Ali – the one who promoted Maria Ali through his song Naina Lage is also getting all fame and real celebrity status these days. Seems like reality shows have a thing for Ali; first Sa Re Ga and now Pakistan Idol (without even participating) brought him all the popularity and fortune that unfortunately his own album Kohram couldn’t bring! Amanat Ali is now hosting and judging the Sindh Festival Talent Hunt show Voice of Pakistan that aims to promote talent without insulting them. Well played Ali!
Are YOU guys following Pakistan Idol? What do you think about Maria Meer and Amanat Ali, a fame well justified?
Singing talent shows have been a part of Pakistani television Industry for so long but I am sorry to say none of them clicked me and I did not watch an entire season of any singing shows. Pakistanis always lagged behind other countries in producing quality reality shows whether that reality show is of singing, dancing or physical tasks based.
All of us are familiar of singing talent hunt named as Indian Idol. Many of us also came across American and Australian Idol.Recenty, first journey of Indian Idol Junior came to ended that was surely a treat to watch.
I am privileged to announce that Pakistan Idol is about to begin on GEO TV. Geo TV ,in association with Fremantle Media, has finally got the rights of broadcasting this talent show exclusively for Pakistanis.
During last two weeks, I was thinking of writing about lack of opportunities for Pakistanis. Like in India, there are singing schools, dancing schools and what not. Whereas, our children and people are deprived of taking any recreational activity and see my wish came true. Back to Back news of MasterChef Pakistan and Pakistan Idol made me really glad and satisfied.
All we want now is to look upon the fact that who will be able to bring true form of entertainment for us. Whether it will be MasterChef Pakistan to be shown on Urdu1 or it will be Pakistan Idol that will be soon aired on Geo Tv.
I am dead sure that there will be a clash of titans on weekends and those who will watch MasterChef Pakistan will be deprived of watching Pakistan Idol and vice versa. But my suggestion is, give a try to both of them. You can switch on other channels during commercials else simply download one of them from Internet.
Let’s see which talent will win people`s heart. Cooking or Singing?
So, this was the final week of Auditions & the destination was Karachi. Both the episodes of this week were dedicated to the Karachi auditions where first episode focused more on the serious singers & the second episode had fun moments.
There were plenty of voices that were impressive but I am not quite sure of how much the judges can pass a statement on a contestant’s personality? I have seen other Idols too & there are a million people who are simple or don’t follow the latest trends but they never get the pointers by the judges for how they should look & what they must do because the judges just focus more on the singing but seems like Pakistani judges are focusing a lot more on the appearances & when not impressed by anyone, they do not hold back in giving out their verdicts on how one should act or react, be it on how much they weigh or how they look. The judges must understand that there are a million people out there who do not pay attention to artificialities so for that they should & they must be respected.
I must say that the Karachi girls were really impressive as far as the singing was concerned because so many of them got the golden tickets. A few of the boys performed really really well too. Those who got the golden tickets in Karachi Auditions were Midhat Hidayat, Sajid Abbas, Ghazal Ali, Fizza Javed, Ali Asad, Nazia Ashraf, Abdul Rafay, Shahid Ali Sonu, Arsalan Amin, Rosemary & Dr. Mohammad Usman.
Midhat Hidayat was the one who sang Runa Laila’s ‘Katay Na Katay Ray’, in comparison to her happy-go-lucky personality she sang absolutely brilliant but I was not a fan of Hadiqa’s comment on her which stated that she needs to look ‘sane’ to be on the stage. She was just being herself & considering the fact that she is just a matric student, I found her personality absolutely amazing. She was funny, witty & even if we forget the rest, she knew her game of singing so I don’t think being on the judges seat, you get the right to pass a judgement on how a person actually is. They should direct their criticism on the singing solely. Gazal Ali sounded really really versatile & she impressed the judges with two of the different songs that she sang but once again Hadiqa asked about why she had no makeup on, I liked when Ali Azmat supported her saying that it doesn’t matter because what does is her singing. Abdul Rafay who’s only 17 had a mature voice & was brilliant. Shahid Ali Sonu comes from a family that has a few stars who’ve excelled in the field of music & for that reason even though the judges judged him a bit too keenly, he didn’t fail to impress them with his effortless singing. All those who got the tickets were well deserving. I was glad to know that Dr. Mohammad Usman once again appeared in the auditions & earned himself a ticket this time because he was first rejected in Multan auditions.
A few other contestants came who thought they sang well but got the opposite remarks. Madiha Shah was one girl who looked really impressive & someone who took her singing seriously but the moment she began singing it was a clear No No. Shahab Hussain came from a singing group & he had already been performing but like the judges said he lacked a lot of expression & sounded one-dimensional. Jana Nazzreth came with a personality which made us believe that she would be a perfect singer but sadly she needed a lot of improvement. Mehek Rafique deserves a special mention here for her ‘tabla’ prowess. She was absolutely marvellous but sadly her singing wasn’t that impressive, even though she had a know how of the basics, she still couldn’t make it to the next round. So best of luck to her & I hope she does well in her genre.
I enjoyed Ali Azmat’s version of the old Hindi classic which he changed to ‘Chura liya hai tumne jo kukkar, kukri nahi chuarana sanam’. LOL! We even saw two wanna be Shahrukh Khans. Babu & Shahrukh Shahnoor who were ridiculously bad at singing but still had the guts to perform.
My favorites from Karachi auditions are Midhat Hidayat, Ghazal Ali & Abdul Rafay.
But the one who I found the best among all the other contestants & like they say ‘save the best for the last’, I am definitely rooting for 15 y/o Rosemary, I am glad that they put her part at the end of the whole audition round because she left a great great great impression. She was a trained singer & she tops all other favorites of mine. I am definitely eyeing her & wish her good luck because she was absolutely impressive, versatile & almost perfect at such a young age. I hope she makes it to the top 3.
Good luck to all the other contestants too & now let the real game begin!
So, this week the judges covered Peshawar, Sukkhur & Islamabad. I liked the Islamabad auditions more but it was a bit of a disappointment to know that no one from Sukkhur made to the next round except ONE. Even the crowd there seemed less as compared to the other cities but the guy who qualified did have a nice voice.
