Category: Entertainment

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Pakistan’s heartthrob Fawad Khan is taking time off in Skardu with his wife Sadaf and three kids. Spotted in viral photos. Although Fawad himself has not documented his visit on Instagram, producer Ammara Hikmat, who also accompanied the group on the trip, posted photos of the actor, his wife, and kids – Ayaan, Elayna and Bia- on her social media.

The Humsafar star is seen beating the summer blues with his trip up North.

In one photo, the Zindagi Gulzar Hai actor was spotted in vacation mode, teaching his son fishing in the blue rivers of Skardu. For his day out, Fawad pulled up a black bomber jacket paired with green pants and black cap.

In another photo, the actor posed for a photo inside Deosai National Park. At one instant, the former EP frontman was also spotted posing with his pals amid the Skardu river while the group looked sideways for the camera.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Pakistan Embassy, Beijing and China-Film Administration jointly organized the four-day film week to further enhance cultural exchanges and people to people contacts between the two countries. The movies screened with Chinese and English subtitle during the week were Motorcycle Girl, Punjab Nahi Jaungi, Bin Roye, Ho Mann Jahan and Blind Love.

As part of the celebratory activities of 70 years of Pakistan-China diplomatic ties, five movies from Pakistan were screened during a first-ever Pakistan Film Week where a lots of interest was witnessed among Chinese movie lovers.

The film premier event was attended by officials of China Film administration, China Film Archives, China Film Co-production Cooperation, National Administration of Radio and Television, representatives of Media and officers from Embassy. While commenting on the films, a senior official of China Film Administration said that with access to five of Pakistan’s best films, the Chinese audience could know more about the Pakistani culture and enjoy its beauty.

“The 2018 Urdu-language film Parwaaz Hai Junoon have seen before and I do like it! I can hardly wait to see these 5 Pakistani movies,” a Chinese movie fan said excitedly.

“We would like to take the importation of Parwaaz Hai Junoon as an opportunity to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in film industry between both countries, noted Xiao Ping, president of China Film Import & Export Corporation, in an exclusive interview.

In the future China will stay tuned for Pakistani films, take into account their genres and market performance and choose the suitable ones for Chinese audiences, Xiao Ping said. A young Chinese lady who saw four out of five films told that now cultural exchanges between the two countries became more and more frequent.

 

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Celebrity couple Danish Taimoor and Ayeza Khan celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Taking to Instagram, Ayeza shared a picture of her husband with an endearing caption.

“Today, is the date all my stars aligned, the 8th always takes me back to 2014, to our special day,” she wrote.

The “Mere Paas Tum Ho” actress added, “Danish Taimoor you’re a man of substance, love and a treasure to cherish. It’s been 7 long years, MashAllah. Happy Anniversary.”

Thousands of fans flooded the couple’s social media accounts to extend wishes on their wedding anniversary.

Lahore (NUT- Desk)

TikTok is most popular app among the youth that can be effectively used to entertain and educate the masses at large, like rest of the world, but in Pakistan app gets routinely banned either by courts or by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The app still remains largely popular among the masses, including showbiz celebrities, who have been vocal against the unjustified bans on one pretext or the other. Famous musician Haroon believes that TikTok holds advantage over others because it connects with the masses at large more than any other app.

I noticed the Health Ministry official account was giving out important messages related to coronavirus and SOPs; and the President set up an official account too. Banning Tiktok is a lost opportunity for the Government and organisations to really connect with the masses and focus on sharing content that can impart positive messages on civic behaviour, health and hygiene and possibly other educational opportunities in the future,” opines Haroon.

According to him, TikTok serves as a vital tool for the promotion of music. “Personally, I am a fan of TikTok. It is the most important tool for promoting music. Thousands of fans interact with me, sing along to my karaoke videos. It helps me stay in touch with music lovers, so I’m obviously disappointed that the app keeps getting banned. Considering so much content is available all over the internet, the ban makes no sense. Why not just ban the internet then? However I would encourage everyone to post good, responsible content on TikTok so we can all enjoy the great content on offer,” adds Haroon.

