Geo Entertainment’s drama serial Tere Bin starring Yumna Zaidi and Wahaj Ali is currently leading the rating charts.
Some transnational viewers of this drama have now discovered that many moments in Tere Bin are an exact replica of those in the popular Indian drama Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon starring the hit pair of Barun Sobti and Sanaya Irani.
What the netizens has to say about the two shows’ striking resemblance is as follows:
In Gujranwala, a video of government workers making a transgender person dance in exchange for ration has gone viral, Geo has reported.
After the video surfaced on social media, the Deputy Commissioner ordered an investigation into the matter.
The transgender has claimed that government workers had made him dance in exchange for rations.
However, government officials have rejected the claim saying that the video was old. They further claimed that volunteer workers had made the transgender person dance.
Only two days after Shahrukh Khan’s Pathaan was released in cinemas across India, the film has broken all records to become one of the biggest box office hits by making INR 231 crore worldwide.
Fans and movie critics are calling it the perfect comeback for the King of Bollywood. After facing months of scrutiny and backlash such as the arrest of his son Aryan Khan in October 2021, after which the charges were dropped due to no evidence. The film’s release became a target for BJP politicians and religious clerics, who used the song ‘Besharam Rang’ as their rallying cry to boycott the film. A seer from Ayodhya even went on to threaten to burn Shah Rukh Khan alive were the film to release in cinemas. BJP activists referred to the scene where actress Deepika Padukone is wearing a saffron-colored bikini, and claimed that the scene was anti-Hindu after which they called for a boycott over the film.
However, these threats and bribes as an attempt to dismantle King Khan proved to be unsuccessful because three days later, theaters continue to be jam packed with thousands of devoted fans coming back for multiple screenings of ‘Pathaan’, and gushing about the brilliance of the film. Reports are arriving that unusual show timings like midnight or even 6 am in the morning have been added due to the popularity of the film.
With all this praise, Shah Rukh Khan reached out to his fans on Twitter to give them an important lesson to remember that even surrounded with hurdles and endless criticism, we must never stop moving forward.
With all this praise, Shah Rukh Khan reached out to his fans on Twitter to give them an important lesson to remember that even surrounded with hurdles and endless criticism, we must never stop moving forward.
“Gattaca movie ‘I never saved anything for the swim back’ I think life is a bit like that….You aren’t meant to plan your return…U r meant to move forward. Don’t come back…try to finish what u started. Just a 57yr olds’ advice things.”
Fans of Shah Rukh Khan were deeply moved by this advice.
“Stars and celebs don’t need me rooting for them, but I totally love this gentleman, the kind of grace and courage he showed, as a father, when he and his family were bullied and judged and punished, I really want him to win! Go, Shah Rukh Khan!” one user wrote.
“Timely advice for many of us who feel stuck, or are living our own versions groundhog day’esque monotony,” another user wrote.
Former United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed on Tuesday in his new memoir that arch rivals— India and Pakistan— were on the verge of nuclear war in February 2019.
Pompeo, who served in President Donald Trump’s tenure, has written in ‘Never Give an Inch: Fighting for America I Love’ that he does “not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019.”
He says at the time, he was informed by his Indian counter-partner that Pakistan had begun to prepare for a nuclear strike on India. However, he asked him to give it some time to sort out the matter. Later, he reached out to Pakistani former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The ex-army chief told Pompeo that Indian allegations were baseless. He believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment.
Moreover, the former US official said that it took them a few hours and remarkably good work by their teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad to convince both countries to desist.
In February 2019, Delhi launched strikes to attack Pakistan after a militant attack on Indian troops in Kashmir. However, Pakistan shot down two Indian military jets and captured a fighter pilot who later was released.
In 1974, India became the first country in the region to become a nuclear power while Pakistan attained nuclear power in 1998.
It is pertinent to mention that neither India nor Pakistan has commented so far on Pompeo’s claims.
Actor Adnan Siddiqui has commented about Bollywood’s misrepresentation of Pakistanis in their films. The recent Bollywood movie Mission Majnu became a trolling affair as the film stereotyped Pakistanis.
