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Author: News Desk

  • Yasra Rizvi hits back at critics of ‘Dunk’, ‘Churails’

    Yasra Rizvi hits back at critics of ‘Dunk’, ‘Churails’

    Yasra Rizvi has hit back at critics of her latest projects Dunk and Churails. She also responded to those who are criticising her character, Jugnu Chaudhary, from Churails.

    In a social media post, Yasra wrote: “Many saw Jugnu as a drunkard druggie who was selling be-hayai in the name of women empowerment and many think Saira will cause serious negative repercussions for harassment victims because she is a character in a story about false allegations.”

    Read more – Who banned ‘Churails’?

    “No one really knows who I am and what I do every day, how I work, what I truly believe in, many haven’t watched Churails or will not watch all the 20 something episodes of Dunk,” she continued.

    “Many don’t know anything about my body of work and its detail to really understand what is it that I even stand for BUT everyone gets to talk because I am out there doing my thing so talk away,” remarked Rizvi.

    Rizvi has done a number of dramas on television along with web series Churails and Ayesha. Senti Aur Mental is her upcoming Lollywood comedy film debut. The film is directed, written and cast by herself along with Zain Afzal, and Yousaf Bashir Qureshi as a lead cast. Initially, the film was set to release in 2020 but was stalled due to COVID.

    Her latest project Dunk which has been produced by Fahad Mustafa has come under fire after Mustafa stated that the drama “is a tribute to every victim who has been falsely accused of sexual harassment”.

    Beside Rizvi, Dunk also features Bilal Abbas Khan, Sana Javed, Shahood Alvi, Fahad Sheikh, Tara Mahmood, Saifi Hassan, Salma Hassan, Kanwal Khan, Noman Ejaz, and Azekah Daniel. It has been written by Mohsin Ali Shah and directed by Badar Mehmood.

  • Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Senior journalist Saleem Safi has accused Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership, especially Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and father Asif Ali Zardari, of trying to reach a deal with the establishment.

    Responding to the statement of Murtaza Wahab — the spokesperson to the Sindh CM — that Sindh IG Mushtaq Mahar was not kidnapped, Safi said such statements by the PPP leadership gave away its alleged secret dealings with the government and the powers-that-be. It also shows that they are on their way to becoming “taabedar”.

    Alluding to the statement, he asked is there still any doubt left regarding the duplicity of the PPP in the anti-government alliance? According to the journalist, the PPP will oppose the mass resignations and long march in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting on Jan 2 and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will likely endorse the PPP.

    Safi claimed that the meeting of the government spokesperson held earlier this week also decided to “go easy on the PPP”. The government has decided to target Maulana Fazlur Rahman and his party, he said, adding that a strategy has been finalised in this regard. He claimed that decision to be lenient to the PPP speaks volume about the secret talks.

    Safi also accused Bilawal and Zardari of becoming “tabedaar (obedient)” and said that Maulana should clear things up with the PPP and PML-N leadership before it’s too late.

    The word ‘taabedar’ was first used by Maryam Nawaz as she used it to refer to Prime Minister Imran Khan for being “obedient to his selectors”.

  • Sarah Khan’s father passes away

    Sarah Khan’s father passes away

    Sarah Khan and Noor Zafar Khan’s father has passed away.

    Photographer Abdul Samad Zia, who covered Sarah and Falak Shabir’s wedding, initially shared the news on social media, asking the actor’s fans to pray for her father’s maghfirat. The cause of his death is not yet known.

    Later, confirming the news, Sarah shared details of the Namaz-e-Janaza on her Instagram.

    Falak also announced the sad news on social media saying “Baba was a great blessing to me, Sarah and our family”.

    A few weeks earlier, Sarah had shared pictures of herself taken by her father while they enjoyed family time at the beach.

    It is pertinent to add here that Sarah’s mother passed away in November 2017 after prolonged illness.

  • Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Amid speculations of rifts in the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has declined an invitation by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to attend a rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh on Dec 27.

    Instead of Fazl, who also heads the PDM, a five-member delegation of the party will attend the gathering that marks the death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reported Dunya TV.