One thing that I absolutely loved about Peshawar auditions was the Pushto songs that were sung & the typical Pukhtoon music that was played in the background. It was an amazing feeling to know that the people of Peshawar loved their bit in the music & had originality when it comes to that too. It was like showing the essence of their vicinity through music. I wish that we could’ve seen the love of folk in the auditions of few other cities too, so for that Peshawar dwellers deserve an applause.
So the people who appeared in the Peshawar Auditions were Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Mohammad Shoaib, Asif Hussain, Moiz, Javeria Shoaib & Abdul Wasif. Of all these only Mohammad Shoaib, Asif Hussain & Javeria Shoaib got the golden tickets. Well I must say when Mohammad Ishaq Khan came & spoke about the compliment he got from Noor Jahan plus how he had been performing in his own city & abroad I thought we had found a star from Peshawar, but the moment he started singing I wasn’t sure if he was joking now or previously when he spoke of the compliments. It was sad to hear him sing that bad.
Moiz who came across as a fan of Justin Bieber through his sense of style sang a song from Indian movie ‘Kaminay’ & I really couldn’t understand why would he sing but at least he had the confidence, so it’s alright. Asif Hussain sang a classical piece so effortlessly that I hoped he got the golden ticket with 3 mutual yeses but it was kind of funny to see Bushra Ansari object on him because according to her he missed a lot of surs but what’s funniest was Ali Azmat saying the very next moment that his surs were perfect. I must say it takes sort sort of a practice on your own to pick up such intricacies in the vocals but Bushra Ansari forgot that she is an actor & not a singer at all. Mohammad Shoaib who sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s song ‘Kinna Sohna Tenu’ & Javeria Shoaib both did an amazing job & got the tickets right away.
Another one who came to try his luck in Peshawar Auditions was Abdul Wasif who looked like a model but sang really bad. He picked the song ‘Char Dino Da Pyaar O Rabba’ which Ali Azmat changed to ‘4 Rupay Da Naan O Rabba, 2 Rupay Di Roti Lawai’, what’s funny was that Abdul Wasif himself knew how bad he sang & he was pretty much prepared for the verdict so he said he came to have fun.
In Sukkhur auditions I was just not a fan of Hadiqa Kiyani’s hairdo but I thought the rest was good. Only three people made to the screen & they were Younten Masih who sang pretty well but it was kind of one dimensional singing & not appropriate for Pakistan Idol. Wajahat Ahmed Bhatti stated he disliked Ali Azmat but sad his singing was just as bad to make Ali Azmat laugh on his face, he sang ‘Pal Pal Pal’ where Bushra Ansari asked where he had lost his masculine voice. Ohkay, I know the judges might be getting nuts by listening to people left right & centre but to pass comments like these speak a lot more about them too. But it was funny on Wajahat’s part that when he came out from the judges room he said he got their blessings whereas all of them told him not to sing in the future. Niaz Mohammad Baloch was the only one who made it to the next round from Sukkhur & I am glad he did.
Islamabad Auditions focused a lot more on the people who qualified for the next round. There were also many girls who got the golden tickets but I just couldn’t understand Ali Azmat’s hesitation when it came to girls. Whenever Hadiqa Kiyani & Bushra Ansari liked any girl, Ali Azmat claimed they were being biased, he said it both in Peshawar & then Islamabad auditions. I am kind of confused at his mental state where he thought only guys were better but I think he needs to re-check what he says about girls. It looks like he only came to approve boys but whenever girls got a chance he seemed kind of skeptical. I hope he cuts down the discrimination because it is quite obvious & being a judge, he should’nt just side with the boys.
From Islamabad Zeeshan Ali, Tehmina Noor, Anzik Maajid, Reema Majeed, Bano Rehmat, Durr-e-Shahwaar, Asad Raza & Waqas Ali got the golden tickets. Zeeshan Ali was really confident & sang well too. Tehmina Noor was just 16 y/o & she had such a melodious voice, Waqas Ali came with his younger brother who also tried but he was far behind in singing as compared to his elder brother therefore he wasn’t qualified. I wasn’t too impressed with Anzik Maajid’s voice because it seemed that his voice in a transitional period where it would change & grow to be more mature but still he got the ticket as he sang both classical & some Indian song too.
Mohammad Murad claimed he could cover all genres in his singing but it looked like he was good at imitating & had no voice of his own. A guy named Abdul Haseeb Khan came all the way from Swabi & sang Ali Azmat’s songs but he totally lacked in vocals so I was wondering why did he put in so much of an effort? Syed Musa Kazim came as a fan of Kumar Sanu & tried to sing like him but like seriously?!?!?
Anyways, another week of Pakistan Idol got over & I must say that the judges are not coming across as humorous or funny rather at times they cross their lines & when I say them I am not speaking of Hadiqa Kiyani. Bushra Ansari & Ali Azmat are over-doing it. I wish they were actually funny in stead of being rude.
My favorites from this week’s auditions were Mohammad Shoaid, Asif Hussain from Peshawar & Zeeshan Ali from Islamabad. Let’s see what’s more left to be heard in Pakistan Idol.
Well another exciting week of Pakistan Idol ended with a few surprises & a few surprising eliminations. A lot of those contestants who seemed promising didn’t do well & were eliminated & sadly I was rooting for quite few of them too but never-mind.
Theater round was divided into 2 levels where in the first stage the contestants had to sing in a form of duos & trios but later as they qualified, they had to perform solo songs. It was amazing to see so many of them who sounded just fine in the auditions do extremely well with the band & then there were those as well who projected their vocals brilliantly but when asked to be singing along the other contestants & with the band, they were awful.
Those who were good but didn’t make through the theater rounds were Asif Hussain, Salman Cecil, Ramzan Ali, Shahid Ali Sonu. I actually thought that most of them would be qualified but may be they didn’t perform that well. Gopal Guddu Ram had strong vocals but I think he lacked concentration & for that he was out of the race. Even though he came up with a lot of excuses but they seemed really vague because given the concentration & the yearning he showed in the beginning, it completely looked like he took the chance for granted. At first he complained about not being able to read the lyrics but I think any one can put a song on the loop to memorize it because it goes without saying that he was participating in Pakistan Idol & then he came up with the say about his Father’s weak health. I think he had a lot of potential but God knows what got into him.