While many rightly called out the makers of the propaganda film on Twitter, Siddiqui took to Instagram and shared his two cents on the matter. “How much misrepresentation is too much misrepresentation?” he asked his followers on Instagram.
Adding on, the actor, who starred in Bollywood offering Mom, alongside late superstar Sridevi and Sajal Ali, commented, “I mean come on, with all the money you have, hire some good researchers to do homework on us. Or allow me to help. Make sure to take notes—no, we don’t wear skull caps, surma, tawiz; no, we don’t ask janab about their mijaz; no, we don’t go around throwing adaab.”
Siddiqui went on to comment, “There’s so much in Mission Majnu that’s distasteful and factually incorrect. The hero’s saviour complex would’ve been accentuated more if the villain was shown at par. A weak antagonist embellishes an even weaker protagonist.”
He concluded, “Poor story, poorer execution, poorest research. Next time, come and visit us. We are good hosts. Will show you how we look like, dress up and live.”
Malhotra previously addressed stereotyping of Pakistanis and India’s knack for making films on this side of the border. When asked if his character in the film helps perpetuate stereotypes of Pakistanis in Hindi films, the actor told Film Companion, “We have consciously made an effort in the writing that it is never to take on a particular community. I recently did a film called Shershaah, which is based on India and Pakistan, and the battle that we had, which was documented.”
He added, “Once you see the film, consciously we never really concentrated, barring maybe four scenes on the other side (Pakistan), it was purely about this side (India) and this man’s journey, (Army captain) captain Vikram Batra sacrificing his life… So there is the same conscious effort (with Mission Majnu), and there is no personal animosity with anyone, these are just documented historical points, which we will never get complete facts of, so for that, you need to establish possibly certain characters in an x amount of time.”
The actor further responded about certain scenes in the trailer and added, “And the shots they are referring to (from the trailer) are meant to be tongue-in-cheek in the film. So, I think it will be a fair dialogue once everyone sees the film… it is never about a community or taking a dig, which digresses from the film… a religion or a community is never an issue in the film.”
There has been a steady rise in Bollywood film productions which often overtly or covertly portray an anti-Pakistan sentiment. Malhotra’s Mission Majnu isn’t Bollywood’s first attempt at wrongly depicting Pakistan and history. His Student of the Year co-star, Alia Bhatt, too, essayed a spy in the 2018 film, Raazi. One such film released in 2021, Bhuj: The Pride of India, which stars Ajay Devgan in the lead role, ironically features a rendition of Madam Noor Jehan’s iconic song Zaalima CocaCola.
Films portraying an anti-Pakistan narrative gained traction after the Uri attacks in 2016. Uri: The Surgical Strike, starring Vicky Kaushal was one of the first military-inspired films showing Pakistan in a negative light. While Akshay Kumar’s spy thriller Bell Bottom, inspired by the hijackings of Indian Airline flights in the 80s, was banned from screening in KSA, Kuwait and Qatar. The countries in question deemed the film to be unfit for exhibition.
India’s greatest-ever woman tennis player Sania Mirza on Friday bid farewell to grand-slams. The 36-year-old Mirza, India’s most prominent female player, returned to Melbourne Park for one last hurrah and made it all the way to the decider on Friday.
Mirza was in tears during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Sania begun her speech with tears in her eyes, “If I cry, these are happy tears. I don’t want to take away the moment from Matos-Stefani who deserved this. I’m still going to play a couple more tournaments but my career started in Melbourne in 2005 when I played Serena as an 18-year-old. I have had the privilege of coming back here again and again and winning tournaments here and playing some great finals here. Rod Laver Arena has been a really special life. I couldn’t think of a better arena to finish my last Grand Slam.” She also thanked Rohan Bopanna for playing by her side.
Anchorperson Shafaat Ali shared a 1:50 minutes audio recording of a Twitter space, titled, “Demand release of Fawad Ch. & PTI position with PTI Leadership”.
Shafaat also posted a screenshot of the space, showing that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson, Imran Khan, had joined the space from his official Twitter account. He was one of the speakers who was to talk in the space.
It was being assumed that many had joined the space thinking it was Khan who would be addressing and talking to people. And then the account spoke up.