    The refusal to attend the gathering by Fazl comes at a time when the JUI-F is facing internal turmoil following the expulsion of its top leaders, including Maulana Sheerani, who questioned the JUI-F’s commitment to the party.

    Similarly, the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are not happy with the PPP. They believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” said a senior journalist recently.

    Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reached Naudero House to attend the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP chief will stay in Naudero for three days and will address a rally in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27.

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will also attend the rally on the invitation of Bilawal. Both opposition leaders will hold a meeting at Bilawal House, Naudero.

  • Picture of widowed penguins comforting each other will warm your heart

    Picture of widowed penguins comforting each other will warm your heart

    A picture of two widowed penguins appearing to comfort each other in Australia has won Oceanographic magazine’s Ocean Photography Awards.

    The photo was taken by German photographer Tobias Baumgaertner in Melbourne.

    He was told that the two penguins had recently lost their partners and they often appeared to be comforting each other through a warm hug.

    The German photographer won the magazine’s Community Choice Award.

    “A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left,” the photographer wrote in an Instagram post.

    “Since then they meet regularly, comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city.”

    The photographer spent three nights with the penguin colony to capture this very moment.

    “Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot,” he said.

    “But I got lucky during one beautiful moment.”

  • Indian police arrest Muslim teen under ‘love jihad’ for walking home with Hindu friend

    Indian police arrest Muslim teen under ‘love jihad’ for walking home with Hindu friend

    The Indian police in Uttar Pradesh arrested a Muslim teenager for walking home with his former classmate, a Dalit girl, from a birthday party after a case was registered for ‘love jihad’ under the state’s new ‘anti-conversion’ law. The boy has been in the custody for a week. 

    The Love Jihad law in India is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.

    According to details, the 16-year-old girl has constantly rubbished the allegations of ‘love jihad‘, telling the police that the boy was a friend of hers.

    “I have told this to the magistrate and I will say this again. Those men had a problem with me walking with my friend. They made videos of me and are now calling it love jihad. I did nothing wrong. I went of my own free will.” 

    The complaint was allegedly registered by the girl’s father and stated that the accused “induced the girl to elope with him” with the “intention to marry and convert her”.

    However, the girl’s father has denied filing any complaint.

    “I trust my daughter completely. What wrong did she do? Why must she be made part of politics? Is it unlawful for a boy and a girl to walk together now?”

    As per details, the two were walking home from a friend’s birthday party around 10 pm on December 14 when they were allegedly chased by a group of right-wing Hindu men, beaten with sticks and questioned. When the group came to know that the two belong to different religions, they forced them to go to a police station.

    The Muslim boy works as a welder’s apprentice in Dehradun. The police say he is 18 years old but his family says is 17. They have no documents to prove his age.

    “The accused is in judicial custody. If he is a minor, they will have to produce documents to show that. We have invoked appropriate sections in this case after questioning the girl and based on her father’s complaint,” Station House Officer, Dhampur Arun Kumar told The Indian Express.

  • Nand returns with a bang and a new face

    Nand returns with a bang and a new face

    Forty odd episodes after Nand lost her mind, she has come back with a bang and brand new face.

    After ruining everyone’s lives and getting exposed Gohar (Faiza Hassan) got perfect retribution for her evil deeds – she lost her mind and started living on the streets following which audiences believed the drama was close to an end. But turns out the makers had other plans up their sleeves. They turned the drama into a Pakistani version of Star Plus dramas.

    After Saqib (Shahroz Sabzwari) found Gohar and had her admitted to the hospital, Gohar had an accident which destroyed her face and left her unrecognisable because of which she had to undergo reconstructive surgery.

    The surgery gave her a brand new face. According to details, Faiza is no longer part of the drama and has been replaced by Javeria Saud, who will now be playing ‘Nand’.

    In a recent interview, Javeria Saud revealed why she replaced Faiza and shared her experience of working in the drama.

    “It happens in life, man does many things and then leaves them. For many years I have left acting in a way that I haven’t worked with other production houses. I just worked in my own production house JS,” said Saud.