Round two was quite interesting because all the contestants had to sing solely. Sana, Yasir & Omar were all the best buddies & Sana even though her throat was giving her a hard time sang ‘Dil Dharkay’ appropriately. Yasir & Omar sang ‘Rangin Hai Tu’ & both of them weren’t as impressive but still they managed to qualify for the Piano Round along with their friend Sana Zulfikar.
Mehwish Maqsood sang ‘Ishq Sufiyana’ & she was as usual impressive. 4 of the girls Malaika, Ghazal Ali, Nadia Hashmi, Fizza Javed sang ‘Naina’ & all four of them disappointed the judges. I was sad when Ghazal couldn’t make it through because she had that quality in her.
The only contestant who did extremely well in solo round was Syed Ali Asad who sang ‘Pyaar Mujhse Nahi Hai’. Ali Azmat actually commended him for his performance & yeah, he nailed it. I found his performance the best because may be he picked every detail quickly whereas the others kept on struggling. Kashif Ali & Zamad Baig were again friends who sang the same song by Rabbi ‘Tere Bin’ but they did pretty well too & for that they both were through to the piano round.
Judgements session was interesting too but I was disappointed to see Ghazal Ali & Nadia Hashmi eliminated because they both were great. A few other contestants were selected in the top 24 but their names weren’t mentioned. Nazish got qualified but she withdrew from the show because of her personal issues at home & the moment she back out I hoped that the chance was given to Ghazal & it happened. It was a perfect decision made by the judges but I would’ve been more happy if she qualified on her own because she was unique in her own way. I am definitely rooting for Ghazal Ali & Rosemary as they both are amazing & in the guys Syed Ali Asad is definitely impressive.
Have your say at who is your favorite so far & whose elimination disappointed you!
Definitely looking forward to the Piano round this week.
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. :)
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.
Ohkay people, now its time to break the ice and share with our readers that who is going to judge the most anticipated and much awaited reality music show Pakistan Idol. No doubt, Geo TV is making every possible effort to promote this show to the fullest and has received a great response from masses. Contestants include a great percentage of Youth ranging from 18 years to 25 years.
There are three phases in total from which you have to pass during your audition and the contestant who is lucky enough to stay till third round gets a chance to meet the Judges Panel. Judges of Pakistan Idol include Sajjad Ali,Ibrar ul Haq, Ali Azmat and Hadeeqa Kiani. As a matter of fact, Panel has been chosen very intelligently. Sajjad Ali knows minutest technical singing points and is known for slow melody songs, Abrar Ul Haq is famous for his typical Punjabi singing, Ali Azmat being rock-pop singer and Hadeeqa Kiani being versatile singer who keep on experimenting with her singing. Mohib Mirza will be hosting the show.
Auditions are almost completed and it will soon be aired on Geo Tv. Lets see whether this show will live up to our expectations or not and whether judges have striven hard to find the best singing talent or not.
Congratulations to Zamad Baig & his supporters on his win. :)
This is it from the very first & the very successful season of Pakistan Idol. They gave us an amazing finale episode packed with a lot of memorable performances & gracious guests who gratified the stage with their presence. Abida Parveen, Hamid Ali Khan, Sajjad Ali, Ali Zafar were invited to be a part of this memorable journey & it was a treat to see them all but the highlight of the whole episode for me has to be Sajjad Ali performing ‘Sohni Lagdi’.
Of all the performances, my least favorite were of Hadiqa Kiyani & Bushra Ansari. As much as I am sad that Pakistan Idol is ending, I am glad that I won’t get to see in fact tolerate Bushra Ansari on the weekly basis that too twice a week. I think she seriously needs some counselling because of the obvious reasons & like they say last but not the least, her last appreance on the stage of Pakistan Idol was not a least bit normal.
It was good to see all the eliminated contestants & I was actually really happy to see Syed Sajjid Abbas, Mehwish Maqsood, Rosemary, Asad Raza Sonu, Ali Asad Zaidi & Abdul Rafay Khan again on the stage. Their performances were pre-recorded but they were great because in a very short time they paid tribute to the Pakistani music & fulfilled the purpose of this stage because it belongs to Pakistani music.
So, this was it from the very first season of Pakistan Idol. No doubt being the very first launch of the franchise, they did justice to the whole format & made it larger than life but I hope in the next season we do get some other judges who not only judge but mentor the contestants along the way. I also hope that the team behind Pakistan Idol would pay more attention to explore more genres of music as a challenge to the contestants every week. This time around, no doubt they set different themes & moods but never really gave a room to the contestants to come out of their comfort zones in order to experiment with the different genres. More or less they let the contestants establish their styles & excel in them over & over again.
This would be an understatement to say that the episode which was based on the actual genre of the music like Qawwali has to be the most memorable episode of the whole season followed by the patriotic themed episode. The way they invited guest judges for the mentoring was definitely great & Sajjad Ali & Ali Zafar stood out the most but I hope next time they’d let the guest judges mentor the contestants on specific genres too.
So, with this & with Zamad Baig’s win, Pakistan Idol comes to an end. It’s a celebration time for his supporters because he did really well through out the season. The list of the songs he has performed that paved the way for his success is as follows:
Auditions: ‘Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ – NFAK Piano Round: ‘Kali Kali Zulfon’ – NFAK Gala Round 01: ‘Kiya Hai Jo Pyaar To’ – Ahmed Rushdi Gala Round 02: ‘Mukhray Ton Nazran Hawatan’ – NFAK Gala Round 03: ‘Khuwaab’ – Ali Azmat Gala Round 04: ‘Teri Deewani’ – Kailash Kher Gala Round 05: ‘Mai Tera Hero’ – Mika Singh Gala Round 06: ‘Sanu Ik Pal’ – NFAK Gala Round 07: ‘Pakistan Pakistan’ – NFAK Gala Round 08: ‘Jiya Dharak Dharak Jaye’ – RFAK Gala Round 09: ‘Dastaan-e-Ishq’ – Ali Zafar Gala Round 10: ‘Ye Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ – NFAK Gala Round 11: ‘Jatt Charheya Kachehri’ – Abrar ul Haq Gala Round 11: ‘Soona Soona’ – Ramez Khan Gala Round 12: ‘Tere Ishq Nachaya’ & ‘Tere Ishq Mein Jo Doob Gaya’ – Saein Akhtar & Allan Faqeer Gala Round 12: ‘Allah Hu’ – NFAK
I wish all the best to all the top 13 contestants & especially Mohammad Shoaib for standing out the most & proving a point that he is versatile. He has gained a lot of popularity & will be remembered. I wish luck, power & success to Zamad Baig, Mohammad Shoaib & the rest. :)
I thank all those who appreciated my effort & my take on Pakistan Idol & supported me on my reviews.