To everyone’s surprise, it was former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, speaking from Khan’s official account.
This leads to the oft-asked question: Does Shireen Mazari run and use Imran Khan’s official Twitter account?
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are set to star as main leads in a film adaptation of the controversial Colleen Hoover book ‘It Ends With Us’, with Baldoni also directing, Deadline has reported.
Hoover’s novel has been slammed by bloggers and social media users for romanticizing abuse and championing aggressive and toxic male characters. Users have pointed out that even though the book was marketed as a ‘romance novel’ it depicts an abusive relationship where the female lead, Lilly Bloom, is consistently abused and sexually assaulted by her husband, Ryle, and even highlighted how regardless of this, there are no consequences for the abuser by the end of the novel.
Recently, Hoover had to cancel the release of the adult coloring book based on ‘It’s End With Us’, after social media users called her ‘insensitive’ and ‘tone deaf’.
When news of the film adaptation broke out on Twitter, users criticized Baldoni’s involvement in the project, citing his description of himself as a ‘male feminist’. Baldoni had also held a TED talk on encouraging better representation of masculinity on social media.
“Isn’t Justin Baldoni Mr ‘we have to address the negative ways masculinity is taught/enforced’??? Sir, in what world does that line up with Colleen Hoover/her work? lmao what,” one user wrote.
“Justin Baldoni is such a promising actor & his opinions are always very interesting to listen to, so why… as a man who spoke up about toxic masculinity and abuse, you’re taking this role…”
“Justin Baldoni crafted his entire image to be a role model to create emotionally open and sensitive young men. And now he’s not just starring in this awful adaptation, but DIRECTING it?? With BLAKE LIVELY??? Insanity”
At the end of this month, an IMF delegation will travel to Pakistan to discuss the stalled ninth review of the country’s ongoing funding programme.
The IMF provided Pakistan with a $6 billion bailout in 2019, which was increased by an additional $1 billion in 2022. However, the lender halted disbursements in November because Pakistan had not made further progress on fiscal reduction and economic reforms.
“At the request of the authorities, an in-person Fund mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad January 31st–February 9th to continue the discussions under the ninth EFF review,” according to IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz.
A successful visit is crucial for Pakistan, which is facing an increasingly acute balance of payments crisis and is desperate to secure external financing with less than three weeks’ worth of import cover in its foreign exchange reserves.
Multilateral and bilateral financing pledges for the cash-strapped country’s effort to rebuild after devastating floods last year are also tied to the country getting the green light from the IMF.
According to Ruiz, the mission’s main objectives would be power sector reforms and local and international sustainability restoration strategies, such as strengthening the budgetary situation while aiding flood victims.
The reinstatement of a market-based process to decide the value of the Pakistani rupee would also be discussed, she added. The country must have such a structure in place before receiving IMF assistance, but up until this week, it had not done so.
The relaxation of price ceilings that the government had established but that the IMF disagreed with has resulted in a loss of close to 10 per cent of the value of the Pakistani rupee in just two days.
In just two days, the local currency has lost close to 10 per cent of its value after the removal of price caps imposed by the government, which the IMF opposed.
Stronger policy initiatives and reforms, according to Ruiz, are essential for Pakistan to get financial help from official partners and the markets and to lessen the high level of uncertainty that is weighing on its future.
Market observers claimed that the IMF programme was trying to be restarted when the price limitations were abruptly removed.
Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Thursday apologised for criticizing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry who was arrested on Tuesday morning.
Elahi took to Twitter to apologise for his comments, stating that he has old ties with Fawad’s family. He added that his remarks hurt the sentiments of Fawad’s family for which he is sorry.
Elahi took a jibe on Thursday at the close aide of the PTI chief Imran Khan. Talking about Chaudhry’s recent arrest, he said it would have been better had he been arrested earlier.
Addressing an event, Elahi said: “Imran Khan’s close aides struck at the roots of PTI. One out of four or five people, who are close to Khan, has been arrested. Things would have been better had he been arrested earlier. Moonis takes good thing about him but well I speak the truth.”
Elahi also said that had his government been allowed to continue for a full year, the politics of their archrivals, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, would have been buried.