Category: Entertainment

PTV to Launch Drama Serial ‘Farz’

Takes lead to present woman as a catalyst of change

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) : With all the private drama channels perpetually portraying woman as a vulnerable and hapless creature to win more ‘rating points’, PTV is all set to challenge the trend by presenting a powerful and progressive female protagonist in its upcoming mega drama serial ‘Farz’ set to start from (Monday) 6th February, at 7:45 pm on PTV Home.

Written by a young and promising playwright Aamir Raza the 17-episode drama serial is directed by the maestro Kashif Nisar who is known for handling sensitive subjects sensibly and convincingly. ‘Farz’ is a latest production of Sixth Sense Communications that is well known for its issue-based communications through entertainment with thought provoking products ‘Kis Se Kahoon’ and ‘Aasha Ik Umeed’ to its credit; that also ran on PTV Home.

The protagonist is a girl next door who takes charge of her life and becomes an epitome of success and courage for the weaker gender. The character of Aliya brilliantly played by Sonia Mishal, shows how, fighting back patriarchy and discrimination at every level, she rises to become a police officer to steer her life through.

Sonia is supported by brilliant artistes including Nauman Ijaz, Qavi Khan, Saleem Mairaj, Inayat Khan, Amna Malik, Azra Aftab, Iftikhar Iffi and Aymi Khan – a team that promises a gripping drama serial.

The sub-plot of crime and extortion adds to the pace and suspense of the play while another romantic track unveils the hidden truth of exploitation and domestic violence Pakistani women have to suffer through.

While majority of popular drama channels daily showing women being brutalised and abused by men and, conversely, men are depicted as the exclusive decision-makers, PTV’s ‘Farz’ is an effort to counter this trend and encourage Pakistani woman to lead its life with honour and dignity.

Web Desk – It’s not a surprise that the lady who brought Oscar to the country and has highlighted important issues through her documentaries, is now going to launch new project called ‘Dekh Magar Pyar Se’, which is a mobile cinema.

This new project of SOC films aims to entertain people of those areas where no cinema is available.

While talking about the new cinematic experience, Sharmeen said that in small cities of Pakistan the public only have a few community centers and places where they can entertain themselves through movies.

She asserted that the project plans to introduce films, music and animation among the huge audience.

Sharmeen told that filmmakers around the country will have an open invitation to showcase their work in front of the public.

The Academy Award-winning filmmaker revealed that the mobile cinema will begin the process in March from Karachi and will travel across all provinces.

Web Desk – Miss France Iris Mittenaere (C) and other finalists Miss Haiti Jacque Pellisier (R) and Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar pose shortly before Mittenaere wins the 65th Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines

Miss France Iris Mittenaere reacts after winning the 65th Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines

Contestants congratulate Miss France Iris Mittenaere after she won the 65th Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines

Miss France Iris Mittenaere reacts before outgoing Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach places the Miss Universe crown on her during the 65th Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines

WEB DESK – LOS ANGELES – Kim Kardashian West felt left out when her sisters all showed up for a family meeting wearing heat-to-toe burgundy.

The 36-year-old reality star thought her siblings Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian looked very ‘’in your face’’ when they turned up to a family meeting in head-to-toe burgundy, while she wore an oversized flannel shirt with lace-up leather pants.

She showed off her siblings’ outfits on Snapchat and said: ‘’I don’t know what’s more in your face: all burgundy at once, or two people in all burgundy at once.’’

And the ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ star was left feeling even worse when her younger half-sister Kylie Jenner, 19, donned a burgundy ensemble of her own for the meeting.

On her way to connect with her siblings, Kylie revealed on Snapchat: ‘’So Kim just snapchatted how annoying it was that Khloe and Kourtney both showed up in burgundy on accident, so I’m about to show up to the same meeting in all burgundy head to toe.’’

And as she walked through the door, Kim – who has kids North, three, and Saint, 13 months, with husband Kanye West – moaned: ‘’I feel so left out!’’

Khloe, 32, later shared a photo on Instagram of herself, Kourtney, 37, and Kylie, with the caption: ‘’Burgundy babies’’. Meanwhile, Kim has topped the list of stars who women believe take the best selfie, beating Kylie and her other sibling Kendall Jenner – who missed the family meeting as she’s in Paris – into second and third place respectively.