    “I last worked for a Humayun Saeed production in drama serial Anna and now 20 years later I am working on a Fahad Mustafa production,” she continued. “I really liked this character and Faiza has played it really well. She had some personal reasons due to which she couldn’t continue.”

    “When I was approached for the character, I talked to Saud about it and he told me to do whatever I want,” added Javeria.

    Read more – Three recent female performances in Pakistani dramas that left us shocked

    Nand is one of Pakistan’s most popular dramas particularly because of its storyline. The drama has been trending ever since it started. Faiza’s power-packed performance remained the highlight of the serial but Javeria has also done well as Gohar in the comeback episode of Nand.

  • Mawra Hocane to Adnan Siddiqui: celebs celebrate Christmas

    ‘Tis the season to make merry and celebrate the end of a terribly challenging year. To commemorate the occasion, several celebrities including Mawra Hocane, Yasir Hussain, Adnan Siddiqui and Bilal Ashraf took to social media to extend warm wishes for Christmas.

    Mawra Hocane shared a Boomerang of herself sitting next to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, wishing everyone a “Merry, merry Christmas.”

    Adnan Siddiqui also wished everyone a Merry Christmas, saying: “It’s the season to be jolly and spend time with your loved ones. To all my Christian brothers and sisters may this Christmas bring you to cheer, joy and lot of blessings.”

    While greeting people on Christmas Humayun Saeed wrote: “Lots of love, prayers and best wishes for everyone celebrating Christmas”

    Armeena Khan extended Christmas greetings by sharing a picture of herself holding a unicorn.

    “Happy Christmas to everyone everywhere, especially to the Pakistani Christian community,” she wrote.

    Yasir Hussain also sent out Christmas greetings and shared a quote by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

    Saheefa Jabbar Khattak too extended her greetings.

    “Merry Christmas you’all. Have a great weekend ahead”, she said.

    Juggun Kazim shared a picture of Christmas tree on her Insta Story and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

    Bilal Ashraf also extended Christmas wishes.

    Amna Ilyas also posted a Christmas wish.

    Meanwhile, Zara Noor Abbas shared adorable pictures of herself and husband Asad Siddiqui celebrating Christmas.

  • Daniel Pearl case: US ‘deeply concerned’ over court’s decision to release suspects

    The US State Department has said that it’s “deeply concerned” over the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to release the suspects in the Daniel Pearl murder case.

    “We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,” said the State Department in a series of tweets in response to the ruling of the high court.

    According to the State Department, the US government has been following this case closely. “We continue to stand with the Pearl family through this extremely difficult process,” it said, adding that it would continue to honour Pearl’s legacy.

    On Thursday, the high court asked the Sindh government to release the suspects, including prime accused Omer Saeed Sheikh, who were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2002 for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The court had also ordered the government to place their names on the no-fly list.

    However, the federal government said that it would challenge the ruling and that the suspects would remain behind the bars till the decision on its review appeal.

    The family of the slain US journalist also denounced the high court’s decision. Pearl’s parents said that they refused to believe that the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people will “let such a travesty of justice tarnish the image and legacy” of Pakistan.

    Pearl was working on a story about religious extremists in Pakistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when he was kidnapped in Karachi.

  • Shoaib Malik reveals his two favourite things

    Shoaib Malik reveals his two favourite things

    Shoaib Malik has revealed that his two favourite things include spending time with son Izhaan and sunsets.

    Posting pictures of himself and Izhaan enjoying time together at the Desert Safari in Abu Dhabi, Malik wrote: “Sunsets and Izhaan have to be two of my favourite things in the world.”

    Malik’s wife Sania Mirza also shared some pictures of their vacation. Former fast bowler Azhar Mahmood and his family were also part of the Mirza-Malik’s trip.

    Read more – Sania Mirza is a ‘proud mumma’ after Izhaan Mirza Malik fluently recites his duas

    Looks like Izhaan had a great time playing in the sand.

    “I never knew playing in ‘matttiiii’ could be this much fun,” wrote Izhaan in the caption.