Till we meet again for the very next season. ;)
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.
After the ban on Indian movies has been lifted, Pakistani filmmakers have become more active to make sure that locals film are not effected by Bollywood.
Syed Noor, Chairman of Pakistan Film Producers Association organized a meeting for the filmmakers and it was decided that film industry would fight to get equal prime time for Pakistani films in cinemas, who have restarted screening Bollywood films.
According to Film Producers Association, the committee would look into the matters of Pakistani film industry and also decide the matters with Pakistani distributors Association so that no local films face prejudice.
Committee also decided that equal prime time would be taken for the Pakistani films from cinema owners. If new film Balu Mahi that is set to release on February 10, didn’t get equal prime time then entire film industry would reach the court or protest on the roads against the partiality.
Indian films are already screened in Pakistan and the competition for upcoming Pakistani films would be tough and will have to struggle more to collect good collections. Earlier, during the self imposed ban Pakistani films got a chance to get attention of the audience on big screen but cinemas still struggled to survive due to lack of audience attracted to Pakistani films.
Pakistan Film Festival is kind of a big deal because it is Pakistan’s first ever film festival, and is initiated and promoted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi. The much awaited and star-studded event will take place in December. Frieha Altaf is one of the main organizers.
Dawn Images has disclosed the list of the celebrities that will be a part of the festival, and also revealed what some of the attendees feel about this initiative.
Fahad Mustafa & Sana Fahad
Sheheryar Munawar
Mahira Khan
Asim Raza
ARY CEO Jerjees Seja
Director Anjum Shahzad
Mawra Hocane
Nabeel Qureshi
Frieha Altaf
Sanam Saeed
Saba Qamar
Photographer Faisal Farooqi
Makeup artist Saba Ansari
Tooba Siddiqui
Yasir Hussain
Director Wajahat Rauf
The ttendees feel that this is a wonderful initiative. According to director Anjum Shehzad,“The selection of films screening [at the event] will be very important; Manto, Moor and like productions should also be screened besides mainstream films, to show the variation of films produced in Pakistan.Our films need to start releasing internationally, and screen in different markets. Short films, documentaries and student films should also have a platform to showcase their work at festivals. Nowadays on social media there are countless bloggers who have no clue about film making and they write whatever comes to their mind. They should instead highlight the positive side of the films and promote it. Because if you discourage the filmmaker then how will he make films?”
Nabeel Qureshi, the man behind Namaloom Afraad and Actor in Law is happy about this festival. “It’s the first time the Pakistani govt is taking an initiative to promote our film industry, so that’s good. We need more initiatives like PFFNYC and not just in America but other countries as well, especially the European side. Now all Pakistani films are being released internationally, when we made Na Maloom Afraad, the Pakistani industry wasn’t big on international distribution. But now we have contacts and we’ve started making good films so the distributors have also gained trust in our films.”
Frieha Altaf, the organizer of the event, said, “Pakistani films are just emerging, there is no real industry yet it’s very important to encourage and showcase and create publicity for cinema. Sharmeen Obaid’s Oscar wins have encouraged directors and producers to come forward but more needs to be done.”
Yasir Hussain feels that this is a great step towards the promotion of Pakistani films on an international level.”It will have immense significance because a) it’s happening in New York and in America there’s a great film culture, b) many Pakistani films are not released worldwide or on the same date, and we’re not able to go to America or England to promote a lot of our films. And right now Pakistan needs a screen, no matter where it is in the world.”
Saba Qamar spoke well of this initiative, “Well, I think it’s very important for our industry to do well and to be recognised not just in Pakistan but also worldwide. By making good movies we can promote our industry internationally.”
Pakistan Film Association has elected new fourteen member executive council. Firdous Ashiq Awan congratulated newly elected office bearers of Film Producers Association.
The new chairman of Film Producers Association is Shaikh Amjad Rashid, new vice Chairperson is Momina Duraid followed by others.
Veteran Film director Saeed Noor has taken oath from the new office bearers
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday congratulated newly elected Chairman of Film Producers Association Shaikh Amjad Rashid, Vice Chairperson Momina Duraid and other office-bearers.
She said that the PTI government was fully committed to revival and progress of local film industry.
Fashion Pakistan Week 2020 has been postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). The official decision to cancel Fashion week has been announced by Fashion Pakistan Council.
The Fashion Pakistan Week is a three-day event and it was scheduled to take place April 9 to April 11 in Karachi. The annual event has been delayed due to the outbreak of coronavirus around the globe.
Maheen Khan, the council’s chairperson announced, “At this time of a global pandemic, we will assess the situation later during the year, with regards to the rescheduling of Fashion Pakistan Week 2020. We’ve informed our designers and sponsors who agree with our decision and together we’ll reassess later in the year.”
Fashion Pakistan Week (PFW) is a fashion event annually held in Karachi, Pakistan. The event is organised by the Fashion Pakistan Council (FPC), an organisation based in Karachi and it hosts the events of Fashion Pakistan Week Spring/Summer and Fashion Pakistan Week Winter Festive.
Day two of the Fashion Week Pakistan (FPW) had it all, the glitz and glamour of the fashion industry. The line-up for Day Two of FPW 2017 included collections by acclaimed designers such as Nida Azwer, Amir Adnan, Deepak Perwani, and a special showcase by Munib Nawaz, Zuria Dor, The Pink Tree Company, Jeem, Sonya Batla and Gulabo.
There was a special segment featuring the top designers of Pakistan, including Bunto Kazmi, Shamaeel Ansari, HSY, Umar Sayeed, Sana Safinaz, Nomi Ansari, Amir Adnan, Nilofer Shahid and Maheen Khan.
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.
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.
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.
The simplicity of the actresses along with their natural beauties , the hard work of directors and the refined works of the writers ,set the dramas apart. The stories depicted lives anyone could relate to . With no dramatic effects , the realistic touch would prove icing on the cake.