According to a new report which found that selfies will transition from frivolous fad to technological phenomenon in the not too distant future, especially with advanced front camera technology in smartphones like the XperiaTM XZ, 1 in 10 women believe Kim takes the best self-posed picture. Rounding out the top five were Rihanna and Katy Perry.

Web Desk – Bollywood came together to raise a toast to the best in the industry at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017 held on January 14 in Mumbai. One of the biggest award functions of the year was hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. And when you have Bollywoods glitterati coming together under one roof, you can be assured of sheer magic.

2016 was a great year for Bollywood, from Ranbir Kapoor to Aamir Khan almost every A-listed Bollywood actor came up with their movies and had an amazing run in theatres. History was made at the Filmfare Awards this year since all the three Khans competed for the ‘Best Actor’ category after a long span of 19 years. And, it was Aamir Khan who gained the upper hand with his ‘Dangal’ act over Shah Rukh Khan, who was nominated for Maneesh Sharma’s ‘Fan’, and Salman Khan, who was nominated for Ali Abbas Zafar’s ‘Sultan’.

On the other hand, Alia Bhatt won the ‘Filmfare Best Actor Award (Female)’ for her performance in ‘Udta Punjab’. Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor too won ‘Critics Choice Awards’ for their performances in ‘Neerja’ and ‘Udta Punjab’ respectively.

Karan Johar’s ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ was also one of the most celebrated films of the evening, with four awards.

Heres a complete list of winners at 62^nd Filmfare awards 2017.

Best Actor (Male): Aamir Khan for Dangal

Best Actor (Female): Alia Bhatt for Udta Punjab

Best Film: Dangal

Best Director: Nitesh Tiwari for Dangal

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film: Neerja

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (Male): Shahid Kapoor for Udta Punjab and Manoj Bajpayee for Aligarh

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor (Female): Sonam Kapoor for Neerja

Best Male Debut: Diljit Dosanjh for Udta Punjab

Best Female Debut: Ritika Singh for Saala Khadoos

Best Dialogue: Ritesh Shah for Pink

Best Screenplay: Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon for Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)

Best Story: Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon for Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Rishi Kapoor for Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Shabana Azmi for Neerja

Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award: Shatrughan Sinha

Best Music Album: Pritam for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Best Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya for Channa Mereya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Best Playback Singer (Male): Arijit Singh for Ae dil hai mushkil from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Best Playback Singer (Female): Neha Bhasin for Jag Ghoomeya from Sultan

Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent: Amit Mishra for Bulleya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Web Desk – Davos– Academy Award Winner and the Co-Chair at 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be featuring in an exclusive one-on-one session with Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar titled ‘A Conversation with Karan Johar and SharmeenObaid-Chinoy’ on 18th January 2017 at Davos-Klosters.

Sharmeen will also be featuring in a panel discussion titled “A Positive Narrative for the Global Community” comprising of a diversity of panelists such as Sheryl Sandberg

Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board, Facebook, USA, Ahmad Sarmast Founder – Afghanistan National Institute of Music  and Meg Whitman President and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, USA. The panel discussion will be chaired by ZeinabBadawi Presenter, BBC World News, and United Kingdom.

In addition to this, leading Hollywood Actor George Clooney met SharmeenObaid-Chinoy where they discussed her upcoming projects.

Sharmeen is the first artist ever to Co-Chair to prestigious forum’s annual meeting which is taking place in Davos-Klosters till the 20th of January 2017, under the theme “Responsive and Responsible Leadership”.

Established since 1971, The World Economic Forum is committed to improving the state of the world. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters remains the foremost creative force for engaging the world’s top leaders in collaborative activities to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each year.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting for 2017 is highlighting five distinct challenges facing the word in 2017. A breakdown in global collaboration, loss of identity, slow economic growth,a crisis in capitalism and preparing for the oncoming Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Along with SharmeenObaid-Chinoy, taking a principal role in shaping the discussion at the Annual Meeting 2017 are Co-Chairs Brian T. Moynihan of Bank of America, HelleThorning-Schmidt of Save the Children International, Frans van Houten of Royal Philips and Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The two main stars of the entertainment industry, Shaan and Ali Azmat are to work together. If one has become synonymous with Pakistani cinema, the other led a rock and roll revolution that was not just restricted to Pakistan.