Supermodel and entrepreneur Mehreen Syed believes that TikTok helps provide a platform to talented content creators in Pakistan. “I’m glad there are so many apps Pakistanis can turn to for entertainment or just to have a good time. In difficult times like these, apps like TikTok provide fun content that one can enjoy. There is so much talent in Pakistan and the creators on TikTok are prime example of that.”

“It is a good platform for creators to showcase their talent so when it gets banned, they are deprived of it. So I hope instead of banning apps for indecent content, authorities can work with social media companies to educate users on how they can post content responsibly,” states Maheen.

Even musician-turned-actor, Junaid Khan, thinks that while creating safe content for consumption is the responsibility of the creators, banning a platform is never the ideal solution. “We should always responsibly create content on different social media platforms as that can ensure a safe environment for everyone. At the same time, I feel banning an entire platform can deprive a lot of good creators,” remarks Junaid.

Youtube sensation Irfan Junejo believes that TikTok has given a voice to millions of users in Pakistan. “I don’t see how banning an app helps anyone. Platforms like TikTok have given a voice to millions of users who can create and enjoy content on the app. There will always be all kinds of content on a platform but banning an app entirely should never be the solution,” observes Irfan.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Oscar Award Winner, Pakistani Film maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has given a personal glimpse into the sets of Disney’s highly-anticipated upcoming series Ms. Marvel. 

Taking to Instagram to share a special picture of herself with a clapboard, the filmmaker said, “On the set of #MsMarvel,” leaving Marvel fanboys and fangirls excited about the upcoming show that features Marvel’s first Muslim superhero, Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel.

One of the pictures includes Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy posing with cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin, and of her director’s chair on which sits a bag that cheekily reads, “Chief Trouble Maker”.

The series, which was first announced in 2019, is expected to hit Disney+ in late 2021 and is helmed by Sharmeen along with Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, and Meera Menon.

The cast includes newcomer Iman Vellani as Ms Marvel, Rish Shah, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Nimra Bucha, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, and Travina Springer among others.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Justice (rtd) Nasira Javed Iqbal will present second “Coronologue Awards to the winners of Ajoka’s Coronologue Short Film Festival on 11th August at an online ceremony. The awards were announced by Babar Ali Foundation’s Syeda Henna Babar Ali last week. The first prize of Rs 75,000 will be awarded to Sibte Hassan for his short film “Hero” while Moizah Jilani of Karachi will get second prize of Rs 50,000 for her “Distant Relations”. The winner of the third prize is Junaid Arif for his short film “ Abbu”. Elsa Shabir(Lahore) and Mahnoor Samad (Peshawar) will get special mention.

The jury for the competition consisted of eminent showbiz personalities including film scholar Aijazz Gul, playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed, film producer Rashid Khawaja, actor Savera Nadeem and Ajoka Chairperson Zara Salman.

Ajoka Executive Director Shahid Nadeem said that Ajoka had held the second “Coronologue” after the success of last year’s Coronologue Online Theatre Festival. The objective was to encourage innovative artistic responses to the psychological, emotional, social or political impact of the unprecedented pandemic. He hoped that the encouragement will inspire the winners to focus on creative quality work and produce meaningful productions in future.

Ajoka Institute Director Nirvaan Nadeem said that Ajoka is committed to encourage the young talent and provide quality entertainment to audience with meaningful productions. The film produced during the festival carries the same spirit and will be released on Ajoka’s social media channels soon.

The awards ceremony will be held at 5 pm on Wednesday 11 August and live-streamed on Facebook.

****

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Jannat Mirza will never disappoint if you are looking for fun TikToks to liven up your day. A video of Jannat has been doing the rounds. It shows her riding a dune buggy in Skardu.

“Take me back to Skardu, please,” she wrote.