The legends Bushra Ansaari , Shagufta Ijaz , Talat Hussain , Rubina , Saba Hameed Showcased a fair amount of brilliance through their acting skills
Today , on the contrary , we live in times when we have dramas in large quantity but the quality remains equally less.
We no longer are aware of the numerous soaps being aired . The days are long gone when PakistanI dramas would leave everlasting effects on us. Starting from 1960s , we find that the elements which were once the soul of dramas are now missing completely . The quality content , the wonderous direction , the depiction and promotion of our national language and the beautiful culture of our own country are now replaced by the quantity of content , the unrealistic and weak direction , promotion of language and trends which have never been parts of our culture
Nowadays , we watch dramas not for the sake of entertainment but for jolting down the fashion trends and the grandeur portrayed in dramas.
With the start of 21st century , our drama industry began to collapse by following the footsteps of Indian drama industry . The dramas like Kasak , Tere pehlo mein , Bahu rani , Mehndi Vale Hath,Vo rishte vo Naate are the epitomes of the Indian culture. The deviation from the culture resulted in a devastated drama industry and reviving it was the need of the hour .
The quest to earn more ratings than providing quality entertainment , the race for better rankings among the TV channels, lack of quality content from the writers and poor directions from the directors greatly influenced the downfall of drama industry.
Then came the times when the Pakistani drama industry was revived ( well, to some extent ) . With dramas like Alpha Bravo Charlie , Meri zaat zara e benishan , humsafar , Khuda ki Basti ,Dur e shehwar, Dastan , Daam , vasal , bol Meri machli , Udaari and many others which revolved around the dilemmas of our society, our industry took a new turn.
These were the times when people not only from Pakistan but from all over the world started admiring the works prouduced in Pakistan . The industry evolved and great writers and directors including Anwar Maqsood, Shoaib Mansoor, Umerah Ahmed , Wasi Shah , Sarmad khusat, Mehreen Jabbar , Yasir Nawaz , Saaif Hassan and Sakina Samo, Momina Duraid emerged. It is because of their hard work that the industry rose back to success .
The dramas produced did not only influence the nation but also brought changes within the society , however there’s still a lot more to be attained. Life lesson along with provision of entertainment is the best combination any drama industry offers and Pakistani drama industry needs more improvement to get into the race.
Our drama industry has indeed shown an extra ordinary performance since its revival in 2005 but it still needs a lot of backbone in order to provide best entertainment to the audience
Today, Pakistan and India played their pool match in the Asia Cup 2025 at the initial group stage matches. The match was held at Dubai cricket stadium..Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first and set up target of 127 runs in twenty overs. India easily chased the target and won the match by 7 wickets, the Indian batsmen completed the runs in 16 Overs. S Suryakumar Yadav was the key player from India’s side who made 47 runs. Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma also made 31 runs each.
Pakistani celebrities and players are coming up with their opinions on Pakistan’s bad performance. Here are a few posts:
Pakistani users are criticizing team’s poor play and are also making memes on their awful performance on the ground. Fans are unhappy with Pakistani bowlers and batsmen who once again failed miserably on ground. One fan wrote, “Pakistan should quit cricket and stop embarrassing us.” Another said, “It was a shit show by the Pakistani team! Disappointing performance against India as always!” A user commented, “The Pakistan cricket team is really going through a rough phase—getting cursed at home and abroad as well.” Another added, “Maturity is realizing it was never about Rizwan or Babar; we need to accept we can’t play modern cricket.” A PCT fan wrote, “We suck, but the umpiring was so biased! Even the calls went their way.” Meanwhile, a few others are sharing memes related to the war that Pakistan won.
Karachi’s Nueplex Cinemas announced that they have stopped screening Indian Films. The management posted it on the face book as well.
“To express solidarity with the Armed Forces of Pakistan, the Management of Nueplex Cinemas has decided to stop the screening of Indian films with immediate effect. We will keep our patrons informed of further developments in this matter.”
Presently the cinema is showing Pakistani films Maalik, Jaanan, Actor In Law and Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai and Hollywood releases, Sully, Storks and The Magnificent Seven.
The screening of Bollywood film, the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Pink, has been stopped.
Soon the Atrium cinemas will also make public announcement as the website of the cinema also shows that management has decided not to screen Indian films.
This move followed earlier pressure on Pakistani artists to ‘leave’ India in 48 hours.
Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed rose to popularity after appearing in ISPR’s press conferences on behalf of Air Force Chief Zaheer Ahmad Baber Sidhu. AVM Aurangzeb, 53, is a happily married man and a proud father of talented children. He started grabbing headlines from day one due to his sharp looks and intelligent demeanor. However, his popularity soared after the Pakistan Air Force successfully downed six Indian jets. The Air Force officer remained in the spotlight for two to three days, and the admiration from women didn’t stop—even prompting several celebrities to step in and calm those going gaga over him.
Dania Enwer, Abdullah Sultan, Fiza Khawar and Mansoor Ali Khan were among the notable celebrities who expressed concern over women flirting with a respectable Air Force officer, especially considering he has a family who may be witnessing all of this unfold on social media.
Abdullah Sultan said that AVM Aurangzeb is a respected Air Force figure and a married man. Praising such a personality is perfectly fine, but associating cringeworthy memes and below-the-belt wishful posts should stop. Fiza Khawar also shared Pakistan Air Force’s post, saying, “Pakistani women should calm down because making sexual and unethical jokes on our respected officers is beyond comprehension.” Mansoor Ali Khan categorically told all the women who are flirting on the Air Force officer that AVM Aurangzeb is a married man and 53. He further said that he has started feeling sad for AVM’s wife. Besides that, many Pakistani women are also of the view that the officers deserve Pakistani people’s praise, but to crack unethical jokes and treating them like a romantic figure is unacceptable. Here are the posts:
Breast Cancer is one of most common forms of cancer amongst the women across the world. If caught in time, the 5 year survival rate is nearly 99%. October has been designated as the Breast Cancer Awareness month. Numerous campaigns are run with the sole purpose of spreading awareness about this disease. One such campaign is currently in motion by Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital.
Pakistani Celebrities Join hands to Fight Against Breast Cancer, Mahira Khan, Maya Ali, Aisha Khan and Sana Mir are standing with Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital. Recordings highlighting them have turned into a web sensation. In these recordings, they push the significance of general screenings.