Both have been missing in action for quite some time now. Shaan hasn’t appeared on the big screen since Operation 021 while Azmat has been busy with his family hence didn’t get time for some new music.

A recent picture of the two stars sitting together in a studio has our attention.Where Shaan can be seen staring at what could possibly be a screen, Azmat with his headphones on also has his eyes fixed on it.

Well, hold on! It’s not a new song that Azmat has sung and Shaan has performed on. The picture was taken during Arth2’s dubbing session.

According to sources, Azmat will be making a cameo appearance in the film that also stars Humaima Malick and Mohib Mirza.

Arth 2 is a remake of Mahesh Bhatt’s 1982 film Arth, starring Shabana Azmi, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi in titular roles.

The story revolved around a wife’s struggle after discovering her husband’s extra-marital affair. The release date hasn’t been slated yet.

Azmat and Shaan had previously spread their magic in Waar.

Watching the stars together for the second time will definitely be a treat for all fans.

Web Desk – Veteran Bollywood actor Om Puri passed away early Friday morning in Mumbai.

Born on October 18, 1950, the actor made his film debut in the 1976 filmGhashiram Kotwal. He was known for his performances in Indian, as well as Pakistani and Hollywood movies.

A versatile artist, Puri became a key player in India’s arthouse cinema scene in the 1980s and 1990s but achieved international fame for his roles in Hollywood films such as City of Joy, Wolf, and Charlie Wilson’s War.

Puri was also awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire). He was given the Padma Shri in 1990 for his contribution to cinema. Among Puri’s well known films were Aakrosh (1980), Ardh Satya (1982) for which he won the National Award for Best Actor, and British film East is East (1999).

Puri made a name for himself in the 1980s with the alternative art cinema that found a niche audience in India, playing several memorable characters that depicted the anger and angst of those times.

He also worked in a number of Hollywood and British films, including “The Reluctant Fundamentalist“, “East is East“, and most recently in “The Hundred-Foot Journey“.

Om Puri continued to face trouble ever since he voiced his opinion to support Pakistani actors and urged for the sanity to prevail.

He also spoke negatively about the Indian soldiers on the national television. However, he apologised for his disparaging remarks.

In October last year, a police complaint was filed against the veteran actor for his comments that were found to be insulting to Indian soldiers by a section of the film industry. Complainant Prithvi Maske said, “Referring to the Indian Army and soldiers, he [Om Puri] said that we had not given the invitation to the soldiers of the Indian Army. They joined the army at their will.” During a debate on a TV channel, Puri had said: “Did we force them to join the army? My father was also in the army… We are proud of them (soldiers)… I am asking you: Do you want India and Pakistan to become Israel and Palestine?

LAHORE –  The City School has partnered with two-time Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy to launch her second animated film, ‘3 Bahadur: The Revenge of Baba Balaam’. 3 Bahadur part-2 exemplifies the values of unity, love and cooperation–aligned with the values-based education system of The City School. The school system strongly believes in promoting values such as cooperation, honesty, unity, responsibility, love, peace, respect and tolerance among its students. The City School central region arranged an exciting opportunity for all its students across the Punjab to watch the film on cinema screens.
The City School is Pakistan’s leading private school network with nearly 200 schools in 52 cities across the nation. Established in Karachi in 1978, The City School continues to expand its reach to meet the demands for quality education.

Karachi – The first QMobile HUM Style Awards took place orchestrated by Pakistan’s premier entertainment network, HUM Network Limited, in partnership with QMobile, Pakistan’s biggest Smartphone company endorsed by local and international stars. The ceremony had notable artists, and glamorous celebrities from Pakistan’s fashion, music, sports, drama and film industry receiving awards for presenting style at its best. The HUM Network has always sought to raise the bar with its projects and now, with the first QMobile HUM Style Awards, it has to set standards in impartiality and quality entertainment. According to President HUM Network, Sultana Siddiqui, “We are proud to be a pioneer in the field of entertainment. In our projects, it is always our aim to seek out new talent and provide a platform for it. With these awards, we celebrated the fashion and entertainment industry’s leading style influencers and trendsetters.