Jannat’s TikToks with Umer Butt are very popular. Both have been the talk of the town since Jannat confirmed the news of their “baat pakki”. Rumours of their engagement were circulating in May but Jannat denied the reports, saying she’ll tell everyone when everything has been confirmed.

With over 16 million followers and 488 million likes, Jannat is the most popular TikToker in Pakistan.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

This is the fourth and final animated film from the Siyani Sahelian Series. SOC Films released the fourth and final animated film Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Pandemic from the “Siyani Sahelian” animation series, as part of the collaborative program with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi.

Launched in March 2018, Siyani Sahelian aims to tackle gender inequality for disadvantaged out of school adolescent girls (aged 9-19) in 480 towns and villages spread across the three districts of south Punjab: Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan.

Following the rise in domestic violence cases against women in Pakistan due to COVID-19 restrictions, this fourth and final animated short film in the series produced by SOC Films attempts to deconstruct and address some of the issues arising from this disturbing trend. While the world over is dealing with the severe fallout from the COVID-19 virus, spaces outside the home are no longer as easily accessible for women as before. The main character Asghari, along with her parents, discuss ways in which women and girls can deal with potential situations of abuse that can take place, whilst highlighting the importance of carrying out joint responsibilities at home for the whole family.

The animated film Domestic Violence During COVID-19 Pandemic can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/q1-q2OgvBkQ

The fourth animated film has been scripted by Safyah Usmani with animation by Kulsum Ibrahim, editing by Nina Zehri and Meer Farhad Jamali, and voiceovers by Rabia Kiran Rajput, Mariam Rizvi and Ali Akbar.

Indeed, to-date, Siyani Sahelian has empowered 36,000+ out of school adolescent girls in South Punjab through post primary opportunities for learning gains, TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Training], livelihoods and life skills. As part of the outreach for this collaborative program, SOC Films also produced 4 short animated films for public screenings.

Indeed, SOC Films hopes to continue to implement sustainable community engagement programs to positively impact the lives of Pakistani youth.

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Prominent Actress Star Mansha Pasha has revealed that her mobile phone blew up next to the television while on charge. Laal Kabotar star has expressed her gratitude that no one was harmed after her smartphone went off while charging.

“My phone just blew up,” the actor wrote, sharing photos of her blackened phone with a crumpled screen.

Mansha called the accident “super dangerous” but was grateful that it didn’t cause harm to anyone. “This is an older model I gave to someone to use and it blew up next to the TV while on charge.”

She has lost her data that she didn’t transfer to her new phone.

“Thank God it wasn’t in anyone’s hands when it blew up.”

Mansha Pasha, who is an avid social media user, shared her stunning photos on Instagram and won the hearts of the fans. She is followed by one million followers on the Facebook-owned app.

 

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay is a drama based on the novel titled ‘Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay’ by Umera Ahmed. This project is marking Mahira Khan’s comeback on Television after 6 years. It has already garnered a lot of attention because the novel has been widely read, therefore the novel readers, as well as drama viewers, are eagerly waiting to see how the story has been dramatized.

Hum Kahan ke Sachay thay addresses the childhood trauma. Dealing with a sensitive issue at hand and representing characters who have many layers to them, it was essential for the OST of the drama to convey the pain experienced by the characters. The track sung by Yashal Shahid achieves just that as the singer does a phenomenal job with the vocals. The lyrics encapsulate the sense of loss that characters like Mehreen (played by Mahira Khan) feel in the drama, while the Azan Sami’s soft music makes way for the vocalist to fully explore her potential without overwhelming the listeners.

Directed by Farooq Rind, Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay opens up with three cousins Mehreen, Aswad, and Mashal in their early teens. Three of them are first cousins and share an unbreakable bond. Mashal, a young pretty girl from the elite household, whereas Mehreen who is also her ‘phuppo ki beti’ is a troubled child after her parents’ break up and her father’s death. Aswad (Usman Mukhtar), a cousin of both – who lives abroad – adores Mehreen and this makes Mashal and her mother Shugufta (Zainab Qayyum) jealous.