Pakistan has one of the highest rates of Breast Cancer in Asia. All women under 40 should conduct regular self-examinations while those over 40 should go for mammography once a year.
You can also join the conversation using the following hashtags:
Pakistan army has acknowledged the contributions of Shahid Afridi towards cricket and awarded him with a special honorary shield on completion of 17 year of his career. Army chief General Raheel Sharif personally handed over Shahid Afridi with the award. 33 year Shahid Afridi made his debut in 1996 in Kenya. Speaking on the occasion Shahid said it is an honor for him to meeet army chief and also receiving shield from him.
Full news content from Urdu Daily Express
راولپنڈی: آرمی چیف جنرل راحیل شریف نے قومی کرکٹ ٹیم کے سپر اسٹار شاہد خان آفریدی کو کھیل کے میدان میں شاندار کارکردگی پر انہیں یادگاری شیلڈ سے نوازا ہے۔
منگل کے روز شاہد آفریدی نے آرمی چیف جنرل راحیل شریف سے ملاقات کی، اس دوران اسٹار آل راؤنڈر شاہد آفریدی کو 17 برس پر محیط بین الاقوامی کیرئیر کے اعتراف میں یادگاری شیلڈ پیش کی گئی۔اس موقع پر انہوں نے آرمی چیف کا شکریہ ادا کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ پاک فوج کے سربراہ سے ملاقات ان کے لئے بہت ہی اعزاز کی بات ہے۔
شاہد آفریدی اپنی دھواں دھار بلے بازی اور بالنگ کی بدولت دنیا بھر میں مشہور ہیں، اپنے 17 سالہ کیریئر میں انہوں نے 373 ایک روزہ بین الاقوامی میچوں 7ہزار 516 رنز اسکور کئے ہیں جبکہ 375 وکٹیں بھی اپنے نام کررکھی ہیں ، آفریدی نے ایک روزہ میچوں کی سب سے تیز سنچری بنا نے کا عالمی ریکارڈ بھی قائم کیا جسے حال ہی میں نیوزی لینڈ کے کوری اینڈرسن نے توڑا۔
5th October marks the birthday of Imran Khan, one of the most loved cricketer and now Prime Minister of Pakistan. Imran Khan has fans around the world, as his stardom isn’t limited to Pakistan alone. Cricketing legends admire him for the skipper he was, leading Pakistan to its first and only World Cup victory back in 1992.
Imran Khan was born in Lahore in 1952 and today, i.e. 5th October 2019 marks his 67th birthday. Pakistan has been avidly wishing its leader and Prime Minister a very happy birthday today, so much so that the #HappyBirthdayImranKhan has been trending on the top on Twitter today.
Here’s what Pakistani celebrities have to say about IK’s birthday.
From bottom of my heart I wish leader of Muslim world Prime Minister of Pakistan @ImranKhanPTI A very Happy birthday. May you live long and may you lead the whole Muslim world.#HappyBirthdayKhanSahb
Happy Birthday @ImranKhanPTI . May you be blessed with good health and may you achieve the greatness you have envisioned for our Pakistan. Ameen pic.twitter.com/sACS8onoOd
Happy birthday to my inspiration,I could love you through the biggest storm, through the biggest drought.. I could just love you and never stop, ever, ever, ever, May Allah bless you Khan Sahb immensely with long and healthy life❤️ #HappyBirthdayImranKhan#PMImranKhanpic.twitter.com/oGEuRZAPVY
Pakistan and Afghanistan may have several political issues forming a divide between their ‘brotherhood’ but just like other countries, the artists of both the countries act as a means of bridge of prosperity between the neighbours.
On Friday, 28 July 2017, a documentary focusing on human rights issues was presented at the Centre for Excellence in Journalism in Karachi. It contained audio and video works by both Pakistanis and Afghanis.The Pakistani and Afghani makers seemed to have really hard on their masterpiece.
These documentaries were produced in a first-of-its-kind residential training programme that brought together documentary makers from Pakistan and Afghanistan in Karachi from 17-28 July 2017. The training was led by award-winning journalists from Serbia, Sonja Ristic and Zoran Ćulafić.
In an interview shared by Pakistan Today, Mohammad Behroozian from Afghanistan said,
Bringing different people together is always a fascinating idea. You get different perspectives, skill sets and different ways of thinking.
Talking about the benefits of Pakistan and Afghanistan working together he said,
It is even more important when the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan come together. The people-to-people diplomacy will, hopefully, result in better relations between the people of the two countries.
From Pakistani side, Saed Nazir said,
here is a wide gap between the journalists of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Such types of training definitely help build better understanding among professionals and improve the prospects of peace, because these people have the power to build public opinion.
This film ‘Sound is Silence’ revolves around a 15-year-old girl Fariah, who was born hearing impaired. Following this girl’s story the film brings into light the struggles a deaf person has to face living in Karachi. It further explores how this disability brings different obstacles in their way of success. This heart touching and eye opening film is made by Nameera Ahmad from Pakistan with 2 fellows from Afghanistan.
Radio journalist Saed Nazir from Pakistan produced an audio documentary tapping into a somewhat taboo topic in our country; transgenders and their struggles to survive in Pakistan as well as the hindrances they face to enter into the mainstream professions and maintain their positions.
8th Pakistan Achievement Awards 2016 took place recently. There were many stars present at the event which held on December 2 in London, few of them were Aijaz Aslam, Ahsan Khan, film star Sana, Javed Shaikh and Shaista Lodhi. There is not much revealed yet but our dear actors shared their victories on social media. Saeein Zahoor gave a spectacular live performance, Ahsan Khan won the most popular Actor Award for Udaari, Aijaz Aslam won the best actor (male) for Khwab Saraeye and Sana won the best actor (female) award. Ishtiaq Baig on the other hand was honored with the “Pakistan Achievement Award”. The event was hosted by the host-turned-actress Shaista Lodhi
This Eid, Hina Dipazir is coming with a telefilm Pakeeza Coaching center on ARY Digital. This teleplay also features, Jahanzeb Khan, Minal Khan, Salma Hassan, Rashid Farooqi, Muneeb Butt.Like most of Hina’s dramas, it is also written by Fasih Baari Khan and directed by S. Mazhar Moin.
Both Fasih and Mazhar are known for their signature drama mostly focused on lower middle class section of society mainly from the city of Karachi. In past they have made many Eid special plays like Dulha Bhayee, Lady Boxer on Hum TV and Karakti Bijliyan on Geo TV. Apart from Fasih and Mazhar, the third commonality in all these teleplays is presence of Hina Dilpazir in some prominent role.
Gosh I don’t know where to begin, but okay let me try. The mind boggling mystery is finally resolved – Pakeeza puts up with Jibran’s treatment of her for Kiran’s sake. My comments on that follow later. In this episode, Jibran continues huffing and puffing, Pakeeza continues ‘bardaashting’ in her oh-so-martyr like way, apparently each putting up with the other for Kiran’s sake who, in my opinion, is being affected by all this in a very negative way.
Pakeeza shows up at the gallery yet again with visible marks of abuse at the hands of Jibran. Naima is outraged, Azeem is pained, Pakeeza again martyr like. Yes, I am fast losing patience with Pakeeza and I shall outline my reasons soon.
Naima goes to Jibran’s office and confronts him about his attitude towards Pakeeza. She says to him what has been running through my mind ever since the first episode too. Why does Jibran treat his wife the way their father treated their mother? What if Pakeeza also leaves? What if someone else were to treat Kiran the way Jibran treats Pakeeza? Naima feels responsible for she is the one who introduced Pakeeza and Jibran to each other.
Azeem declares his love for Pakeeza. Pakeeza seems taken aback but in the first episode I was able to see what he feels, how did she not know in all these years? Maybe deep down she knew but didn’t want to acknowledge it because as she says he has now ‘snatched’ her ‘dosti’ from her.
Dinner table drama continues in this episode too. Namak kam in kebabs this time. So, either Pakeeza is really cooking pheekay khaanay and that makes me sound like Jibran now (yikes!) or Jibran bhai really should adjust his palate and get used to less salt so that maybe blood pressure ki itni medication na laini paray.
On a more serious note, Kiran’s breakdown at the dinner table may have felt like an overreaction to some but I genuinely felt for her. Which brings me to one of the two things that quite irked me about this episode. Not to turn this into a psychological rant about parenting so I will try not to go overboard but forgive me if I do because my review just wouldn’t be complete without it.
Firstly, Kiran’s breakdown and her frustration – I felt for her. As a child, what you really want is a happy and loving home. Parents who love each other and love you. Yes, there are problems in life and I do not believe in mollycoddling children into believing all is hunky dory and rosy in life. Arguments happen in the happiest of homes but imagine a child growing up to constantly seeing their father lash out at their mother and the mother never standing up for herself. I could feel Kiran’s frustration.
Which brings me to the second part of my rant. When Kiran breaks down and Pakeeza says to herself that she will not let her life affect Kiran etc, I thought yes! I am not sure what exactly but she will do something to change her situation. But when she opens her mouth when talking to Kiran and the garbage that came out of it! Yes, patience is good, compromise to an extent is good, bardaasht to an extent is also very good, no two people are the same and all that but woman – none of all that has anything to do with your situation!
How can she tell her daughter that this is normal? That every family has problems and their problems may be different than others’ but are just as normal? Not only does Jibran seem messed up but at this point I am beginning to doubt Pakeeza’s sanity too. I am not being harsh or overly judgemental (I think). I wonder why she doesn’t leave her husband? I wonder why she says she puts up with him for Kiran’s sake when clearly all this is doing Kiran no good. But chalo, if I were to overlook all that, why tell her daughter that she is the one lacking any of the above mentioned admirable qualities namely bardaasht and patience. That she worries how Kiran will cope I life etc.
I think this just got under my skin as I myself am a mum to two young children. I am not perfect – far from it. Things which seemed so black and white as a teenager, seem different now that I am the adult and not the child anymore. But no matter how objectively I think, I can not see any sense in what Pakeeza was saying to her daughter.
I am not quite sure where this story is heading. We despise Jibran from the get go and feel pity for Pakeeza initially but I do not know if the writer is trying to gain our sympathies for her and then feel that when presented with a chance for someone to love her (Azeem) she is justified in feeling the same? I am speculating here – I do not know whether she will begin to have a relationship with him while she is still married to Jibran but I think that may be one possibility. But as she tells Azeem that her world begins and ends at Kiran then shouldn’t she really be trying to ease Kiran’s pain and do something about her dire circumstances. What hold does Jibran have over her that she can not break free?
I feel very worked up after having watched this episode and it is not a feeling I like as I prefer to watch dramas in my free time, to unwind. Not get worked up about. Quite a few people commented on my review on the first episode that after reading my review, they did not feel inclined to watch the drama. My intention when reviewing is not to recommend or not recommend although I suppose maybe that is an essential part of a review for some but I am an amateur at this and I write to pen my thoughts on an episode. I am unsure now how I really feel about this drama and not really looking forward to next week’s episode. I keep hearing PTV’s Tum Mere Kya Ho is nice – time to binge watch!
Please do share your thoughts on this episode. Did you feel the same way I did or maybe I overreacted and am missing something here? Would love to hear your thoughts!
When my mum rang me and while chatting about things, asked me if I had watched Pakeeza, reviewed Pakeeza and submitted my review on Pakeeza – and a while later when I spoke to my mum in law and she asked me the same three questions – my interest was piqued. I have only ever written one review of one episode of one drama but in their eyes I am already a celebrity. Bless their hearts, what lovely beings mothers are!
Pakeeza is being aired on HUM TV replacing Sangat – (gosh what an odd and senseless drama that was right till the very actual end!)- on Thursdays at 8pm. Written by Bushra Ansari and directed by Misbah Khalid, Pakeeza stars Aamina Sheikh, Adnan Siddiqui and Alyy Khan in the lead roles.
I watched the first episode and then feeling very Fareeda-ish (Digest Writer) with food cooking at the choola, I sat down at the kitchen table to pen my thoughts. The drama starts with showing us that Pakeeza Jibran (Aamina Sheikh) is a very talented artist who is being interviewed for a TV programme at her home. Enters Jibran (Alyy Khan), her husband and the way Pakeeza springs up from her seat and her expression changes you realise straight away that the couple do not share the most cordial of relationships. The way he spoke of Pakeeza during the interview, putting her down and saying how without him Pakeeza would have been nothing, makes him come across as one of those insecure men who do not deal well with their wives’ succeeding at anything on a professional level. We see as the drama progresses that he tends to flare up at the slightest of things and thinks nothing of often hitting his wife. This too he puts down to Pakeeza being a ‘duffer aurat’ (his words, not mine) and always riling him and making him angry.
The couple have a daughter Kiran who is well aware of her father’s attitude towards her mother and feels very frustrated and wishes to intervene as we see although he is a horrendous husband, he dotes on his daughter but Pakeeza always tells her not to interfere and that it does not bother her much etc.
Pakeeza goes to an art gallery where she spends a few hours a day painting. This is her haven, her escape. The gallery is owned by Naima (Angeline Malik) and we see Azeem (Adnan Siddiqui) always lurking around. I am not sure if he is a co-owner (as he refers to Naima as Bhabhi) or an artist like Pakeeza – or both. Naima is apparently Pakeeza’s nand and was her friend before she became her nand. So I suppose Pakeeza and Jibran met through her then? And fell in love? So he was obviously different earlier. What made him change – being unable to take his wife’s success? Naima is very disapproving of Jibran’s attitude towards Pakeeza and asks her why she tolerates it but we do not know as yet if she has tried to do anything about it or ever confronted her brother as no interaction between the two was shown in the first episode.
We learn through Naima’s conversation with her daughter that their (Naima and Jibran’s) mother left them when they were little because their father used to treat their mother badly. She could not take it anymore and decided to leave him and the father did not allow her to take the children but she left him regardless. So, it is anger at his mother that makes Jibran act the way he does. Uff I have serious issues with that logic. If his dad was such a jerk and would mistreat his mother and the children knew then would that not make him want to be a better husband? If the husband’s behaviour is what made their mother leave then would he not want to be nicer so his wife does not do the same? When he is yelling at Pakeeza later he makes it sound as if his mother was the one causing trouble in the house before she left so you do then wonder what warped up image he has of what actually happened. I also do not get why he says he tolerates her for Kiran’s sake – do parents not see that endless yelling at each other or one yelling and causing misery in the house affects the child? Pakeeza tells Naima that her self respect is very important to her – what about her self respect when she is at home? She seems educated, able to support herself, then why does she take all of Jibran’s nonsense? Why not lash out, up and leave? I know it is easier said than done in our society, but somehow Pakeeza does not seem to be a usual, frightened bechari – wonder what her story is then.
I got the feeling that Azeem was flirting with Pakeeza and the next episode preview confirmed my thoughts when he tells her he loves her. The OST shows Pakeeza and Azeem sharing some romantic moments – does she finally leave Jibran then?
The whole drama at the dinner table was so annoying too. Sending Pakeeza off to wash the plate, throwing dishes. Earlier in the drama, there is the scene where he smacks Pakeeza with the remote control and then says you know you make me angry and I have to take blood pressure ki medicine. So when Jibran yells that cutlets mein namak kam hai I almost wanted to yell back at him keh bhayee ek tau blood pressure ki medicine laitay ho aur phir namak kam namak kam cheekhtay ho, aakhir chahtay kia ho????!!
I wasn’t thrilled at the display of domestic abuse and it seems like it will occur again in the next episode at least, but I will be tuning in to watch a few more episodes to see where this all goes. Aamina Sheikh, Adnan Siddiqui and all performed well in the first episode and gave me nothing to complain about. I feel for Aamina Sheikh – for now – for although she is putting up with Jibran, she isn’t coming across as a frightened bechari so I am intrigued as to what her story is. I did not watch Jackson Heights so I haven’t seen Aamina on TV for a while now. I think she is an amazing actress and looking forward to watching her in this drama. Alyy Khan with his stern demeanour seems to fit well into his role. Adnan Siddiqui is someone who has been around for a while but hasn’t really made an impression on me. I did however love his acting in Mere Humdum Mere Dost so am hoping he gives a good performance in Pakeeza too. Overall, the drama seems watchable for now. Do share your thoughts on this episode!
A Turkish drama serial, Dirilis:Ertugrul, have gained massive love not only from Turkey but also through Pakistani public. People are crazily in love with the story of drama that shows the history of how Islam was spread, how muslims were treated and how they fought to protect their religion.
Taking the Instagram, famous Pakistani actors Humayun Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui shared an amazing news with their fans. Pakistani and Turkish actors are soon going to appear in a collaborating project. This will not only develop a strong political relation but will also benefit entertainment industries.
Humayun Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui hosted Turkish guests; Mr Kemal Tekdin, Cel Al, and Dr Kashif Ansari of Ansari films. They are super excited to work on a joint venture and to bring something thrilled. A meeting was held where they discussed all the terms and conditions and agreed on mutual terms.
Are you all excited? Well, let’s wait to see what Pak-Turk actors will bring us to watch. Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
Federal human rights minister Shireen Mazari stated on her twitter I’d in the reply of a tweet of The dawn’s journalist that UNICEF should take her away from being a UN Ambassador for her warlike mindset she said ” UNICEF needs to take action immed or it will make a mockery of all such positions!”
Well it proves that how UNICEF is appointing war mongering Ambassadors as Peace Keepers, it’s a shame of an organization that so called terrorist supporters are the part of Peace keeping force.
Besides this, the lady Priyanka is often found degrading its own culture on which she was bashed, she was lashed out by her own country fellows. Now she has left with nothing but these events and violations of certain statures.
So, many of our vocal opinion leaders are too right about her nationalistic and extreamist approach and with this, one can’t be an ambassador to A prestigious organization, it’s now a question mark on UN’s own credibility.
Comedy is one of the most difficult mediums in the entertainment world. To make people laugh and forget their worries is not a piece of cake and comedians are the magicians who achieve this very goal. We have had many legends in the field of comedy and their sketches are reproduced time and again garnering the same reaction from the audience every time. Hanif Raja is one such comedian who has appeared in many shows and Ustaadon Ke Ustaad.
Though we have always seen Hanif Raja laughing and making other people happy, he actually went through a very painful time in his life as he lost his wife to cancer and his kids were really young back then.
His son was in O levels and daughter was in the 7th standard. His wife was very brave and fought with ovarian cancer with bravery but left this mortal world after a few years. Hanif Raja also shared that he never talked about this on television as people then think that they probably wanted aid which they didn’t. He said that he did what he could but one cannot change fate.
